Loop switcher/patch bay/table top board thing
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The DIY forum is for personal projects (things that are not for sale, not in production), info sharing, peer to peer assistance. No backdoor spamming (DIY posts that are actually advertisements for your business). No clones of in-production pedals. If you have concerns or questions, feel free to PM admin. Thanks so much!
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cherler
- experienced
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Loop switcher/patch bay/table top board thing
So I've been messing around with relay switching lately, and I've also been looking at table top rigs and the patchulator 8000. I had an idea recently where I could essentially build a bypass strip with a patchbay on top instead of foot switches and then control that strip from another enclosure on the floor with the actual foot switches on it. That way I can fuck with pedal order, still stomp on stuff, and tweak knobs all day! The patchbay would be connecting either end of a relay to the send and return of a loop so I can bypass whatever loop is plugged in there, and also plug in any loop I want to that spot. Anyone got thoughts? I think this will be super fun
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eatyourguitar
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Re: Loop switcher/patch bay/table top board thing
I could write you a very long reply about why it might not work out to your standards but it depends on your standards and it depends on your gear. it is likely beyond the scope of what can be done on a forum. it depends on your guitar, your pedals, your amp, your mains, your cable length, is there a lot of RF noise where you perform? is there a ground plane in the PCB in the patchbay? will it have shielded wire? is it transformer isolated? will it be buffered?
to sum it up, you are increasing your cable length a lot with all true bypass pedals and a true bypass patch bay. 6 pedals has only 5 18in cables (7.5ft) however if you use a patchbay then you have 6x2x18in (18ft)
now we hit the magic number of 18ft. 18ft is known to be the maximum length of passive pickups to an amp through a guitar cable with no buffered bypass pedals. add your guitar cable and your amp cable to your 18ft pedal board it will always be over 18ft. you need active pickups or a boss (or any buffered bypass) pedal in front.
to sum it up, you are increasing your cable length a lot with all true bypass pedals and a true bypass patch bay. 6 pedals has only 5 18in cables (7.5ft) however if you use a patchbay then you have 6x2x18in (18ft)
now we hit the magic number of 18ft. 18ft is known to be the maximum length of passive pickups to an amp through a guitar cable with no buffered bypass pedals. add your guitar cable and your amp cable to your 18ft pedal board it will always be over 18ft. you need active pickups or a boss (or any buffered bypass) pedal in front.
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cherler
- experienced
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- Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 4:48 pm
- Location: Dirtona
Re: Loop switcher/patch bay/table top board thing
Thanks for the reply! Most of what you mentioned I'm actually aware of, maybe we can get on the same page real quick with some more details.
It will be buffered, transformer isolated for power and on the output to the amp, it will have shielded wire and I am going to have a ground plane on the PCB. I know the ground plane and shielded wire should help with RF substantially, the buffer will make sure the guitar sees the impedance it likes, a transformer on the output will prevent ground issues between the board and the amp (right? I'm less confident here). That should cover most of the issues I think, am I too far off base here? I'm kind of a fan of taking on project I have no idea how to tackle so I easily could be.
It will be buffered, transformer isolated for power and on the output to the amp, it will have shielded wire and I am going to have a ground plane on the PCB. I know the ground plane and shielded wire should help with RF substantially, the buffer will make sure the guitar sees the impedance it likes, a transformer on the output will prevent ground issues between the board and the amp (right? I'm less confident here). That should cover most of the issues I think, am I too far off base here? I'm kind of a fan of taking on project I have no idea how to tackle so I easily could be.