Dunlop Rotovibe question

[grego7]

I just got a rotovibe off of ebay, and I noticed that with the heel all of the way down (slowest rate) it still oscillates (or phases or whatever) about 3-4x per second. The mojo and magic boy seem to slow down much much more than this, and even my my phase 90 gets a much slower rate (I like the vibe at a slow chorus-y rate more than the faux-leslie sound).

So I messed with the gear that turns the pot, and actually turned the pot by hand all the way to the end of the taper and it seems that I can't get it to go any slower - which is kind of sad because the other end of the pot (with the fast oscillations) seem kind of useless once you get past 1/3 of the taper.

Any advice on how I can slow this down? I really like the sound of the rotovibe, just want it slower.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Bob Sweet]

If you could get the schematic and figure out which cap controls the basic speed of the oscillator, you could swap that out for a different value. It would effect the overall speed of the LFO.
I had that schematic years ago but I haven't seen it in ages.

[alderbody]

I removed the guts from mine and re-cased them in a huge hammond box.

I used the original pots, and i think that mine can go really slow, but i think this happened even from the time it was in the original enclosure.

I also made two additional controls out of those two trimpots inside. They really change the voice of the effect...

btw, i used the pedal to make a (fantastic...)wah... :D

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/alderbody/Vibe.jpg

[Swarty]

Wow! what a great idea! (Looks great, BTW) I have one hear collecting dust.... Just what I need, another project....

[Garrett Bagby]

I think mine goes plenty slow. I'll have to go play with it and see just how slow it goes. Something doesn't seem quite right about yours.

And, oooh, there's trim pots in there?! Looks like I have some playing around to do! :)

[TheTrowerFreak]

The blue boxes - top middle.

To the original poster ... turning the pot manually (off the rack gear) slowed mine down.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-1/9149/rotoone.jpg



Originally posted by Garrett Bagby
I think mine goes plenty slow. I'll have to go play with it and see just how slow it goes. Something doesn't seem quite right about yours.

And, oooh, there's trim pots in there?! Looks like I have some playing around to do! :)

[grego7]

Yep, I've tried hand-turning the pot (off of the rack gear), and where it stops turning (all the way clockwise) it still phases at ~ 3 hz.

Another WEIRD thing: my trim pots are epoxied!!!!

WTF?!

GOD, EBAY PISSES ME OFF SOMETIMES!

[grego7]

Okay, just got off the phone with Dunlop. Guy was semi-helpful. He says that the rotovibe is set to phase a lot faster than the phase 90 (for example). Then he mentions that the trim pots may need to be adjusted (although those only control the depth it seems to me). I mentioned that mine appear to be epoxied - "oh yeah, we hot glue those at the factory because they're at the optimal settings when we ship them"...um, okay. Anyway "maybe" they can do a mod, he has to talk to the engineers who will probably charge me quite a bit "because they're engineers"...oh man, whatever.

(where's that lovepedal website again?...)

[cuz/karl]

If it's hot glue you should be able to pick that off without heating it up.

Also look into a different pot value.I fixed a smallstone for my buddy. I put some pot in it that was sitting around & when I hooked it up it went MUCH faster &MUCH slower.

He loved it.
Good luck.

[cuz/karl]

or try this

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/151123/

[MrSage]

Originally posted by Swarty
Wow! what a great idea! (Looks great, BTW) I have one hear collecting dust.... Just what I need, another project.... Hey...

E-mail me or send a private message if you decide to do that.

I'll buy the empty case off of you!

:)

[grego7]

Originally posted by cuz/karl

Also look into a different pot value.I fixed a smallstone for my buddy. I put some pot in it that was sitting around & when I hooked it up it went MUCH faster &MUCH slower.

He loved it.
Good luck.

I have the pot from a BYOC phase pedal that I bought. I'll give that a try.

Thanks for all of the help everybody.

[j_hotch]

Originally posted by TheTrowerFreak
The blue boxes - top middle.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-1/9149/rotoone.jpg

I'm curious as to your opinion of this pedal compared to other 'vibe clones - like the MicroVibe, for instance.

Also: do you know of anyone who does a True Bypass mod on this pedal?

Thanks!

[TheTrowerFreak]

Originally posted by j_hotch
I'm curious as to your opinion of this pedal compared to other 'vibe clones - like the MicroVibe, for instance.

Also: do you know of anyone who does a True Bypass mod on this pedal?

Thanks!

VL MicroVibe? Very different sounding pedal than the Roto. (neither of which are UniVibe clones, btw)

Of the two, the Micro is closer to what a vibe is/does. The Roto has a unique "thing' happening.

You'd know in 5 seconds which one you prefer.

Bypass? I'd probably ask Analog Mike.

TTF

[alderbody]

hehe....

before: (as rotovibe)
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-1/9149/rotoone.jpg

...and after: (as Clyde Wah) :D
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/alderbody/wahguts.jpg



btw, my roto has smaller photocells and metal film resistors...

maybe that's why it sounds so "sterile"...

The hot-glue on those trimpots can be easily removed by hand.

I don't remember their exact value, but the pots i used to replace them have a slightly larger value and their effect is kinda more audible.


The tone of this pedal is not really "univibe_ish", but rather on it's own league...

I mostly use it at the slowest rate, where it really fattens the signal of a single coil pickup.
But i don't play with it very often...

I would prefer the VL microvibe over this one.

Of course a real univibe clone is the best choice IMHO.

[GCDEF]

Originally posted by TheTrowerFreak
VL MicroVibe? Very different sounding pedal than the Roto. (neither of which are UniVibe clones, btw)

Of the two, the Micro is closer to what a vibe is/does. The Roto has a unique "thing' happening.

You'd know in 5 seconds which one you prefer.

Bypass? I'd probably ask Analog Mike.

TTF

Well according to VL "The Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe delivers the lush, psychedelic swirl of the original Uni-vibe. And it’s the only Uni-vibe copy available in a compact, battery-operated pedal. The Micro Vibe includes the original sine-wave oscillator, incandescent lamp, and photocells to achieve the most authentic sound of any Uni-vibe clone."

Sounds like a clone to me. I've owned two, both of which were kind of quirky. I didn't really care for them.

I'm using a Dunlop Uni-Vibe (the cheaper smaller one), and although it isn't a clone, it does emulate one pretty well. It'll do Bridge of Sighs nicely. Goes nice and slow too.

[j_hotch]

*daydreaming*

A MicroVibe in a Rotovibe-style enclosure would be a dream pedal for me. I'd better brush up on those soldering skills!

[grego7]

Ah hell with it - this is going back to ebay...

If anyone here wants it please let me know.

[burner]

Old thread but common issue.

I recently picked up a VL Micro Vibe and I think it sounds great!
(I don't remember my original Uni Vive sounding that much different)

The problem is that I'd like it to move a little faster at top speed.
So far I haven't found a mod (or schematic for that matter) that addresses this issue.
I sent an emal to VL 4 days ago to see if there is any way it can be changed but they haven't replied yet.
Got any ideas?