Get BUILD

YOUR OWN

Your
JORDAN
VICO
VIBE

Wobble
On
WORDS BY NICHOLAS KULA

38 TONE TALK // Get Your Wobble On: Build Your Own Jordan Vico Vibe

JORDAN
ELECTRONICS
CREATED SOME
SERIOUSLY
AWESOME PEDALS,
though many hardcore effects geeks
may have never heard of the company.
Jordans parent company was founded in
1928 and later went on to create portable
home-grade Geiger counters. Jordans
somewhat checkered past also included
doing top-secret nuclear field tests during
World War II, and somewhere along the
way, it got mixed up in an even more
sinister realm: guitar pedals.
In its heyday, Jordan made two types
of pedals: One was big wah-style foot
machines that housed wah and very un-
wah circuitsoptions included one of the
first ever Big Muff clones (the Creator), a
vibrato (the Vibrasonic) and a wa-wa, Weekly bears any responsibility for any
which was an inductorless filter sweep;
sort of like a wah. The other type was
simple plug-in effects with two knobs,
much like Dan Armstrong effects but a
few years earlier in the effects epoch.
These units were simple unusable with a
Strat and plugged right into the guitar,
giving players real-time knob control at
the expense of having a giant contraption
hanging from the guitar. The venerable
Boss Tone was one of these boxes. The
Boss Tones unique circuit has been copied
and expanded upon countless times by
many effects contemporaries, who shall
remain nameless. However, today, you
will make a Vico Vibe.
You might ask, Whoa, Im going to make
a vibrato pedal? Sorry, but you are not.
The Vico Vibe was produced in a special
time in guitar history, the time when
vibrato actually meant tremolo (see
also: Fender, Leo). And just like that classic
Fender tremolo circuit, the Vico Vibe is a
rich, lush trem effect with two controls
adorning such a simple circuit: Rate and
Depth. The sound is no-frills amp-like
trem, rich, lush and very vintage. Original
Vico Vibes were made in numbers less than
100, so the odds of coming across one in
the wild is slim to none. What a perfect
storm of DIY circumstances: Rarity, circuit
simplicity and great tone are what we
have to work with, and work with them
we shall. Up the irons!
But first, the disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Neither I, nor Tone Report
kind of personal or property damage that
may occur as a result of the instructions
provided herein. Legal mumbo-jumbo
aside, we ask that readers be familiar with
a soldering iron and its accompanying
safety procedures before trying anything
listed here. Furthermore, if you fire the
pedal up and it does not work, it will
need troubleshooting. Assuming the
components are not damaged, the pedal
will work. I built this very unit according to
these instructions and it fired up, first shot,
so I know the instructions are correct.
ToneReport.com 39
40 TONE TALK // Get Your Wobble On: Build Your Own Jordan Vico Vibe
BOARD
COMPONENTS
Resistors:
1x 1m
1x 220k
2x 27k
1x 3.3k
1x 39k
2x 560k
Capacitors:
4x 100220nF film capacitors. The original schematic calls for 100nf, but the
minimum speed is still very fast. Increasing the value to 220nf slows it down significantly.
You may want to socket the capacitors to find your favorite speed range. This layout
uses 220nF capacitors.
1x 100uF electrolytic capacitor (not included on original schematic, this is for
power filtering)

Semiconductors:
2x 2n5088 transistors
1x 6.8v Zener diode (can be tricky to source and part numbers can differ. I got mine
from http://taydaelectronics.com, part number 1n4736).

Potentiometers and miscellany:

1x 100kA potentiometer
1x 100kB potentiometer (original called for 2x 100kA, I found 100kB works better
for Depth control)
1x 1M trimpot
1x 14x10 Veroboard (stripboard) with holes drilled according to diagram
Wire
ToneReport.com 41
 STEP 1: Insert transistor sockets
(and capacitor sockets if youre using
them), place something flat on top,
then flip and solder.

1.

STEP 2: Install resistors and

diode, bend the leads and clip them.
Save the resistor leads, but not the
diode leads (theyre too thick).

2.

STEP 3: Use the leads to make

the five jumpers and solder them in.
Save one extra lead.

3.
42 TONE TALK // Earths Bounty: Build your very own Earth Sound Research Graphic Fuzz
 STEP 4: Install capacitors, bend
leads, solder and clip.

4.

STEP 5: Install trimpot. You may

need to bend the leads a bit to make
it fit. Make sure the jumpers below are
not touching the leads of the trimpot.
Dont worry about setting it just yet.

5.

STEP 6: Install the wires into the

labeled areas, solder.

STEP 7: Solder the wires to the

Depth and Rate pots.

6.
ToneReport.com 43
 AT THIS POINT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR
multimeter on continuity (looks like a sound wave) mode and test adjacent rows
and across all track cuts. Note that rows I and J on the right side, and rows C and
D in the center will read as connected because they are jumpered. Take this time
to observe any cold solder joints (cold joints will be dull). If youre using lead-free
solder, they may all look cold. Theyre not.

If youre not using a multimeter or dont have one, make sure that no solder is
leaking from one row to an adjacent one. You may want to use a boxcutter or
some such knife and run down the non-conductive tracks between rows, ensuring
any stray solder is removed.

NOW LETS BUILD THAT ENCLOSURE!

44 TONE TALK // Get Your Wobble On: Build Your Own Jordan Vico Vibe
ENCLOSURE
COMPONENTS
1x enclosure drilled for two knobs, one footswitch,
one power jack, one LED, input and output jacks
2x mono quarter-inch jacks
1x DC power jack
1x LED of any color
1x LED bezel that matches the size of the LED
1x 3PDT latching footswitch
2 knobs of your choice
1x 2.2k resistor
Wire

ToneReport.com 45
 STEP 1: Mount the footswitch, DC
jack, input and output jacks and LED in
bezel.

1.
STEP 2: Bend the LEDs negative
(shorter) leg into the shown spot on the
switch wiring diagram. If it wont reach,
use a wire. Make a little loop in one
leg of the 2.2k resistor and slip it over
the LEDs positive (longer) leg. Thread
the other end of the resistor into both
positive power terminals on the DC jack
(the two facing the same direction) and
solder just one of the terminals. Use the
spare lead from the boards Step 3 to
join the two footswitch lugs shown on
2. the diagram, but only solder the top-
center lug for now.

STEP 3: Mount the potentiometers

into the enclosure.

3.
46 TONE TALK // Get Your Wobble On: Build Your Own Jordan Vico Vibe
STEP 4: Attach the wires from
the circuit board into their labeled
spots on the switch and DC jack (this is
where you will solder the other lug.) All
ground items need to be connected:
The ground wire from the circuit board,
lugs 2, 3 and 6 on the footswitch, the
negative lug on the DC jack and one of
the sleeve lugs of the input jacks (I do
both for security reasons). Normally, I
run the footswitch to DC, DC to sleeve
lug and sleeve lug to circuit board. 4.

STEP 5: Wire the input and output

jack tip lugs to the switch.

STEP 6: Power it up, and if it

works, use the trimpot to fine-tune
the Depth control. I like it set just a
hair below maximum.
5.
So, what does it sound like?
Its a very amp-like tremolo sound with a
minimal parts count. In fact, I personally
was a little taken aback at how good
it sounded. Many tremolo pedals
today boast optical features, multiple
waveforms and complicated circuits,
so its nice to know that such a great-
sounding effect can be made from only
two transistors. Heres a clip of Andy
playing the Vico Vibe with a Telecaster
into his Deluxe Reverb reissue.
6.
ToneReport.com 47
 MANY TREMOLO PEDALS TODAY
BOAST OPTICAL FEATURES, MULTIPLE
WAVEFORMS AND COMPLICATED
CIRCUITS, SO ITS NICE TO KNOW
THAT SUCH A GREAT-SOUNDING
EFFECT CAN BE MADE FROM ONLY
TWO TRANSISTORS.

48 TONE TALK // Get Your Wobble On: Build Your Own Jordan Vico Vibe