Current lover

11.2011madbeanpedals
PCBDimensions:2.3Wx3.15H

Resistors
R1
5k6
R2
1M
R3
5k6
R4
1M
R5
470R
R6
4k7
R7
100k
R8
5k6
R9
100k
R10
4k7
R11
4k7
R12
82k
R13
47k
R14
10k
R15
8k2
R16
13k
R17
470R
R18
470R
R19
39k
R20
24k
R21
8k2
R22
30k
R23
3k9

Resistors
R24
10k
R25
47k
R26
27k
R27
15k
R28
33k
R29
10k
R30
62k
R31
1M2
R32
3k9
R33
10R
R34
200k
R35
200k
R36
1k
R37
470k
R38
100k
R39
10k
R40
3k
R41
10R
R42
100R

Caps
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
C10
C11
C12
C13
C14
C15
C16
C17
C18
C20
C21
C22
C23
C24

***IC2canbeMN3207orMN3007

39n
47n
1n
100n
10uF
10uF
680pF
68n
220n
47n
47n
3n3
2n2
33uF
33uF
1uF
1uF
22pF
100uF
10uF
100n
100n
47uF

Diodes
D1
1n914
D2
1N4007
D3
1N4001
D4
1n914
D5
8.2vZener
Transistors
Q1
2N3904
Q2
2N5087
Q3
2N5088
ICs
IC1
JRC4558
IC2
***
IC3
CD4049UBE
IC4
CD4013BCN
IC5
LM324N
IC6
LM311
Switch
FILTER
DPDT
Trimmers
CLOCK
100k
BIAS
100k
T1
10k
Pots
FDBK
10kB
RANGE
100kB
RATE
1MC
VOL
100kA

WhatIsIt?
TheCurrentLoverisanadaptationoftheElectroHarmonixElectricMistressflangerfor9voperationandavarietyof
BBDchips. Itoffersverywarmandrichflangingwhilemaintaininglownoiseoperationandflexibilityinitscontrols.
AdditionstothevintageMistressdesignareincluded.TheseareabufferedclocksignaltotheBBD,anFXloopfor
throughzeroflangingandanoutputgainstagetomatchorexceedthebypassvolume.
MuchofthedevelopmentoftheCurrentLoverwasbasedontheworkbypresentedbyThomeequeonDIYstompboxes
andthereforemuchgratitudeisowedtohimformakingitavailable.Thankyou!Whilethereisnosinglesidedartwork
availablefortheCurrentLover,ifyouwishtoetchyourownElectricMistressboard,pleasecheckouthisthreadson
DIYSB.

Controls
RateControlsthespeedoftheLFOwhichdrivestheflangereffect.
RangeControlstheoveralldepthoftheflangingeffect.
FeedbackThisistheamountdelaylinesignalsentbacktotheinputoftheBBD.Higherlevelsoffeedbackincreasethe
complexityoftheflangedsignalandcanyieldsomeintense,airplaneflanging.
VolumeThisistheoutputvolumeoftheaddedgainstageattheendoftheeffect.Itallowsyoutomatchorexceedthe
bypasssignal.
FilterThisDPDTswitchdisconnectstheLFOforamildtomoderateringmodulatoreffect.Thiseffectcanbeinfluenced
withtheRangeandFeedbackcontrols.

Notes
TherearethreepossibleBBDchoicesinbuildingtheCurrentLover.ThesearetheMN3007,theMN3207andthev3207.
TheMN3007isstillavailablealthoughitisfairlyexpensive($8$12forasinglechip).Forthisreason,theCurrentLover
wasdesignedforalternativeBBDswhicharemorereadilyavailableandlessexpensive.TheMN3207issimilartothe
MN3007buthaslowercurrentconsumptionanddifferentsupplyvoltagerequirements.Thev3207isapinforpincloneof
theMN3207andismanufacturedbyCoolaudio.PrototypeswerebuiltusingtheMN3007andMN3207.Whilethev3207
wasnottesteditshouldworkfollowingthesamebuildingprocedureoutlinedbelowfortheMN3207.Thevideodemo
linkedbelowwasbuiltusingtheMN3207fromsmallbear,whichwasabout$5.
BewaryofpurchasingMN3007chipsonline.TherearesomeoverseasellersoneBayofferingfakeorcounterfeitchips.It
isbesttopurchasetheMN3007orMN3207fromareliablesourcelikesmallbear,orotherDIYers,ifpossible.
TheCurrentLoverallowsyoutousePCBmounted16mmpotsandDPDTswitchforaneasierbuild.Thepadsforthe
DPDTaresizedforlugsinsteadofpinssincetheyareverycommon.
Thereareseverallabeledgroundconnections(GND)ontheboard.Youdonotneedtouseallofthem:theyarethere
forconvenience.
TwoSND/RTNpadsareincludedifyouwishtoexperimentwithathroughzerotypeflangingeffect.Ifyoudonotwishto
usethisfeature,youwillneedtojumperthetwopadstogetherforcorrectoperation.Notethatthisdocumentdoesnot
includeanyinformationongeneratingthroughzeroeffectsasthatwasnotpartofthedevelopmentprocess.Itisoffered
forthosewhowishtoexperiment.YoucanfindsomeinfoaboutTZwiththeElectricMistressonDIYSB.
Thisisacomplicatedandchallengingbuild.Takeyourtime!

Links
VideodemoofthemadbeanpedalsCurrentLoverbuild:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CLKc7_c5eE

MN3007vs.MN3207(v3207)

Jumpers
ThereareafewstepstotakedependingonwhetheryouarebuildingtheMN3007orMN3207version(assumethatthe
v3207isthesameasMN3207).Thepowerandgroundpinsonthesetwochipsaretheoppositeofoneanother,which
alsoinfluenceshowsomeadditionalcomponentsconnecttotheBBDs.Toallowforthedifferentchips,twojumpersare
locatedonthePCBtosetwhichpinsgetthepowerandwhichpinsgetground.
ConnectthehighlightedjumpersasshownbelowforyourBBDversion.

Power
TheMN3007andMN3207haveslightlydifferentpowerrequirements.TheMN3007canoperateforupto15vDC.The
MN3207supplyvoltageneedstobeclampedataround8v.
MN3007OmitD4,D5andC5.ConnectthesquareandroundpinsofC5togetherviaajumper.Thisdoestwothings:
connectspin1oftheMN3007toVCviaa100Rseriesresistorfor(nearly) fullvoltageoperationandconnectstheVGGpin
ofthechiptoground.NotethatwhiletheCurrentLoverisintendedfor9voperation,youcansafelyoperateitupto
15vDCprovideditiswellregulated.Ifyouchangetoalargersupplyafterbiasingitfor9v,youwillmostlikelyhavetore
biastheeffectforthelargersupplyvoltage.
MN3207ConnectD5,andC5asperthelayoutdiagram.Thislimitsthesupplyvoltageto8.2v.D4shouldlimitthe8.2v
BBDsupplytoabout14/15forconnectingtotheVGGpin.However,thereisasmallerrorhereinthatD4isactually
connectingfromVContheboardandnotthe8.2v(VDD)supply.Howeverthisisaveryeasyfix.Simplyconnectthe
bottomlead(anode)ofD4totheC6/D5junction.Thiscanbedoneonthebottomsideoftheboardtokeepthingslooking
clean.ThisisthesolutionIrecommend.Oncetheboardispowered,youshouldhavebetween7.6and7.7vDConpin4of
IC2.

Biasing
ThefinalstepaftersolderingallthecomponentsandjumpersistoproperlybiastheoperationoftheclockandBBD.This
isactuallyveryeasyandcanbedonebyear.
Beforepoweringuptheboardandconnectingyourguitarandamp,settheClockandBiastrimmerstotheirmiddle
position.SettheT1trimmerandRatepotfullycounterclockwise.Finally,settheRange,VolumeandFeedbackpotsto
approximatelytheirmiddlepositionsandtheFilterswitchtotheupposition.Nowconnecttheboardbetweenyourguitar
andampandpoweritup.Youshouldgetsignalthroughtheeffect,althoughyoumaynothearanyflangingyet.Ifyoudo
nothaveanysignal,doublecheckyourconnectionsandensurethattherearenobugsinyourbuild.
FirstadjusttheBiastrimpotuntilyougetsomeflanging.Youdonthavetobeprecise,justgettheBBDworking.Next
adjusttheClocktrimpottothepointwhereyouachieveawidesweepwithminimumnoise.Iftheflangestartstooscillate
atthebottomofitssweepyouwillneedtodoalittlemoreadjustment.GobackandtweaktheBiastrimpotfurther
clockwiseuntilyougetsmoothupanddownflangewithoutanyexcessivefeedbackoroscillationatthepeaksofthe
sweep.SettheFeedbackcontrolfullyclockwiseandgentlyadjustT1clockwiseuntilyougetthemaximumfeedback
desired(T1actsasalimittothemaximumallowedfeedback).Continuemakingminoradjustmentstothetrimmerswhile
testingthelimitsoftheRate,RangeandFeedbackcontrols.Describingthisprocessmakesitseemmorecomplicated
thanitactuallyis:yourearwillbetheguideinachievingthebestsoundacrossthewidestrangeofcontrolsettings.

Wiring

DrillTemplate125B
5.4Wx6.18H@borders

Thistemplateisapproximate.Checkmeasurementandplacement
carefullybeforecommittingtodrill.
ThereisnosinglesidedartworkforetchingaCurrentLoverPCB

Licensing
TheusermayutilizeapurchasedCurrentLoverPCBfrommadbeanpedalsforDIY/noncommercial
purposes.YoumaynotusetheartworktosellyourownversionofthePCBdesignoraspartofakit
orsimilarcommercialproduct.
www.madbeanpedals.com
BUILD.SHARE.LEARN