Zvex - Inventobox [traced]

[ech0es]

Inventobox Overview V1.0 1-11-10

Ever want to build your own pedal, but weren't interested in the soldering, drilling, painting, and all of the assembly needed to make one from scratch?

The Z.Vex Effects Inventobox is a unique new product which allows you to quickly design, build and/or modify your own pedals without soldering! The Inventobox comes with two different channels so you can build either one or two different devices into the same box. All of the necessary components are included to make it easy for you... there's a variety of potentiometer values and switches all ready inside the box, quickly accessible through tiny sockets which accept standard experimenter socket wires or included cables. The unit is easily opened by hand to make fast modifications to the circuitry.

The unit consists of four basic components:

1] The enclosure with 4 permanently-mounted 100k potentiometers (rotary controls), two 3-position switches, 5 multi-colored LEDs, and two stomp switches with on/off LEDs.

2] Inside the dual enclosure is a window which contains connectors to access the input and output for channels 1 and 2, an LED work light to see the connectors more clearly, a 9VDC power connection, and various connectors for the multi-colored LEDs and potentiometers.

3] The lid for the upper part of the enclosure which contains 12 removable potentiometers (the order and values can easily be changed), 12 LEDs, and sockets which let you easily hook up wires from your pedal circuit to the various controls and LEDs.

4] The lid also has a removable brass shielded tray which contains an experimenter's socket where you build up your circuits.

Design features:

The Inventobox has several unique design features (patents pending) which make it easy to use as well as road-worthy when assembled. The brass tray provides electrostatic shielding between the bottom of the experimenter's socket and the potentiometers, eliminating cross-talk and noise issues. The removable brass tray on the upper enclosure's lid allows access to 12 removable potentiometers so you can easily set up the correct order for your pots, making the controls easy to remember. The design of the tray allows you to put a securing rubber band around the tray's edge to keep all potentiometer and LED wires in place. This makes the unit road-worthy. The security of the components and wiring is further enhanced by the use of one or more foam inserts which rest against the inside of the upper enclosure, holding vital components in place on the experimenter's socket. The lid locks in place on the two stomp switches for easy assembly when hooking up the cables to wire your circuit into the box. Just set the lid upside down on top of the stomp switches to lock it in place. Also, there are two stainless rods that hold the lid above the upper enclosure if you need to have it closer for easier wiring. Just slip the rods into the threaded screw holes in the enclosure, then hook the bent ends onto the lid.

Other design features include labels on the brass tray and potentiometers that describe connections and values, and a specially-designed circuit board that holds the pots in alignment when changing the order for your designs.

There are a number of different cables included with the Inventobox which provide a complete set of every type of wiring configuration you might need to connect your experimenter's socket to the inside of the lower enclosure. They come in two lengths, 100mm and 150mm, making it easy to reach the experimenter's socket on either the top or bottom. Here is a list of the types, along with descriptions of how they might be used:

A1 = 150 mm, 3 pos shielded wire, Red CCW, Clear middle, GND CW, qty = 1
A2 = 100 mm version of "A1", qty = 1
Used when the CW lug on the potentiometer needs to be shielded. Also use for 3-position switches.


B1 = 150 mm, 3 pos shielded wire, GND CCW, Clear middle, Red CW, qty =2
B2 = 100 mm version of "B1", qty = 2
Use for 100k potentiometers in the lower enclosure that need the CCW lug grounded (such as volume controls). Also use for 3-position switches.

C = 150 mm, 3 pos shielded wire, Red CCW, Clear middle, other side floating, qty = 1
Use for potentiometers or switches which only need two lugs, CCW and middle. Ground the shield at the experimenter's socket to eliminate noise. Also use for switches.

D = 150 mm, 3 pos shielded wire, Red CW, Clear middle, other side floating, qty = 1
Use for speed control potentiometers (tremolos, for example) and ground shield at experimenter's socket to eliminate noise. Also use for 3-position switches which only need 2 usable positions.

E1 = 150 mm, 2 pos shielded wire, qty = 2
E2 = 100 mm, 2 pos shielded wire, qty = 4
This two-pin plug connector is for LEDs or input/output for channels 1 and 2.

F = 150 mm, 3 pos unshielded, GND CCW, clear middle, Red CW, qty = 4
Use for potentiometers or 3-position switches that need no shielding, especially when you have a crowded experimenter's socket and space is at a premium inside your enclosure. The thin wires make it a lot easier to pack things inside the upper enclosure.

G = 150 mm, 2 pos unshielded wire qty = 4
Use for input/output wiring for channels 1 and/or 2 when shielding is not necessary, or for LEDs which don't need noise shielding.

H = 100 mm, 3 pos unshielded, GND CCW, clear middle, Red CW, qty = 4
Use for potentiometers or 3-position switches that need no shielding, especially when you have a crowded experimenter's socket and space is at a premium inside your enclosure. The thin wires make it a lot easier to pack things inside the upper enclosure. Similar to type F but shorter.

I = 100 mm, 2 pos unshielded wire, qty = 4
Use for input/output wiring for channels 1 and/or 2 when shielding is not necessary, or for LEDs which don't need noise shielding. Similar to G but shorter.

Modules:

Z.Vex Effects is presently introducing 3 modules so that you can easily build up famous Z.Vex circuits into your Inventobox. The first three will be the famous Super Hard-On, the Fuzz Factory, and a fully-buffered Tone Stack module that emulates the bass/mid/treble controls on a Marshall® amplifier. These modules plug into the experimenter's socket, eliminating the need to wire up most individual components. They're labeled with the connections you'll need to make to the pots. Adding a few jumpers to the board makes it easy to wire these circuits up in standard configuration, but if you want, you can adjust the values of different capacitors and resistors (and even the transistors on the Fuzz Factory) to suit your own tastes! Instructions for modifying the tone of your circuits are included with each module.

Assembling one module into the Inventobox can be done as quickly as 5 or 10 minutes! Changing the tone of the module to suit your personal tastes can be done in a matter of seconds. Using the stainless support rods, you can leave the lid floating above the enclosure and adjust the tone by quickly changing parts until you reach your ultimate sound!

The most amazing thing about modular construction for the Inventobox is that it's open-source! Anyone can design and build their own modules for the Inventobox. We hope to sell modules online by various designers which give you a really wide range of effect choices.

Sockets in the lower enclosure:

This sticker is found inside the upper enclosure, making it easy to know which sockets to use:



Here's a summary of the sockets and switches inside the window between the enclosures:

1] "Push LED" illuminates a pair of work LEDs inside the lower enclosure for a few seconds, allowing you to more easily see the connectors for plugging in your cables.

2] 2. “” is a slide switch which lets you disable the 2nd channel (if you are only building one circuit into your Inventobox) so you don't accidentally step on Channel 2 and have dead silence. This also allows you to use channel 2 as a tap-tempo switch instead of a true-bypass switch, if you are building a circuit that needs tap-tempo such as a tremolo or sequenced pedal. Slide to the right to disable Channel 2.

3] "SW1 IN" is the input jack for Channel 1. The left side is hot, the right side is ground. You'll always use this jack when you build a pedal into your Inventobox.

4] "SW1 OUT" is the output jack for Channel 1. Again, the left side is hot, the right side is ground.

5] "SW2 IN" is the input for Channel 2, if you're building two effects into the Inventobox.

6] "SW2 OUT" is the output for Channel 2.

7] When using Channel 2's stomp switch for tap tempo, connect this jack to the input of your tap tempo circuit, and bypass channel 2 using the circuit control switch (#2 above).

8] "TAP HI" jack is used to power up the tap tempo stomp switch. Connect +5VDC to the left lug and ground to the right lug for Z.Vex tap tempo effects.

9] "9VDC" jack is used to provide fused, filtered power to your circuit. If you exceed the Inventobox's maximum current rating by accidentally shorting the power to ground, the fuse LED will light on the lower enclosure and the 9VDC supply will be reduced to a safe voltage/current range. Disconnecting the 9VDC power and removing the short will cause the power to be restored.

10] "" switch allows you to turn off the Channel 2 stomp switch's on/off LED to reduce confusion about the function of that switch when it is not in use or when you are using it for tap tempo. Switch to the right to disable the LED.


Getting Started:

Remove the four thumbscrews from the upper enclosure's lid, set them somewhere safe, and lift out the lid. Inside you'll see the white experimenter's socket in the brass tray. Unscrew the two brass thumb nuts and set them aside securely. These are ordinary lamp parts that can be replaced easily at most hardware stores or any lamp repair shop. Lifting off the tray will reveal the top circuit board and removable potentiometers. Use the supplied mini screwdriver and socket wrench to remove the potentiometers and move the values you want to the positions you need each one to be in. For example, the Fuzz Factory and Super Hard-On modules can easily be built into the Inventobox if you put a C5k, B2K, B10K, B10K, B10K, and a C5K in order in the top row of the lid. Remember that the pots go in reverse order from the inside. Be sure to look at the construction as you progress to make sure you're not inverting the order. Don't over-tighten the nuts on the pots or you might strip the threads.

If you're going to use the Tone Stack module with the SHO or Fuzz Factory, simply install A1M, A20K, and A250K as the last three pots in the second row on the lid. This makes assembling the Tone Stack very easy.

Once the pots are in place and secured, re-attach the brass tray to the lid and use a proper-length jumper wire from the included kit to ground the black bus on the experimenter's socket to the tray. If you are using positive ground, connect ground to the red bus on the experimentrers'socket. In most cases, you'll need to jumper the center gap on the red bus across as well, unless you're using bipolar power.

Now plug in the modules so that the silkscreened images of the pots are properly oriented toward the proper pots. The SHO module goes on the far right, with the pot silkscreen aimed at its C5K pot. Use the proper-length wires to hook up the pot. Insert jumpers where needed. Connect power to +9VDC and ground pins. Connect type E cables to the input and output pins and grounds, and plug them into the proper Channel 2 input and output jacks in the window between the enclosures. You may now test the module by plugging in a guitar and trying channel 2. Make sure Channel 1's LED is off! The process is repeated with the Fuzz Factory module in the middle and the Tone Stack (if you wish) on the far left. Simply wire the Fuzz Factory's output directly to the Tone Stack's input and it's output to the OUT 1 jack using E-type cables. Be sure to select the lengths that most easily match the distance to the connections. The best way to do this is to set the lid inverted onto the stomp switches so that it locks securely in place. This makes it obvious what lengths to use, either 100mm or 150mm. The modules come with individual instructions as well as videos that show all details of assembly, as well as suggestions for modifying the tone of each module.

Rock on, and happy designing!

Zachary Vex

Pour ceux qui sont à la rue en anglais, c'est un peu comme le Line6 developper kit, mais en analogique.



The basic model comes empty for $299. For $299, you get a SHO module, a Fuzz Factory Module, and a Marshall® style tone stack with Bass, Mid and Treble controls. All of the modules have little jumpers that can be removed to alter the critical capacitor and resistor values that affect the tone. For example, you can make the FF brighter, deeper, heavier, thinner, less or more mids... anything you want.



Exactly. It's open-source so anybody can develop modules for it. I'm planning an iPhone app to sell the modules and supply modules from any maker who cares to develop them. Just imagine the cost savings for the other pedalmakers... no pedals to make and stock! Just circuit boards that they can populate "to-order" in small batches and ship to us for our stock.

Imagine how fast we can develop new products for market this way. We can have a module designed and shipping in as quickly as a month, even less.

But the most fun thing is that you can design your own pedal for literally pennies, using parts you already have or ordering inexpensive components from Mouser or Digikey or even running up to Radio Snack. You don't solder anything so all of your parts are reusable! It's an incredibly green concept and really saves a lot of money in flipping pedals if you have access to schematics.

It's $299 for the Inventobox. It's $399 for the Inventobox PLUS 3 modules... FF, SHO, and Tone Stack.

[Dr Tony Balls]

except the modules are already built...so its just kind of arranging them.

like really loud Legos.

[ech0es]

Bread board in a box.

Except you can't take the beavis boards on tour on a bedalboard.

[controller700]

Damn Zach, how complicated is that?!

[RnFR]

a novel idea coming from someone who has been such a thorn in the side of the diy scene, but not without it's issues.

it seems like it could be fun, but hardly what i would consider roadworthy- i heard someone say that breadboards are like diapers, they should be changed and thrown away often.

also, it seems like mr.vex is trying to build the new diy platform for the stompbox world, as it is open source, he expects other manufacturers to come up with products to supplement his design- a rather tricky scheme to add to his revenue. i don't really see other manus going through the trouble of soldering smd parts on a tiny board so that Vex can be the new Bill Gates of the pedal scene.

i'd say what's up with all those pots, but it's obvious he'll need them for his own Seek line. the majority would just end up otherwise being a waste.

it looks like something that may appeal to those that have a lot of money to blow, but i hardly think its the best way to actually learn about electronics. you are much better off just buying a breadboard and then building an actual unit that is soldered together. and although i didn't read all of the promo copy, i don't really understand how parts can be substituted when all of the the smd parts are already soldered to the boards. for 400 bucks, a guy could set up a whole shop full of parts and tools. enough to keep him satisfied for years of diy fun. that's the route i would take.

and is that a rubber band i see holding it all together?

[lolbou]

and is that a rubber band i see holding it all together?

I'm afraid it is... Most probably a gold plated one at that price...

It seems to me he admits that his own inventions are just stacked blocks, and that you can do your own, like the circuit maker applet I've seen somewhere on the net... Weird indeed to me...

But yeah, breadboard do grow old fast. He may have spares for this one too?

for 400 bucks, a guy could set up a whole shop full of parts and tools. enough to keep him satisfied for years of diy fun. that's the route i would take

+1

[5thumbs]

Well, Zach previously said that said "Give me enough knobs, I can control the world." Looks like we're one product closer to Zach taking over as global dictator. I still think Zach needs to come up with a pedal called "Box of Knobs"...perhaps that was the working title for this device

Seriously though, I have to give Zach credit for thinking out of the box, at least in the boutique market. I mean, we already do what this device does here everyday, so obviously, we're not the target market. What it appears to me that he's doing is creating, as Dr. Tony Balls said, "effects pedal legos" so all of his customers that want to play along with ZVex can, but without all that filthy soldering/etching/drilling/etc that turns you into either a social outcast or a boutique pedal maker. (Swirly paint or LSD-inspired paint jobs w/abalone+gold inlay sold separately.)

I like this product better than, say, the Line6 ToneCore series. Why? The Line6 stuff is all DSP/modeled, so I can't do much with it in terms of modding. Even with SMD modules in Zach's stuff, I can mod one of these modules if need be. And if the interfaces are all standardized and open as somebody stated, anyone could make and sell a module that interfaces with all the others, according to spec.

Now for the money...Zach will sell you the base kit for $299, but that'll just get you the basics. The real money (as if the $299 for the base unit wasn't already a good chunk o' change) will come from selling modules to this market. And I'm sure Zvex's modules won't be south of $75 each...c'mon, it's a ZVex product. Like John Deere before him, the price goes up when the name goes on...at those prices, you'd swear there's gold under that green paint.

It will be interesting to see if this launches a whole line of competing "backplane/motherboard" products and/or an "iPhone App Store"-type market to spring up for these modules. (I doubt that will happen, but then again, who the fudge thought the iPhone App Store would be the juggernaut it is today?)

I like it. I won't buy it, but I like the idea and have to tip my hat to the Crazy Minnesotan yet again. I expect the opinions on this to be diverse, to say the least, so I'll go back to lurking and smirking on this one.

[Dr Tony Balls]

It seems to me he admits that his own inventions are just stacked blocks

HAHAHA for real.

This hardly teaches anyone anything about circuits, too. Remember that the modules are complete circuits. All it allows the user to do is combine them in different ways in one box. The same way that we look at some manufacturers pedal and say "oh, that's a big muff with a rat tonestack". He's selling you clipping stages and booster stages and tonestacks and saying put em in whatever order you like. I think the idea is quite cool, but its an awful lot for what is kind of a novelty. I'd like to see some giant manufacturer make plug and play blocks with cheap danelectro-ish guts. That would be cool.

[RnFR]

hey, look at little Marin! what a cheeky little monkey!

and is that a rubber band i see holding it all together?

I'm afraid it is... Most probably a gold plated one at that price...

It seems to me he admits that his own inventions are just stacked blocks, and that you can do your own, like the circuit maker applet I've seen somewhere on the net... Weird indeed to me...

But yeah, breadboard do grow old fast. He may have spares for this one too?

for 400 bucks, a guy could set up a whole shop full of parts and tools. enough to keep him satisfied for years of diy fun. that's the route i would take

[RnFR]

It seems to me he admits that his own inventions are just stacked blocks

I'd like to see some giant manufacturer make plug and play blocks with cheap danelectro-ish guts. That would be cool.

indeed. if you are going to go this route, go all the way. make little cheap smd blocks(even potted), and have universal connectors covering in,out, Gr, V+ in one package, so that you can just plug them in and out. another set of connectors for pots. no breadboard, no illusion of learning electronics, just fun for the tinkerer who doesn't want to learn. make them cheap, and you could really have something that takes off. that is def is something i could see a company like dano doing and having it actually be successful. sell the box for 50 bucks, and 20 bucks a module. and i couldn't see it falling apart if it got knocked around like this thing. extra added on parts on the breadboard could definitely be at risk. what are you going to do when that coupling caps comes off the board in the middle of a gig?

fuck, maybe we should keep our mouths shut- it'll probably show up in 6 months for summer NAMM.

[culturejam]

I think it's a cool idea. It's basically, as was already pointed out, a gig-able Beavis board. Sort of. Reminds me of the Randall amp module things.

[Dr Tony Balls]

I actually had an electronics learner kit when I was a kid that was kinda like what I mentioned. Lego-like blocks that popped in and out of a big board. It was the size of a speak'n'spell and each block was maybe the size of a playing die, or maybe bigger. Each would have like a resisto or a capacitor or something in it, and the thing came with a booklet showing you how to hook em up and make a cirucit that did stuff.

Also worth mentioning is that Electra already did this in the late 70's with the MPC series, only instead of a pedal it was a fuckin' Les Paul copy!




POINT: ELECTRA

[soulsonic]

Hmmm... I could whip up a dozen new modules for this in about a week.

[RnFR]

Hmmm... I could whip up a dozen new modules for this in about a week.

crackle not ok?

[madbean]

I cannot see this being very successful. I mean, $400? C'mon. The idea is solid, and one that's been explored by several people before. I even thought about how do set up a modular type pedal with simple connectors and switchable modules a couple of years ago. But, if you are at all serious about pedal building then that amount of money can get you much much further. I think a better approach would be to make it one large enclosure, and only one circuit at a time which could be switched out. Put four knobs on the top and two on the sides. That thing is just too much with 16 knobs in two 1590B's.

I'm not knocking the effort. I think it's a pretty unusual approach for a big time pedal maker to take. It just seems over-engineered.

Now, if you really wanna think outside the box, here's what you do: his vision is an open source approach where anyone can develop a module and plug it in his box. Here's my approach: make a much simpler and less expensive box that any of these modules can be plugged into. How about $50?

Who wants to go first?

[soulsonic]

Yes, this can definitely be done better.



















Oh, yeeeeeah!

[puppiesonacid]

IF YOU CANT BEAT 'EM JOIN, 'EH ZACHY BOY?

[madbean]

Here's an idea that would actually be simple and geared towards any musician: an open source modular analog pedal board. A nice little box with 4 - 6 rectangular slots and a simple design specification. Four connectors, in/out/power/switch. The box has a solid power supply and tuner on board. Anyone can develop an analog insert for whatever effect you want, as long as it fits into the design dimensions. Now you can create your own pedal board in a few minutes by hooking up whatever effects modules you want in whatever order. Ten minutes and you are ready to take it to the gig.

I think I'll call it the Go GiggerTM

[bumblebee]

Take away the modules and you are left with a bread board! Give a guy with no diy knowledge a bunch of resistors,caps,diodes and trannies and he will NOT get the thing to work!



Its not really a great idea and unless you already know how bread boards work its going to be 100% useless for most people.

About the modules, why not just make a straight up pedal that takes modules like line 6 does or something.

This is complete fail IMO!

[puppiesonacid]

Here's an idea that would actually be simple and geared towards any musician: an open source modular analog pedal board. A nice little box with 4 - 6 rectangular slots and a simple design specification. Four connectors, in/out/power/switch. The box has a solid power supply and tuner on board. Anyone can develop an analog insert for whatever effect you want, as long as it fits into the design dimensions. Now you can create your own pedal board in a few minutes by hooking up whatever effects modules you want in whatever order. Ten minutes and you are ready to take it to the gig.

I think I'll call it the Go GiggerTM

yeah, rg keen already posted this same thing on his site...