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Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Dunlop Q-Zone QZ1

Based on Analogguru's schematic, I really don't know much about this other than it's supposed to be a cocked wah effect but it was a request and looks like something a bit different.  At least it's a bit of a detour from the usual dirt pedals! :o)

I couldn't find many demos out there either but here is one I found on Youtube:




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83 comments:

  1. Milkit8 March 2012 at 00:22

    Would there be any reason why I couldn't retrofit this as a board replacement into my knackered old JHS wah that died about 16 years ago & use it again as a normal wah? Would I need to be able to control the Peak & Q pots simultaneously to obtain the full sweep/scoop of the effect, thus answering my question as "NO"? I know there are other boards out there, but I can't be faffed with having to get a fasel inductor for it. I don't use wah that often, but it would be nice to have it in case I did & this would do me nicely. This "comment" is turning into a mini essay about my life & history!

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  2. IvIark8 March 2012 at 00:28

    Haven't got a clue mate! :o) I've never used this and haven't even seen a very comprehensive demo and so don't know whether you'd get the complete sort of sweep you'd need for a wah pedal.

    What about the Colorsound Inductorless Wah? I can do a layout for that if you like.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya9_N8LbWng

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  3. Milkit8 March 2012 at 00:54

    Seriously? You'd do that for me? Ah man that would be effin sweet Mark, thank you mate. Only as long as you don't mind? Thanks duder :0)

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  4. Anonymous8 March 2012 at 07:56

    Cool! I believe Kerry King (slayer) is a big user of these... this will have to wait... I can't keep up ;-)

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  5. visualdistortion8 March 2012 at 21:14

    One of the best effect pedal ever created! Thanks for the layout!

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  6. JBlack9 March 2012 at 12:34

    Thanks! This will be my next build (although it has to wait a month or two due to lack of time)

    One question: what do you mean with the "two links"? Is it just that the white point in the middle is also connected with the link?

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    1. IvIark9 March 2012 at 12:55

      I mean the end of two separate links are soldered into the same hole, in some instances it saves having to add an additional column to a layout and keep things tidier. The holes are plenty big enough for two link wires and so sometimes it makes sense. One goes up to the second row from the top the other goes down to the third row from the bottom.

      Delete
    2. JBlack9 March 2012 at 20:40

      Alright, I understand.
      By the way, I really appreciate this blog and your fast answers, it's great.

      Delete
  7. Milkit24 March 2012 at 09:27

    Hi Mark,

    I built this last night (along side the Hyperion), gotta love that "rusty cage" sound, but the effected signal is very very quiet with no effect from any of the pots (other than the volume). Tried the 2 suggested TL's (074 is the only quad I have). Just wondering if you or anybody else has had a go at it? Been through my build 3x but all "seems" ok, I'll probe further later on!

    Thanks buddy,

    Matt

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    1. IvIark24 March 2012 at 12:26

      Just been over the layout and one mistake did pop up. That cut on the IC1 pin 6 row shouldn't be there. Make a bridge over that and see what happens.

      Delete
  8. Milkit24 March 2012 at 23:03

    Hi Mark, thanks duder! That certainly sorted out the volume issue, aces! But still nothing from the Q or peak pots! Hmm, bummer! I'll go back over my build tomorrow or Monday.

    Thanks dude! ;0)

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    1. IvIark24 March 2012 at 23:31

      I'll go over it again mate and see if I can fathom anything else out. It certainly looked good to the schematic (but then I thought that last time too! :o)

      Delete
  9. Milkit25 March 2012 at 00:09

    Thank you mate!

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    1. IvIark25 March 2012 at 00:16

      If you can send me a front and back pic as well mate. I know you're good at this and so I don't want to teach my grandmother to suck eggs, but sometimes 2 eyes are better than 1 and it may save me having to ask you any more questions about your build anyway if I can see it as I'm checking things through.

      Delete
  10. Milkit25 March 2012 at 11:06

    Thank you good sir, I have emailed some photos over to you this morning mate. Totally agree re: 2nd pair of eyes! Thank you for all your help Mark!

    Matt

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  11. Milkit26 March 2012 at 11:19

    Mark, you're an effin legend sir, the fix worked!! Thank you dude, sounds pretty good, but I haven't had a chance to give it some real crank just yet, will do tonight though. Works as it should from what I can ascertain though. Great layout again mate, :0)

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    1. Doron Barness28 June 2013 at 11:04

      What ICs have you used? TL074 TL072 series or MC33 ?

      Delete
    2. Doron Barness3 August 2013 at 11:12

      Did Mark find any problem with the layout?

      Delete
  12. Milkit27 March 2012 at 00:30

    Yep, sounds bitchin'!

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  13. Milkit27 March 2012 at 10:12

    No worries bud, thank you for the provision! ;0)

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  14. Anonymous1 April 2012 at 13:36

    I'm interested in building this pedal. so is the schematic fixed or accurate? thanks

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    1. IvIark1 April 2012 at 16:08

      The original layout had an unnecessary cut, when that was removed the effect worked fine. So yes the layout as now shown above is verified as working.

      Delete
  15. Jumbled Opinion20 June 2012 at 19:22

    This is my first visit to the site, and I found it because I wanted to find a diagram for this now-discontinued pedal.

    I'm probably somewhere between beginner and competent where schematics are involved, but it has definitely been a few years. Is there a "how to" or explanation somewhere to assist with which caps, resistors, etc. to purchase (for example, MCM lists 23 different 1uF caps in stock). Also, do you explain how to read the tagboard layouts anywhere, or do you have a link to the explanation?

    Thanks for the resource!

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    1. IvIark20 June 2012 at 19:57

      With my layouts, the dark blue and light blue caps tend to be values over 1uF where electrolytic radial caps are usually used. The polarity is shown with the lighter minus sign in lighter blue on one side of the cap symbol. The burgundy caps tend to be polyester and the light brown/orange caps represent ceramic. Basically I would say in most cases for pf values I would use multi layer ceramic, for 1nF to 1uF values I use polyester (box, Panasonic ECQ, greenies etc) and for values over 1uF I use electrolytic or dipped tantalum if I want to keep the size down. Have a look here:

      http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtmlhttp://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

      You can get resistors, polyester (mylar), electrolytic and ceramic caps from there, along with a collection of diodes, transistors and ICs. For not a lot of money that will set you up for quite a few builds, and as a bonus their pots are very cheap too.

      As far as reading the layout goes, I've taken the schematic and interpreted it to make the layout, so you just need to follow the layout to put the track cuts, links and which rows and columns the components go to. Have a look at this build guide:

      http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/04/vero-build-guide.html

      Delete
    2. Jumbled Opinion20 June 2012 at 21:39

      Thanks for the quick response! What gauge wire do you recommend for your veroboard-based circuits?

      Delete
    3. IvIark20 June 2012 at 21:58

      I really like thicker wire but I got fed up using it for vero and PCB layouts because it's more awkward seating everything and of course takes up more space. I'd still use it for turret or tagboard layouts where you can get away with thicker wire more easily, but for vero and PCB builds I tend to use 16/0.2mm now. If you're in the US I think the equivalent is 22 AWG.

      Delete
    4. Jumbled Opinion21 June 2012 at 14:33

      I am noticing it is a bit difficult to locate 470K Log Pots online. How detrimental would it be to replace it with a 500K Log Pot instead for Peak and Volume?

      Delete
    5. IvIark21 June 2012 at 14:34

      500k would be fine

      Delete
  16. Jumbled Opinion21 June 2012 at 14:57

    I'm noticing as I price the parts that it looks like the first pedal I build might have the highest build cost. Since many of these parts sell in packs of 10, you wind up buying extras of a lot of parts, so then the cost per unit would drop once you've got a stock of parts.

    It's also a bit odd after looking at parts that sell for pennies apiece to find a single part that costs 4 or 5 dollars.

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    1. IvIark21 June 2012 at 15:02

      With my first few builds I bought 100 of everything to build up my components stash. It seems like an expensive way of doing something but it's still a lot cheaper than even buying a cheap pedal. As a bonus when you've built your stocks up you can get to the point where you can build anything and never have to get anything in specially.

      Delete
    2. Jumbled Opinion21 June 2012 at 16:01

      So when I do a search for the parts, if there are different wattage and voltage options for the part, how do I make the decision on which one to select?

      I know that we're building devices that typically can run off a 9V battery, so the voltages are low, but I don't know how to determine if it calls for 1/4-, 1/2- or 1-Watt resistors.

      Delete
    3. IvIark21 June 2012 at 16:12

      As a rule of thumb you want to only use caps with a higher voltage rating than the supply. This isn't entirely necessary because very few of the caps in an effect have the full 9V through them, but it's still a good practise to get into and errs on the side of caution. So for 9V supply effects you want at least 16V caps, if you plan on running something off 18V then go for 25V minimum.

      Most ceramic and polyester caps are rated at least 50V so you'll be fine with virtually anything there, it's the electrolytic or tantalum caps that you need to make sure are rated suitably because they come in a wider variety of voltages so people can make a compromise between rating and size.

      You can use 1/4 watt resistors for all the layouts in this blog, in fact 1/8W would be fine for the vast majority. I'd stick to 1/4W though because they're a good size for building on vero (they can sit next to each other on two consecutive columns) and aren't as fiddly as 1/8W can be. I've got a set of 1/8W too just to use across shorter spans that may need a standing resistorif I use 1/4W, but that's really the only time I use them.

      Delete
  17. Jumbled Opinion21 June 2012 at 21:19

    I'm starting to feel guilty for posting all of these questions, but since you're so helpful, perhaps it will assist the next newbie. How do you decide what size enclosure to use? The veroboard the way you designed it will fit in a 2" wide enclosure, but I would think for my first one, I might need to go a bit larger to accommodate novice assembly practices. Do you buy Hammond enclosures or just pick up what's cheap?

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    1. IvIark21 June 2012 at 21:56

      I try to make most of my layouts fit in a 1590B but sometimes it is nicer to use a bigger box like the 1590BB so you don't have to cram anything in. Using a bigger box in the first instance is probably a good idea until you get your own system in place for your offboard wiring and you're comfortable with it.

      I'm from the UK and tend to use Eddiestone equivalents to the Hammond boxes which are a bit cheaper.

      Delete
  18. JBlack17 July 2012 at 16:26

    So just to be safe, the resistor for the LED is already incorporated in this layout? (the 3K3 plus the 100R resistors in series?)

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    1. IvIark17 July 2012 at 17:24

      Well the 100R is the current limiting resistor before the supply reaches anything, but yes the 3K3 is the LED resistor. I will always include one with layouts like this where there is plenty of space.

      Delete
    2. JBlack17 July 2012 at 20:47

      ok, thanks, I'm building it right now :)

      Delete
    3. JBlack19 July 2012 at 17:39

      All built and working like a charm. Sounds pretty good. I'm not sure what to do with the trimpot though

      Delete
    4. mirosol19 July 2012 at 18:44

      Congratulations on your first successful build!

      That trimpot seems too trim the peak control.. :)

      Build some fuzz next!
      +m

      Delete
    5. JBlack19 July 2012 at 20:35

      well it's not my first actually :p
      Already built a BYOC large beaver, a DAM meathead (with layout from this blog), and then this. I actually already have the parts ready for a way huge piercing moose :)

      Delete
  19. JBlack18 July 2012 at 21:30

    found a mistake: the small link at the top right part of the layout is on the third column from the right, but the picture that only shows the cuts and links has it on the fourth column. I soldered it wrong, but saw the mistake early enough so I could desolder it out again.
    Anyway, I hope to finish this tomorrow evening :)

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    1. JBlack18 July 2012 at 21:34

      I don't think it matters if you would put the link in the fourth column, but then the cap would have to be on top of the link, which could cause a short or something

      Delete
    2. IvIark21 July 2012 at 21:41

      Yes I do that from time to time by copying the bare board over, and then changing something in the main layout and forgetting to replicate it on the bare board. I would work anyway, but thanks for the heads up, I'll alter the layout.

      Delete
  20. Travis1 August 2012 at 01:46

    Will this just give honky/midrange/cocked sounds, or does it do the whole sweep of a wah? I would really like to have the toe up position of a wah in a pedal....

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  21. Tsaddeous12 December 2012 at 17:05

    Hi,if i put this into my cry baby enclosure,with the Q-zone pot on the pinion,is that I will have a true wah,with volume and peak control ?

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  22. Christian19 February 2013 at 10:56

    Hi! Just built this pedal. Everything works but the effect has a volume drop and are more subtle then the original. I have the Kfk QZ-1 to compare with. I´ve measured and compared it to the original and it seems to have the same value. The two ic´s are mc33178 and mc33174. So what can be wrong, or what can be change to raise the volume? Can I try a different input resistor, try another ic like TL074?

    Also built the Paisley Drive and Ep Booster, works perfect and sounds awesome.
    Thanks for a great site and a fantastic job!

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    1. Christian12 March 2013 at 12:33

      I have measured it, built an audio test probe and double-checked everything twice. Finally I found the problem! I´ve put a 4.7k instead of a 47k. Do not underestimate visual inspection =) Now it works perfect! Thx for a great site!

      Delete
    2. IvIark12 March 2013 at 13:13

      Nice detective work!

      Delete
  23. Doron Barness14 May 2013 at 14:49

    So how would you guys recommend trimming the trimpot? by ear or by resistance? or what?

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    1. IvIark14 May 2013 at 19:28

      Ear always. I'd prefer an effect that sounded good to me rather than measured what someone else thinks it should be :o)

      Delete
    2. Doron Barness17 May 2013 at 15:44

      Thank you. What should I look for when tweaking it? will the trimmer be like fine tuning the frequency range or something? I am not sure I understand how the effect should really sound.

      Delete
  24. Doron Barness18 May 2013 at 11:21

    Assuming I don't have 3M9 resistor, would it be safe to say that for the input to ground resistor (for preventing pop noise upon engaging) any resistor from 1M to 5M would be fine? I do have 3M and 4M7 at hand.

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  25. Doron Barness18 June 2013 at 18:58

    Just finished this one and I have to start debugging it because it's dead silent. Is this layout verified? Any suggestions on where to begin after I checked and rechecked my layout?

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    1. mirosol18 June 2013 at 20:06

      It's been way over a year, but i never got mine to work. There a a few successful built reports though..
      +m

      Delete
    2. Doron Barness18 June 2013 at 21:48

      Thanks man,

      I really hope to solve this one. Any idea how to test the TL074 or a test point for voltage measurement?

      Delete
    3. mirosol19 June 2013 at 13:18

      I would check that grounds and 9V pins are correct at first. All the other pins should be around vref - this being the normal operation of an opamp. There could be some deviations, but if the grounds and 9V are correct, that should give you some pointers where to look next.
      +m

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    4. Doron Barness20 June 2013 at 20:07

      I am comparing the layout to the analogguru schematic. Although it's not a big deal....are all the pots supposed to be reverse logarithmic? Also, I noticed that the quad amp has the 4 amps in a little different order. That's not a big deal either just harder to troubleshoot.
      Could you just look again at the schematic and the layout to make sure that I am pissing on the right tree?
      I really wanna get this circuit up and running, it's for a friend and I hate to let him down.

      All the voltages to all the amps are about 7.4-7.9 volts. Is that OK?

      Delete
  26. Doron Barness27 June 2013 at 20:19

    Anyone?? please? any way to maybe test the IC TL074? Maybe it's busted? I checked and rechecked the layout a million times...

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    1. Unknown27 June 2013 at 20:24


      The best way to test an opamp is imho an audioprobe. You can hear exactly what comes in and what comes out.

      Delete
    2. Doron Barness28 June 2013 at 14:22

      Well I used the audio probe and checked and there is audio coming in but nothing comes out. Pin 4 shows it receives 8V and pin 11 goes to ground. I guess the quad op amp is busted. Ordered a few more.
      Thanks. Wish me luck. Never had a busted op amp before.

      Delete
    3. Doron Barness28 June 2013 at 14:22

      Well I used the audio probe and checked and there is audio coming in but nothing comes out. Pin 4 shows it receives 8V and pin 11 goes to ground. I guess the quad op amp is busted. Ordered a few more.
      Thanks. Wish me luck. Never had a busted op amp before.

      Delete
    4. Unknown28 June 2013 at 14:40

      4 and 11 are ic's power and ground pins so that part sounds right.

      So what you are saying is that you get your guitar signal on pin 10 but no signal on pins 8 and 6?

      Delete
    5. Doron Barness3 August 2013 at 12:29

      Pin 10 is actually pin 12 in the above layout. Pins 8 and 6 are pins 2 and 13 in the above layout. Right? In that case you are correct. No output on IC1 although I tested 4 units. It is probably somewhere in the layout or in my build. What was the final version of the cut near pin 6 in IC1?

      Delete
    6. Doron Barness3 August 2013 at 12:30

      I am almost about to give up on this project.

      Delete
  27. Unknown29 October 2013 at 15:34

    Where is Pin 1 from the ic one and two? ^ ?

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    1. Doron Barness29 October 2013 at 18:45

      If you are successful with this project please share.

      Delete
  28. Unknown30 October 2013 at 14:19

    Yes, soldering is ready and i check it tomorrow.
    I write here if it works

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  29. Unknown30 October 2013 at 19:08

    The quick check without case is done.
    First came a lot of hum.
    The trick is to solder ground with battery - and ground on the output jack.
    Then it works very well! I love it :-)

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    1. Doron Barness1 November 2013 at 05:49

      Thanks. Did you use the layout above as is? And which IC chips did you use?
      Happy you got it working.

      Delete
    2. Doron Barness2 January 2014 at 16:29

      Regarding the solder ground with battery and ground on output jacks.....this is a normal thing that I do all the time with all other builds. Did you do anything different here? or is it just the usual grounding scheme?

      Delete
  30. Unknown1 November 2013 at 17:14

    TL074 &TL072 works perfect.
    The Layout is the same as on the picture.

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  31. Unknown19 May 2015 at 15:22

    There is no way to get 330n ceramic caps in germany (at least at my known sources) ... are there any suitable alternatives?

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    1. Ciaran Haslett19 May 2015 at 19:00

      Mark most likely used that symbol due to the distance the cap has to span (2 rows). Most 330n caps are 5mm pitch or bigger meaning they would span 3 or more rows forcing you to bend the legs under the cap itself (the panasonic greenies get stupid big after 100n) So you can use any 330n cap you want as long as you connect their legs to the right holes

      Delete
  32. Hozy3121 June 2015 at 20:02

    Not sure about this one but maybe still have issues. Used a cermet trimmer instead of my usual Bourns 3362P which i prefer because its always easier to tune in the sweet spot IMHO purely because i ran out and they are pricey. Anway probably need to be more gentle with a cermet than a Bourns so i will keep tweeking and see what happens. Built the French Fries along side this and it soundsd so much better but i did use a Bourns 25k for that. You never know this one may be a suprise if my tweeking goes well and i have also ordered some Bourns 25k trimmers off good ol' Ebay.

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  33. Unknown30 November 2015 at 22:09

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Graham21 December 2015 at 10:28

    Had a proto board fabbed for this based on FSB thread schem and it works great. Thought I would mention here that reverse log pots (as stated in schem) worked better in terms of expected behaviour and usefulness, I initially had log pots in and it just wasn't right despite being fully working so would recommend reverse log throughout. Fun little circuit this one and something that will be staying on my board! :)

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  35. Doron Barness23 December 2015 at 05:40

    Thanks for this info, man!

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  36. Unknown30 July 2016 at 10:55


    Hello,

    I made this pedal , it works but not perfectly . The problem is in the race of 470K LOG . The changes are significant between 80% and 100% of the stroke of potentiometer.

    Should I change to LIN or anything else ?

    Can you help me ?

    Thanks =)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Pedals Cloner23 June 2020 at 16:24

    Schematic says that all pots are negative logarytmics, not logarytmics!
    So they should be 10kC and 2x470kC not 10kA and 470kA!!! 500kC instead of 470kC are also OK! :)
    I have build it and it works. Don't bridge the cut between IC1 legs 6&9. It should be there.

    ReplyDelete
  38. DoomOverlordWizard4 October 2022 at 21:38

    Fuckkkk.... I built this one thinking it was an actual autowah, did not realize it was a cocked wah effect. In that case, that makes a lot of sense as to why mine sounds like a cocked wah without the auto wah. Yep, it works lol, it def sounds like a cocked wah, and even gives a bit of a volume boost. Spent some time wondering why it wasnt auto sweeping. Has a pretty good range of cocked wah sounds though for sure.

    ReplyDelete