CMATMods - Signa Comp

jb351 · Post by **jb351** » 20 Nov 2010, 15:10

I grabbed the pics from a local Kijiji classified ad.

newly · Post by **newly** » 20 Nov 2010, 17:01

how far is this from the dyna comp?

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 20 Nov 2010, 18:35

I hate to be a negative Nancy, but I'm not terribly impressed with how that stuffed PCB looks. I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I prefer resistors and diodes to lay flat, and not have caps all crooked.

But hey, if it works, then I suppose looking like shit isn't a big deal.

Jack Deville · Post by **Jack Deville** » 20 Nov 2010, 19:37

Functional is a requirement.
Pretty is nice.

I think yall know my stance on this.

Hides-His-Eyes · Post by **Hides-His-Eyes** » 20 Nov 2010, 20:09

I'd probably have resoldered the 104 cap, but other than that I don't think it's that bad...

I think sometimes this forum gives us unrealistic standards sometimes; it's a PCB, nothing's going to move in there...

Offboard is important, but I don't think there's anything really wrong there.

HEAD · Post by **HEAD** » 20 Nov 2010, 20:24

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:
Offboard is important, but I don't think there's anything really wrong there.

... maybe the solidcore wires as they tend to break more often than braided wire. Furthermore maybe also the lack of locking washers under the jacks. Once I started to use them I never wanna go back. Realy prevents self loosening jacks.

Hides-His-Eyes · Post by **Hides-His-Eyes** » 20 Nov 2010, 20:27

Doing a 3PDT with multicore wire is a thankless task, though...

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 20 Nov 2010, 20:43

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:I think sometimes this forum gives us unrealistic standards sometimes; it's a PCB, nothing's going to move in there...

No, there's nothing in there that will make it not function. It just looks like it was a rush job. I think neatness does count. It tells you the mindset of the person building the pedal.

Also, I wouldnt' break balls on a hobby pedal that looked like that. But "boutique" means hand-made high quality and attention to detail. And if the price tag is higher than a mass-produced pedal, I think expectation is that there is an improvement in quality and more attention to detail. Otherwise, what's the point in doing it by hand?

Hey, the guy sells a lot of pedals, so I'm sure they don't just break randomly. I just think the board work could be neater.

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:IOffboard is important, but I don't think there's anything really wrong there.

Yeah, offboard wiring is important, too, but it can look like a rat's nest and still work fine. I'd just rather see that someone took the time to make it neat. It will work either way, but if it is my money on the line, I'll opt for the box that looks like some thought and care was put into it.

Look at Jack Deville's pedals for what I'm talking about:
http://www.jackdeville.com/darkecho.php

HEAD · Post by **HEAD** » 20 Nov 2010, 21:08

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:Doing a 3PDT with multicore wire is a thankless task, though...

It is indeed, but proper routing skills will save you that too. If you're on the way using solidcore wire you can even go further and make everthing board mounted like Catalinbread for example. Saves you a lot of trouble too.

Hides-His-Eyes · Post by **Hides-His-Eyes** » 20 Nov 2010, 21:18

Yes, those are beautiful guts; but you'll notice that even jack uses solid core wire for his offboard. This is what I mean when I say people are unreasonably critical; even a beautiful pedal like that has SC wire in it, but as soon as someone who isn't one of our own is selling something (usually at stupid prices, to be fair) suddenly solid core wire is unforgivable.

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 21 Nov 2010, 03:28

I like solid core wire. It's much easier to work with, and the chances of it breaking is very minimal.

Jack Deville · Post by **Jack Deville** » 21 Nov 2010, 18:27

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:Yes, those are beautiful guts; but you'll notice that even jack uses solid core wire for his offboard. This is what I mean when I say people are unreasonably critical; even a beautiful pedal like that has SC wire in it, but as soon as someone who isn't one of our own is selling something (usually at stupid prices, to be fair) suddenly solid core wire is unforgivable.

Umm...

I exclusively use custom RoHS-compliant stranded TOT 24/7. Its not cheap, but it is nice wire. ALWAYS a white jacket. ALWAYS.
Thanks for noticing my products though.

Solid-core is fine in my book. Its really all about execution. Hey, the leads on the components are solid right? Guys go bananas over true PTP builds... Just sayin.

jaybeemusic · Post by **jaybeemusic** » 23 Feb 2011, 17:47

Did anybody ever finish this one? Is it really just a Ross comp clone?

newly · Post by **newly** » 06 Apr 2011, 08:01

I had not actually dissect it but from the components....it is really close to the dyna comp.
Probably some caps value changed to pump out a warmer sound.