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                    Electric Druid FilterFX Construction Guide

      www.electricdruid.net

Build Instructions

You’re advised to have a read through of these instructions before starting work on the PCB. To 
keep these instructions reasonably brief, it is assumed that you know how to orientate common 
components.

Populate the PCB

The board should be populated in order from smallest components to tallest. The BOM on page 8 
is arranged in this order, so start at the top and work your way down. You can tick off each line in 
the “Done?” column on the far right.

If you hold the PCB with the “FilterFX” title and “electric druid” logo the right way up, you’ll see 
that the board is shaped like a “T”.  The top bar of the T has the Sync Input circuit, the vactrols, and 
the StompLFO chip.  Below them in the middle of the T, we have the filter op-amp and capacitors. 
Next we have the toggle switches, with resistors between them, including the three resonance 
selection resistors which are inside a white box. Finally, at the foot of the board is the input/output 
op-amp and its associated resistors and capacitors.

Power protection diode

Start by installing the 1N5817 diode in the top-left arm of the PCB. This protects the PCB against 
reverse voltage, so be sure to check the orientation carefully.

1N4148 Diode

Next do the 1N4148 diode. This protects the Sync input, and needs to be the right way around, so 
again check the orientation. It’s the furthest left component on the PCB.

Resistors

Next come the resistors. We do them in value order, from the lowest to the highest.

• 47R resistor x 1 - top left, next to the 1N5817 you just did.
• 220R resistor x 1 - on the bar of the T, top far right
• 470R resistor x 3 - two in the centre between the vactrols, one far right between the switches
• 560R resistor x 1 - between the switches
• 1K resistor x 2 - both left of the lowest TL072 op-amp
• 2K2 resistor x 1 - on the bar of the T, top far right
• 4K7 resistor x 2 - both together at the edge of the board, centre-left
• 10K resistor x 6 - three together to the right of the lowest TL072 op-amp, one in the Sync Input 

circuit top left, one left of the STOMPLFO chip, one in the resonance resistors box between the 
switches.

• 20K resistor x 1 - between the switches, centred
• 100K resistor x 2 - between the switches, one is the resonance resistors box, one not
• 120K resistor x 2 - one below each vactrol
• 680K resistor x 1 - between the switches, in the resonance resistors box
• 2M2 resistor x 2 - one to the left of, and one above the lowest TL072

Page 3

Summary of Contents for FilterFX Project

Page 1: ... 4 Regulator 4 Transistors 4 Ceramic bypass capacitors 4 Film capacitors 4 Electrolytic capacitors 4 Vactrols 5 Second cup of tea and Power Test 5 Drilling the enclosure 5 Potentiometers Switches and LEDs 5 Install ICs 6 Off board wiring 7 Optional Sync Input 7 Optional Expression pedal CV input 8 Adjustments and final testing 8 Bill of Materials 9 Offboard components 10 Component choices and subs...

Page 2: ...r addition of an expression pedal to allow the filter to be used like a wah pedal but don t expect a replacement for your Clyde McCoy this is a whole different thing The expression pedal can be used as well as the LFO modulation or with Depth at zero by itself There is also a Sync input for the LFO which allows the LFO to be kept in time with an external clock from a sequencer drum machine or anot...

Page 3: ...e in the top left arm of the PCB This protects the PCB against reverse voltage so be sure to check the orientation carefully 1N4148 Diode Next do the 1N4148 diode This protects the Sync input and needs to be the right way around so again check the orientation It s the furthest left component on the PCB Resistors Next come the resistors We do them in value order from the lowest to the highest 47R r...

Page 4: ...on the PCB Don t mix it up with the similar looking transistors Transistors There are two 2N3904 transistors both along the top of the board TR1 is to the right of the right most vactrol TR2 is in the top left in the Sync Input circuit Both are marked with an n for NPN Again be sure to line up the flat side and the curved side with the markings on the PCB Ceramic bypass capacitors There are three ...

Page 5: ... since after you fit the pots it s a lot more difficult to get to some of the PCB Ok now we take a detour the reason why will be come apparent shortly Drilling the enclosure The PCB is designed to be mounted in landscape format in a Hammond 1590BB enclosure or equivalent The board is held in place by the pots and switches You can download the FilterFX drilling template from the Electric Druid webs...

Page 6: ...d their legs outwards a little to stop them falling out of the PCB while you fit it It s a good idea to tighten the pot and switch nuts down a bit to ensure they are properly located in the enclosure Once you re sure everything s in place it s a simple job to solder the con nections and you re safe in knowledge that when you next try to fit it everything will be be per fectly lined up with your en...

Page 7: ... and the sync input The two switches are a 3PDT stomp switch to provide true bypass switching and control the bypass LED to show you the on off status of the effect and a SPST momentary foot switch for the tap tempo Optional Sync Input The Sync Input is optional If you include it it allows you to synchronise the LFO to incoming puls es from a sequencer analog synth or drum machine The Sync input j...

Page 8: ...tively If you don t want the Expression CV input there are two jumpers required shown on the right They connect the pads marked R 5 and T CV Adjustments and final testing Ok it s the moment of truth Power it up and plug it in With a bit of care and attention you should now have a working FilterFX pedal It doesn t need any trimming but the knobs cover a wide range and you ll need to learn how to ad...

Page 9: ...stor 10K 6 11 R5 1 Metal film resistor 20K 1 12 R7 R13 1 Metal film resistor 100K 2 13 R11 R12 1 Metal film resistor 120K 2 14 R8 1 Metal film resistor 680K 1 15 R2 R3 1 Metal film resistor 2M2 2 16 TL072 TL072 STOMPLFO IC sockets 8 pin DIP 3 17 REG1 5V Regulator 78L05 1 18 TR1 TR2 NPN Transistor 2N3904 2 19 C7 C9 C10 Ceramic capacitor 100n 3 20 C1 Film capacitor 100n 1 21 C2 C3 Film capacitor 10n...

Page 10: ... critical and a unit built with non ideal components will likely still work fine Resistors In the interests of lowest noise we recommend you use 1 metal film resistors Changing the LED resistors Depending what LEDs you use you may find the LEDs are too bright or not bright enough for your taste The Bypass LED is powered from the 9V supply with a 1K series resistor R15 bottom left below the 2M2 The...

Page 11: ... keep the light out heatshrink or even electrical insulation tape R11 and R12 both 120K limit the dark resistance of the opto s to something reasonable and you may find with other options that you need to change their values Ideas for potential upgrades or customizations Adding CV inputs Since the Electric Druid STOMPLFO chip operates using 0 5V control voltages like many other Druid chips it is p...

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