Home › Forums › Vintage EHX › Small Stone acting strange… Cool, but strange.

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  • January 8, 2009 at 2:48 am #77508
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Okay, so I bought a Small Stone off of ebay, and took it directly to the studio, as my band was recording. Our guitarist (I play electric mandolin [through all EHX into a Sunn Solarus]) asked if he could use the Small Stone in a freakout that he was overdubbing at the time that I walked into the studio. I hadn’t been able to test the pedal yet, so I just handed it over. The “rolling” call was heard through the headphones, and the Small Stone was activated. It made some FANTASTIC synth-type sounds that could be raised and lowered in pitch via the knob, and at the peak pitch, it would make actual phaser sounds, but the guitar’s signal was nowhere to be found. It was simply phasing the sine-wave type sound. At the bottom pitch, the pedal sounded kinda like a tape delay. All of this was going on while the color switch was on, and it wouldn’t make any sound at all when the color switch was off. It’s going on the album as-is, but I would like to know if the pedal is ever going to sound like a normal Small Stone. Is it the battery? I haven’t had a chance to check it because we’re keeping our equipment at the studio until the album is complete, and I live almost 100 miles from the studio. That’s a fun drive every day… Any help you folks can give will be handsomely rewarded… (I mean I’ll say “thank you”.)

    January 10, 2009 at 5:49 pm #90387
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Anybody?

    January 10, 2009 at 6:05 pm #90392
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    lol, I don’t know what to say!! I’ve never heard of a small stone sounding like that, but if it sounds cool then nice one!! ….but to be honest it sounds like someone sold you a broken small stone. :D

    January 10, 2009 at 6:41 pm #90396
    BlueSteel
    Participant

    Try changing the battery. I got this weird buzzing sound when i was playing my small clone the other day, so i decided to change the battery and it works fine.

    But if it sounds cool then keep it and buy another one for a normal phaser sound.

    January 11, 2009 at 5:20 am #90425
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Oh, I’m totally keeping it, broken or not. That thing sounds AMAZING. I’ve already scouted around and found another one just 30 miles from home in the guitar shop that sold my band…well…all of the amps we currently use onstage. I’ll for sure try the battery change as soon as I find myself in the studio again. Thanks for the suggestions and the “if it sounds cool, keep it” backup! Also, kids, look for the release of Frown Pow’r’s “Ricky Record” (Thick Syrup Records)… The musical destruction of everything you hold dear is close at hand. And don’t let our name fool ya’. We’re a happy little bunch of hillbillies.

    January 17, 2009 at 2:32 am #90972
    jonphipps
    Member

    Sounds like the Small Stone is ‘self-oscillating’. I sometimes tamper with the preset pots in my Deluxe Electric Mistress to make it self-oscillate in ‘filter matrix’ mode which creates some interesting drone effects.

    There might be a preset pot on the circuit board which corresponds to the LFO frequency: if this is too high i think (correct me if i’m wrong) it would be audible as a clear pitch as opposed to the subtle undulation of phase shifting that you would normally expect from a Small Stone. I have repaired a Small Stone reissue before, but i can’t recall whether there was a trim pot for the LFO. I’ve just looked at the schematic and i can only see one pot on there which i presume is the rate knob…

    This leads me to believe that the problem is perhaps to do with a faulty component. If you have a multimeter you can test the connections, voltage, current and resistance between the solder terminals of each component. To test capacitors you need to test the resistance (which if they’re working should be constantly changing as they charge and discharge over time).

    Good luck fixing your whacky Small Stone! :)

    January 17, 2009 at 6:03 pm #91007
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Holy crap! That’s a really REALLY good answer. I think I might not tamper with it, though… It sounds so good on the recording that I plan (if it’s not a battery issue) to just keep it running as is. As I said, I’ve already found another, and just haven’t purchased it yet. Thanks SO MUCH, though, man. That’s a LOT of help.

    January 17, 2009 at 6:09 pm #91008
    jonphipps
    Member

    Hehe thanks man! P.S. i get the ‘sitar’ drone effect by putting a MoogerFooger Ring Modulator after the self-oscillating flanger in filter matrix mode… if your into whacky sounds get a ring modulator! :D

    Will your recording be on myspace or something similar at some point? i’d like to hear what your haggard small stone sounds like!

    January 19, 2009 at 5:21 am #91091
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Good news, kids! It was the battery. I saved the old one in case it had some magic in it. It’s in my little wooden box.

    Jon, I have a ring modulator. I’ll try that trick tomorrow! The tracks will be up on our myspace (myspace.com/frownpower) by late March. The tracks are being mastered as we speak, and the one you’ll be looking for is called “Worst Night”. It’s during the guitar freakout after the second chorus. You’ll hear it starting on a lovely high pitch and swooping throughout. Have fun, and I hope you enjoy it!

    January 19, 2009 at 3:26 pm #91105
    BlueSteel
    Participant
    Quote:
    Good news, kids! It was the battery.

    Yes!! I was right for once!!! :rawk:

    January 19, 2009 at 10:15 pm #91179
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Congrats, dude! I’m kinda glad you were right… You being right means things were simple.

    January 20, 2009 at 8:57 pm #91274
    Rick Stevenson (EHX Staff)
    Member
    Quote:
    Okay, so I bought a Small Stone off of ebay, and took it directly to the studio, as my band was recording. Our guitarist (I play electric mandolin [through all EHX into a Sunn Solarus]) asked if he could use the Small Stone in a freakout that he was overdubbing at the time that I walked into the studio. I hadn’t been able to test the pedal yet, so I just handed it over. The “rolling” call was heard through the headphones, and the Small Stone was activated. It made some FANTASTIC synth-type sounds that could be raised and lowered in pitch via the knob, and at the peak pitch, it would make actual phaser sounds, but the guitar’s signal was nowhere to be found. It was simply phasing the sine-wave type sound. At the bottom pitch, the pedal sounded kinda like a tape delay. All of this was going on while the color switch was on, and it wouldn’t make any sound at all when the color switch was off. It’s going on the album as-is, but I would like to know if the pedal is ever going to sound like a normal Small Stone. Is it the battery? I haven’t had a chance to check it because we’re keeping our equipment at the studio until the album is complete, and I live almost 100 miles from the studio. That’s a fun drive every day… Any help you folks can give will be handsomely rewarded… (I mean I’ll say “thank you”.)

    The Problem, after talking with the engineers, is most certainly a loose wire inside of the pedal. It could be at the jacks or on the way be to the circuit board.

    The sounds you are hearing, while very cool, are being generated from within… triggered from the randomness of contact.

    Was this pedal used or new?

    If this is a used Small Stone and you feel competent, you may want to have the Small Stone opened to check.

    Make sure that the pedal is unplugged. HOWEVER, I would advise you to have a repair tech check it out. If it is new, send it in for service.

    January 21, 2009 at 4:57 am #91309
    Stankerbell
    Member

    Well, I changed the battery and tightened the nut around the output jack, and the problem vanished. A kind of bittersweet result, as I was WAY excited about the sounds it made, but am quite happy it now makes the sounds for which I bought it. Thanks a lot, though! If it happens again, I’ll crack ‘er open.

    August 18, 2009 at 9:25 pm #100687
    SanquiFlerb
    Member
    Quote:
    The tracks will be up on our myspace (myspace.com/frownpower) by late March. The tracks are being mastered as we speak, and the one you’ll be looking for is called “Worst Night”. It’s during the guitar freakout after the second chorus. You’ll hear it starting on a lovely high pitch and swooping throughout. Have fun, and I hope you enjoy it!

    I know, 6 months later, but I do want to hear that track, and I can’t find it on ‘your’space :(. Also, I could listen more from your band :).

    August 19, 2009 at 6:06 pm #100735
    devnulljp
    Participant

    I initially changed the wrong resistor when modding my Small Stone for volume drop and it did something like you describe with the color switch on. Self-oscillating whooping and whooshing. Cool, weird, but not what I wanted at all.
    (I think I pulled R10 and replaced it w/o checking properly — should have been R11).
    Which version do you have?
    See my earlier post with pics of a rev J and link to schematic and info here: http://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/982/

    So if you want to try getting weird noises going again….

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