Origin Effects Cali76?

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smear
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Post by smear »

anyone have one of these they can open up?

the original 1176 is crazy expensive these days. i thought it'd be pretty elaborate, but looking at the original 1176 schematic, seems like a couple JFETs and a some BJTs. presumably the pedal removed the 5532 differential input. and the marketing doesn't mention any transformers so i guess they skipped that too. runs on +30V and -10V, nothing too crazy.

they're charging $359 for a pedal clone, and i bet most of that price is just based on the reputation of the original rack unit...

the rack 1176 schematic is attached.
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1176 schematic.gif

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bmxguitarsbmx
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Post by bmxguitarsbmx »

MXR M87 is a 1176 compressor. The MXR m76 is a 1176 with a high-pass filter in the side chain.

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Post by bugg »

It's a bit more than a handful of JFETs and BJTs...

There are two PCBs loaded on both sides with SMD components.

I can also say with confidence that the Asian clone sold on AliExpress is not the actual Cali76 circuit.

Just for perspective I'm about half way through tracing one, and this is what the schematic looks like so far.
Image

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smear
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Post by smear »

i had no idea the MXR was an 1176, i'll need to pick one up. not too expensive used.

and wow bugg, great work so far! looking forward to seeing the results if you find the time to finish :)

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Post by Reachahighernoon »

bugg wrote: 04 Mar 2023, 23:18 It's a bit more than a handful of JFETs and BJTs...

There are two PCBs loaded on both sides with SMD components.

I can also say with confidence that the Asian clone sold on AliExpress is not the actual Cali76 circuit.

Just for perspective I'm about half way through tracing one, and this is what the schematic looks like so far.
Image
Is it me or from a quick view it doesnt really look like a 1176?

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Post by Whoismarykelly »

smear wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 20:34 the marketing doesn't mention any transformers
The original Cali76 models came with multiple transformer options and respective model numbers in addition to a standard model with no transformer. The compact series is more pedalboard focused so they removed all those options from the various pedals.

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Post by CHEEZOR »

bugg wrote: 04 Mar 2023, 23:18 It's a bit more than a handful of JFETs and BJTs...

There are two PCBs loaded on both sides with SMD components.

I can also say with confidence that the Asian clone sold on AliExpress is not the actual Cali76 circuit.

Just for perspective I'm about half way through tracing one, and this is what the schematic looks like so far.
Image
You're tracing the Asian clone or a real Cali76?

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Post by Ben N »

Hey, Bugg, if & when you issue an 1176 pcb, would consider a dual 1176 + preamp, a la the new UA pedal format, in order to capture the magic in this vid?

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Post by bmxguitarsbmx »

Pardon my opinion, that is the most expensive way to make a crappy tone. I do admit that mono dimensional tones can fit well in the mix

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Post by dmc777 »

Didn’t bajaman do a 1176 clone or variant? I wasn’t throughly impressed with MXR version. Was kind of a mix between bland or harsh.

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Post by CHEEZOR »

So, I ended up getting a hold of a few compressors and tried them out side-by-side. I haven't opened any of them up, but I wanted to leave my initial impressions. Keep in mind that I usually don't like compressors much. The ones I've tried previously have been too noisy for my tastes. I'm looking for sustain, not quack or evening out my dynamics. Most of my previous experience with compressors has probably been Dyna Comp variants.
comps.jpeg
From left to right:
  • Origin Effects Cali76
  • Origin Effects SlideRig
  • Ly-Rock Stacked Edition (Chinese ripoff of the Origin Effects Stacked Edition)
  • Demonfx Call76 (Chinese clone of Origin Effects Cali76 Bass Compressor)
  • Maxon CP9Pro+
The real Cali76 I ordered first and I liked it, which made me really curious about how the Chinese ripoff and clone compared because the Origin Effects pedals are ridiculously expensive. Both Origin Effects pedals sound great and are really heavy for a pedal that size. I think most of the weight is the enclosure, but it gives the feeling of durability. Although, the enclosure is usually not something that fails on a pedal and I'm sure guitarists with pedal boards would appreciate a lighter pedal when transporting gear.

The Ly-Rock pedal also weighs a lot and feels very sturdy. The knobs are missing black indicator marks, so it makes it really hard to tell where things are set, but a sharpie should fix that. This pedal seems like it has way more volume output than the Origin Effects pedals. It's kind of hard to get a unity gain. I feel like you're almost always going to get a little boost in there. Pedal sounds great though. Can't compare with a real Stacked Edition because I don't have one. I was bummed that they are blatantly ripping off Origin by using their brand logo on the pedal. The enclosure is painted white, unlike the Origin pedals.

The Demonfx is also missing black indicator marks. Pedal sounds decent on guitar. I don't play bass, so I can't comment there. It sounds pretty close to the real Cali76. I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference in a blind sound test. Same with the Ly-Rock, except for the volume boost would probably give it away. This pedal is insanely lightweight. Feels really cheap. The input jacks feel really cheap. It was hard to insert plugs into the jack sometimes. The plug would get hung up on something internally sometimes. There is no indicator light to show you how much compression is going on, unlike the other pedals. Apparently, the internet says that there is an indicator light, but it is mounted internally, so that's kinda of useless. I have not verified this on my pedal.

I liked the Maxon a lot too. It's discontinued, but can be found for much lot cheaper than the Origin pedals. It has less knobs, if that's what you're after. It doesn't have a clean blend knob, but I didn't feel like it needed it as much as the other pedals.

I found that when I had them all plugged in at the same time, I tended to use the Ly-Rock pedal and the Maxon the most, usually together with the Maxon as more of a boost. I might open them up at some point and take pics, but I haven't been as into that kind of thing as I used to be. I know this forum is for gutshots and all that. If I ever get in the mood, I'll do it. Sorry. *shrug* I'm assuming all the Origin/clone pedals have surface mount components and I probably wouldn't be able to read values off of them, so it also makes me less inclined to spend time on it. There's already an 1176 schematic in this thread though and I doubt any of these compressors (minus the Maxon) are anything crazy different from that.

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Post by bugg »

CHEEZOR wrote: 10 Jul 2023, 02:27 You're tracing the Asian clone or a real Cali76?
The original Cali76. I have my doubts that the Asian clone is actually a clone of the Cali.

The Cali is SMD, stacked PCBs loaded down on both sides with components, and considerably different from the actual 1176 schematic posted above.

It wouldn't be the most reasonable DIY project, there's no way you're getting all of that into a similar sized enclosure with through-hole components. It's one of the few traces that I eventually just pushed aside for another day. If I get a chance I'll snap some pics, it's still disassembled around here somewhere.

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Post by G.Bisson »

CHEEZOR wrote: 02 Dec 2023, 21:53 I found that when I had them all plugged in at the same time, I tended to use the Ly-Rock pedal and the Maxon the most, usually together with the Maxon as more of a boost. I might open them up at some point and take pics, but I haven't been as into that kind of thing as I used to be. I know this forum is for gutshots and all that. If I ever get in the mood, I'll do it. Sorry. *shrug* I'm assuming all the Origin/clone pedals have surface mount components and I probably wouldn't be able to read values off of them, so it also makes me less inclined to spend time on it. There's already an 1176 schematic in this thread though and I doubt any of these compressors (minus the Maxon) are anything crazy different from that.
More info and pics can be found on the Maxon CP9Pro+ in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=199844&hilit=maxon+cp9#p199844
It is powered by dbx 1252 & 1253 VCA-type IC's. Totally different from the '76 FET-type compressors.

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Post by CHEEZOR »

G.Bisson wrote: 05 Jan 2024, 13:39 More info and pics can be found on the Maxon CP9Pro+ in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=199844&hilit=maxon+cp9#p199844
It is powered by dbx 1252 & 1253 VCA-type IC's. Totally different from the '76 FET-type compressors.
Correct. I did not mean to insinuate that the Maxon was related to the 1176 circuit.

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Post by Ben N »

bmxguitarsbmx wrote: 27 Aug 2023, 18:32 Pardon my opinion, that is the most expensive way to make a crappy tone. I do admit that mono dimensional tones can fit well in the mix
I'm actually more into the Lowell George thing than the Black Dog thing, although I freely confess that fancy-shmancy FET studio compression is probably overkill (& I can testify that a feedback compressor paired with an optical gets you pretty darn close). I wonder how Lowell did it on stage - probably just a cranked Dynacomp into the front of his Dumble & a shaky Craftsman 11/16th socket, LOL.

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