Shin-ei/Univox Uni-Vibe [Replica Files]

Original effects with schematics, layouts and instructions, freely contributed by members or found in publications. Cannot be used for commercial purposes without the consent of the owners of the copyright.
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vintagecharlie
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Post by vintagecharlie »

Has anyone found chicken-head knobs that are close to the original ones? They seem to have a smaller diameter body and no flatened top as most of modern knobs i see, so it´s actually really hard to find ones that look the part.

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Post by marjodp »

Here are some updates:
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"SketchUp" file.
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Uni-Vibe (1).jpg

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johnnyg
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Post by johnnyg »

ramaclaproth wrote:Here's for you Sinner, hope you dig some blues videos I did here. Once again, I am sorry and it won't happen again.



Wow! Real mighty fine playing man!

How on earth do you find time to study vibe circuits around playing and practising? :wink:

...always good to have reminders of what these tools are actually all about in the end (in my humble opinion) :D
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Post by johnnyg »

219730_335830039838419_1698290072_o.jpg
Fastocker wrote:
I had a chance to trace my early Uni-Vibe this evening so here are the values. I used Sinner's original factory diagram and marked any value differences in white. I included flipping the polarity on C6 and C17 per Rama. No trimpot on this one, just the jumper. And the 'ghosted' 5nF shown near C7 just means it's soldered to the bottom of the board (i.e., 10nF and 5nF in parallel). One odd value that jumped out was R50 at 200K.

I listed AC voltage coming into the board and the DC voltage going to the lamp as well. Enjoy!

[ Image ]
Out of curiosity, is it possible to say what was the original/intended order of the well-known capacitor values in the four phase stages?

According to Ramaclaproth's research, early ('Honey' / Hendrix ) units: 15nf - 220nf - 5nf - 470pf?
Fastrocker's early unit: 15nf - 220nf - 470pf - 5nf?

:block:
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Post by johnnyg »

I meant Fastocker sorry! :oops: Can't edit your posts here now it seems. (I also tried to include earlier images there which didn't work).

And I prob shld have said the capacitor sequence in Fastocker's unit conforms to the factory schematic (of course)...
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Post by ramaclaproth »

johnnyg wrote:
219730_335830039838419_1698290072_o.jpg
Fastocker wrote:
I had a chance to trace my early Uni-Vibe this evening so here are the values. I used Sinner's original factory diagram and marked any value differences in white. I included flipping the polarity on C6 and C17 per Rama. No trimpot on this one, just the jumper. And the 'ghosted' 5nF shown near C7 just means it's soldered to the bottom of the board (i.e., 10nF and 5nF in parallel). One odd value that jumped out was R50 at 200K.

I listed AC voltage coming into the board and the DC voltage going to the lamp as well. Enjoy!

[ Image ]
Out of curiosity, is it possible to say what was the original/intended order of the well-known capacitor values in the four phase stages?

According to Ramaclaproth's research, early ('Honey' / Hendrix ) units: 15nf - 220nf - 5nf - 470pf?
Fastrocker's early unit: 15nf - 220nf - 470pf - 5nf?

:block:
Both are original specs, depends on the units manufacturer.

15nf - 220nf - 5nf - 470pf by Honey.

15nf - 220nf - 470pf - 5nf by Shin-Ei.

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Fastocker
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Post by Fastocker »

vintagecharlie wrote:Has anyone found chicken-head knobs that are close to the original ones? They seem to have a smaller diameter body and no flatened top as most of modern knobs i see, so it´s actually really hard to find ones that look the part.
Nope, haven't found these. Interestingly, the early model Uni-Vibe has smaller knobs (1.06" width) than the later model (1.25"). Both are as you described without any flattened portion on the top. I'll keep looking . . .

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Post by Fastocker »

It took me awhile but I finally got my replica board fired up and tested this weekend . . . and it sounds GREAT. It's virtually identical sounding to my later model U-V . . . as it should be since I copied it value for value. I don't have an enclosure yet but I cobbled up this crude test board for it. Only issue I had was a tiny bit of noise but I think that will go away once I get it permanently installed into an enclosure and get everything grounded properly.

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Post by johnnyg »

Fastocker wrote:It took me awhile but I finally got my replica board fired up and tested this weekend . . . and it sounds GREAT. It's virtually identical sounding to my later model U-V . . . as it should be since I copied it value for value. I don't have an enclosure yet but I cobbled up this crude test board for it. Only issue I had was a tiny bit of noise but I think that will go away once I get it permanently installed into an enclosure and get everything grounded properly.
Looks great - and a very admirable level of care and attention is going into the build. I really like your approach.

If it's not too much trouble to ask, would you be willing/have the time to provide a layout of this circuit using sinner's graphics, like you did with your earlier version? Just to make it easy to compare the differences... and because from what you say I'd quite like to use the same values as your preferred model if I'm honest :D I fully appreciate though if you want to save these for yourself (to build some replicas to sell to others perhaps).

Out of curiosity, as much as I love close recreations of great old things like the vibe, did you not consider improving/modernizing the power supply? I've seen great little 6VA/7VA toroidal transformers that aren't too expensive and would be great in a vibe -just possibly some of the noise you mention could be coming from the old-school transformer (but more than likely being out the box has something to do with it as well).

Personally, although it deviates from the original, I'd probably add a full-wave bridge rectifier (the half-wave rectifier has got to have been a cost decision by the original manufacturer(s), and I think I'm right in thinking the ripple of a half-wave rect. can cause noise and maybe puts more strain on the reservoir caps). I'd also maybe use the LM317 voltage regulator (with its associated circuit from the datasheet) - that way you I'm sure you could dial in bulb voltage (which may or may not be of use).

Just an idea anyway! :wink:
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Post by Fastocker »

I'll try to get the late model UV sketch drawn up in the near future.

Appreciate the suggestions and you're likely correct on the power supply . . . . but the idea of this one was to recreate a vintage piece. I'm a bit of a vibe-a-holic and own a few boutique vibes and have built several as well as owning the two originals . . . and guess which ones sound the best to me? Yep, the originals just have a certain quality to the sound that's hard to describe.

Also, my two originals are dead quiet so I'm pretty sure any noise I'm hearing is just from not having it boxed up and grounded properly. I'm going to start working on the enclosure shortly so I guess we'll see.

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Post by sinner »

Fastocker wrote:I'm a bit of a vibe-a-holic and own a few boutique vibes and have built several as well as owning the two originals . . . and guess which ones sound the best to me? Yep, the originals just have a certain quality to the sound that's hard to describe.

This is the reason I sour my ass to draw that files. Bootwickers just cant resist to fuck it up with silly mods

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Post by sinner »

johnnyg wrote: I'd also maybe use the LM317 voltage regulator (with its associated circuit from the datasheet) - that way you I'm sure you could dial in bulb voltage (which may or may not be of use).

Just an idea anyway! :wink:
I'll go with external PS + voltage regulator. As soon as I'll learn, or find suitable schematic, I'll do tinny PCB layout, as well as the vero project for this. Any suggestions?

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Post by johnnyg »

sinner wrote:
Fastocker wrote:I'm a bit of a vibe-a-holic and own a few boutique vibes and have built several as well as owning the two originals . . . and guess which ones sound the best to me? Yep, the originals just have a certain quality to the sound that's hard to describe.

This is the reason I sour my ass to draw that files. Bootwickers just cant resist to fuck it up with silly mods
Good enough reason for me - if it's not broke don't fix it! :wink:

Who knows, maybe the ripple and less than ideal power supply is a factor in the sound of the originals! It's purely because half-wave rectification seems a bit wasteful and inefficient nowadays I was prompted to ask.
sinner wrote:
johnnyg wrote: I'd also maybe use the LM317 voltage regulator (with its associated circuit from the datasheet) - that way you I'm sure you could dial in bulb voltage (which may or may not be of use).

Just an idea anyway! :wink:
I'll go with external PS + voltage regulator. As soon as I'll learn, or find suitable schematic, I'll do tinny PCB layout, as well as the vero project for this. Any suggestions?
Hey buddy, if you're using a good, regulated 18v or so PSU, then another regulator might be a waste of effort I would hazard a guess. But if you think being able to adjust the bulb's voltage to a specific figure could be of use then you would want a PSU that puts out 24v DC to use the LM317 - it would need at least 2.5v more than you want out of it. I don't know if you can get a 24v PSU easy?

If you google for the ST datasheet for the LM317, that one's informative. You would want the LM317 T - that is nice and robust for this purpose.

The circuit is straightforward:
LM317T basic circuit.png
C3 is specified as tantalum - I don't ask why (tantalum electrolytics are good, ask MXR :) ) ; C1 should be close to pin 2; both diodes are for protection purposes and are often left off (but they do no harm there); 5k is the trimmer to dial in the voltage you're after. Just note the awkward pinout of the 317 (compared to the fixed voltage regulators).

As I say, if you're using a good PSU, it's maybe extra work for no real benefit. But if you were using a dedicated transformer and bridge rectifier, then I think the LM317 would be good to use to get the voltage you want.
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Post by johnnyg »

Or maybe you're thinking of using an PSU that puts out AC not DC? In that case if you find one that puts out 22 or 24V plus AC then (if such a thing exists) you could just add a bridge rectifier and big reservoir cap (470 or 100uf say, 50v or more) before the LM317 circuit.
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Post by surwolf »

Hi, hope someone can help. I recently obtained one of the boards for the original univibe. Put everything together, and here is the problem. I cant get the speed of the light to slow down, also, the bulb is not going completely out, to get the proper "phase" sound. I tried different value pots, but to no avail. any suggestions or ideas as to what might be wrong. thanks

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Post by kymar »

surwolf wrote:Hi, hope someone can help. I recently obtained one of the boards for the original univibe. Put everything together, and here is the problem. I cant get the speed of the light to slow down, also, the bulb is not going completely out, to get the proper "phase" sound. I tried different value pots, but to no avail. any suggestions or ideas as to what might be wrong. thanks
Check everything one more time looking thoroughly to lfo section, if all is ok, try to reduce R49 in lamp driver

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Post by Fastocker »

Here's the trace of my later model U-V if anyone is still interested. White components are ones that vary from the factory 915 trace. Also notice the late model transformer puts out a bit more voltage to the board than the earlier edition. Indicator lamp on the early unit is getting 6VAC while the later unit is seeing 17VAC.

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Post by sinner »

Thank you Fastocker.

Could you also in spare time take the transistor voltages of two of your UV's?

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Post by DaveAir79 »

surwolf wrote:Hi, hope someone can help. I recently obtained one of the boards for the original univibe. Put everything together, and here is the problem. I cant get the speed of the light to slow down, also, the bulb is not going completely out, to get the proper "phase" sound. I tried different value pots, but to no avail. any suggestions or ideas as to what might be wrong. thanks
The solution is a BIAS TRIM mod... I do it today... I will testing with my guitar tomorrow.
DAVE

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Post by DaveAir79 »

Hi!!!
Anybody know wich affect que range of frecuencies?
I'm who makes two identicals UV's. One sounds OWESOME!!!
But the other sound with less BW. Is more brillant and with less bass in the modulation swoooosh This sswwoOOOsh is very poor but the efect is OK.-

Thanks

PS: I replace all transistors (but nothing) The same way...
DAVE

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