Lithium Grim Cave Vibe Instruction Manual

Cave Vibe
Building instructions
V1.0

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
2
Table of contents
Components ............................................................................................................................................ 3
PCB layout ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Bill of Materials........................................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 6
Building sequence ................................................................................................................................... 6
Off board wiring ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Testing and mods .................................................................................................................................... 9
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................... 10
Known problem LFO.......................................................................................................................... 10
Schematic .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Read this entire manual thoroughly before you start building the effect!
Last update: 16-03-2019

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
3
Components
Name
Value
Comment
Name
Value
Comment
C1
100n
SMF
P1
B25k
Throb
C2
15n
SMF
P2
A100k
Level
C3
220n
SMF
P3
B100k Dual
Rate
C4
100p
Ceramic
P4
B25k
Intensity
C5
4n7
SMF
P5
B10k
Voice
C6
470p
Ceramic
R1
1M
1% metal film
C7
1u
Electrolyte
R2
1M
1% metal film
C8
1u
Electrolyte
R3
47k
1% metal film
C9
100n
SMF
R4
47k
1% metal film
C10
47u
Electrolyte
R5
22k
1% metal film
C11
10u
Electrolyte
R6
47k
1% metal film
C12
10u
Electrolyte
R7
47k
1% metal film
C13
100u
Electrolyte
R8
47k
1% metal film
C14
10u
Electrolyte
R9
47k
1% metal film
C15
1u
Electrolyte
R10
47k
1% metal film
C16
1u
Electrolyte
R11
100k
1% metal film
C17
1u
Electrolyte
R12
100k
1% metal film
C18
47u
Electrolyte
R13
10k
1% metal film
C19
47u
Electrolyte
R14
56k
1% metal film
D1
1N4001
R15
10k
1% metal film
D2
1N5817
R16
10k
1% metal film
D3
1N5817
R17
3k3
1% metal film
D4
LED
Transparent green
R18
220k
1% metal film
IC1
TL072
R19
220k
1% metal film
IC2
TL074
R20
3k3
1% metal film
IC3
LT1054
R21
2M2
1% metal film
LDR1
GL-5539
alternative GL-5549
R22
15k
1% metal film
LDR2
GL-5539
alternative GL-5549
R23
4k7
1% metal film
LDR3
GL-5539
alternative GL-5549
R24
100k
1% metal film
LDR4
GL-5539
alternative GL-5549
R25
100R
1% metal film
Q1
MPSA18
R26
47k
1% metal film
Q2
MPSA18
SW1
SPDT
Voltage Select
All components must be rated for 25V or higher!
A=Log, B=Lin, C=Rev. Log

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
4
50 mm x 75 mm
1.97 in x 2.95 in
PCB layout

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
5
Bill of Materials
Capacitors
Resistors (1% metal film)
Component
pcs.
Type
Rating
Component
pcs.
Value
pcs.
100p
1
Ceramic
25V+
GL-5539
4
47k
8
470p
1
Ceramic
25V+
100R
1
56k
1
4n7
1
MKT
25V+
3k3
3
100k
3
15n
1
SMF
25V+
4k7
1
220k
2
100n
2
SMF
25V+
10k
3
1M
2
220n
1
SMF
25V+
15k
1
2M2
1
1u
5
Electrolyte
25V+
22k
1
10u
3
Electrolyte
25V+
47u
3
Electrolyte
25V+
Potentiometers (Alpha 16mm)
100u
1
Electrolyte
25V+
Component
pcs.
Value
pcs.
B10k
1
B100k Dual
1
Diode
Transistors
B25k
2
Component
pcs.
Component
pcs.
A100k
1
LED Green 5mm
1
MPSA18
2
LED 5mm
1
1N4001
1
Note:
1N5817
2
Voltage selection switch SW1 can be any type
of SPDT switch
IC
Component
pcs.
Type
pcs.
TL072
1
LT1054
1
TL074
1

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
6
Introduction
The Cave Vibe is a unique vibe effect. It has been specially adapted to include an internal 18v charge-
pump to provide more headroom to the effect. This charge-pump is made switchable so you can
bring it back to the original if needed. This effect functions best with a 9V wallwart adapter and it is
advised not to use 9V batteries. Once the battery is drained too much, the 18v charge-pump may
function erratically due to the low voltage.
Also note that operating at 18v on the highest intensity and voice settings, you might hear some LFO
ticking. In this case turn down the intensity and/or voice just a little and the ticking will disappear.
Building sequence
Soldering this board can be very complicated for some people since the solder pads are very close
together. Use a magnifying glass to make the job easier. If you want to experiment with other
transistors, LED and LDR’s then you could socket them instead of soldering them to the board. You’ll
need a 20 SIL sockets. Break off the sockets and solder them to the board.
Start by soldering the resistors. If you want to socket the transistors then solder the sockets now.
Note: Do not blow on your solder in an attempt to cool it down. That will possibly result in a bad join
that might corrode!
Solder the diodes, the ceramic capacitors and then the IC sockets. Next, solder the SMF and MKT
capacitators. Finish by soldering the transistors and electrolytes.
Now.. what did we forget? Yes.. the LDR’s and LED. If you do not want to experiment then now is the
time to solder them. I advise to solder the LED first and only then the LDR’s. This will enable you to
better position the LDR’s. It is advised to position the LDR’s parallel against the LED:
Place the transistors (if socketed) and IC’s and you are almost ready to rock.
Besides the components mentioned in the Bill Of Materials table, you will need:
•2 input jack sockets. 2 mono jacks if you are not going to use a battery but only the 9V
adapter. 1 mono (for output) and 1 stereo jack (for input) if you will be using both a 9V
battery and the 9V adapter.
•1 x 3PDT footswitch (9 pins)
•2,1mm DC jack socket (isolated).
•9v battery clip (optional).
•22 gage stranded hook-up wire.
•A LED holder. This enables you to mount the LED in the enclosure.
•Hammond 1590BB case (or similar) in your favorite color.

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
7
Off board wiring
Wiring the pots P1,P2,P4 and P5 is very simple. The rectangle pad marks pin 1 of a potentiometer.
The images below show how you can recognize which pin is which on a potentiometer.
PS. You can break off the pin I marked with the yellow circle with a small pair of pliers.
P3 is a dual taper potentiometer and should be soldered differently:
1 2 3
2. Solder lugs 1,2,4 and 5 together. This
will leave pin 3 and 6 (top right and
bottom right) free.
1. Bend the lower 3
solder lugs straight.
2. Solder one end of the lead wires to
pin 3, pin 5 and 6 and the other end
to the PCB P3.
Connect Pin 3 to pad 3 on the PCB,
Pin 6 to pad 6 on the PCB and Pin 5
to the last, leftmost pad on the PCB.

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
8
After wiring the potentiometers you will need to wire the input, output and LED :
Cathode (short leg)
Anode (long leg)
Ring
Sleeve
Tip
Tip
Sleeve
R led
NB. When switching between 9V and 18V you will need to re-adjust the intensity as the 18V setting
will also make the effect LED (D4) burn more intense.
Note that this wiring is using a sort of star grounding. The sleeve of the output socket is not
connected on purpose. It does however require a good contact between the output socket and
enclosure to work. If this is not possible then connect the sleeve of the output socket to the sleeve of
the input socket.
You should use Switchcraft/Neutrik type metal chassis sockets. When using plastic, you will need to
connect the input socket sleeve to the output socket sleeve!

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
9
Testing and mods
Testing this effect is best done in a dark environment. Most importantly you should try to shield the
LDR/LED’s from outside light because this will affect the working of the effect drastically. You can
make a shield out of almost anything. In this section you’ll see I used a blue piece of shrink tube
which I taped off at the top. This gave me enough shielding to test the effect. Once the effect is built
in an enclosure, there will be no need for a light shield anymore as the enclosure itself will ensure
enough shielding.
Standard the effect uses GL-5539 LDR’s and a transparent green LED. You can experiment with
different LDR’s and LED’s. I tested GL-5549 with success and gives you a bit more sweep. Also I
personally prefer diffuse yellow LED’s as they give a more intense effect.
If you look at other LDR’s, look at the datasheet for the spectral/spectrum peak. The GL55 series has
a peak at 540nm which is yellow/green and for example the Silonex NSL-7532 has a peak at 610nm
which is more orange/red. As a guide use these values for light identification:
Blue 475 nm, Green 510nm, Yellow 570nm, Orange 590nm, Red 650nm.
Now another small mod which will make the effect even better… replacing the TL072 in IC1. Although
you could test almost any dual opamp (as long as the pinout is the same), I strongly suggest to
choose one of the following ones I tested:
•JRC4580D More transparent then the TL072, less noise, bit more treble
•AD712 Bit more transparent than 4580
•OPA2134 Even more transparent than the 712, a bit more sterile though
•JRC4558P Perfect mix between less noise, more transparency, more treble and clarity
Also you can experiment with replacing the TL074 in IC2. Here also you can replace it with any Quad
Opamp as long as the pinout is the same and it can hold up to 18V.
If you do not want to build the internal 18V charge pump then do NOT solder: C10, C11, C12, D2, D3
and IC3. You will need to short SW1 between the left pad (marked +9V) and the rectangular middle
pad. Now you can use the effect with a 9V or 18V wallwart. If used with the internal charge pump
then the effect only takes a 9V wallwart adapter, not an 18V!

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
10
Troubleshooting
All PCB’s have been 100% factory e-tested and out of every batch I receive I build an effect to double
check, so there should not be a connection problem on the PCB itself.
The board is not working (at all), what now?
•Check if your 9V is plugged in correctly (and/or soldered correctly on the board).
•Check that you oriented the capacitors, IC’s ,transistors and diodes the right way. SMF, MKT
and ceramic capacitors as well as resistors do not need to be oriented.
•Check if you used the correct values of the components. For resistors you can look here:
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Electronics/Color/
•Double and triple check your soldering! A loose or cold solder can be really bad for your
board.
•Replace the IC or transistor, it might be defective. Before doing that first unplug the 9V and
wait for 5 seconds.
•Check that you have good/high grade components. A lot of Chinese sourced parts are fakes
(especially high end opamps, vintage diodes and transistors) so be careful that you source
your parts from reliable suppliers.
Known problem LFO
At high intensity and very low speed, the LFO will stop as it does in the original production model.
You can prevent this by first turning down the intensity just a bit and then lowering the speed. You
can also consider putting a small value resistor (3k) between pin 3 of P4. This does not solve the
problem.
Another option is to try other transistors in the LFO (Q1/Q2) like the BC109 or 2N2907.

Cave Vibe v1.0
All trademarks held by Earthquaker Devices. Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable
their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.
11
Schematic