Thursday 24 December 2015

Ibanez NB-10 Noise Buster

Original info:
Unlike conventional noise gates, the IBANEZ NB 10 Noise Buster is capable of cutting out noise not only while there is no signal flow, but during actual playing as well, thus providing far more effective noise reduction. A FREQUENCY control lets the musician eliminate noise components without impairing the envelope or sustain of the original sound. With the NB10, players are liberated from the adverse influence of stage lighting or single coil pick-ups on their music, and high gain distortion effects can be used without having to worry about noise.









37 comments:

  1. Really impressive work making this 1590B friendly! Thanks Alex! I'm gonna give this one a build once I get the IC

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  2. Thanks Alex - this is JUST in time for me. I was looking for a good noise gate and this looks like a great one. I like that it also has an RF filter.

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  5. I can't find the lm1894 anywhere may have to start looking at old tape decks see if I find one in them.

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  6. You can get the LM1894N from one U.S. vendor on eBay for $8.

    This is an interesting circuit and I'd love to hear if anyone builds it.

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    1. Thanks for that missing 'N':) Now it's showing up in the searches.

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    3. I got three of them for $10. I guess I have two extra. I just built this but on first test it did not work. I need to go over it. One thing I don't understand is it does not have a threshold control (for setting where the gate kicks in) - it just has the frequency control. Is the threshold automatic, or doesn't it also work like a regular noise gate (the manual says that it does, but I am not sure how)

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  7. Call this verified. I have some very high gain pedals that make an obvious background noise such as my BSIAB. This thing really does the job eliminating almost completely. This will now definitely be on the everexpanding pedal board.

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    1. I'm assembling this as I wait on some parts and found the link next to the 100p cap near the top right is in two different spots in the two layouts. Otherwise looks good.

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    2. Thanks!
      That was fixed on the day you've mentioned it but I forgot to write it.

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  8. Alex - are those small red caps along the top 100n or 100p? (they actually look like 100u)

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    1. Nevermind - when I zoom in I see they are 100p

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  9. here in my country the lm1894 is at 00.20 cents i peak a lot of them

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  10. I have build this but I get no sound out...when I engage it it just shuts all sound...did someone had a similar problem?

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  12. Hey Larry, try re-flowing your solder points. Mine wasn't producing any sound either, so I re-flowed and now it's working beautifully.

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    1. thanks for reply, I will try this weekend, I will report back.

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    2. All fixed. Only thing that I have noticed that pot does not silence all the noise. I have Boss NS-2 and it is way more efficient. Really a big disappointment with this pedal if it is like it should be. Maybe I have done something wrong.

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  13. I finished mine this weekend. It seems to work well. It seems to really tone suck the highs when the pot is turned up. I guess its the nature of the beast. Does anyone know if we could mod it to too take out less highs ?

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    1. You could change the two 8n2 caps with a 4n7 or a 3n3 which gives a bigger bandwidth. I've done that and it is amazing. The lower you go the noise floor gets a tiny bit higher so 3n3 would be the minimum reasonable value. (3.3nF is mentioned in the LM1894N datasheet itself so it's good) I anez or whoever produced it for Ibanez probably thought the warmer tone was a cool feature but it's kinda dumb honestly since people don't expect tonal change from a noise filter. Or maybe it was overlooked....

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  14. https://youtu.be/agbCp3rFWwk

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  15. What does the dot mean at 12x5?

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  16. It means 2 jumpers are connecting together in same hole.

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  17. Hey there !

    Just finish this thing, it souands amazing !

    Thank you Alex ;)

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  18. Hey all,

    I just finished this pedal but I have a kinda Wash sound when I play heavily distorted guitars. Like some kind of delay ish wash sound.

    Any 1 know how to fix this?

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  19. I just finished building it, works but gives me more noise than taking down the noise... Also with to pot at maximum it gets like an oscillating sound coming through together with the guitar signal...
    Anyone has an idea what I've might been doing wrong... :(

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  20. Might try this one and well see what the outcome. More power!!

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  21. Might try this one. Cross my fingers.

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  22. First time on this forum but have built several pedals from layouts provided on this fantastic site. Can anyone have measured pin voltage for the lm1894 for this layout ? I have checked my vero many times and now wondering if its not my ic that is flawed. Thanks.

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    1. Hey man, are you still experiencing
      this? I ran into the same issue at first. I ended up rebuilding the board and meticulously double checking everything the second time. What I did notice though after peeping the original schematic, is that the polarity protection uses a rectifier diode in parallel. In my first build I used a 1N5817 (which I later discovered is best in a series configuration), and could not seem to get any power. Used a 1N4001 this time around with its higher forward voltage, and all seems to work fine. Also, check the voltages on pin 8 of your 4558 ICs and pin 1 on the LM1894N...should be right around 9 volts. If not, then the IC is.likely faulty or its not getting power somewhere.

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  23. I've built mine and works after desoldering everything twice. Honestly it was a pain in the ass to debug why it didn't work, still don't but yay. I have to admit I looked for an official schematic which helped a bit with decluttering. Don't have a link for that but google helps.

    I also noticed that the high frequencies are muffled compared to the clean tone.

    IMPORTANT MOD:
    I read the datasheet of the LM1894N and it mentions that the capacitors between pin 3-4 and 11-12 are the ones responsible for the bandwidth. On the datasheet 3n3 was used not 8n2. I've tried a 3n3 (both changed obviously) and the output signal was way better. I've tested it with the oscilloscope and signal generator and above 12-15 KHz the signal starts to slowly taper off and reaches half the amplitude (-3dB) at 20kHz which is like dog whistle territory so whatever. Originally it started lowering way earlier and could be clearly heard. Important note here is that with 3n3 capacitors the noise floor is a tiny bit higher but still brings a huge improvement over the original signal. I've tried a 4n7 and I think it is a good middle ground if you have a good ear for noise. Still haven't decided which one to use but would go lower unless I want to pick up radio signals... not. (Funny thing is I actually could pick up a local AM radio by accidentally unplugging a wire between pin fives capacitor and the potentiometer. That was funny.

    Please take in mind the way I tried the noise floor was cranking an tube screamer and a boost pedal to max level and max gain which honestly is kinda overkill so I'm confident this works great.
    Hands down this is the best noise suppressor on the planet as it is always on, especially with this mod it's like magic.

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