SPACEMAN: Equinox Equaliser

The Equinox is Spaceman's trimmed-down version of an old-school studio equaliser - it’s definitely inspired by Pultec, but with a few key differences.  I’m fine with the differences, as it makes it practical to build.

Schematic can be found here on PedalPCB.  

If you don't have a power supply that kicks out 18v, Dirtbox layouts have a vero layout with a charge pump included.  One could be tacked on the bottom of this board - which is how I started doing the layout until I noticed that the Spaceman version doesn't appear to have this, and my power supply does 18 volts.

This is probably a good candidate for an additional loop to be added, so another pedal can be switched on with this at the same time.  There's certainly going to be enough room for a couple more jacks in the enclosure, and this could really tailor the sound of your favourite fuzz / drive / distortion pedal.

I may even make a point-to-point version of this to keep the vintage vibe of the Pultec.

SPACEMAN EQUINOX EQ - VERO LAYOUT

Clearly, this is not for the faint-hearted in terms of off-board wiring - I would not recommend trying this unless you are quite confident with your wiring.  

ENCLOSURE SIZE & LAYOUT

A sizeable box will be needed and you will need to do some planning before getting started.   Spaceman uses a 1590XX which has internal dimensions of 139mm x 115mm.  You may even want to go up to a 1590DD, which has internal dimensions of 179mm x 112mm, which is a lot of real estate on a pedalboard,  but it will be comfortable for the build and will allow better knob placement.  As a reference, the vero layout above is 71mm x 54mm.  

At this size, the vero will have to sit on top of the pots.  Rotary switches are usually too tall to sit boards on top of them, apart from the height, there are a lot of wires going on straight off the top.  With this in mind, the rotary switches will have to be the top row of knobs on the enclosure.  Could probably sneak the level control in next to them on one side.

A big vero board in a large box with a lot of wire should be well secured.   Some kind of mounting is a must.  There's some space on the layout for mounting, but you may need to add a little more, depending on your preferred method.  I often use adhesive stand-offs.  These have a 13mm clearance, which gets the board just above pot height, which is usually around 10mm.  

I'd suggest doing a mockup of the internals using the actual parts you plan on using, on a piece of cardboard before you start drilling an enclosure (including the mount positions).  I often use cardboard templates to pre-wire circuits before I finish them off in the enclosure.  It tends to be a bit neater and access is easier as you don't have to worry about the sides of the enclosure getting in the way.

EQUINOX VIDEO DEMO