LovePedal BBB07 LED Mod
I'm glad to finally get this off my projects list. With the help of a comrade at work, I finished wiring a LED to my BBB07. Those of you who own one know that it's irritating during gigs to have to remember if the stupid thing is on or not. I'm not sure why Sean Michael chose to not include a LED by default.
What you will need
- 5.1k Ohm Resistor
- 3.6 Volt 5mm LED, color or your choice (I used blue)
- A small length of wire
- Some electrical tape
- Wire strippers, cutters, soldering iron, solder, etc.
Step 1: Case Mods
This is the easiest part. You will need to drill a hole in the front cover to support the 5mm LED. I also cut a hole in the side of the BBB07 with a Dremmel to pull the battery clip through so I can connect it my power supply. I had originally intended to add a small, Boss style power jack but because the BBB07 is wired in reverse that would be a pain to engineer for a hobbyist like me.
Step 2: Finding the right LED + Resistor
In order to make the LED work, we need a resistor connected somewhere in the circuit to reduce the voltage to something more suitable. There are several LED resistance calculators on the net (I used this one), and if you wish to use a LED with a different voltage rating than I did you will need to recalculate the resistance for the circuit. I picked a 5.1k Ohm so that the LED glows nice and soft. I previously tried a 248 ohm resistor, but it was so bright it nearly burned my eyes out. One good way to preview your work is to grab a 9V battery, connect the anode to negative, connect the cathode to your resistor, and then connect other end of the resistor to the positive terminal on the battery. If all is connected properly, the LED should glow as brightly as it will when placed into the real circuit.
Step 3: Modifying the Circuit - Connecting the Anode
The BBB07, like most good fuzz pedals, is wired in reverse. This makes wiring the LED up a bit more tricky than if this were conventional polarity. The easiest way I have found is to wire the anode (negative or short end) to the top terminal in the center pole of the switch, and then connect a loose wire from the center terminal to the ground wire of the battery clip. This way, the current running to the LED doesn't affect the signal at all. You will have to chop the battery clip negative lead in half and wire up a T. After you solder all three leads together, use some electrical tape to protect the joint--or some shrink tubing if you are less ghetto than I.
Step 4: Modifying the Circuit - Connecting the Cathode
Connecting the cathode is a bit easier. All we have to do is wire the resistor up to the long end of the LED and then connect the other end of the resistor to the hot terminal on the input jack (oddly enough, it's not the terminal the red wire from the battery clip connects to, but instead the middle one). We want to make sure that we get the right pole of the switch so that our LED will only come on if the pedal has a cable plugged into the input. Use this as a guide:
Step 5: The Finished Product
Finally we can enjoy the convenience of knowing if our BBB07 is on or off on dark stages. Those of us without guitar techs who run our pedals for us anyway. Below are some shots of the finished product. Forgive me for not going into the gory details of why each lead goes where. More or less I poked around with an alligator clip and some basic knowledge of e-mag until I found something that works. For the newbies in doubt: just make your circuit look exactly like mine and make sure all your solder joints are clean.
Moar Musack Additions
I have many new arrivals to my CD collection. Too many to honestly review one at a time, so I figure an execution of the "shotgun" approach, falling in line with my humble heritage, is appropriate. The List:
Chimaira - Resurrection
Opeth - Watershed
As I Lay Dying - Frail Words Collapse
As I Lay Dying - A Long March
As I Lay Dying - Shadows Are Security
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighers
Foo Fighers - There is Nothing Left to Lose
The Chimaira album is quite obnoxious--it seems they are very angry at something and I have yet to figure out exactly what it is. This type of music is perfect for power lifting at the gym when you need to psych yourself up about nothing in particular; normally I go for the rougher side of music--as indicated by the three As I Lay Dying albums on the list--but unfortunately the lyrical content of that entire album is void of anything positive. The Opeth album, however, is stellar. It's dark and very well written. There are only seven tracks, but all of them flow and move about in elegant, symphonic ways. Overall, I'm very satisfied--though there are some lyrical problems with it as well. Why can't someone with something good to say about the world and/or their condition come up with such artistic and engaging music?
Shadows Are Security is the best As I Lay Dying album I bought. The others are more or less older recordings of older songs (some of which are performed terribly) and I wish I had known that before I bought them. At the very least I can say I own all their albums save the original EP.
Of course, all the Foo Fighters albums are great. Dave Groel has to be one of the best musicians of our time.
Sneak Peek
Here's a sneak peek of a new song I'm working on. It's just a simple intro riff, but I love the ambience of it. Looks like my Christmas break is going to be filled with recording =D. I'm planning on pickup up Logic Pro from Guitar Center tomorrow.
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It was recorded with my Firebird studio through my Orange AD-30R amp--miked with a SM-57 on axis, center cone. You can obviously tell that it's compressed--a downer for some of you tone snobs out there, but I love the warmth that the Keeley adds to my bird.