# New DIY stuff day (Pedals and things)



## mnemonic (Nov 20, 2017)

I recently got into building pedals when my TC electronic integrated preamp stopped working correctly. I bought a BYOC kit to work on my soldering skills before tackling repairs to my TC pre, and it turns out, I really enjoyed it.

First thing I built, after the BYOC kit, was a clone of my TC electronic integrated preamp, which I made a thread about. It sounded exactly the same once I sorted out some issues with grounding (the board was shorting out on the back of the case at first). However, I bought too small an enclosure so I couldn't fit a bypass switch.

This was the second attempt at making a tc electronic integrated preamp clone:







I looked back at the pictures I posted of my first attempt on veroboard, and the soldering was embarrassingly messy. I think this one is a bit cleaner looking.














As you may notice it has no bypass light, so one of the switches in the 3PDT footswitch is unused. This is because I forgot to order a current limiting resistor when I ordered parts. I did eventually add one:










I was trying to go for a clean look on the inside, as you can see I started twisting wires together to try to make it look a bit cleaner, but that didn't last long. I'm not sure how to deal with the rats nest of wires when using veroboard.

more to come in the next post, I hit the image limit.


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## mnemonic (Nov 20, 2017)

The next pedal is an Xotic RC Booster clone, which I saw a kit for on Fuzzdog Pedal Parts website, and bought on a whim. Its one pedal I had my eye on back when I was looking for a TC Electronic integrated preamp, as the specs seemed similar - twenty-something dB of boost, mostly clean, 2-band baxandall EQ, even the frequencies were similar. After building it, however, they don't sound much alike. The EQ doesn't cut or boost as much as the TC pre, and there isn't as much volume on tap. The gain control isn't as nice sounding as the gain on a tubescreamer either, it gets kinda woofy as I turn it up. So in a metal context, I'm not a huge fan. As a boost into a clean or slightly dirty amp it sounds good, however I prefer my BYOC FA1 clone over this for pretty much everything. 











Next is one I just finished the other day, a clone of the Mesa Gridslammer. According to Tagboardeffects, which is where I find most of the layouts for these projects, its basically a straight up TS9 clone but with a different diode clipping arrangement, so the guy who drew the layout was nice enough to add a switch to swap between TS9 clipping and Gridslammer clipping. 




enclosure all drilled, making sure everything fits. By the way, top jacks are far superior. 




I couldn't find all the values of the resistors I needed in one place, so I did end up with a mix of different types. Some carbon film, some metal film, and some itty-bitty-tiny metal film. This doesn't affect the sound, it just looks a bit more colorful than usual. 




Those giant 1uf film capacitors were a bit of a pain to jam onto the board, especially that on on the right, but they are in the signal path so I couldn't use a polarized electrolytic cap. Its bent over the resistors so as not to obstruct where the wires will go. 




Fires up first time, and sounds awesome. Really awesome, this is a great boost. Tons of volume on tap, very clear, tightens up an amp really well. The difference bewteen the Gridslammer clipping and Tubescreamer clipping is not super obvious, but there is more distortion, more mids, and less volume on the TS setting. I prefer the gridslammer's clipping arrangement, its clearer and better tuned for metal in my opinion. 

I may take off the two-diode tubescreamer arrangement and put LED's on that side of the switch, so I could have an even higher headroom version. 










by the way, I'm mounting the circuit boards in the enclosure with some double-sided adhesive foam tape I found for like £2 at Home Bargains (cheap store here in the UK). It works great, it sticks very well both to the aluminum enclosure and to the back of the veroboard. If you go this route, test it before mounting the board, that stuff sticks real well.


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## mnemonic (Nov 20, 2017)

next is the simplest thing I've made so far, a latching footswitch. I've been using an old Marshall footswitch to switch patches in my Axe FX, but its giant, so I want something smaller that takes up less real estate on my pedalboard. 







basically its just a switch in a box. The place I bought the switch from didn't have any SPST or SPDT stomp switches, so I had to use a DPDT stomp switch. No big deal, I just left one pole unused. 


So with all these new pedals, I'm gonna need somewhere to put them. I was previously using a small piece of 1/4" fiberboard, just so I had something to attach them to. But thats a pretty low-rent solution and was ugly as hell. 

I always liked the look of those Holeyboard pedal boards, and I own a drill and jigsaw, so I figured I'd try making one. I found a layout online and my girlfriend was nice enough to take the image and print one out to scale, so I could just glue it to a piece of wood and trace it with the jigsaw. 
















As you can see on the back of that top level, my 'voidless' plywood left a bit to be desired. 

Here it is after several coats of clear urethane. 










The lines are nowhere near as clean as they would have been if I had used a router or CNC, but I guess you use what you have.


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## mnemonic (Nov 20, 2017)

The last thing I'm in the process of making at the moment is a clone of the EQD Acapulco Gold. 







As you can see, it has an extra knob, I built it with a pre-gain knob as I heard it got uncontrollable fast. I'm glad I did, as it makes the gain control a bit more functional. 

This thing has a ton of volume and gain on tap. I was surprised how loud and distorted it got. Its a really fun pedal for doomy sounding stuff. That isn't really my forte but its super fun to just bang out droney riffs on a les paul sometimes. 

Thats it for now. I've got a list of other stuff I want to build, like an MXR custom modified badass OD, the BYOC swede, a muff clone as I've never owned a fuzz pedal, and I am in dire need of a lot of new cable, so I'll just buy a bulk of tips and cable and make my own.


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## buriedoutback (Nov 20, 2017)

Very cool! Nice job on everything!


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## LiveOVErdrive (Nov 20, 2017)

That baxandall preamp is great. I've prototyped one out before with a baxandall before and after a distortion section and you could get some great tones out of it with just six knobs.

Also nice work! Really clean soldering job.


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## Refuge (Nov 20, 2017)

Cool projects! Have you thought about installing a +25V charge pump into the TC integrated preamp? 
Like this: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.de/2016/11/charge-pump-extravaganza.html?m=1
Then you could have maximum headroom with a standard 9V power supply
I am planning to do this myself in the next weeks, very inspiring builds!


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## mnemonic (Nov 20, 2017)

Refuge said:


> Cool projects! Have you thought about installing a +25V charge pump into the TC integrated preamp?
> Like this: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.de/2016/11/charge-pump-extravaganza.html?m=1
> Then you could have maximum headroom with a standard 9V power supply
> I am planning to do this myself in the next weeks, very inspiring builds!


I hadn't actually found those layouts on the site until after I had already built it, unfortunately. Though it was my first time even building a pedal with a bypass switch on it, so adding more complications may have been a bad idea. 

I have a 30 volt power supply I use now, but when I eventually get a decent power supply for all my pedals, I'd like to ditch having a seperate wall wart for just one pedal, so I was planning to build a 33 volt charge pump into a little box, and just run that off a 9 volt tap on a power brick, into the integrated preamp. I've got some MAX1044 chips all ready, I just need the power supply now.


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## technomancer (Nov 20, 2017)

Wow you've been busy  Nice work 



Refuge said:


> Cool projects! Have you thought about installing a +25V charge pump into the TC integrated preamp?
> Like this: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.de/2016/11/charge-pump-extravaganza.html?m=1
> Then you could have maximum headroom with a standard 9V power supply
> I am planning to do this myself in the next weeks, very inspiring builds!



Pretty much exactly what I'm doing with mine.


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## Shask (Nov 20, 2017)

Everything looks awesome! I am jealous you became an expert in the time I ordered a few parts, lol. I want to make a Dr. Boogie, and a BE-OD clone, as I learn how to work with the Veroboard.

I like the tape idea. I was actually thinking about using some of the 1" weather stripping black foam stuff. I was thinking about putting some on the back panel, and inside, so that the board was squeezed in between the layers of foam. I use that stuff under pickups, and it works really well for that.


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## mnemonic (Nov 21, 2017)

Shask said:


> Everything looks awesome! I am jealous you became an expert in the time I ordered a few parts, lol. I want to make a Dr. Boogie, and a BE-OD clone, as I learn how to work with the Veroboard.
> 
> I like the tape idea. I was actually thinking about using some of the 1" weather stripping black foam stuff. I was thinking about putting some on the back panel, and inside, so that the board was squeezed in between the layers of foam. I use that stuff under pickups, and it works really well for that.



That would probably also work well. I just bought the foam tape on a whim as I saw it in the store and it seemed perfect. 

The Dr Boogie and a BEOD look like they would be cool to make. Both are pretty big projects though from what I remember when I looked at their layouts. For the Dr boogie at least there are PCB options. 

Once I make a few more things I've wanted, I may try my hand at a BEOD.


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## ElRay (Nov 21, 2017)




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## Shask (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> That would probably also work well. I just bought the foam tape on a whim as I saw it in the store and it seemed perfect.
> 
> The Dr Boogie and a BEOD look like they would be cool to make. Both are pretty big projects though from what I remember when I looked at their layouts. For the Dr boogie at least there are PCB options.
> 
> Once I make a few more things I've wanted, I may try my hand at a BEOD.



It seems like most of the Boogie PCB options are not made anymore. I have looked several times, and can't find anything currently being offered, so I was going to use one of the two Vero layouts available. I am not too worried about the complexity, as I have built stuff for years. I have a JCM800 clone with 4 preamp tubes I built as probably the most complex. I did that BYOC Parametric EQ also. It is really just a matter of deciding 100% what to do, and dedicating the time to it.

As I have mentioned, I hate to build something I can buy cheaply, or is widely available. I want to stick to things that are more unique.

I didn't think the BE-OD looked too bad, but harder than a boost. The real trick will be using grounded leads to cut down on noise, and keeping everything short and neat. Oh, that reminds me, for the messy wire issue, you might tie-strap the wires after you are all done. Just tie-strap groups of them together so it looks neater.


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## mnemonic (Nov 21, 2017)

Shask said:


> It seems like most of the Boogie PCB options are not made anymore. I have looked several times, and can't find anything currently being offered, so I was going to use one of the two Vero layouts available. I am not too worried about the complexity, as I have built stuff for years. I have a JCM800 clone with 4 preamp tubes I built as probably the most complex. I did that BYOC Parametric EQ also. It is really just a matter of deciding 100% what to do, and dedicating the time to it.
> 
> As I have mentioned, I hate to build something I can buy cheaply, or is widely available. I want to stick to things that are more unique.
> 
> I didn't think the BE-OD looked too bad, but harder than a boost. The real trick will be using grounded leads to cut down on noise, and keeping everything short and neat. Oh, that reminds me, for the messy wire issue, you might tie-strap the wires after you are all done. Just tie-strap groups of them together so it looks neater.



After posting that I took a look at layouts for both of those pedals and they're a lot less complicated than I remember when I last looked. They do both have 6 knobs though so I shudder to think of all those wires. 

I just had a look at a couple websites but it looks like the recto-style pedal pcb's I was thinking about may be something else. 

I spent my lunch reading through a good chunk of the freestompboxes BE-OD tracing thread, looks like they got it nailed. Though there sure was a fair share of drama involved. I also really want to make one now. 

Looks like a couple people made PCB's for it, I may try to grab one. If I go for the vero layout I think I'd need a 1590BBM to actually fit it all in. I'm not as skilled as other people seem to be in this circuit board Tetris.


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## technomancer (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> After posting that I took a look at layouts for both of those pedals and they're a lot less complicated than I remember when I last looked. They do both have 6 knobs though so I shudder to think of all those wires.
> 
> I just had a look at a couple websites but it looks like the recto-style pedal pcb's I was thinking about may be something else.
> 
> ...



The BE-OD looks like a cool build... also don't feel bad, my TC is going in a 1590BBM


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## mnemonic (Nov 21, 2017)

technomancer said:


> The BE-OD looks like a cool build... also don't feel bad, my TC is going in a 1590BBM



It seems to be the same height as the 125b / 1590n1, so that should be plenty of clearance. I think the 1590b or 1590bb are both a bit shallow. My TC pre is in a 1590bb, but I also have a smaller circuitboard than yours as mine doesn't have a charge pump. 

I keep seeing BE-OD clones in 125b's so maybe I will give it a try in that smaller enclosure...


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## technomancer (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> It seems to be the same height as the 125b / 1590n1, so that should be plenty of clearance. I think the 1590b or 1590bb are both a bit shallow. My TC pre is in a 1590bb, but I also have a smaller circuitboard than yours as mine doesn't have a charge pump.
> 
> I keep seeing BE-OD clones in 125b's so maybe I will give it a try in that smaller enclosure...



Yeah I am glad I went with the BBM as I have a couple WIMA caps on mine that are taller than I figured on so I would probably be in trouble with a shallower enclosure 

I am also realizing that I either need to wear a filter mask or find a different hobby... even with a charcoal filtered fan to suck off the smoke my lungs and sinuses are killing me after working on the TC for a couple hours today. Got the enclosure wired up and the board about half way done.


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## mnemonic (Nov 21, 2017)

technomancer said:


> Yeah I am glad I went with the BBM as I have a couple WIMA caps on mine that are taller than I figured on so I would probably be in trouble with a shallower enclosure
> 
> I am also realizing that I either need to wear a filter mask or find a different hobby... even with a charcoal filtered fan to suck off the smoke my lungs and sinuses are killing me after working on the TC for a couple hours today. Got the enclosure wired up and the board about half way done.



I've just been holding my breath when soldering a component, I should probably get a fan of something. 

A mask is probably a good idea. I sometimes wear a charcoal respirator when I clean my house because I use a lot of bleach.


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## Shask (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I've just been holding my breath when soldering a component, I should probably get a fan of something.
> 
> A mask is probably a good idea. I sometimes wear a charcoal respirator when I clean my house because I use a lot of bleach.



After soldering for years I guess I have inhaled enough to fry my brain. 

I have a technique also.... I tend to hold my breath during soldering (helps to hold your hand steady also), and then breath out right when I take the iron off the joint to blow the smoke out of my face and away from the board. Sounds complicated, but it is automatic after years. I do usually always run my ceiling fan though.


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## Shask (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> It seems to be the same height as the 125b / 1590n1, so that should be plenty of clearance. I think the 1590b or 1590bb are both a bit shallow. My TC pre is in a 1590bb, but I also have a smaller circuitboard than yours as mine doesn't have a charge pump.
> 
> I keep seeing BE-OD clones in 125b's so maybe I will give it a try in that smaller enclosure...



I ordered a few powder coated BBs, and Bs. I am thinking the Bs are MXR size. I figure anything I build with 6 knobs will go in a BB. I dont want to jack with cramming 6 knobs in such a small space, lol. Not sure if I will try to waterslide and spray them clear, or just write with a paint marker....


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## Shask (Nov 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> After posting that I took a look at layouts for both of those pedals and they're a lot less complicated than I remember when I last looked. They do both have 6 knobs though so I shudder to think of all those wires.
> 
> I just had a look at a couple websites but it looks like the recto-style pedal pcb's I was thinking about may be something else.
> 
> ...



I am definitely gonna do the Dr. Boogie first because I have wanted to build one for years. I wish I would have got a board from Madbean when they made them. That will probably take awhile. I may do BYOC something also. Although, after all that, I will definitely try the BE-OD. I didn't realize there was so much controversy, so I will need to research it more when the time comes.

Not sure after that, lol. I bought enough parts to do several though, minus odd parts and pots/switches. Undecided if I want to try to include battery clips also.


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## Shask (Nov 21, 2017)

Speaking of the BE-OD, I just found PedalPCB.com. They have some pretty interesting looking PCBs with good documentation, so I ordered a few boards to give it a try. I will try the BE-OD, Triple Wreck, Klon, Rat, VH4, and a Vibe. Well, eventually, lol.


EDIT: Damn.... shipped confirmation email within 15 minutes. I will have to grab some more in the future from them.


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## mnemonic (Nov 22, 2017)

Shask said:


> Speaking of the BE-OD, I just found PedalPCB.com. They have some pretty interesting looking PCBs with good documentation, so I ordered a few boards to give it a try. I will try the BE-OD, Triple Wreck, Klon, Rat, VH4, and a Vibe. Well, eventually, lol.
> 
> 
> EDIT: Damn.... shipped confirmation email within 15 minutes. I will have to grab some more in the future from them.



I ordered a BE-OD PCB from him yesterday also haha. I did see he had a lot of cool stuff but nothing else that jumped out at me as a 'must buy' so I'm just going with the BE-OD for now. 

I finished the thread and the short answer is that both PedalPCB and tagboardeffects have the correct layouts. But it is a high gain pedal so you have to be careful with where you put your inputs and outputs, shielded wires is recommended. 

Raising the 120p cap to 470p tames any noise without affecting sound (good idea to socket this so you can swap out caps to see what you like). Some people went as high as 2n2 for this cap. 

The main point of contention came from a pair of clippers which were SMD and ambiguously marked so there was some argument over what they were. Some thought it was a transistor being used as a clipping diode, some thought it was an SMD package containing two diodes. I forget the part numbers now. 

Apparently the final word is it was dual-diodes in a small SMD package, and the closest through-hole equivalent is two 1n4148's. 

Some people have swapped the 4 diodes for 2 ZTX951 transistors and apparntly it results in a smoother frequency response, a bit less gain, and less noise. I may also socket the diodes and try this. 

The thread is worth a read.


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## technomancer (Nov 22, 2017)

Have to check that thread out at some point. Friedman uses transistors as clipping diodes on the Sat switch in his amps and for clipping channel 1 of the Butterslax, so I can understand where the idea came from there.

Still debating if I want to order more pedal parts and do a few more builds or start ordering the stuff to do the Friedman based amp. I should hopefully have the TC done today and be posting more pics.


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## Shask (Nov 22, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I ordered a BE-OD PCB from him yesterday also haha. I did see he had a lot of cool stuff but nothing else that jumped out at me as a 'must buy' so I'm just going with the BE-OD for now.
> 
> I finished the thread and the short answer is that both PedalPCB and tagboardeffects have the correct layouts. But it is a high gain pedal so you have to be careful with where you put your inputs and outputs, shielded wires is recommended.
> 
> ...



That is funny you ordered one also. I read a little bit of that thread, and saw the weird diode part. It sounded like the 4148s were the best fit, which is what most pedals use for clipping diodes.

I am kind of on a high gain kick, so I also ordered an Aeons PCB from Grind Customs. It is suppose to be based on a Tightmetal, but not an exact clone. Sounds interesting, so why not. I have so many ODs, I figure why not try some high gain pedals.

I will probably grab some more of the mod effects from PedalsPCB eventually. I am kind of sick of the 2 knob chorus pedals, and the 1 knob phasers and such, so the ones they have with 6 knobs sound more interesting.


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## Shask (Nov 22, 2017)

technomancer said:


> Have to check that thread out at some point. Friedman uses transistors as clipping diodes on the Sat switch in his amps and for clipping channel 1 of the Butterslax, so I can understand where the idea came from there.
> 
> Still debating if I want to order more pedal parts and do a few more builds or start ordering the stuff to do the Friedman based amp. I should hopefully have the TC done today and be posting more pics.



Fulltone uses MOSFETS as clipping "diodes" in the Fulldrive and OCD pedals. I dont think it is a new idea, but one that is becoming more common.

Now I am wondering if I need to build a clean amp as a pedal foundation.  I was never a huge fan of playing metal with pedals, but I have gotten a few lately that has really impressed me. The new designs are just WAY better than they used to be. That is partly why I am choosing to build some high gain pedals. A few months ago I got a cheap Caline Red Devil, because I figured why not for $35, and I LOVE this pedal. One of the best high gain pedals I have played. It has me re-thinking this pedal distortion thing.... So I want to try a few to see what I think.


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## technomancer (Nov 22, 2017)

A clean amp for pedals would be a fun project. While I wouldn't want high gain pedals as my only option, there are definitely some cool tones you can find with pedals. High gain fuzzes can also be really fun to play around with.


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## mnemonic (Nov 23, 2017)

Shask said:


> Now I am wondering if I need to build a clean amp as a pedal foundation.  I was never a huge fan of playing metal with pedals, but I have gotten a few lately that has really impressed me.



I've also been wondering how hard it would be to make a basic bassman clone. It's gotta be a super simple circuit. 

I use a blackface Bassman model on the axe fx for cleans and it seems to take pedals well, a lot of pedal people seem to be into them too. 

I was really hoping not to go the TGP route of a bassman and a ton of pedals but here I am.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Nov 23, 2017)

I bought a cheap class d amp and a switching power supply a while back that I still mean to build a simple clean amp out of. Though with the eh


mnemonic said:


> I've also been wondering how hard it would be to make a basic bassman clone. It's gotta be a super simple circuit.
> 
> I use a blackface Bassman model on the axe fx for cleans and it seems to take pedals well, a lot of pedal people seem to be into them too.
> 
> I was really hoping not to go the TGP route of a bassman and a ton of pedals but here I am.


Bassman/jtm45 etc etc etc circuit is very simple, especially with only one input:
Anode follower - volume knob - anode to cathode direct coupled buffer - tone stack - power amp (includes phase inverter)

So with an off the shelf class d power amp you could do it or something similar with 2-3 jfets or a jfet and an op amp.

Jfet gain stage - volume - buffer (opamp or jfet) - tone stack (I'd go baxandall over traditional fender/Marshall) - power amp.

Might need a little extra clean gain in front of the power amp to recover volume after the tone stack. Iirc the phase inverter has a decent amount of gain built in.


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## Shask (Nov 23, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I've also been wondering how hard it would be to make a basic bassman clone. It's gotta be a super simple circuit.
> 
> I use a blackface Bassman model on the axe fx for cleans and it seems to take pedals well, a lot of pedal people seem to be into them too.
> 
> I was really hoping not to go the TGP route of a bassman and a ton of pedals but here I am.



I built a clean amp years ago. I remember it was easier in terms of not worrying as much about noise, and shielding wires and such, but it was not that much less complicated. I mean, you still need all the heaters, transformers bias circuits, etc..... It had one less gain stage maybe, but the same foundation was all still there.

Come to think of it... I forgot my JCM800 clone I built has a low gain channel that is clean.  

I mostly use the clean channel of my 2-Channel Triple Recto for pedals.


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## mnemonic (Nov 24, 2017)

I decided to slightly unmod my MT2 today. 

I modded it a while back to the Boogie Mod. First I had already disconnected C25 and C35, which make it much more usable, and I was using it as a boost, for which it performed well, if not a one trick pony that wasn't versatile at all (it clips very hard, good for metal and nothing else). 

The boogie mod consisted of changing C34 from 27n to 47n, and swapping out the clipping diodes (1SS133) for a 1N4001 and an LED for higher headroom and asymmetrical clipping. after the mod it performed better as a standalone distortion (but still not amazing, and also not better than amp distortion anyway), but a lot less good as a boost, it was duller and flubbier and less tight. 

I just figured it must be the asymmetrical clipping that I didn't like, but after looking at the schematic, it appears that C34 is basically just a cap to ground when C25 / C35 are removed. And a cap to ground is apparently a low pass filter. The larger the cap, the more highs get cut. So doubling the value of C34 essentially cuts more high end. I figured I would swap it back to see how it sounds, and if I still didn't like it, I'd take the 1N4001 out and replace that with an LED so I had symmetrical LED clipping. 

Swapping the cap with a 22n brought back a lot of the punchiness and tightness that the 47n removed. Its now harsher, so not as good as a standalone distortion, but as a boost its a lot better. More headroom than the stock clipping diodes also, so I can actually turn the Distortion knob above 0 without it becoming a mess. 

A+ would recommend. 










The LED lights up even with Dist. set to 0, and is on no matter how lightly I play when Dist. is at 10, so I'm thinking maybe at some point I'll swap over the clippers to 4 LED's to see if I can get it even cleaner when Dist. is at 0.


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## Shask (Nov 26, 2017)

I finished my Dr. Boogie today. 

I was surprised it worked the first time! I do go fairly slow and methodical though. Took quite a while wiring everything. The veroboard wasn't bad, but dealing with all the pots associated with it kind of sucked. I miss the PCBs with board mounted pots, lol. I kept having a high pitched whine with the gain and treble knobs high. That is fairly common with this pedal. I used shielded cable, tie strapped it, messed with the trim pots forever, etc... Finally I remembered someone saying something about a buffer helping. I stuck a Boss SD-1 in front of it turned off, and it completely went away. Weird. I guess the impedance buffer really helps. I didn't want to mess with it anymore, so I will just keep a Boss pedal in front of it, lol.

Sounds pretty killer. Definitely Rectifier-like. TONS of gain. I have the gain on like 10 o'clock to play Death Metal lol. More gain than that it is gets really fat, mushy, and noisy. They could probably remove one of the gain stages and still have plenty of gain, and it be less picky to noise and squeals. The EQ works well. Overall, it is a cool Mesa style pedal to have. It has that big chunky sound to it. Sounds good with the SD-1 boosting it, as long as the gain it down at like 9 o'clock.

I also used a paint marker for the first time on this one. Looks OK I guess, lol. My wife said it looks like something a kindergartner would make  I did realize later the marker I was used was broken, and was writing fatter than expected. Guess I need to exchange that one.....

Oh, and it has the LED you can see from space!


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## mnemonic (Nov 26, 2017)

Very cool, nice to hear you like it, and it sounds good. I may need to build this one also if it's good haha. Clean work also. 

Wiring the pots is also the most time consuming part for me also. It's a pain. 

Are you using it as a preamp into fx return, or as a distortion on a clean channel? 

Also, I just noticed the guy who makes the BEOD PCB's is now doing one with a mid control.


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## Shask (Nov 26, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Very cool, nice to hear you like it, and it sounds good. I may need to build this one also if it's good haha. Clean work also.
> 
> Wiring the pots is also the most time consuming part for me also. It's a pain.
> 
> ...



I am just using it into the clean channel of the Triple Recto for now. It could probably be used as a preamp though. Having the volume knob about 1-2 o'clock already had nearly double the volume of the clean bypassed tone.

Man, I have about 3/4 of the BE-OD clone PCB built, and my damn soldering iron quit working.... sigh. Ordered a new PCB for it after troubleshooting it. Funny thing is, I have to solder it in... how I am suppose to solder the soldering iron that wont heat up? 

Yeah, I got 5 PCBs from him, and will probably get more after I am done with these. I am pretty impressed with the quality of the PCBs. While ordering my soldering iron part, I went ahead and ordered a ton more pedal parts also, including tons of PCB mount pots.


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## mnemonic (Nov 27, 2017)

Shask said:


> I am just using it into the clean channel of the Triple Recto for now. It could probably be used as a preamp though. Having the volume knob about 1-2 o'clock already had nearly double the volume of the clean bypassed tone.
> 
> Man, I have about 3/4 of the BE-OD clone PCB built, and my damn soldering iron quit working.... sigh. Ordered a new PCB for it after troubleshooting it. Funny thing is, I have to solder it in... how I am suppose to solder the soldering iron that wont heat up?
> 
> Yeah, I got 5 PCBs from him, and will probably get more after I am done with these. I am pretty impressed with the quality of the PCBs. While ordering my soldering iron part, I went ahead and ordered a ton more pedal parts also, including tons of PCB mount pots.



Ha, that's a pain. One of those cheapo $3 soldering irons like I still use might be in order. 

I know understand the virtues of PCB mount pots. I got PCB mount for all but one of the pots for the BE-OD. Seems like nobody has a 10k reverse-log pot around here. I'll just put some solid core wire on the lugs and fake it.


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## Shask (Nov 27, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Ha, that's a pain. One of those cheapo $3 soldering irons like I still use might be in order.
> 
> I know understand the virtues of PCB mount pots. I got PCB mount for all but one of the pots for the BE-OD. Seems like nobody has a 10k reverse-log pot around here. I'll just put some solid core wire on the lugs and fake it.



I had a cheap $15 one for like 20 years, and now I get a $100 one and it dies within a year.  At least it is built with repairs in mind. They have a troubleshooting guide, and you can get parts easily, so hopefully I will get it going again easily. I have another iron/gun thing I have had for years. It is a little big for pedals, but I built my tube amp with it.

Yeah, I knew it was easier, but the Dr. Boogie REALLY showed it since you can have so many issues with noise. The PCB mount also helps a lot with noise and such, and really does make it easier to put together. It is funny because no one wanted board mounted stuff 10 years ago, but it seems standard now. I will have to look for more websites that are similar. I really like his PCBs, but also the documentation that goes with them. Really does make them super-simple. Now I just hate that every time I order parts.... I still forget stuff, lol. You always have to order a bunch to justify the shipping costs....


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## mnemonic (Nov 29, 2017)

Finally got around to building my 33 volt charge pump, I've had the parts around for a while. I've just been using a cheap 30 volt DC supply I got off eBay. It's a cheapo meant for computers though, so there is a lot of switching noise that comes through on a high gain setting. Kinda like having your laptop too close to your amp when playing.

The Integrated Preamp seems like a real good circuit since it didn't pick up any of that noise until I added an LED indicator so I'd know if it's on. 

This charge pump is a lot quieter. 













You don't need to but I added a switch and LED indicator so I can turn it off, rather than unplug wires (I don't really like leaving my pedals powered on). 

I was a bit scared to plug it in at first as I read an output of 37 volts, but to be fair that was with no load attached. When I plugged my pedal in, it measured 31.5 volts, which sounds right. The 33 volt estimate I imagine is based on the 9.6 volts or so that a new 9v battery provides, but my power supply only supplies 9.08 volts. 

Pretty simple circuit, recomended if you want to try out other voltages with your pedals without buying new power supplies. You could even add a switch and choose between voltages, 17v, 25v, 33v...


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## LiveOVErdrive (Nov 29, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Finally got around to building my 33 volt charge pump, I've had the parts around for a while. I've just been using a cheap 30 volt DC supply I got off eBay. It's a cheapo meant for computers though, so there is a lot of switching noise that comes through on a high gain setting. Kinda like having your laptop too close to your amp when playing.
> 
> The Integrated Preamp seems like a real good circuit since it didn't pick up any of that noise until I added an LED indicator so I'd know if it's on.
> 
> ...


That's pretty cool. Is that pdip a purpose built charge pump IC or did you roll your own oscillator and stuff? (charge pumps are switching supplies right?) 

We had to build buck/boost supplies once in college. That was a pretty cool project.


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## mnemonic (Nov 29, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> That's pretty cool. Is that pdip a purpose built charge pump IC or did you roll your own oscillator and stuff? (charge pumps are switching supplies right?)
> 
> We had to build buck/boost supplies once in college. That was a pretty cool project.



It's a MAX1044 which is a switching charge pump.

There are a few out there to choose from. The only downsides are the maximum supply voltage (10 volts maximum supply for these or they die instantly) and the current they offer. I think the voltage starts to sag a couple volts if you try to draw more than 30 or 40 mA.


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## zilla (Nov 29, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> It's a MAX1044 which is a switching charge pump.
> 
> There are a few out there to choose from. The only downsides are the maximum supply voltage (10 volts maximum supply for these or they die instantly) and the current they offer. I think the voltage starts to sag a couple volts if you try to draw more than 30 or 40 mA.



LT1054 has a higher max input voltage - 15v i think, but the pinout is slightly different than the max1044.


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## mnemonic (Nov 29, 2017)

zilla said:


> LT1054 has a higher max input voltage - 15v i think, but the pinout is slightly different than the max1044.



Yeah I've been doing some reading on them today and I think I'd probably go with that one if I built any more charge pumps, just to be safe. 

I guess with this one, if I get a new 9v supply that is too close to 10v for comfort, I could just add a diode or two in series with the power input just to knock off a volt or so.


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## zilla (Nov 29, 2017)

as long as it's a regulated 9V power supply you should be fine. unregulated is another story...


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## mnemonic (Nov 29, 2017)

zilla said:


> as long as it's a regulated 9V power supply you should be fine. unregulated is another story...



Luckily all my power supply's are regulated. Unregulated seems to be rare these days.

Can a regulated supply have a surge of higher voltage?


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## zilla (Nov 29, 2017)

technically it shouldn't.


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## Shask (Nov 29, 2017)

One of the PCBs I bought requires a ICL7660SCPA Charge Pump chip. You might research it. I havn't yet, so I don't know any details.


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## zilla (Nov 29, 2017)

the 7660s is similar to the max1044 - i believe the two are drop in replacements for each other.

note: always use the s version of the 7660 otherwise you'll get a high pitched whine in your audio signal.


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## Shask (Dec 1, 2017)

Ugghhh. I got the PCB for my Weller WES51 soldering station, but it is still doing the same thing... which is not working. The thing only has 2 parts in it, so I have no idea why it wont put out the voltage to heat up the iron.

I think I might pick up a Hakko FX888D Iron instead of messing with it more. I hate to trash a $100 iron, but I am out of ideas.....

I also got a whole box of resistors.... that maybe I will be able to solder one day, lol. I ordered some more PCBs also.


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## zilla (Dec 1, 2017)

The ceramic heater is probably cracked. It’s only a few bucks to replace it but you probably need a soldering iron to attach the wires lol

I have that hakko iron and it’s amazing!


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## Shask (Dec 1, 2017)

zilla said:


> The ceramic heater is probably cracked. It’s only a few bucks to replace it but you probably need a soldering iron to attach the wires lol
> 
> I have that hakko iron and it’s amazing!


I replaced the entire PCB today. Yeah, I had to solder it with a cheapie iron I have. Even with a new PCB, same issue. I get 24VAC out of the transformer to the PCB, but only 4V out of the PCB (suppose to get 24VAC). No idea how a new PCB didn't fix this.


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## technomancer (Dec 1, 2017)

Ah man that sucks about your iron 

I am actually off again so maybe I will finally finish my one lonely pedal build


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## Shask (Dec 1, 2017)

technomancer said:


> Ah man that sucks about your iron
> 
> I am actually off again so maybe I will finally finish my one lonely pedal build



Man..... I was checking it again, only I was looking at the actual iron, not the station. It was pissing me off, I took the tip out, was yanking on the wire, etc... put it all back together, and flipped it on for the hell of it..... 60 seconds later, it heated up.  Maybe I need to order a new iron. I hate to spend another $40, but it is cheaper than a whole new station. I did measure it before and it checked out, so maybe the heater has a short in it or something.


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## Shask (Dec 1, 2017)

technomancer said:


> Ah man that sucks about your iron
> 
> I am actually off again so maybe I will finally finish my one lonely pedal build



I have around 10 PCBs now. BE-OD clone, Klon, vibe, chorus, bluesbreaker, Lovepedal Eternity, Rat, Triple Wreck, etc... and I think a few more, lol. I am trying to make sure I have enough to do over the holidays when I am off work for a month.


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## technomancer (Dec 1, 2017)

Shask said:


> I have around 10 PCBs now. BE-OD clone, Klon, vibe, chorus, bluesbreaker, Lovepedal Eternity, Rat, Triple Wreck, etc... and I think a few more, lol. I am trying to make sure I have enough to do over the holidays when I am off work for a month.



That should keep you busy


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## mnemonic (Dec 2, 2017)

Shask said:


> I have around 10 PCBs now. BE-OD clone, Klon, vibe, chorus, bluesbreaker, Lovepedal Eternity, Rat, Triple Wreck, etc... and I think a few more, lol. I am trying to make sure I have enough to do over the holidays when I am off work for a month.


That's quite the queue of stuff! I tend to only order enough parts for like two pedals at a time. 

That being said, I may do a big order of PCB's from PedalPCB if I like the sound of this BE-OD. I got the PCB the other day (real thick and great quality, but the solder pads are very small) and I'm mostly done with it. I just have to paint the enclosure now and mount everything. 

I would like to do a triple wreck and that diezel pedal, but only if I like the BE-OD. I'm still on the fence about distortion pedals as I've never actually played a good one, but all these ones do have great reviews.


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## Shask (Dec 2, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> That's quite the queue of stuff! I tend to only order enough parts for like two pedals at a time.
> 
> That being said, I may do a big order of PCB's from PedalPCB if I like the sound of this BE-OD. I got the PCB the other day (real thick and great quality, but the solder pads are very small) and I'm mostly done with it. I just have to paint the enclosure now and mount everything.
> 
> I would like to do a triple wreck and that diezel pedal, but only if I like the BE-OD. I'm still on the fence about distortion pedals as I've never actually played a good one, but all these ones do have great reviews.



Ordering resisters and such always means I buy something that costs $0.01, with $8.00 shipping, so I try to load up. I picked out several things on his site I thought looked interesting, and just started clicking on every resistor and capacitor I could find for all those different pedals. I got stacks of them now, lol. I will still need to order specifics like certain FETs, and switches and such, but getting there. I have a second job that ends in 3 weeks, so I am trying to load up while I got some extra cash.  I think I have enough now to build about 5 of them, but will order some more soon for the rest of them. I figure if I get the PCBs, I can get to the rest of it later. Sometimes these PCB places disappear overnight, so I figure I will grab them while they are there.

Yeah, I was really impressed with the PCBs I got. I used to work quality inspection in a PCB factory, and was impressed with these. The pads are a little small, but I am sure that helps the whole thing be smaller to fit in a 125B easily. That also means less solder, less chance for shorts, and noise from excess solder. That is why I need my good iron back, lol. It it small enough to work in tight places. My other one is good for 2W resistors, but not these. I also ordered some of his switch breakout boards he got back in stock recently. I am thinking with the PCB, switch breakout PCB, PCB mounted pots, and the nice drilling templates, these will go together easily, and quickly with minimal wiring.

Not sure if I will love the sound of the high gain pedals, but I figure, hell if I can check them out for ~$25ish each instead of $300, then why not. Even if they are not exact, it gives me a way to try a ton of stuff I could never do otherwise.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 2, 2017)

I've found buying big variety packs of resistors and capacitors in varying values is a pretty cost effective way to go. That way you pretty much always have the value you need, and you can easily play around with different values if you want. If you use up one value, buy a pack of those. You'll use them again.

I've got stacks of 0.22f mylar caps for DC blocking in tube amps and 100k 2W resistors for tube anodes for just that reason.


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## mnemonic (Dec 2, 2017)

Yeah I agree with that, I'm not really interested in buying the high end distortion pedals as I already have an Axe FX II, but I certainly don't mind building them and playing with them for cheap. Plus building them is half the fun, in my opinion. 

Anywho, I populated the board for the BE-OD yesterday I think, and I finished building it today. 




Notice the four 1n4148's are mislabled 5817 on the board. No big deal as I knew what was supposed to go there, and the layout and bill of materials in the documentation is all correct. 




Drilling with a template is soooo much easier. 

One problem I had though, the top and bottom rows of pots were spaced too closely together so I couldn't get the bottom ones in after I put in the top ones. I'm not sure if this is the layout, the way I printed it (I didn't look at any scale options so its probably this) or because the pots I used are the Alphas that have the plastic cover on the back, which makes them larger. It was all sorted by just drilling the holes a bit bigger though. 







You can see the giant red fuck-off capacitors sitting above all the others, I didn't order any 10n caps since I still had a few left over from the last thing I built. But I forgot to check the size. This PCB is very compact so there was just no room to fit them. My fault for buying fancy Wima caps, and not just the cheapo normal ones. I just added some solid core wire to the legs, and set them up high. 

As you can see from that pic, yes the C100k pot was a huge pain in the ass to solder in as its really enclosed around capacitors, partly due to my too-big 10n's. 




One of the pots I just couldn't find in angled pcb mount, so this is my workaround. Worked pretty well. 




Completed. Yes I did singe one of the capacitors getting that bottom left pot soldered in. Oops. 




When I first plugged it in, I got no sound when powered on, which was a bummer. However after about 5 minutes of looking at it, I checked all polarised parts were inserted the correct way around... I put the reverse polarity protection diode in backwards somehow. I really don't know how I managed that. It was actually really hard to desolder it due to the enclosed space and tiny solder pads, but I did get it out and replaced, in the correct way this time. 

Second try, and it works perfectly. Its a lot quieter than I expected, especially since I didn't use shielded wire for the inputs and outputs. I socketed the 120p capacitor since some said it was noisy with the 120p, and was less noisy with a 470p. I didn't really notice any extra noise with the 120p so I've left that in. Bare in mind I've only played at loud bedroom volumes so far, so maybe up at gig level there would be a difference. 

My impression is, this is a really awesome sounding pedal. I didn't like it as much going direct into a tube poweramp, but on a clean channel its immense. Really chunky, and takes an overdrive great. Tons of gain on tap. I have the internal trim pot at half right now, but I think I'll turn it down, since I have it at like 1/4 if I boost it, and that is enough gain for metal. 

The 'Tight' knob is really cool (I labeled 'cut' since I didn't have enough room for 5 letters), it really cleans up the bottom end and makes it tighter. Though leads sound way fatter and more awesome with it dialed down. 

I like it more at 18 volts than at 9 volts, as I like the less compressed, more headroom sound. I haven't tried any higher yet, but as I used 50v electrolytics and the TL072's are ok up to 36 volts maximum, I could run a lot higher voltage if I want, for more headroom. I may try that later in the week. 

It also makes a really brutal and insanely tight overdrive, with the trim pot a touch over 0, gain at 0, tight on 10, in front of a distorted amp. You can then dial how tight or loose you want with the tight knob, or the EQ. 




Did I mention it sounds killer with an overdrive in front? 

I like it on the jazz chorus model in the axe FX. 

Since this pedal is awesome, I think I'll order some more PCB's and try out a triple wreck, that diezel pedal, and the Dr Boogie (which will be back to veroboard... not looking forward to biasing transistors, so maybe I'll do that one last). 

I don't feel like I'm missing the mid control to be honest, so I may not bother with that PCB that is up, that has a mid control added.


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## Shask (Dec 2, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> I've found buying big variety packs of resistors and capacitors in varying values is a pretty cost effective way to go. That way you pretty much always have the value you need, and you can easily play around with different values if you want. If you use up one value, buy a pack of those. You'll use them again.
> 
> I've got stacks of 0.22f mylar caps for DC blocking in tube amps and 100k 2W resistors for tube anodes for just that reason.



I do have a big variety pack for Caps, but I think I would get too many unnecessary ones for resistors. Most pedals all use the same.... 30-40 values from what I see, so I dont want a pack of hundreds of other values I will never use. I also have a bunch of 1/4W, and a bunch of 1/8W for different projects.


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## Shask (Dec 2, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Anywho, I populated the board for the BE-OD yesterday I think, and I finished building it today.
> 
> Notice the four 1n4148's are mislabled 5817 on the board. No big deal as I knew what was supposed to go there, and the layout and bill of materials in the documentation is all correct.
> 
> ...



Very cool you got it together so quickly! I almost have mine done, I am just missing a few parts. Since my soldering iron miraculously started working again today, I soldered in a few more parts, and noticed the same thing with the diodes. I am just missing one of the Electrolytic caps, and the LEDs I have are too large. I got a few more boxes of stuff on the way that should finish it. I do fear soldering that middle pot, lol. Looks like it will be a PITA.

Yeah, it looks like the templates should make these very easy. I figure use it to mark the spots to drill with a punch. I have one of those unibits that will drill various sizes as you keep drilling, so it makes this stuff pretty easy. You basically keep going until the part fits in the hole.

I am hoping it will sound like a good chunky Marshall~ish sound! Glad you like it.

I am not sure if the Electrolytics I got will handle that voltage. I have had issues finding some of these values, without them being 16V. I dont want massive ones that barely fit. I think those are the only 2 that would cause an issue. Most of those other box type caps are much larger voltage I think.

You are gonna have all the same ones as me, lol. Not sure which one I will make after the BE-OD. Biasing the FETs on the Boogie was pretty easy. I noticed as you adjusted the voltage up the gain would go down, the noise would go down, but the sound got more trebly and less bassy. It lost its big chunk sound. I actually ordered a few lower gain FETs to try in there because biasing it at 4.5V - 5V sounded best, but it has SO much gain. i can't turn the gain knob over 10 o'clock. People have reported using a few lower gain FETs in the first few positions can help a lot, like putting a lower gain tube in V1 of a tube amp.


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## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2017)

cheers for the info, I'll make sure to socket the FETs in that case.

I think I've been pretty lucky with parts. I like ordering from bitsbox.co.uk since they have most stuff and shipping is cheap, £1.75 regardless of order size. 

RS Components has been good also for harder to find stuff, and they do free shipping on everything. 

I think you'll enjoy the BE OD. Sounds like the Dr Boogie has way more gain on tap though haha. the BE OD really does have more than anyone should ever need though. 

Do you think any comparison between the Dr Boogie and your Triple Recto can be made? Similaries, or is the Dr Boogie just a toy that gets blown out of the water by the real deal? 

Also I noticed there's a Diezel-styled DIY project floating around, in the same vein as the Dr Boogie, it's called the Diefet.


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## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2017)

I tried the BE-OD some more and I really like it boosted with my TC integrated preamp (but I like everything boosted with it so nothing new). 

I tried it at 30 volts, it sounds very good to me, the bottom end stays a bit bigger and rounder. It did suddenly start sounding kinda bad, scared myself thinking I broke it, but apparently I just broke my charge pump. 

Checked with my multimeter, and it was only putting out 7 volts with a pedal load attached rather than the 31 volts it used to. I replaced the chip and it worked again. Tried the old one again to make sure it wasn't just seated poorly in the socket, still no charge pumping. 

It worked fine for a good half hour, so maybe the BE-OD draws more current than the MAX1044 can provide? From my reading the MAX1044 only is good to like 20ma, and this pedal does have three dual-op amps. It was fine for my TC Preamp, but it only draws like 4ma according to the manual, plus however much my LED draws (probably another 10ma or so). 

Maybe time to build an LT1054-based charge pump for this pedal. 

There is only a limited headroom gain between 18v and 30v so I may just stick to 18v.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 3, 2017)

At this point I almost think you're better off buying a 30v laptop supply and building yourself a step down regulator to 9v. A lot easier to go down than up if you want any kind of current handling.


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## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> At this point I almost think you're better off buying a 30v laptop supply and building yourself a step down regulator to 9v. A lot easier to go down than up if you want any kind of current handling.



Yeah, that's a good call. The more I think about it and think about what I want, dedicated power supplies of the correct voltage will just be simpler. 

I do have a cheap 30 volt laptop supply I got off eBay, a lot of switching noise though, maybe I should just filter it. 

The other option is just buying a good power brick. I've been looking around and I like the look of the One Spot CS6, pretty flexible with multiple voltages. Since it's all isolated I could just run a y-cable from a 12v and 18v plug to get 30v, then run a daisy chain from that into all the stuff I want at 30 volts. Then I have 4 plugs left for 9, 12, or 18 volts that can all be daisy chained also. No need for charge pumps at that point. 

I tried the BE-OD clone a bit more in depth today, it sounds great at 18, volts but a bit better at 30 in my opinion. After tweaking it for a while I'm really blown away by how great it sounds. The clean channel you run it through makes a hell of a big difference though, I could get it sounsung downright mediocre through the wrong amp.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 3, 2017)

Switching noise is no fun, but filtering it shouldn't be too bad I wouldn't think. As long as you aren't pulling mountains of current. Big old electrolytic cap ought to do it. A resistor and/or inductor if you really want to clean it up.

Then again finding the correct values for that stuff was always the hardest part of the power systems class I took back in uni. At these low power levels though, "correct" values Hopefully aren't that critical.


----------



## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Switching noise is no fun, but filtering it shouldn't be too bad I wouldn't think. As long as you aren't pulling mountains of current. Big old electrolytic cap ought to do it. A resistor and/or inductor if you really want to clean it up.
> 
> Then again finding the correct values for that stuff was always the hardest part of the power systems class I took back in uni. At these low power levels though, "correct" values Hopefully aren't that critical.



good call, I do have a lot of spare parts at this point, might be something to do at some point. The power supply for my xbox broke a while ago and I still have the broken one. When I opened it up it has a couple real big caps in it, maybe I can salvage them.


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## Shask (Dec 3, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I tried the BE-OD clone a bit more in depth today, it sounds great at 18, volts but a bit better at 30 in my opinion. After tweaking it for a while I'm really blown away by how great it sounds. The clean channel you run it through makes a hell of a big difference though, I could get it sounsung downright mediocre through the wrong amp.



I found that the electrolytics I used are 25V, so I should be able to try 18V. I have a cheap Joyo power supply that has 18V outputs. It looks like all the normal film capacitors are usually 50V.

Today I built about 3/4 of the Rat clone since I am waiting on parts. I am short 3-4 capacitors on that one also, so more waiting..... I found that I think the LED might be off on the drilling template. I will have to look closer when the time comes to drill.

I have to go out of town next week for work, so I should have a crapload of parts arrive by the time I get back. I think I probably have 90% of the parts for multiple projects, but seem to be missing a few things for each. I will have to get it sorted out as I need them.


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## Shask (Dec 3, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Switching noise is no fun, but filtering it shouldn't be too bad I wouldn't think. As long as you aren't pulling mountains of current. Big old electrolytic cap ought to do it. A resistor and/or inductor if you really want to clean it up.
> 
> Then again finding the correct values for that stuff was always the hardest part of the power systems class I took back in uni. At these low power levels though, "correct" values Hopefully aren't that critical.


Usually for power filtering, the bigger the better. Usually the main constraint is how much you want to spend on one cap, and how large you are willing to physically have it.


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## Shask (Dec 3, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> cheers for the info, I'll make sure to socket the FETs in that case.
> 
> I think I've been pretty lucky with parts. I like ordering from bitsbox.co.uk since they have most stuff and shipping is cheap, £1.75 regardless of order size.
> 
> ...


Forgot about this. I usually get things from 2 different places, so it depends on what I am ordering. I ordered like $50 worth of Caps today, lol.

Yeah, the Dr. Boogie has insane gain. I can play like.... Nevermore with the gain at 9 o'clock. Biasing changed the tone too much, so we will see if the lower gain FETs will help a little. I mean, it sounds great, but if I can get more range, and less noise, then why not try it. I have to turn the gain down to like 8 o'clock if I use a Tubescreamer in front. Anything over 10-11 o'clock is just mush and noise. I have read a few posts where people said the same when they used 5 J201s.

It is hard for me to compare since I am using it into the clean channel of the Triple Recto. I am sure that helps it sound similar. However, I can say it is definitely chunkier, bassier, and just deeper and thicker sounding than most metal pedals out there. They usually have that thin fizzy high end, and fake low end. This thing sounds more natural, and just bigger. You really have to crank the treble and presence to get it to be fizzy. Takes boosts well also. It is a great metal pedal overall that sounds better than many of the mass produced pedals I have heard. After I get many other things done, I want to try other cascaded FET pedals. I know one popular one is the Seventheaven Bogner emulator. http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=611


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 4, 2017)

Shask said:


> Forgot about this. I usually get things from 2 different places, so it depends on what I am ordering. I ordered like $50 worth of Caps today, lol.
> 
> Yeah, the Dr. Boogie has insane gain. I can play like.... Nevermore with the gain at 9 o'clock. Biasing changed the tone too much, so we will see if the lower gain FETs will help a little. I mean, it sounds great, but if I can get more range, and less noise, then why not try it. I have to turn the gain down to like 8 o'clock if I use a Tubescreamer in front. Anything over 10-11 o'clock is just mush and noise. I have read a few posts where people said the same when they used 5 J201s.
> 
> It is hard for me to compare since I am using it into the clean channel of the Triple Recto. I am sure that helps it sound similar. However, I can say it is definitely chunkier, bassier, and just deeper and thicker sounding than most metal pedals out there. They usually have that thin fizzy high end, and fake low end. This thing sounds more natural, and just bigger. You really have to crank the treble and presence to get it to be fizzy. Takes boosts well also. It is a great metal pedal overall that sounds better than many of the mass produced pedals I have heard. After I get many other things done, I want to try other cascaded FET pedals. I know one popular one is the Seventheaven Bogner emulator. http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=611


Easy way to reduce the gain without messing with your biases would be to remove the cathode cap on the first FET (or whatever the term for "cathode" is on a fet ... I can't remember. Not "drain". Something).

C1 on the schematics Google is showing me. Cut that one out.


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## mnemonic (Dec 4, 2017)

Shask said:


> I found that the electrolytics I used are 25V, so I should be able to try 18V. I have a cheap Joyo power supply that has 18V outputs. It looks like all the normal film capacitors are usually 50V.
> 
> Today I built about 3/4 of the Rat clone since I am waiting on parts. I am short 3-4 capacitors on that one also, so more waiting..... I found that I think the LED might be off on the drilling template. I will have to look closer when the time comes to drill.
> 
> I have to go out of town next week for work, so I should have a crapload of parts arrive by the time I get back. I think I probably have 90% of the parts for multiple projects, but seem to be missing a few things for each. I will have to get it sorted out as I need them.



I'm a bit paranoid and I like options so I always order 50 volt caps when I can. And yeah, film and ceramic are almost always 50v or higher from what I've read. I think it's just the power cap that sees the full voltage from the Jack antway, but I'm not good enough at reading schematics to tell anyway. 

The LED was a bit off from the template on my BE-OD PCB, but that may have just been me not mounting the pots perfectly straight. The LED had to bend up and a bit to the right. Luckily once the pot legs are all in the right place and tightened down, it's easy enough to lift the PCB and get it back in place on the legs. I just lifted it, bent the LED to what looked about in-line, then put the PCB back in place. Easy peasy.


----------



## zilla (Dec 4, 2017)

Shask said:


> I want to try other cascaded FET pedals. I know one popular one is the Seventheaven Bogner emulator. http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=611



i've built most of the preamp simulator pedals out there.

I think out of all of them the dr boogie is still my favourite and the engl e530 is close second.... and i've done them all; mk II c+, uberschall, ecstacy, legacy, vh4, SLO 100, x88r, jcm800, plexi super lead, splawn nitro, 5150, and some more i'm forgetting probably.

one thing about these JFET pedals: they LOVE 18V. i wouldn't even consider running them at 9v.


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## zilla (Dec 4, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Easy way to reduce the gain without messing with your biases would be to remove the cathode cap on the first FET (or whatever the term for "cathode" is on a fet ... I can't remember. Not "drain". Something).
> 
> C1 on the schematics Google is showing me. Cut that one out.



"source follower"

also try adjusting the 1k8 resistor on the source of Q1. that will have an impact on the gain as well.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 4, 2017)

zilla said:


> "source follower"
> 
> also try adjusting the 1k8 resistor on the source of Q1. that will have an impact on the gain as well.


It will affect it a little but I wouldn't mess with it too much. That resistor is for setting the DC bias on that fet. Adjusting it will change the sound by moving the bias point around the curve, but it won't affect the gain much unless you push it way high or way low. Granted this has been used to good effect in SLO/Rectos for years, on the last gain stage. I personally wouldn't mess with the biasing on the first stage.

C1 bypasses this resistor for the audio frequencies. Without that, you get some negative feedback from that resistor (on the high part of the wave, current wise, your source voltage goes up, opposing the higher gate voltage - lower gain), which is why removing that cap will reduce your gain a lot.

This post makes me sound like a know it all. Sorry about that. I just really like talking about tube/jfet circuits.


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## Shask (Dec 4, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Easy way to reduce the gain without messing with your biases would be to remove the cathode cap on the first FET (or whatever the term for "cathode" is on a fet ... I can't remember. Not "drain". Something).
> 
> C1 on the schematics Google is showing me. Cut that one out.


I have thought about it, but hate to deviate from the original design. I am hoping a lower gain FET will keep the same tone, but just spread more usable gain out over the knob.


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## Shask (Dec 4, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I'm a bit paranoid and I like options so I always order 50 volt caps when I can. And yeah, film and ceramic are almost always 50v or higher from what I've read. I think it's just the power cap that sees the full voltage from the Jack antway, but I'm not good enough at reading schematics to tell anyway.
> 
> The LED was a bit off from the template on my BE-OD PCB, but that may have just been me not mounting the pots perfectly straight. The LED had to bend up and a bit to the right. Luckily once the pot legs are all in the right place and tightened down, it's easy enough to lift the PCB and get it back in place on the legs. I just lifted it, bent the LED to what looked about in-line, then put the PCB back in place. Easy peasy.



Most of the newer ones I have ordered have been 50V, but I still have several 25V as well. I think I bought a few 16V, but haven't used them yet. I assume any of them would be safe for 18V, as long as I dont use the 16V ones.

Just looking at the template, he has the LED lining up with the pots, but on the PCB, the LED is in line with where the pots are soldered, so that would be a good 1/4" off.


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## Shask (Dec 4, 2017)

zilla said:


> i've built most of the preamp simulator pedals out there.
> 
> I think out of all of them the dr boogie is still my favourite and the engl e530 is close second.... and i've done them all; mk II c+, uberschall, ecstacy, legacy, vh4, SLO 100, x88r, jcm800, plexi super lead, splawn nitro, 5150, and some more i'm forgetting probably.
> 
> one thing about these JFET pedals: they LOVE 18V. i wouldn't even consider running them at 9v.


I dont even think I have seen half of those, lol. Where is a 5150 one?

Hmmm.. I will have to look to make sure I used caps that could handle 18V. I haven't tried it. I am pretty sure the biggest I used were though (100uF, 25V). I have never ran pedals at anything but 9V, so that would be a whole new world to me, lol.


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## Shask (Dec 4, 2017)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> It will affect it a little but I wouldn't mess with it too much. That resistor is for setting the DC bias on that fet. Adjusting it will change the sound by moving the bias point around the curve, but it won't affect the gain much unless you push it way high or way low. Granted this has been used to good effect in SLO/Rectos for years, on the last gain stage. I personally wouldn't mess with the biasing on the first stage.
> 
> C1 bypasses this resistor for the audio frequencies. Without that, you get some negative feedback from that resistor (on the high part of the wave, current wise, your source voltage goes up, opposing the higher gate voltage - lower gain), which is why removing that cap will reduce your gain a lot.
> 
> This post makes me sound like a know it all. Sorry about that. I just really like talking about tube/jfet circuits.


I have also seen posts where people say change the 3.9K "cathode" resistor to a 39K like in the real amp, on that 3rd gain stage where they use it as a clipping stage. That would probably drop the gain a lot.


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## mnemonic (Dec 5, 2017)

Shask said:


> Most of the newer ones I have ordered have been 50V, but I still have several 25V as well. I think I bought a few 16V, but haven't used them yet. I assume any of them would be safe for 18V, as long as I dont use the 16V ones.



I have a bunch of 16v 10uf caps I ordered by mistake (meant to get 50v). They're not even any smaller than the 50v ones. 

I used a couple in the Acapulco gold I made since the OP amp in that can't take more than 12v anyway. I guess I can use the rest in other pedals with voltage limits.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 5, 2017)

Shask said:


> I have also seen posts where people say change the 3.9K "cathode" resistor to a 39K like in the real amp, on that 3rd gain stage where they use it as a clipping stage. That would probably drop the gain a lot.


Nah, at that point you're already clipping a lot, so you'll still be reproducing the wave all the way across the range of the fet. 

I've done that exact mod before on my own recto-based pedal and it's actually super cool. It shifts the DC bias point outside the usable range of the fet, which means very small signals don't get amplified. What this amounts to is you get a built in noise gate. And it works really well. Would recommend.


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## Shask (Dec 9, 2017)

After some shipments I finished my BE-OD clone and Rat clone today. I only plugged them in for a few minutes, but luckily they both worked first time. Definitely one negative of using PCB mounted pots is you have to build it as you solder it, and taking it back apart would suck majorly.  Apparently I still miscounted how many knobs I needed, lol. I will have to order some more for the Rat. Apparently my phone camera really sucks also.

Only heard them for a few, but the BE-OD definitely has that nice 80's style high gain Marshall type sound. The Rat sounds like I expected it should, and I heard the Obituary and Morbid Angel tones creeping through. I will have to try 18V later.

I think I am going to do the Klon clone next. Many of the others I have need 1/8W resistors, and I dont feel like going through ordering a bunch of crap again yet.


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## mnemonic (Dec 9, 2017)

Looking really good. That 3pdt breakout board is real slick also. 

I'm waiting for my PCB's for triple wreck and vh4 to come in, I still need to do some reading on the vh4 to see what is up with that regulator and charge pump. 

Def try the be-od at 18v, sounds great at higher voltage. Though to be fair I do play on a seven string with high output pickups, with a strat or something I'm sure it's fine at 9v. 

At the moment I really like it with all the controls around 1:00, into the default settings of the Jazz chorus model on the axe fx. I feel like a dick running a distortion pedal into a clean axe fx, but i guess what works, works.


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## Shask (Dec 9, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Looking really good. That 3pdt breakout board is real slick also.
> 
> I'm waiting for my PCB's for triple wreck and vh4 to come in, I still need to do some reading on the vh4 to see what is up with that regulator and charge pump.
> 
> ...


Yeah, decided to get the breakout board this time. It was definitely nice, and I will probably order one from any place that offers them to match their other PCBs every time. It just took triple-checking to make sure I put it on right.

I have the Triple Wreck, but it requires 1/8W resistors, so I will probably wait a bit and do a few others I got first. I got the VH4 also, but will probably wait until the official build doc is ready. I got several easier ones to do, so I will probably do some of them first.

I have been mostly using the clean channel on my Triple Rectifier, so it is just as weird to run a distortion pedal into the clean of an amp known for its distortion, lol.

I did briefly try 18V with my Dr. Boogie the other day. I wasn't feeling great at the time, so I am not sure if that had something to do with it, but I definitely noticed it was twice as loud, twice as tight, had twice as much bass, but also had twice as much fizzy/fuzzy highs that I dont like. I want to try it some more because I heard some improvements, but dont like that weird fuzzy clipping pedals can have in the treble. It definitely brought that out. It could have just needed dialed down also. I also tried some other JFETs, but ended up back with my originals. Stock is J201s. I tried a MPF102, and it sounded like a broken bitcrushed fuzz pedal. It was awful. I also tried a 1N5457. It actually did allow me to turn the gain up 1-2 more notches, but it still had a dramatic amount of gain. However, it brought out more of that weird high treble clipping sound also, so I put the J201s back in. They have crazy gain, but seem to have the best low end chunk, without high end nasty clipping presence.

I found another site that has a TC Elec Int Pre with built in 18V Charge Pump IC, so I am gonna grab one of those when they are back in stock. You guys talking about them so much makes me want one, lol.


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## zilla (Dec 10, 2017)

Just curious where you sourced your j201 jfet from? Because the thtough hole versions are obsolete there are a shit tone of fake and/or out of spec ones out there. It’s easy to get duped and you’ll have a shitty sounding pedal to boot.


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## mnemonic (Dec 10, 2017)

Shask said:


> Yeah, decided to get the breakout board this time. It was definitely nice, and I will probably order one from any place that offers them to match their other PCBs every time. It just took triple-checking to make sure I put it on right.
> 
> I have the Triple Wreck, but it requires 1/8W resistors, so I will probably wait a bit and do a few others I got first. I got the VH4 also, but will probably wait until the official build doc is ready. I got several easier ones to do, so I will probably do some of them first.
> 
> ...



Sounds like maybe it might need biasing for whichever voltage you choose? I've always noticed more clarity, less compression, and less distortion in the bottom end when I go higher voltage. 

I think I'm gonna end up just doing standing-up resistors in those 1/8th watt resistor holes. Hopefully not too cramped to work with. 

Also if that integrated pre PCB is at rullywow, they've been out of stock for a long time, I emailed him back before I made my first one to see if he was planning to get it back in stock, but never received a reply. 

I decided to start a clone of a custom badass modified OD yesterday. Certainly a bigger circuit than other tubescreamers. I have the board done and the enclosure drilled and painted, I just need to mount everything. If I can't do it today I'll probably have time tomorrow.


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## Shask (Dec 10, 2017)

zilla said:


> Just curious where you sourced your j201 jfet from? Because the thtough hole versions are obsolete there are a shit tone of fake and/or out of spec ones out there. It’s easy to get duped and you’ll have a shitty sounding pedal to boot.



I got them from Small Bear:

http://www.smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/transistor-fet-j201-generic/

I actually have several I bought like 10 years ago also. I used the new ones I bought, but have thought about trying the old ones I have.


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## Shask (Dec 10, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Sounds like maybe it might need biasing for whichever voltage you choose? I've always noticed more clarity, less compression, and less distortion in the bottom end when I go higher voltage.
> 
> I think I'm gonna end up just doing standing-up resistors in those 1/8th watt resistor holes. Hopefully not too cramped to work with.
> 
> ...


It might need re-biased for 18V. I have it biased at 5V, because I thought it sounded better than the 4.5V they say. I could also just need to turn the presence knob down, lol.

I have noticed before that usually the 1/8W to too far apart to stand up straight (usually angled), but too close for 1/4W. I have 3-4 different projects that need 1/8W, so I plan on just doing a large order of them, once I sit down and figure out everything I need for multiple projects. I also have some for 30-40 different values, so I need to figure out what I am missing. I got some vibe and chorus pedals and such that use them.

Yeah, I mean Rullywow. I saw a Facebook post on 12/3 that said "restock soon", so hopefully soon. I know his Breakout boards were out of stock, but just became in stock last night. Probably waiting on his PCB vendor.

I want a BAOD also... but, I will probably just pick up a used one for $50.


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## zilla (Dec 10, 2017)

Technically you shouldn’t have to to rebias. The trimmers are just voltage dividers and still give the proper voltage splitting. You might want to rebias because you now have a lot more headroom and might be able to hear things that you didn’t hear before.


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## mnemonic (Dec 10, 2017)

I got the CMBOD all assembled, it apears to be working, except when I turn the gain past about half way, there's this weird whistle-like sound on top of the gain. Real weird. I don't plan on ever running it that high, but it's still a problem. The layout was verified so I assume it's a problem of mine. I'll have to check it out later as I'm about to go out. My impressions from 3 minutes of playing was that it is very tight and aggressive sounding. If a used one is only $50 or so I may just pick one up also.

Only parts subs I made was a BC550C in place of the MPSA18 recomended, TI RC4558 in place of whatever IC was recomended, and I think a 220nf in place of a 250nf cap.


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## zilla (Dec 10, 2017)

Whistling at high gain is pretty common with high gain pedals.

You need to use shielded cables or check your wiring. Don’t run in and out wires close to each other, etc


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## mnemonic (Dec 10, 2017)

zilla said:


> Whistling at high gain is pretty common with high gain pedals.
> 
> You need to use shielded cables or check your wiring. Don’t run in and out wires close to each other, etc



I'll check where my wires are when I get home, it's a rats nest at the moment, and I haven't stuck the back on yet. It isn't really that high gain though, it'd just an overdrive at the end of the day. Also noticable when testing through a clean channel. 

I'll see if I can record a clip at some point in the next couple days if I can't find an obvious cause, it's hard to describe.


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## zilla (Dec 10, 2017)

Which pedal is this? If it’s an overdrive it’s unlikely that you have enough gain to give feedback like that.

Good wire management is usually the easiest way to ensure no/minimal feedback. Also you said that the enclosure if open - noise will be reduced when you get the back cover in.... just make sure that the enclosure is grounded... it’s usually fine if there is bare metal around where the jacks are mounted so the case is grounded thru the jacks


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## mnemonic (Dec 10, 2017)

zilla said:


> Which pedal is this? If it’s an overdrive it’s unlikely that you have enough gain to give feedback like that.
> 
> Good wire management is usually the easiest way to ensure no/minimal feedback. Also you said that the enclosure if open - noise will be reduced when you get the back cover in.... just make sure that the enclosure is grounded... it’s usually fine if there is bare metal around where the jacks are mounted so the case is grounded thru the jacks



Copy of the MXR custom badass modified OD, which I think is SD1-based. 

I'll get it closed and see if that changes it but I doubt it, it's more like a strange characteristic of the drive. I also I'll check all my traces and make sure there are no shorts or bad joints.


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## Shask (Dec 10, 2017)

I ordered a crapload of 1/8W resistors today, so I should have plenty of resistors for either 1/8W or 1/4W builds.


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## Shask (Dec 10, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I got the CMBOD all assembled, it apears to be working, except when I turn the gain past about half way, there's this weird whistle-like sound on top of the gain. Real weird. I don't plan on ever running it that high, but it's still a problem. The layout was verified so I assume it's a problem of mine. I'll have to check it out later as I'm about to go out. My impressions from 3 minutes of playing was that it is very tight and aggressive sounding. If a used one is only $50 or so I may just pick one up also.
> 
> Only parts subs I made was a BC550C in place of the MPSA18 recomended, TI RC4558 in place of whatever IC was recomended, and I think a 220nf in place of a 250nf cap.



My Dr. Boogie will have a squeal if the gain is up too high, and the treble is up too high. It is like self-osculation, which is pretty common on that design. Mine pretty much falls in the unusable range, so not worried about it too much. Oddly enough, it has gotten better since I first built it. I did notice that putting a buffered pedal (SD-1) in front of it made it all go away, even when that pedal is turned off.

Yeah, I will probably grab a used one eventually. It is cheap enough, yet complex enough, that I haven't felt the need to clone that one. Things like the Rat I dont mind, because even through they are cheap, they are super-simple. Also, I have a MXR Classic OD, which is a cheap version of the GT-OD, and the BAOD is basically a GT-OD with that 100hz Gyrator circuit added.


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## mnemonic (Dec 10, 2017)

Shask said:


> My Dr. Boogie will have a squeal if the gain is up too high, and the treble is up too high. It is like self-osculation, which is pretty common on that design. Mine pretty much falls in the unusable range, so not worried about it too much. Oddly enough, it has gotten better since I first built it. I did notice that putting a buffered pedal (SD-1) in front of it made it all go away, even when that pedal is turned off.



I forgot all about that input buffer trick, I stuck a bypassed boss pedal in front of it, no more weird sizzly whistle on higher 'gain' settings.

I guess it must be a problem with the pedals buffer, I guess I really do need that MPSA18 transistor.

I'll take some pics tomorrow, I still need to add the indicator LED, and it's late now so I can't be bothered.


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## mnemonic (Dec 11, 2017)

I finished up the CBMOD copy today after work, added the LED. I've ordered some MPSA18 and MPSA14 transistors off ebay, so I can see if that changes that weird noise I get when I use the pedal without an external buffer before it, I'll update when they arrive. Not sure how much a malfunctioning input buffer can affect the sound of a pedal, so I guess we'll find out. If it doesn't fix the problem, then it will be an error somewhere else in my construction, presumably surrounding the pedal's buffer. 

This was the weather over the weekend, so plenty of time to stay inside and solder stuff. 



Enclosure all measured and marked for drilling




Drilled. Yes, I forgot the LED hole, I did it after paint. 




I'm surprised the paint actually stuck seeing as I sprayed it outside in the snow in freezing weather. First coat dried in a couple minutes, then about a half hour for each subsequent coat to dry. For reference, in the summer each coat is dry in like 5 or 10 minutes, and thats an english summer. 

populated 







It was a real pain fitting all these wires in. I think for anything with more than 4 controls in the future, I'm gonna try to go PCB, or use a larger enclosure. 










As far as sound goes, I have to say, its a super tight and clear overdrive. Its competing with my Integrated Preamp for tightness and clarity. If I knew an overdrive could be this tight and punchy, I would have bought one of them years ago. That 100 hz control is super cool for getting a bit extra tightness in the sound, though its still pretty tight even at noon. A lot tighter than a standard tubescreamer, and the clipping sounds better for metal, must be because its asymmetrical rather than symmetrical like with a tubescreamer. 

I still prefer the Gridslammer / tubescreamer clone for my RG8 but thats because its a particularly bright and twangy guitar, and it needs a smoother, less tight overdrive to sound its best. Otherwise it's just way over the top. 

The only downside I can see to this pedal is I can't really get rid of that tightness, so if you've already got a real tight amp and a real tight guitar, then this might just be too much.


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## Shask (Dec 12, 2017)

Looks good! I have never actually played the BAOD, but I think I would love it. I have the SD-1, Green Rhino, and GT-OD, so I have like every variation of it's close cousin without actually owning one, lol. Yeah, turning down that 100HZ control can make things super tight. That is actually what I like the Green Rhino for. That super tight, clanky, older Meshuggah type tone. Hopefully the different transistor will help the squealing. You might try shielded cable on the input and output since they run the length of the pedal.

I have been working on the Klon clone. I have everything done except wiring it inside the enclosure. I had to get creative with some cap values.


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## mnemonic (Dec 12, 2017)

Shask said:


> Looks good! I have never actually played the BAOD, but I think I would love it. I have the SD-1, Green Rhino, and GT-OD, so I have like every variation of it's close cousin without actually owning one, lol. Yeah, turning down that 100HZ control can make things super tight. That is actually what I like the Green Rhino for. That super tight, clanky, older Meshuggah type tone. Hopefully the different transistor will help the squealing. You might try shielded cable on the input and output since they run the length of the pedal.
> 
> I have been working on the Klon clone. I have everything done except wiring it inside the enclosure. I had to get creative with some cap values.



I've never played a Klon, I'm not even sure what they're supposed to be like. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on it. 

Looking at the controls of the Green Rhino it looks like it's probably the same deal as the M77 but tubescreamer-based rather than SD1-based. I haven't looked at schematics but I bet the main difference is probably the clipping type.


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## Shask (Dec 12, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I've never played a Klon, I'm not even sure what they're supposed to be like. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on it.
> 
> Looking at the controls of the Green Rhino it looks like it's probably the same deal as the M77 but tubescreamer-based rather than SD1-based. I haven't looked at schematics but I bet the main difference is probably the clipping type.



I have never played a Klon either, but I figure why not build one.  I think it is suppose to be somewhere between a Tubescreamer and a Transparent boost. It is not quite flat, but not as mid boosted as a TS.

Yes, I think they took ideas from the Green Rhino when they designed the BAOD. I do think 2 diodes vs 3 diodes is the main difference from what I have seen before. Not sure how that bump switch compares with the curve knob though.


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## Shask (Dec 13, 2017)

I got my Klon clone done today, but I haven't labeled or put it together yet. It is working, but the battery power is not. I found that I used the wrong type of input jack, so I had to order the correct one. I only got to try it for about 5 minutes, but it reminds me of a transparent booster where you can add some gritty, aggressive hair to the treble. It does not have the smooth treble like a Tubescreamer. It can get harsh with high settings of treble. I will have to play with it some more, but it is interesting. It is kind of in the same category as the Timmy clone that I have.

Overall I have been impressed with the PCBs from this place. All of the pedals I have completed have worked the first time, which is amazing.

I am thinking about doing the Triple Wreck clone next. Maybe the Bluesbreaker.


----------



## zilla (Dec 13, 2017)

What diodes did you use?


----------



## mnemonic (Dec 14, 2017)

I'd also like to do the triple wreck next, my PCB's arrived yesterday. I may try to order parts this weekend.

I'd also like to do a Guv'nor, I'll probably order parts for a veroboard version at the same time.

I hope the build docs are done soon for that vh4 pedal, I really want to try that one out


----------



## Shask (Dec 14, 2017)

zilla said:


> What diodes did you use?



The Klon clone, I used "NOS Germanium Diode Work-alike for 1N34A and others....

http://www.smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/diode-nos-germanium/


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## Shask (Dec 14, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I'd also like to do the triple wreck next, my PCB's arrived yesterday. I may try to order parts this weekend.
> 
> I'd also like to do a Guv'nor, I'll probably order parts for a veroboard version at the same time.
> 
> I hope the build docs are done soon for that vh4 pedal, I really want to try that one out



I am interested in seeing how close the Triple Wreck is to the Caline Red Devil. It has never been officially traced, but there are rumors that maybe it is based on the TW. I have a bunch of 1/8W resistors, with more on the way, so I think I have everything for it.

Yeah, not sure why that VH4 is taking so long. I also have a Tightmetal clone I waiting on also. I saw that the TC IP PCB guy said he hopes those are in stock within the week, so I keep checking to grab one of those also when they are available.

I always thought about a Guv'nor also, but then I got a Caline Sand Storm that was based on the MI Audio Crunch Box, which is based on the Guv'nor, and I also got a Danelectro Daddy-o, which is a clone of the Guv'nor, and honestly, I am not a huge fan of either. Both have that fuzzy high end thing going on. Think Kill 'Em All tone. It makes me leery about a Shredmaster clone also.


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## mnemonic (Dec 14, 2017)

Shask said:


> I am interested in seeing how close the Triple Wreck is to the Caline Red Devil. It has never been officially traced, but there are rumors that maybe it is based on the TW. I have a bunch of 1/8W resistors, with more on the way, so I think I have everything for it.
> 
> Yeah, not sure why that VH4 is taking so long. I also have a Tightmetal clone I waiting on also. I saw that the TC IP PCB guy said he hopes those are in stock within the week, so I keep checking to grab one of those also when they are available.
> 
> I always thought about a Guv'nor also, but then I got a Caline Sand Storm that was based on the MI Audio Crunch Box, which is based on the Guv'nor, and I also got a Danelectro Daddy-o, which is a clone of the Guv'nor, and honestly, I am not a huge fan of either. Both have that fuzzy high end thing going on. Think Kill 'Em All tone. It makes me leery about a Shredmaster clone also.



I didn't know that about the Red Devil pedal. Then again I haven't paid too much attention to their products. 

I'm not sure what to expect with a Guv'nor, but I actually kinda like the Shredmaster model in the axe fx as a boost, and that's what made me think about building a Guv'nor, since apparntly all 3 or 4 of those Marshall pedals that came out around that time were very similar circuits. 

Not that I expect the axe fx model of the shredmaster to sound much like the real thing... A lot like the metalzone model in the axe fx, I have a feeling it was added in for no particular reason, and hasnt ever been updated.


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## Shask (Dec 14, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I didn't know that about the Red Devil pedal. Then again I haven't paid too much attention to their products.
> 
> I'm not sure what to expect with a Guv'nor, but I actually kinda like the Shredmaster model in the axe fx as a boost, and that's what made me think about building a Guv'nor, since apparntly all 3 or 4 of those Marshall pedals that came out around that time were very similar circuits.
> 
> Not that I expect the axe fx model of the shredmaster to sound much like the real thing... A lot like the metalzone model in the axe fx, I have a feeling it was added in for no particular reason, and hasnt ever been updated.



It is funny he has the Metal Zone in there that no one uses, but everyone has been begging for the HM-2 for years, and he wont add it.

The Shredmaster and Guv'nor are actually the same, except the Guv'nor has the typcial BMT EQ, and the Shredmaster has BT, and a Contour control for Mids. They can be a cool boost for a thicker, sludgier, fizzier tone. Not really enough gain on their own, but can sound cool with a boost.

I have a ton of Caline pedals. Most are clones of well known pedals. The Red Devil was a surprise, because it is actually a killer metal pedal that dont seem to be well known. No one has officially traced it, but there is speculation that it is based on the Triple Wreck, or Plexitortion. I was gonna build clones of some of them, but I could get the Caline versions cheaper.


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## zilla (Dec 14, 2017)

Shask said:


> The Klon clone, I used "NOS Germanium Diode Work-alike for 1N34A and others....
> 
> http://www.smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/diode-nos-germanium/



"work-a-like" is code for "not a germanium transistor but the IV graph is really close" I would email Steve and get clarification. I've bought those "work-a-like" diodes before and when i tested the forward voltage they were way off of what germaniums are supposed to be.

Personally i love russian D9E germanium diodes in the klon. i bought a lot of 1000 right before it got out that those diodes are "really close" to the unobtanium diodes that were originally used in the centaurs and prices went up through the roof ( a few cents/diode vs close to $1/diode )


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## Shask (Dec 14, 2017)

zilla said:


> "work-a-like" is code for "not a germanium transistor but the IV graph is really close" I would email Steve and get clarification. I've bought those "work-a-like" diodes before and when i tested the forward voltage they were way off of what germaniums are supposed to be.
> 
> Personally i love russian D9E germanium diodes in the klon. i bought a lot of 1000 right before it got out that those diodes are "really close" to the unobtanium diodes that were originally used in the centaurs and prices went up through the roof ( a few cents/diode vs close to $1/diode )



I measured them before I put them in, and they measured correctly. They were around .26v or something if I remember right. My other diodes I used (4001, etc...) were more like .58v or so. They kind of look like some old 1N60A or something diodes I bought years ago. I am not too worried about it as long as it is in the ballpark of what it should be. I just want reasonable versions, not to obsessed that it has to be perfect vintage. I did the same with my Rat clone, I used the OP07 instead of the LM308, since the LM308 is hard to find (fakes, etc...), and most people say they cant tell the difference unless they own a shelf of them.


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## Shask (Dec 16, 2017)

Well, I got my Triple Wreck PCB clone built, the Bluesbreaker PCB built, and the Lovepedal Eternity PCB built. However, I need one diode for the TW, an enclosure for the BB, and need to drill the enclosure for the LE. I just got all these built PCBs laying around. 

I actually ran into my first problem. After I built the others I was looking at the TW, and started messing with the switch which isn't soldered yet. It didn't fit. I messed with it, and messed with it. The big diode had to be moved. When I took it out, it ripped the solder pads right off the bottom. The solder pads on these PCBs are so small they definitely don't like to be repaired. I finally got a new diode in after ruining 2-3. Luckily there was enough of a solder pad on the top of the PCB to solder to. I am measuring continuity to where it should go, so I think it should be good to go. I also cracked a capacitor trying to get the switch on there. I had to switch from a film to a disk because there was no way it was going to fit. I think this is one project where the PCB could be slightly larger. Everything is so crammed together.


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## mnemonic (Dec 17, 2017)

That's annoying, the TR PCB is especially small given its all 1/8 watt resistors also. 

Hopefully it does all work in the end. I'm gonna take special care to check dimensions on all the parts I order, last time with the BE-OD I had to reorder a couple caps since the ones I got were too big. And even then two were still too big to fit. I'll make sure to check switch dimensions also. 

I don't have any parts to make anything at the moment, I need to get another order in.


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## Shask (Dec 17, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> That's annoying, the TR PCB is especially small given its all 1/8 watt resistors also.
> 
> Hopefully it does all work in the end. I'm gonna take special care to check dimensions on all the parts I order, last time with the BE-OD I had to reorder a couple caps since the ones I got were too big. And even then two were still too big to fit. I'll make sure to check switch dimensions also.
> 
> I don't have any parts to make anything at the moment, I need to get another order in.



The problem stems from the fact the 1N5817 doesn't fit in the holes. It is too long, so you have to stand it up on one end. Then you either have the body of the diode, or a leg, right in the spot of the switch. Even looking at it today, I think the leg will rub against the body of the switch, which of course is grounded, so I think I am going to have to wrap it in electrical tape. If not I could get a direct short from +9v to ground. I am also going to have to raise the switch as far as I possibly can when I solder it to avoid the diode leg. I will have to adjust the height of the pots because of that. Sigh. Damn thing better sound good, lol.

I did finish my Eternity clone today. It sounds like I expected... like a brighter Tubescreamer. I just need some knobs for it. Tomorrow I am getting a shipment, so I should be able to fix my Klone, and complete the TR. Then I have another package coming later with more enclosures to finish my BluesBreaker. I am not sure what I will start next. I had 3 half-done, so I wanted to finish them before starting another. I have some chorus and vibe PCBs, but they are far more complex, so I don't know if I feel like doing that yet, lol.


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## Shask (Dec 19, 2017)

Here is my Klone, and I got some blue knobs for the Rat. I finally got the correct input jack and got it fixed. The Klone is a pretty cool transparent booster which can add some presence sparkle to the sound. I am not sure the looks turned out like I envisioned them, lol, but I guess it looks OK. It works, so that is what counts. Again, with the LED you can see from space, lol. I bought 2 8mm LEDs for whatever reason, so I put them in the big box enclosures.


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## Shask (Dec 19, 2017)

Triple Wreck.... more like Train Wreck.... lol

This clone project was definitely the problem child. I talked about the switch not fitting above. Well, dumb me didn't realize the switch goes on the other side of the PCB for whatever reason until I tried to put it in the box. So, I screwed with the diode and broke the cap for no reason. The first time I powered it up, I had no power, so I broke the PCB. I had to jump the power from the diode over to a resistor. Then the bypass sound didn't work... screwed with that forever until I found a micropiece of copper that was shorting from my shielded cable. Got that fixed. Finally I got sound, but the switch wouldn't work. I screwed with that forever. I probably took this thing apart 18 times today. I could not figure this out for the life of me.... then I started comparing with other schematics and found there is an error on the PCB. He forgot a resistor. I noticed the current picture on the website has an extra 10K resistor on the right side of the board. He must of fixed it recently. Anyways, to fix this I had to take out 2 caps, which broke the PCB at those locations also. I had to stick an extra resistor to the leg of a cap, and then run jumpers across the PCB because of the broken PCB pads. Sigh.... so I have a big glob of parts soldered on top of the board, with a few jumper wires across the bottom of the PCB. Amazingly... somehow it works. It looks ugly as hell, but hopefully it will never break. 

I am 99% convinced the Caline Red Devil is a clone of the Wampler Triple Wreck, without the boost. It reacts about 98% the same. It sounds the same, minus some small bass and treble differences. Once I got the stupid switch working, I can usually dial in these pedals the same. I would probably buy a new PCB and try again so I would have a cleaner one if it wasn't almost the same as the Caline pedal I already had.

Anyways, pretty cool heavier distortion. It doesn't have crazy gain, but enough to play metal. The EQ works real well, and you can get bright and fizzy, to fat and chunky, and the mid control can go honky to completely scooped. Works well boosted with other pedals. Cool pedal all around. I just wish I didn't have so many issues with it, cause I will always be biased because of that, lol. Afraid it will break at any moment.


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## mnemonic (Dec 20, 2017)

Shask said:


> Triple Wreck.... more like Train Wreck.... lol
> 
> This clone project was definitely the problem child. I talked about the switch not fitting above. Well, dumb me didn't realize the switch goes on the other side of the PCB for whatever reason until I tried to put it in the box. So, I screwed with the diode and broke the cap for no reason. The first time I powered it up, I had no power, so I broke the PCB. I had to jump the power from the diode over to a resistor. Then the bypass sound didn't work... screwed with that forever until I found a micropiece of copper that was shorting from my shielded cable. Got that fixed. Finally I got sound, but the switch wouldn't work. I screwed with that forever. I probably took this thing apart 18 times today. I could not figure this out for the life of me.... then I started comparing with other schematics and found there is an error on the PCB. He forgot a resistor. I noticed the current picture on the website has an extra 10K resistor on the right side of the board. He must of fixed it recently. Anyways, to fix this I had to take out 2 caps, which broke the PCB at those locations also. I had to stick an extra resistor to the leg of a cap, and then run jumpers across the PCB because of the broken PCB pads. Sigh.... so I have a big glob of parts soldered on top of the board, with a few jumper wires across the bottom of the PCB. Amazingly... somehow it works. It looks ugly as hell, but hopefully it will never break.
> 
> ...



What a pain in the ass, haha. 

I just checked my pcb, and sure enough it’s also missing the 10k between the 1u cap and lug 3 on the volume control. I guess I can just add that above the board easy enough. Leave the - leg of the cap out of the solder pad, stick the resistor to it, and into the hole for the 3rd lug of the volume pot. 

It’s not even on his schematic. I wonder how much it changes the sound. Did you get sound out of it before adding it? I know sometimes people will leave out parts that are unnecessary when they design pcb’s but I don’t know enough about schematics to be able to tell what is and isn’t necessary.


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## Shask (Dec 20, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> What a pain in the ass, haha.
> 
> I just checked my pcb, and sure enough it’s also missing the 10k between the 1u cap and lug 3 on the volume control. I guess I can just add that above the board easy enough. Leave the - leg of the cap out of the solder pad, stick the resistor to it, and into the hole for the 3rd lug of the volume pot.
> 
> It’s not even on his schematic. I wonder how much it changes the sound. Did you get sound out of it before adding it? I know sometimes people will leave out parts that are unnecessary when they design pcb’s but I don’t know enough about schematics to be able to tell what is and isn’t necessary.



Yeah, the switch does nothing without it. It is a low pass filter. You are basically stuck in "modern" mode.

*Engineering mode*
That resistor and cap to ground is a low pass filter. You can calculate the frequency it starts cutting the highs by calculating f=1/(2*pi*r*c), so in this circuit, with 10K and 4.7nF, you get a cutoff frequency of about 3400hz. Without the resistor, you dont have the filter, so you dont get the "vintage" mode of the switch. You will see the same type of circuit in the Tubescreamer right after the clipping stage. The 1k resistor and .22 uF cap starts to cut the highs about 720hz in a tube screamer, and then the tone control can add some back right about 3200hz. If you want more upper mids in a Tubescreamer, you can change the 1K resistor right after that opamp to about 700ohm.
*Engineering mode off*

Yeah, knowing what I know now, it would be pretty easy to deal with this. I would just solder a tiny 1/8W 10K resistor to the - leg of that 1uF cap, and then solder the other leg of that resistor right into the board. That resistor would basically be the "leg" of that cap, and it would just need to sit 1/4" higher than the other parts. Mine was such a mess because I found it later, and taking the parts out ripped up the PCB pads. I also had to use a big box 1uF because I was out of the 1uF electrolytics.


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## mnemonic (Dec 20, 2017)

Shask said:


> Yeah, the switch does nothing without it. It is a low pass filter. You are basically stuck in "modern" mode.
> 
> *Engineering mode*
> That resistor and cap to ground is a low pass filter. You can calculate the frequency it starts cutting the highs by calculating f=1/(2*pi*r*c), so in this circuit, with 10K and 4.7nF, you get a cutoff frequency of about 3400hz. Without the resistor, you dont have the filter, so you dont get the "vintage" mode of the switch. You will see the same type of circuit in the Tubescreamer right after the clipping stage. The 1k resistor and .22 uF cap starts to cut the highs about 720hz in a tube screamer, and then the tone control can add some back right about 3200hz. If you want more upper mids in a Tubescreamer, you can change the 1K resistor right after that opamp to about 700ohm.
> ...



Well I’m glad you mentioned it or I’d be wondering what I did wrong and why the switch didn’t do anything.

Luckily I ordered parts yesterday taking care to make sure everything is the right size. 

Apart from the 100u cap, mine are bigger and the supplier I bought from didn’t have small 100u caps. So I’ll just leave the legs long and bend it over the top of the board or something.

Hopefully the parts arrive tomorrow and I can start building. I’m wondering how it compares to my AMT R2, and the axe fx recto models.


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## Shask (Dec 21, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Well I’m glad you mentioned it or I’d be wondering what I did wrong and why the switch didn’t do anything.
> 
> Hopefully the parts arrive tomorrow and I can start building. I’m wondering how it compares to my AMT R2, and the axe fx recto models.



I am not sure if it necessarily sounds like a Recto, but it is a pretty cool high gain distortion, with a flexible EQ. I will have to buy a R2 one day. I have been curious about them for years.


Here is my Lovepedal Eternity clone. I have had this done for awhile, but was waiting for knobs.


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## mnemonic (Dec 23, 2017)

I finished my triple Wreck clone today, for @Shask who finished yours, how loud is it? 

Unity gain on the volume knob is like 3 o’clock or so, maxing out the volume knob isn’t really as loud as I would expect. I’m wondering if that is how it is, or if I wired something wrong. 

Also, I assume the down position on the switch is the modern mode? In the up position it’s a lot duller but also feels lower gain. 

It sounds pretty cool, but I’m wondering if I did something wrong. It’s getting a bit late to mess with stuff now so I’ll try taking it apart tomorrow to make sure I have no solder bridges.


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## Shask (Dec 23, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I finished my triple Wreck clone today, for @Shask who finished yours, how loud is it?
> 
> Unity gain on the volume knob is like 3 o’clock or so, maxing out the volume knob isn’t really as loud as I would expect. I’m wondering if that is how it is, or if I wired something wrong.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I would say unity gain on mine is about 2 oclock or so. However, there is still quite a bit of volume that can be added after 3 oclock, until max. It all depends on the EQ though. If you have the bass and treble cranked like I usually do, it has more overall volume the the EQ boosted so high.

Yeah, I labeled mine as Modern down. The vintage mode cuts the highs with that cap I talked about earlier.


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## Shask (Dec 23, 2017)

Today I got my Tightmetal clone working. Spent a couple of days on this. This one was a little tougher because the PCB came from somewhere else, and the offboard wiring wasn't so obvious. The Drill guide was off some, so I had to improvise, and wire everything manually (no switch breakout board). Some of the holes are off, and I had to circuit trace some to figure out how to wire up the switch and LED, but got it working. It seems to work pretty well. It basically sounds like Youtube videos of what I expected it to sound like. Very tight, aggressive, crunchy, bright tone.

The only weird issue I am having is the mid scoop knob seems to sweep as it is suppose to, except the final little bit of the turn of the knob.....the sound gets all dark like it turns the tone down. As you turn up the scoop knob it goes from kind of a dark mid scoop, to getting brighter and brighter with more upper mids, then the last bit of the knob suddenly goes dark with no presence. Weird. I have double checked everything and cannot figure out why it is doing that. The other controls all work as they should... Gain, Volume, Gate, Tone, and Tight.

Still need to label and put on knobs and such, but glad the circuit seems to be 99% working.


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## Shask (Dec 23, 2017)

Here is my Bluesbreaker clone. I got it all put together today also. This is a nice low gain OD pedal. I think it has less gain than a Tubescreamer, and don't have the mid boost of a Tubescreamer. I would say it is kind of flat, but maybe has some extra crunch in the highs. Pretty fat and chunky boosting something else that is high gain, like a Boss BD-2 or similar would. Kind of reminds me of a low gain Rat or BD-2 type pedal. I know the Bluesbreaker, Guv'nor, and Shredmaster were all kind of in the same family, with each adding more gain and EQ.


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## mnemonic (Dec 24, 2017)

Shask said:


> Yeah, I would say unity gain on mine is about 2 oclock or so. However, there is still quite a bit of volume that can be added after 3 oclock, until max. It all depends on the EQ though. If you have the bass and treble cranked like I usually do, it has more overall volume the the EQ boosted so high.
> 
> Yeah, I labeled mine as Modern down. The vintage mode cuts the highs with that cap I talked about earlier.



Cool, maybe there isn’t anything wrong with it then. It can get a bit above unity volume, but the BE-OD for instance is way louder so I was wondering if something was wrong. I checked all the parts and everything is right, no shorts anywhere. Maybe a different taper on the volume pot would be more ideal. 

My eq was set mostly flat, I’ll try turning it up higher later. 

That tightmetal sounds cool, if not a bit of extra work haha.


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## mnemonic (Dec 24, 2017)

Anyway, here are some pictures. 

When painting the box I had some issues getting the paint to stick. I did it black first, then taped the sides and did the top metallic silver. It turns out my silver paint really didn't want to stick to the black that was on the top so it went all bumpy. Once I did get it to stick all over, it gave it a bumpy texture, which I kinda like though. Its a bit different from the other stuff I have.

Here it is before I put a very light coat on so it didn't separate again. My first coats were probably too heavy. 




Populated:







completed:










most of my parts are the right size but as you can see, I couldn't find any 100u caps to fit in that little space. That is the smallest 100u cap I could find. 

I honestly haven't spent much time playing it yet, maybe 10 minutes. I was mostly trying to figure out what I had done wrong given the pedal's volume, but apparently thats just the way it is. From what I did play, it sounds pretty cool, though less recto-like than I was hoping. So far, my AMT R2 sounds better for recto tones. I will play with it some more after christmas though.


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## Shask (Dec 24, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Cool, maybe there isn’t anything wrong with it then. It can get a bit above unity volume, but the BE-OD for instance is way louder so I was wondering if something was wrong. I checked all the parts and everything is right, no shorts anywhere. Maybe a different taper on the volume pot would be more ideal.
> 
> My eq was set mostly flat, I’ll try turning it up higher later.
> 
> That tightmetal sounds cool, if not a bit of extra work haha.



Yeah, my BE-OD and Tightmetal clones are WAY louder than the Wreck. I don't know why I assume maybe the active EQs suck up more db of signal. I have a ton of pedals where unity is around 2 o'clock, so I guess it just seemed normal to me until you mentioned it.


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## Shask (Dec 24, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Anyway, here are some pictures.
> 
> When painting the box I had some issues getting the paint to stick. I did it black first, then taped the sides and did the top metallic silver. It turns out my silver paint really didn't want to stick to the black that was on the top so it went all bumpy. Once I did get it to stick all over, it gave it a bumpy texture, which I kinda like though. Its a bit different from the other stuff I have.
> 
> ...



Looks good! Yeah, whenever I painted, the first color was always fine. When I tried to add something on top, like a clear coat, that is when things went to hell. Even if I waited weeks in between layers, I would still have wrinkling issues. I know mine are kind of boring, but buying a painted enclosure and then just using paint markers is pretty easy. I do have more waterslides though I will probably use in the future for when I buy more expensive kits, and want them to look nicer.

I have a bunch of 100uF 25V caps. I have been buying 50v since then, so those are the lowest rated I have been using. They should be high enough though. I have had more issues getting the 50V ones to fit. You can see all the yellow ones I have used in the last few. They are 50V, non-polarized electrolytics I got.

Yeah, I don't know if I would call it a Recto emulator. More like a good high gain distortion. Kind of like a high gain Rat with a flexible active EQ after it. I think it is cool though, because it isn't trying to be super tight and bright, like many of the others. It is darker and chunkier.


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## Shask (Dec 24, 2017)

Here is my Tightmetal clone. The Scoop knob is still doing that weird thing I described above, but I decided that it is working 9/10 of the dial, so I am just gonna let it go. It is too much of a pain in the a$$ to take apart in the hopes of finding something. I honestly have not been able to find anything, so I think it will just stay. This has 6 pots, with multiple layers of cardboard so nothing shorts, then the power plug barely doesn't touch the top IC. I had to twist it just right, then there is all the jack wiring... don't wanna take this thing apart without a clear idea, lol.

It sounds pretty good. It is similar to the BE-OD clone with the tight control at like 3 o'clock, the bass about 11 o'clock, and the treble and presence about 3 o'clock. The Tightmetal clone is still more aggressive in the mids, but that puts it in the same neighborhood. The Tightmetal clone is quieter with the gate. It also runs internally at 18V with a charge pump, so there are still many differences. It almost reminds me of an ENGL or something. I will have to try it with an EQ after it eventually because I wish it had much more bass. Since the original is black with orange writing, I had to go with orange with black writing... although now it looks like a Boss DS-1, lol.


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## mnemonic (Dec 24, 2017)

Shask said:


> Looks good! Yeah, whenever I painted, the first color was always fine. When I tried to add something on top, like a clear coat, that is when things went to hell. Even if I waited weeks in between layers, I would still have wrinkling issues. I know mine are kind of boring, but buying a painted enclosure and then just using paint markers is pretty easy. I do have more waterslides though I will probably use in the future for when I buy more expensive kits, and want them to look nicer.
> 
> I have a bunch of 100uF 25V caps. I have been buying 50v since then, so those are the lowest rated I have been using. They should be high enough though. I have had more issues getting the 50V ones to fit. You can see all the yellow ones I have used in the last few. They are 50V, non-polarized electrolytics I got.
> 
> Yeah, I don't know if I would call it a Recto emulator. More like a good high gain distortion. Kind of like a high gain Rat with a flexible active EQ after it. I think it is cool though, because it isn't trying to be super tight and bright, like many of the others. It is darker and chunkier.



Agreed, it wasn’t what I was expecting since the description made it sound like it was gonna be some super gained out recto / 5150 mashup, but your description is closer. 

I played around with it some more before heading to my parents for Christmas Eve and there are some cool tones in it, but it doesn’t really do anything that my other pedals don’t already do better, so I’ll probably give it away to a friend. 

Speaking of paint, I think it separated as drastically as it did because I layered it on too heavy at first. The first silver coat was kind of moderate in thickness and it did get the fish eyes in it, but not really that bad. The second coat I did heavy, and that one is the pic above, real heavy fish eyes where it separates from the black. But I did get it covered by putting on a very, very light coat of silver and after that dried, painting like normal. 

When I eventually do the vh4 pcb, I wanted to do two-tone again so I’ll experiment a bit more, maybe if the first couple coats of the second colour are extremely light until I have coverage, it won’t fish eye. 

Also, I really like using a label maker for some reason. It feels very utilitarian, and I kinda like it that way. But I also like black guitars and I’m not a fan of fancy figured wood, so maybe it’s just an aesthetic thing.


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## mnemonic (Dec 24, 2017)

Shask said:


> Here is my Tightmetal clone. The Scoop knob is still doing that weird thing I described above, but I decided that it is working 9/10 of the dial, so I am just gonna let it go. It is too much of a pain in the a$$ to take apart in the hopes of finding something. I honestly have not been able to find anything, so I think it will just stay. This has 6 pots, with multiple layers of cardboard so nothing shorts, then the power plug barely doesn't touch the top IC. I had to twist it just right, then there is all the jack wiring... don't wanna take this thing apart without a clear idea, lol.
> 
> It sounds pretty good. It is similar to the BE-OD clone with the tight control at like 3 o'clock, the bass about 11 o'clock, and the treble and presence about 3 o'clock. The Tightmetal clone is still more aggressive in the mids, but that puts it in the same neighborhood. The Tightmetal clone is quieter with the gate. It also runs internally at 18V with a charge pump, so there are still many differences. It almost reminds me of an ENGL or something. I will have to try it with an EQ after it eventually because I wish it had much more bass. Since the original is black with orange writing, I had to go with orange with black writing... although now it looks like a Boss DS-1, lol.



Nice, that’s a lot to cram into a 125b. I think the real deal is in a bigger box than that, right? Then again I saw some be-od clones made entirely of SMD that were somehow jammed into 1590A’s, complete with all 6 pots, jacks, stomp switch, etc. 

I think the BE-OD has become my benchmark now for distortion or preamp pedals, it sounds so good.

If you still haven’t run your other pedals like the be-od and dr boogie at 18 volts, and you don’t want to buy a new power adapter, try making a charge pump in a small box like a 1590a. Stuff like the BE-OD definitely benefits from a bit more headroom.


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## Shask (Dec 24, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Agreed, it wasn’t what I was expecting since the description made it sound like it was gonna be some super gained out recto / 5150 mashup, but your description is closer.
> 
> I played around with it some more before heading to my parents for Christmas Eve and there are some cool tones in it, but it doesn’t really do anything that my other pedals don’t already do better, so I’ll probably give it away to a friend.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I dont know if any of these pedals do anything other gear I have dont do, but it is still fun to experiment with them.  I like the Wreck, but like I said, it is 98% the same as my Caline Red Devil, so I was already used to that tone. Speaking of the VH4, I wish he would get that doc posted. I want to start it, but hate to, in case there is some error that is found, like the Wreck. I think that is the last high gain PCB I have. I like most of my stuff looking very plain also.

I kind of find all the TL072 distortion pedals to have certain things in common with the tone. They all have similarities. My Dr. Boogie sounds and feels a lot different since it is JFET based. It is probably closer to your AMT R2, since they are JFET based.


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## Shask (Dec 24, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Nice, that’s a lot to cram into a 125b. I think the real deal is in a bigger box than that, right? Then again I saw some be-od clones made entirely of SMD that were somehow jammed into 1590A’s, complete with all 6 pots, jacks, stomp switch, etc.
> 
> I think the BE-OD has become my benchmark now for distortion or preamp pedals, it sounds so good.
> 
> If you still haven’t run your other pedals like the be-od and dr boogie at 18 volts, and you don’t want to buy a new power adapter, try making a charge pump in a small box like a 1590a. Stuff like the BE-OD definitely benefits from a bit more headroom.



Yeah, an actual Tightmetal is a pretty large pedal. Especially the Pro version with all the loops and EQs and such.

I think the BE-OD clone is my favorite out of all the high gain pedals I have built recently. I like how it can be fatter, or tighter, and has more than enough gain (I keep the trimmer about 3/4 the way up, which is 9 o'clock on mine, because it works backwards....). I think it would be perfect if it had a mid scoop knob, and some more bass. It seems to be better about being able to dial in qualities the others have. I plan on building one of those Dirty Shirley OD clones also when I order some more since I like the BE-OD clone so much.

Yes, I have ran the BE-OD and Dr. Boogie at 18V! I have a Joyo power supply with multiple taps, including 12V and 18V. I do think the BE-OD clone sounded very good at 18V. The Dr. Boogie sounded pretty good also, but it also added some highs I am not sure I loved.


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## mnemonic (Dec 24, 2017)

Shask said:


> Yeah, I dont know if any of these pedals do anything other gear I have dont do, but it is still fun to experiment with them.  I like the Wreck, but like I said, it is 98% the same as my Caline Red Devil, so I was already used to that tone. Speaking of the VH4, I wish he would get that doc posted. I want to start it, but hate to, unless there is some error that is found, like the Wreck. I think that is the last high gain PCB I have. I like most of my stuff looking very plain also.
> 
> I kind of find all the TL072 distortion pedals to have certain things in common with the tone. They all have similarities. My Dr. Boogie sounds and feels a lot different since it is JFET based. It is probably closer to your AMT R2, since they are JFET based.



That’s true, makes me want to experiment with op amps. I guess op amp based will be different from jfet based, no matter the op amps used.

I have a few NE5532’s here but I haven’t been bothered to swap them into anything.

And yeah, with an axe fx I don’t necessarily need any pedals, but having them I can get sounds I maybe wouldn’t know how to look for in the axe. Like the BE-OD I like more than the be/hbe model in the axe fx. I could probably tweak them to sound close but that would be spending ages tweaking a model that takes me 30 seconds to tweak on a pedal. Different form factor and limitation in controls can change how we approach stuff so that is cool. Also, fun hobby, so why not.

I may email him about the vh4 build docs in the new year. He’s clearly been working on this stuff as he’s got a bunch of new pcb’s up.



Shask said:


> Yeah, an actual Tightmetal is a pretty large pedal. Especially the Pro version with all the loops and EQs and such.
> 
> I think the BE-OD clone is my favorite out of all the high gain pedals I have built recently. I like how it can be fatter, or tighter, and has more than enough gain (I keep the trimmer about 3/4 the way up, which is 9 o'clock on mine, because it works backwards....). I think it would be perfect if it had a mid scoop knob, and some more bass. It seems to be better about being able to dial in qualities the others have. I plan on building one of those Dirty Shirley OD clones also when I order some more since I like the BE-OD clone so much.
> 
> Yes, I have ran the BE-OD and Dr. Boogie at 18V! I have a Joyo power supply with multiple taps, including 12V and 18V. I do think the BE-OD clone sounded very good at 18V. The Dr. Boogie sounded pretty good also, but it also added some highs I am not sure I loved.



I’m considering the dirty Shirley pedal also. Though I have some TL074’s laying around that I don’t know what to do with, so I’m considering the veroboard layout. Maybe a stupid idea given all the knobs. But the layout on tagboardeffects does group all the wires for the pots together on one side of the board so maybe it would be easier to deal with.

I was looking at his be-od / dirty Shirley mashup pcb where you can build a dirty Shirley with a tight knob (rather than switch) or a be-od with a mids knob, but after further reading on the dirty Shirley, apparently the mids control is additive only and doesn’t cut, so set to 0 is the equivalent of the be-od mid response.

I’m happy with the be-od mids, so I guess if I wanted less I’d just have to stick an eq after it.


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## mnemonic (Dec 26, 2017)

So much free time today, I love the holidays. I was able to start and finish a Marshall Guvnor clone. Circuit of the original one, but with a clipping switch so I can switch between asymmetric diodes (1N4148), no clipping diodes, or symmetric LED's. I like LED's best. 

populated: 







The circuit is actually pretty simple, however as it has 5 knobs and one switch, the hard part is yet to come. 

I forgot to order the 3n9 capacitor so I socketed that position and used the closest value I had, which is 4n7. 




Hard part begin. I know I said I would stop putting things with more than 4 knobs into a 125b, as the MXR CMBOD was a pain to cram all the wires in... but I really like how compact these enclosures are, and I kind of knew what I was getting into this time.


Completed: 










I really like how it sounds, its nice to make something that isn't high-gain for once. It has a strong mid response and is boxy compared to the normal high gain stuff I use (which is more hi-fi and a bit scooped) but it the mids do sound really good from this pedal. Its pretty tight and clear sounding, sounds amazing with my Les Paul, into the ODS clean model in my axe fx into my 2/50/2 poweramp. 

Overall a great sounding pedal, recommended.


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## Shask (Dec 27, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> That’s true, makes me want to experiment with op amps. I guess op amp based will be different from jfet based, no matter the op amps used.
> 
> I have a few NE5532’s here but I haven’t been bothered to swap them into anything.
> 
> ...



I remember I tried a bunch of Opamps years ago in different pedals, but always liked the 4558 in Tubescreamer types, and the TL072 in higher gain types. However, that was probably 10+ years ago, and could probably experiment again. I still have a bunch of different ICs from back then I could play with.

That is one reason I like pedals. I always try to explain to others who are like "If the Axe can dial in anything, why mess with pedals...". Yes, technically it can, but there is something fun about the limitations of having little boxes with 2-3 knobs on them. I can get lots of good sounds out of a 2-knob chorus, and it is more fun than dialing in 20+ parameters on the Axe where half the sounds are crappy. Once you get enough parts built up, and all the supplies, you can crank out a pedal for around $25, which is cheap enough to just have fun with it, as long as you got the space for having pedals laying around.

Yeah, he has a bunch of them, but that one is old enough I am not sure why it isn't ready. I would be more annoyed if I didn't have 10 others to do, lol.

I will do a Dirty Shirley eventually. It seems like it would be a cool overdrive... even as a booster. I am not sure about the mashup. I am always leery when people try to cram stuff together that was not originally today. Yes, if it only adds mids, then it wouldn't really be useful combined with the BE-OD.


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## Shask (Dec 27, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> So much free time today, I love the holidays. I was able to start and finish a Marshall Guvnor clone. Circuit of the original one, but with a clipping switch so I can switch between asymmetric diodes (1N4148), no clipping diodes, or symmetric LED's. I like LED's best.
> 
> populated:
> 
> ...



Looks good! I would just suggest cutting the wires down to length so they are as short as possible. For example, that grey wire coming off the LED and going to the right side of the PCB looks like it could be like 2"-3" shorter.

I wanted to do a Guv'nor originally, but then I picked up a cheap Danelectro Daddy-O Overdrive, which is suppose to be an exact copy, minus a cap and resistor on the output (so it would be slightly brighter). However, I do kind of find it fuzzy, so maybe an original would be more crunchy and less fuzzy? I didn't see the sense in building another. I think I would rather do a Shredmaster, which is the same circuit, except it has contour instead of mids control.


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## mnemonic (Dec 27, 2017)

Shask said:


> Looks good! I would just suggest cutting the wires down to length so they are as short as possible. For example, that grey wire coming off the LED and going to the right side of the PCB looks like it could be like 2"-3" shorter.
> 
> I wanted to do a Guv'nor originally, but then I picked up a cheap Danelectro Daddy-O Overdrive, which is suppose to be an exact copy, minus a cap and resistor on the output (so it would be slightly brighter). However, I do kind of find it fuzzy, so maybe an original would be more crunchy and less fuzzy? I didn't see the sense in building another. I think I would rather do a Shredmaster, which is the same circuit, except it has contour instead of mids control.



I was looking at layouts of the various old Marshall pedals and the Drivemaster is almost exactly the same, a couple component changes. The Shredmaster actually looked quite a bit different, but again I’m not great at reading schematics. It used two dual op amps rather than a single dual like the guvnor / drivemaster, that’s what stuck out to me first. I may try that one later on some day. 

I wouldn’t say the guvnor sounds fuzzy at all, more crunchy. Real nice Marshall tone to be fair. 

And yeah, I need to get better at wire management. The LED was the last thing I wired in, so I was paying less attention to wire length. All the wires there were pretty much the minimum length to still allow me to pull back the board and see the bottom. Maybe I need a new method, like wiring the board with all the wires before soldering to the pots. At the moment I wire like two or three wires at a time to the board and then solder to the pots, I start on one side first. 

I’m looking at the layout for the dirty Shirley and I think I will try it on verobord into a 125b enclosure, it shouldn’t be any harder than this guvnor was. In fact it should be a bit easier as the tegboardeffects layout has grouped together pot wires, so all 3 wires for each pot are all next to each other, so I should be able to twist them all together.


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## Shask (Dec 27, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I was looking at layouts of the various old Marshall pedals and the Drivemaster is almost exactly the same, a couple component changes. The Shredmaster actually looked quite a bit different, but again I’m not great at reading schematics. It used two dual op amps rather than a single dual like the guvnor / drivemaster, that’s what stuck out to me first. I may try that one later on some day.
> 
> I wouldn’t say the guvnor sounds fuzzy at all, more crunchy. Real nice Marshall tone to be fair.
> 
> ...



The Gov'nor was the original. Then it was replaced years later by a series of 3 pedals, the Bluesbreaker, Drivemaster, and Shredmaster. The Drivemaster was the replacement to the Gov'nor, so it is pretty similar. The Shredmaster has the contour control instead of the mids control (The Gov'nor has a typical Marshall BMT type tone stack). Since the Contour is an active mid sweep sort of thing, it needs another Opamp. That idea was carried over to the Valvestate amps. The Bluesbreaker was lower gain, and had less clipping diodes and such.

I wonder if I should look at one then. I owned a Shredmaster years ago, and I remember it was very crunchy, but this Dano is more fuzzy than crunchy. Maybe I should just upgrade some parts.

I typically wire all of the wires to the board first. I just put long wires on it. Then I cut to length when I connect them wherever. I typically hold the wire with some pliers, and then strip the end so it doesn't strain the solder joint. That is one reason my wires look crinkled on mine.... from where I held it with pliers.

Personally, I don't wanna mess with Vero any place I can get a PCB, lol. It is a much larger PITA. I will do more Vero in the future, but only on things I can't get a PCB for.


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## mnemonic (Dec 27, 2017)

I actually don’t mind veroboard. It also feels more ‘DIY’ to me. PCB definitely looks more professional and is a hell of a lot more clean. I need to find another source for PCB’s, from someone reliable who makes other things. 

I already have pcb’s for pretty much everything I was interested in from pedalpcb.


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## zilla (Dec 27, 2017)

Check out madbeanpedals and the links on his page if you want more diy stuff

Also stew Mac has recently started selling diy kits of some jhs pedals.


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## Shask (Dec 27, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I actually don’t mind veroboard. It also feels more ‘DIY’ to me. PCB definitely looks more professional and is a hell of a lot more clean. I need to find another source for PCB’s, from someone reliable who makes other things.
> 
> I already have pcb’s for pretty much everything I was interested in from pedalpcb.



Rully has the ChuggaPre PCB back in stock today. I just grabbed one.

I know of Madbean, Lectric-FX, and Aion Electronics. Oh, and BYOC, and General Guitar Gadgets, and Tonepad.


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## mnemonic (Dec 28, 2017)

Cool, I may order some stuff from them, time to check out their sites.

Edit- I have found the ultimate diy project. 

https://aionelectronics.com/project/l5-preamp/


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## Shask (Dec 29, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Cool, I may order some stuff from them, time to check out their sites.
> 
> Edit- I have found the ultimate diy project.
> 
> https://aionelectronics.com/project/l5-preamp/


Aren't those suppose to be be fairly clean, SS amps?


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## Shask (Dec 29, 2017)

I have been sick over the last week, so I haven't built much, but did get a BYOC Green Pony kit for Christmas that I put together. Not my best soldering, but not too bad. Only tried it for a few, but it is a pretty cool Tubescreamer type pedal. More dynamics due the the 18V charge pump, you can dial in the amount of low end with one switch, and how much saturation clipping with the other switch. It seems like it is a clean booster with the drive on zero, and then as you turn up the drive, it is like it mixes in the treble~y crunchy tubescreamer sound like a balance control on a mixer. Kinda weird, but kinda neat. You have to turn the drive up to about 9 o'clock to get the typical Tubescreamer drive on zero sound.


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## mnemonic (Dec 30, 2017)

Shask said:


> Aren't those suppose to be be fairly clean, SS amps?



Yes, really clean, but also some light drive available. Really interesting eq setup too. Not gonna lie, like 75% of the reason I’m considering it is because it looks like a cool challenge. Maybe in the summer as all the parts will be expensive. 



Shask said:


> I have been sick over the last week, so I haven't built much, but did get a BYOC Green Pony kit for Christmas that I put together. Not my best soldering, but not too bad. Only tried it for a few, but it is a pretty cool Tubescreamer type pedal. More dynamics due the the 18V charge pump, you can dial in the amount of low end with one switch, and how much saturation clipping with the other switch. It seems like it is a clean booster with the drive on zero, and then as you turn up the drive, it is like it mixes in the treble~y crunchy tubescreamer sound like a balance control on a mixer. Kinda weird, but kinda neat. You have to turn the drive up to about 9 o'clock to get the typical Tubescreamer drive on zero sound.



Nice, sounds like the drive knob might be something similar to how he OD820 and Klon work, with the dual pot.


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## Shask (Dec 30, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> Yes, really clean, but also some light drive available. Really interesting eq setup too. Not gonna lie, like 75% of the reason I’m considering it is because it looks like a cool challenge. Maybe in the summer as all the parts will be expensive.
> 
> 
> 
> Nice, sounds like the drive knob might be something similar to how he OD820 and Klon work, with the dual pot.



It would be cool to find a completely SS amp kit that sounds good.

Yes, it has the dual gang drive knob. The Green Pony IS a clone of the OD820, with extra clipping and bass options.


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## Refuge (Dec 30, 2017)

I just finished my version of the integrated preamp with an integrated charge pump at 25 V and some half-assed enclosure design ;-). It does indeed sound quite djenty with the bass low and clicky/transparent even with high distortion. With the roadster I can also get into Death Magnetic territory. So not necessarily a nice or desirable sound, but quite different from my other boosts (modified tube screamer to the right).
I noticed one odd thing, tough: when I play through my six-strings, down to drop C, everything is fine. On my Schecter Hellraiser C7 when I hit the low B, the pedal starts to drop its volume. Maybe it exceeds its headroom or is somehow not able to amplify the high energy note any more... Do you think the charge pump at 33 V might help?



Hi!


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## zilla (Dec 30, 2017)

I did a PCB layout of the integrated pre amp and etched it earlier this week and put it all together last night. Sounds amazing!!


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## mnemonic (Dec 30, 2017)

Refuge said:


> I just finished my version of the integrated preamp with an integrated charge pump at 25 V and some half-assed enclosure design ;-). It does indeed sound quite djenty with the bass low and clicky/transparent even with high distortion. With the roadster I can also get into Death Magnetic territory. So not necessarily a nice or desirable sound, but quite different from my other boosts (modified tube screamer to the right).
> I noticed one odd thing, tough: when I play through my six-strings, down to drop C, everything is fine. On my Schecter Hellraiser C7 when I hit the low B, the pedal starts to drop its volume. Maybe it exceeds its headroom or is somehow not able to amplify the high energy note any more... Do you think the charge pump at 33 V might help?



I like mine at 33 volts but there is little gain in headroom over 18 volts. You get a bit more headroom when really slamming the strings with high output pickups and low tunings, but only enough to tell when direct into a power amp or something. Into a drive channel, you probably won’t hear much difference between 24 volts and 33.

What is happening does not sound normal to me, if you run it into a clean channel with the level set low as to not clip your preamp (or just direct into your fx return) what does it sound like? At 24 volts it should be very clean, so if it sounds distorted then something is wrong.

My first thought would be that the three LED’s may be drawing too much current if you’ve put them after the charge pump, depending on which one you’ve used. The integrated preamp circuit should only draw like 5ma, but three LED’s would draw a lot more. Something like a MAX1044 or ICL7660 is only like 10ma until the voltage sags, that might be the problem? LT1054 can do around 100ma from what I understand but requires slightly different wiring.

If your LED’s are before the charge pump then forget this.

I had a problem with the first integrated preamp I made, i was grounding something on the board on the housing of the pedal, causing it to distort, but insulating it from the back of the pedal enclosure fixed that.

Luckily I haven’t had to do much troubleshooting on pedals, I’ve just been careful when putting things together. If it were me, I’d check to make sure all parts are in the right place in the right rows, the correct value, and for polarised parts like electro capacitors, diodes, transistors, etc. that they are the right way around.


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## Refuge (Dec 30, 2017)

mnemonic said:


> I like mine at 33 volts but there is little gain in headroom over 18 volts. You get a bit more headroom when really slamming the strings with high output pickups and low tunings, but only enough to tell when direct into a power amp or something. Into a drive channel, you probably won’t hear much difference between 24 volts and 33.
> 
> What is happening does not sound normal to me, if you run it into a clean channel with the level set low as to not clip your preamp (or just direct into your fx return) what does it sound like? At 24 volts it should be very clean, so if it sounds distorted then something is wrong.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the suggestions! After some testing, I think it's just the amp that goes intro extreme saggynes when pushed to hard... I am running it into my tube-town tone-hound, another diy kit that's a reactive load box. So in real life, the amp would probably be beyond ridiculously loud... ( I am also running it without master volume / hard bypass of the effect loop).
The LED's are before the charge pump. The pedal itself sounds very clean, only the LEDs are too bright ;-)


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## mnemonic (Dec 30, 2017)

Refuge said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! After some testing, I think it's just the amp that goes intro extreme saggynes when pushed to hard... I am running it into my tube-town tone-hound, another diy kit that's a reactive load box. So in real life, the amp would probably be beyond ridiculously loud... ( I am also running it without master volume / hard bypass of the effect loop).
> The LED's are before the charge pump. The pedal itself sounds very clean, only the LEDs are too bright ;-)


That may be it then, high boost, low tunings, and high master volume setting giving a lot of power amp sag.

It’s a very loud pedal so at around 1:00 or 2:00 on the level control (when the bass is set low) is similar volume to an overdrive with the level on 10.


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## Shask (Dec 31, 2017)

It must be Integrated Pre week, lol 

Everyone is building one. I plan on building one next week once I get my PCB.


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## Shask (Dec 31, 2017)

Refuge said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! After some testing, I think it's just the amp that goes intro extreme saggynes when pushed to hard... I am running it into my tube-town tone-hound, another diy kit that's a reactive load box. So in real life, the amp would probably be beyond ridiculously loud... ( I am also running it without master volume / hard bypass of the effect loop).
> The LED's are before the charge pump. The pedal itself sounds very clean, only the LEDs are too bright ;-)


I would try it into another amp to see if it is the pedal, or the amp. I have my doubts that a pedal could sag that much to be that noticeable on low notes.


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## Shask (Jan 3, 2018)

I finished my TC Elec Integrated Pre clone today. Sounds pretty cool. Unity seems to be bass about 10 o'clock, treble about 12-1 o'clock, and level about 11 o'clock or so. Pretty quiet even with the level cranked. Very evil sounding boosting my Triple Recto with the bass around 9 o'clock, treble about 1 o'clock, and level about 3 o'clock, especially with a guitar tuned in B. Very aggressive for rhythm. Not as smooth for leads though as a Tubescreamer.

Only weird thing is if I have the level cranked, and then crank the treble, at the very end of the treble knob the entire sound loses a ton of gain and volume, and just sounds weak. Like it just cuts out. I don't know why I have issues with the last 5% of pots, lol. However, that setting pretty much sounds like a$$, so I am not gonna worry about it.

I go back to work on Monday after having a month off, so I probably won't make them as fast. I counted that I made 10 clones in the last 6 weeks or so, lol. Not sure what I will do next. Most of what I have left is chorus, phaser, vibe, etc.... I might do the chorus next.


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## mnemonic (Jan 4, 2018)

Looks good! Glad you like it. 

Weird about the treble pot. I’ll have to try that on mine, I don’t think I’ve cranked the treble before. I remember turning the treble down all the way sounded like it kinda boosted the mids a bit, so that may be a knee in the low pass filter or maybe just sounding like a mid boost by virtue of cutting a lot of highs.


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## Shask (Jan 27, 2018)

I finished a couple pedals recently. This is my EQD Sea Machine Clone. This one was a bit of a pain, but I figured it out pretty quickly. This is a pretty whacked out Chorus pedal. At first the effect was very weak, but basically sounded like it should with a very low mix. I looked up some schematics and found that one connection was different. I decided to cut a trace and hardwire a jumper across the board. After that it sounds pretty close to the Youtube videos, so I assume it is working right. I think it was just a schematic error. This one is pretty complex with a lot of parts. 

It is pretty hard to get "normal" chorus sounds on this pedal, but I was able to find a pretty good "Come As You Are" sound with the knobs turned down. When you start turning them up, it excels at weird, UFO landing underwater type sounds. It does all kinds of weird reverb~ed vibrato sounds.


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## Shask (Jan 27, 2018)

Here is my EQD The Depths clone. This is basically a Vibe pedal. This one is kind of weird because it uses LDRs, and a LED. The LED blinks, and the LDR pickups the light to create the pulsating sound. If you test it without the cover on it wont do anything, lol. That is why I covered much of the inside of the enclosure with electrical tape... to cut down on reflection.

The one is is weird in a few ways. The Voice knob only seems to do something on like 10% of the travel. The rest of it doesn't do much. However, in Youtube videos they dont move this knob much, so maybe this is kinda normal? I can't hear any difference with the Throb Knob (lol), but the original pedal has the same complaints, and they say it is normal to not hear much unless you use a bass guitar with it. Oh well. the other knobs work well. For me, a Vibe is basically Pink Floyd's "Breathe" tone, and I can get something pretty close to that, so I am happy.

I have another Phaser type pedal, but it has a crapload of parts, so not sure if I will do it any time soon.


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## mnemonic (Jan 28, 2018)

Very cool, modulation and time based effects are still a bit outside my skill to deal with, but maybe one day I’ll give them a try haha. 

Good work, looks nice


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## mnemonic (Mar 5, 2018)

I haven't made anything in a while, I've had a few expensive months in a row. My toilet, fridge and TV all broke in the course of about a week, and then I also bought a new amp, so I've been trying to avoid fun purchases. I still have a PCB for the VH4 pedal that I haven't ordered parts for yet, but I'll probably make that this month.

However in the meantime I did order one of those cheap class D, TDA3116 preassembled chip amp boards off ebay for £10, so I could have a small, clean poweramp for my Axe FX II. Not really much of a project since it was like 5 solder joints and three holes in a plastic box, but hey it was cheaper than buying a premade poweramp.













It sounds pretty good! Though unfortunately I can’t compare it against much... I’ve been using a tube poweramp until recently (nothing wrong with that, just wanted a change) and the only other solidstate poweramp I have to compare is the amp out of a really cheap Kustom PA speaker (TDA7294 chip amp, which appears to be pretty old tech). It sounds loads better than the TDA7294, that old chip amp sounds pretty dull and gutless to me.

The TPA3116 is apparently 100 Watts (technically 50 Watts per side stereo but this is a bridged mono board), not sure if that is peak or RMS. probably peak.

I’m happy with it, punchy and clean, amp models sound clear to me. I just lost about an hour and a half to the IIC++ model, I haven’t made it sound this good in a while.

I don’t know how it would hold together at gig volumes or anything, I’m just playing at loud bedroom volumes right now. I set the volume trim pot on the board at half way and I’m just using the axe fx’s output level to control volume (at about 15%). Also into a 16 ohm cab so that also reduces some output. I got a big fat 15 amp (way overkill) DPDT switch so I can make it switchable between 4 and 16 ohms, but my speaker cable isn’t here yet.

The wire, jacks, and box I all had spare so this cost me £10.89, which is money well spent for me. Still under £15 if I had bought everything. If you can work a drill and soldering iron I would recommend giving it a shot. I bet it’s comparable in sound to a 44 magnum or that Mooer baby bomb, if you opened one up I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re using this chip (or maybe the lower wattage version).

I was considering getting that Seymour Duncan Powerstage, which is also a class D amp poweramp, but it is kind of expensive and I figured I'd try something cheap first. I wonder what chip they're using in that, and if there's anything special about the circuit. A lot of these chip amps, it seems manufacturers just use the example circuit in the datasheet and mass produce it.


edit - it works on something like 5 volts to 26 volts, I'm just using an old 19 volt laptop power supply, which is kind of noisy with some pedals, but its dead quiet with this, so that's a plus. I'm not really sure what amperage this chip draws so I didn't want to use my usual power supply. The laptop power supply can supply up to 4.7 amps though so that is plenty. 

The powered PA speaker I have which is basically spare at this point, I may just gut and turn into a normal 1x12 cab. It has a center tapped 56 volt transformer in it, so I may try making a power supply from that. I figure I can take one tap which would be 28 volts, rectify and filter, then regulate down to like 24 volts or something.


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## Shask (Mar 5, 2018)

Looks cool! I also wonder how it compares against something like the Mag44. You could probably replace the trim pot with a pot wired on the outside to make it more similar. You could probably even put 2 in a larger BB case, and have true stereo with one power supply. You could also attempt to put a Baxandall BT EQ in front of it, inside the enclosure to approximate depth/presence controls. Hmmm....

I haven built much either. I have a bass preamp PCB built, but just haven't had the time or motivation to drill the enclosure and finish it. I still have the VH4 PCB, and a complicated Phaser. Thinking about ordering a Buxom Boost PCB also. I have kind of been more into guitars lately. I have been thinking about picking up a new one. I also have been into programming the Axe-FX since 9.04, and I got a GA-FC footcontroller for my Katana, so that has been fun to play with again.

Speaking of big low end.... I got to check out a Deizel Herbert a few times last week. That is a pretty thick sounding amp at low volumes. I have been out of town, but definitely want to spend some time with the Herbie model on the Axe this week, and a "mid cut" approximation.


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## mnemonic (Mar 6, 2018)

Shask said:


> Looks cool! I also wonder how it compares against something like the Mag44. You could probably replace the trim pot with a pot wired on the outside to make it more similar. You could probably even put 2 in a larger BB case, and have true stereo with one power supply. You could also attempt to put a Baxandall BT EQ in front of it, inside the enclosure to approximate depth/presence controls. Hmmm....



These options could be cool to add if I weren’t using it with an axe fx. I’m considering a stereo board (or two mono boards) and picking up some passive floor speakers used locally, and then having a £50 home theater system. We controls for sure would be useful then. The speakers on my TV aren’t really that loud.



Shask said:


> I haven built much either. I have a bass preamp PCB built, but just haven't had the time or motivation to drill the enclosure and finish it. I still have the VH4 PCB, and a complicated Phaser. Thinking about ordering a Buxom Boost PCB also. I have kind of been more into guitars lately. I have been thinking about picking up a new one. I also have been into programming the Axe-FX since 9.04, and I got a GA-FC footcontroller for my Katana, so that has been fun to play with again.



The buxom boost looks pretty cool and I’d also like to give that one a try. I made a list of a bunch I’d like to try, I just have to complete existing stuff first haha.



Shask said:


> Speaking of big low end.... I got to check out a Deizel Herbert a few times last week. That is a pretty thick sounding amp at low volumes. I have been out of town, but definitely want to spend some time with the Herbie model on the Axe this week, and a "mid cut" approximation.



I’ve heard some cool clips of that amp and the consensus seems to be huge low end. But a lot of clips I don’t really like it’s tone too much. I feel the same way about the axe fx model so it must be accurate, so I assume I’m just not a big fan of the Diezel tone.

The mid cut is a cool feature though. Cliff said you can approximate it with the PEQ, with (IIRC) a q of 1.4 at 400 hz. Useful for many amps.


----------



## Petar Bogdanov (Mar 6, 2018)

Wow, you're really getting your mileage out of that label maker!  Which model do you use?


----------



## mnemonic (Mar 6, 2018)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> Wow, you're really getting your mileage out of that label maker!  Which model do you use?



Haha, I do like the utilitarian look. 

I got a cheap Dymo Omega on Amazon, great label maker but the letters are really far apart so that limits what I can fit on a pedal. 

So I bought a Motex E-101 since the letter wheels are replaceable and the characters are closer together. It’s much worse build quality than the Dymo and I figure it’s just gonna break in half one of these days, but so far, so good.


----------



## buriedoutback (Mar 7, 2018)

Super cool! 
I'm just hitting order on 4 of the same board on ebay. I'm grabbing a couple project boxes and power jacks too - all from "Worldchips" ebay store. I built myself a 5150 foot switch a couple weeks ago (pics later) and now I want to try 1 (or 4) of these tiny amps. I think this will be a cool little amp to use with my line 6 hd500. I know a couple dudes that will probably be interested in these as well, hence why I'm grabbing 4. Plus I'm too cheap to buy a 44Mag or similar.



mnemonic said:


> However in the meantime I did order one of those cheap class D, TDA3116 preassembled chip amp boards off ebay for £10, so I could have a small, clean poweramp for my Axe FX II. Not really much of a project since it was like 5 solder joints and three holes in a plastic box, but hey it was cheaper than buying a premade poweramp.


----------



## Shask (Mar 7, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> However in the meantime I did order one of those cheap class D, TDA3116 preassembled chip amp boards off ebay for £10, so I could have a small, clean poweramp for my Axe FX II. Not really much of a project since it was like 5 solder joints and three holes in a plastic box, but hey it was cheaper than buying a premade poweramp.


I saw it posted that the poweramp in the Boss Katana is a ST TDA7293V. I wonder how that is related to your chip. It sounds similar, as far as the part number.


----------



## Petar Bogdanov (Mar 7, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Haha, I do like the utilitarian look.
> 
> I got a cheap Dymo Omega on Amazon, great label maker but the letters are really far apart so that limits what I can fit on a pedal.
> 
> So I bought a Motex E-101 since the letter wheels are replaceable and the characters are closer together. It’s much worse build quality than the Dymo and I figure it’s just gonna break in half one of these days, but so far, so good.



Thanks, I was wondering what kind to buy and this post helped me a lot. I ended up getting a Dymo, because I like how the text looks. It's a lot of fun!


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## mnemonic (Mar 7, 2018)

buriedoutback said:


> Plus I'm too cheap to buy a 44Mag or similar.



Just like me haha



Shask said:


> I saw it posted that the poweramp in the Boss Katana is a ST TDA7293V. I wonder how that is related to your chip. It sounds similar, as far as the part number.



Looks like the 7293 is class AB so that’s a major difference. Much higher voltage too. But I don’t know what else to compare on the data sheet so maybe there are other similarities

http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.CD00001887.pdf

Looks like there are some boards on eBay, they cost more though. They’re also a lot bigger, big caps and a giant heatsink.


----------



## buriedoutback (Mar 10, 2018)

Here is my modest and simple 5150 foot switch. 1 stereo jack. 2 buttons. wire. project box. all from amazon.
Parts : https://imgur.com/kcNbsR9
Soldered: https://imgur.com/9ReYaiv
Drilled: https://imgur.com/t482CG8
Paint: https://imgur.com/9nPw045
Wired up: https://imgur.com/7LIRI2P
Done!: https://imgur.com/fKscYeN


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## mnemonic (May 19, 2018)

Finally got around to ordering parts for the Vh4 pedal clone earlier in the week and got to building it this afternoon. Annoyingly I realized on thursday that I ordered a A25K pot rather than the required B25K pot for the mid control. I ordered the correct one (£1.30 part, £1.75 shipping, hooray) that I was hoping would arrive today, but no luck. I guess I'll have to complete it monday. 

Why are angled pcb mount pots so hard to find? I could only get one of the values I needed. 




This is about as far as I can get today. The space for the caps is pretty small, so I had to do some creative leg bending for the 47u's near the charge pump. Luckily I could find everything else I needed in the correct size. 




The official build docs also were completed at some point so I double-checked part values, and it looks like two part values were changed since the original PCB was done. The 110 ohm resistors marked on the PCB are now 1k ohm on the schematic. Everything else is the same. 

Get hyped for the paint job, I tried taping it off and doing a two-tone thing.


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (May 19, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Finally got around to ordering parts for the Vh4 pedal clone earlier in the week and got to building it this afternoon. Annoyingly I realized on thursday that I ordered a A25K pot rather than the required B25K pot for the mid control. I ordered the correct one (£1.30 part, £1.75 shipping, hooray) that I was hoping would arrive today, but no luck. I guess I'll have to complete it monday.
> 
> Why are angled pcb mount pots so hard to find? I could only get one of the values I needed.
> 
> ...


What kind of paint do you use?


----------



## mnemonic (May 19, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> What kind of paint do you use?



I just use real cheap spray paint from some privately-owned £1 store in a rough part of town. The brand is called “151 Spray Paint”. I’ve found its good enough (sticks, and the finish is fine) and it’s more cost effective than buying a £7 can of name-brand paint. 

I haven’t had to prime any of my boxes yet either, I just sand them clean, wash them off and dry with a hair dryer, then immediately paint.


----------



## mnemonic (May 21, 2018)

Got my pot, pedal completed after work.







I did manage to label the bottom row of controls backwards, I thought I made a mistake when the 'volume' control didn't change the volume at all. Then when the 'deep' control did, i decided to consult the layout. 

I peeled off the label and put a new one on, managed to chip the silver while I was at it. maybe I'll touch it up at some point.




It sounds really good! Right now I've just run it into my Axe FX, and into my Matrix solidstate poweramp, (just using a PEQ block to simulate a tube poweramp - big 5db peak filter at 110 hz, and a few db high shelf). I'm too lazy to turn on my tube poweramp as its getting late now, I'll give that a try tomorrow. Only used the 'poweramp out' so far, not tried the 'drive out'

So far, it sounds really cool. Lots of volume on tap. It has a ton of gain on tap, and sounds decently tight without a boost. Its got this weightyness and grind to the midrange that I definitely recognize from the Vh4 and Herbert models in the Axe FX. Its hard to describe, but sounds pretty cool. 

The EQ is pretty functional, nice to have a Depth and Presence control, just for some extra eq control. 

The bad parts - only things that are my fault. The tape job wasn't great so the black paint bled a bit and made the line not so clean. Also the red LED isn't very bright since I bought a bunch of LEDs that have an unusually high forward voltage, I should have used a lower value current limiting resistor. Its fine in my bedroom but it would be hard to see under sunlight. 

Also, when using the poweramp out, the bypass switch operates as a 'mute' switch. It works like a normal bypass switch with the 'drive' output though. Not sure if that is intended or not, I was hoping that it would be a normal bypass in both modes, so I could string together a few preamps in front of a poweramp. I guess I'll need a true bypass looper after all.


----------



## Shask (May 27, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Got my pot, pedal completed after work.
> 
> View attachment 61199
> 
> ...



Looks and sounds nice! How do you like it compared to the BE-OD clone?

I still have my PCB, and I noticed he had the final instructions up on the site. I will probably build mine this summer. I did several around Christmas, but really haven't had time to build anything the last few months. He has a few new ones also I might order sometime.


----------



## mnemonic (May 28, 2018)

Shask said:


> Looks and sounds nice! How do you like it compared to the BE-OD clone?
> 
> I still have my PCB, and I noticed he had the final instructions up on the site. I will probably build mine this summer. I did several around Christmas, but really haven't had time to build anything the last few months. He has a few new ones also I might order sometime.



I think it sounds a bit more amp-like than the BE-OD, though they’re not super easy to compare as the BE-OD really needs to be into a clean channel, whereas I’ve run the vh4 just direct into a power amp. I still haven’t tried the drive output on it. 

The BE-OD is tighter and probably better for metal tones though, the vh4 isn’t as tight and defined in the bottom end, it wouldn’t be my first choice for death metal or something, but then again neither would a real-deal VH4 amp. 

I do like the midrange character of the vh4 pedal more than the BE-OD though, but that’s just personal preference. He grindyness I mentioned before is pretty fun. Also, much more eq control with the vh4.


----------



## technomancer (May 28, 2018)

So finally finished the Chugga Pre this weekend. No pics yet, but I'll get some sooner or later 

Playing it side by side with the Fortin 33, tones are pretty much identical once the Chugga is dialed in but the Fortin seems like it may have a hair more boost.

I've got an Angry Andy and Valhalla on order from PedalPCB now as well as some transformers for a couple bigger projects.


----------



## mnemonic (May 28, 2018)

technomancer said:


> So finally finished the Chugga Pre this weekend. No pics yet, but I'll get some sooner or later
> 
> Playing it side by side with the Fortin 33, tones are pretty much identical once the Chugga is dialed in but the Fortin seems like it may have a hair more boost.
> 
> I've got an Angry Andy and Valhalla on order from PedalPCB now as well as some transformers for a couple bigger projects.



Good to hear they sound more or less the same, I guess we all figured as much but it’s cool to have confirmation.

Are you building an amp? I’d like to build a Ceriatone yeti or something some day.


----------



## technomancer (May 28, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Good to hear they sound more or less the same, I guess we all figured as much but it’s cool to have confirmation.
> 
> Are you building an amp? I’d like to build a Ceriatone yeti or something some day.



Yep I'm diving into the deep end of the pool... Not sure if I'm doing a Friedman clone or an Aldrich first, but I've got the boards for the Friedman and am working on a layout for the Aldrich.

A couple quick pics of the Chugga. I'm going to label it in silver paint pen as soon as I get around to picking one up.

View media item 947View media item 948View media item 949View media item 950


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## mnemonic (May 28, 2018)

Ooh, I like those green caps.


----------



## technomancer (May 28, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Ooh, I like those green caps.



They're Nichicons.


----------



## Shask (May 28, 2018)

technomancer said:


> So finally finished the Chugga Pre this weekend. No pics yet, but I'll get some sooner or later
> 
> Playing it side by side with the Fortin 33, tones are pretty much identical once the Chugga is dialed in but the Fortin seems like it may have a hair more boost.
> 
> I've got an Angry Andy and Valhalla on order from PedalPCB now as well as some transformers for a couple bigger projects.


What settings on the Chugga Pre did you use to emulate the 33? Did you have a Grind also? I am curious how similar it is also.


----------



## Shask (May 28, 2018)

technomancer said:


> Yep I'm diving into the deep end of the pool... Not sure if I'm doing a Friedman clone or an Aldrich first, but I've got the boards for the Friedman and am working on a layout for the Aldrich.
> 
> A couple quick pics of the Chugga. I'm going to label it in silver paint pen as soon as I get around to picking one up.
> 
> View media item 947View media item 948View media item 949View media item 950


Nice! Looks pretty similar to mine!


----------



## technomancer (May 28, 2018)

Shask said:


> What settings on the Chugga Pre did you use to emulate the 33? Did you have a Grind also? I am curious how similar it is also.



Treble all the way up, volume all the way up, bass not quite off and adjust to taste but less than 1/4. I've got the Grind but not sure the TC will do it as it REALLY cuts bass... I definitely prefer the 33. This was compared to the 33 all the way up.


----------



## Shask (May 28, 2018)

technomancer said:


> Treble all the way up, volume all the way up, bass not quite off and adjust to taste but less than 1/4. I've got the Grind but not sure the TC will do it as it REALLY cuts bass... I definitely prefer the 33. This was compared to the 33 all the way up.


Man, that seems extreme. I would think that would be very bright, scratchy, and thin sounding. Not to mention noisy. I think my favorite settings have been treble around 1 o'clock, and bass 9-10 o'clock, depending on how tight I want it.


----------



## technomancer (May 28, 2018)

Shask said:


> Man, that seems extreme. I would think that would be very bright, scratchy, and thin sounding. Not to mention noisy. I think my favorite settings have been treble around 1 o'clock, and bass 9-10 o'clock, depending on how tight I want it.



Yeah I was actually shocked the setting sounded good going into the Cameron. I almost never run the 33 all the way up, but have seen a lot of demo vids like that so figured I'd give it a shot while I had both pedals hooked up 

It is definitely very amp dependent, I think I was using the 33 at 1/4 or 1/2 into the Dual Rec.


----------



## technomancer (May 31, 2018)

So why is it that, inevitably, 10 minutes after submitting a Mouser order you realize you forgot a handful of stuff


----------



## mnemonic (Jul 14, 2018)

Another necrobump for this old thread because I made some more stuff. 

I wanted to use nice caps this time, so I ordered a bunch of Wimas from mouser. Luckily they have a big selection and the measurements are right there on the site, so I can make sure I get ones that fit (I've made that mistake more than once in the past). 

Resistors are mostly a mishmash of what I had on hand, since I have a lot. They're all low tolerance metal films though. I'm gonna try to whittle down my collection and then just start ordering just one brand from mouser, that way they all look the same. 

First up is a clone of a BBE Sonic Maximiser which I finished earlier in the week. 










Another quality masking job courtesy of the worlds cheapest masking tape. 

I wanted to build this since I've always been curious what these sounded like and what they actually did. The internet hate brigade really goes hard on the sonic maximizers, I just had to know for myself if they were right. After doing some research, apparently they are simply State Variable Filters, which is a type of EQ which has high pass (lo contour), low pass (process) and band pass (fixed and set flat). You can do all that with regular ol' TL072's, so no need for their proprietary chip. 

The PCB / schematic for this one was missing off a 39k resistor, which controls the band pass, and was basically fixing it at -12db with the resistor gone. So upon plugging it in, it basically sounded like the original release of Human by Death. No mids at all, sounded like my ears needed to pop. I thought, surely that isn't right. I did some research and found some other schematics, and sure enough, missing resistor. I just put a jumper on the PCB for the resistor, and now its working as it should. 

Sound-wise, its pretty much flat with the controls at 0, so its boost-only. Its pretty useful with my valvestate, turning the contour up to about half adds some of the low end that it kinda lacks. The process I keep low, since that adds a ton of high end. If you had a really dull amp I could see it being useful, but it does get grating when turned up too high. 

It doesn't work so great with my Jet City head, since it has a line-level effects loop and that clips the pedal's input, even when I used a 27 volts power supply. I'm not even gonna try it with my recto, that has more than enough low end and high end. Overall I think it is useful if you have a cheap amp, or a low-fi sounding setup. I can see how it would be popular for PA systems. 


Next thing I just finished today, a clone of the Friedman Buxom Boost, which gets some great reviews, like all the friedman pedals. Its another excellent one. 










This is a real excellent sounding pedal. It uses a charge pump so you only feed it 9 volts, and converts that to a bi-polar supply internally. 

It has a _ton_ of volume on tap. I think its probably the loudest pedal I've ever used. My amp gets a little squirrelly running the boost over half way, as thats already a ton of boost. The tight control works the same as on the BE-OD. The EQ doesn't really have a ton of range though. It works excellent as a boost to tighten up an amp, it makes my Jet City head really heavy sounding, this is for sure a keeper that will be going on my pedalboard. 

I think I may try messing around with some of the part values that control the Tight control though. I kind of wish it had a bit more range and could cut more bottom end. 


Next I will do another tubescreamer, but this time I'm gonna socket a bunch of parts and try doing some of the usual mods, see if I can make something a bit different from the other tubescreamer clones I've built.

I've also ordered the parts to make a tube buffer pedal. Its pretty simple and there aren't a ton of parts, its mainly the power that becomes an issue, since the tube heaters need 12vdc, and the plates need about 300vdc. I found some really cheap dc to dc converters on ebay that will convert 12 volts into anywhere from 0 to 400+ volts, and they seem to work, so that will be my power supply. I just need to find a big enough drill bit to fit a tube socket next.


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 14, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I've also ordered the parts to make a tube buffer pedal. Its pretty simple and there aren't a ton of parts, its mainly the power that becomes an issue, since the tube heaters need 12vdc, and the plates need about 300vdc. I found some really cheap dc to dc converters on ebay that will convert 12 volts into anywhere from 0 to 400+ volts, and they seem to work, so that will be my power supply. I just need to find a big enough drill bit to fit a tube socket next.



Having built tube chassis in the past I'd recommend a metal punch for a hole that size. 

However if you can find a step drill bit that gets big enough that's probably even better. Those are amazing for drilling holes in panels.


----------



## technomancer (Jul 14, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Having built tube chassis in the past I'd recommend a metal punch for a hole that size.
> 
> However if you can find a step drill bit that gets big enough that's probably even better. Those are amazing for drilling holes in panels.



This would do it...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FZ2UOY/?tag=sevenstringorg-20

IIRC 12AX7 socket mounting hole is 7/8". I've got a slightly smaller set of these and used them for working on a steel chassis recently in my drill press and they worked great. No idea how they'll hold up long term, but so far they've been great.


----------



## mnemonic (Jul 14, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Having built tube chassis in the past I'd recommend a metal punch for a hole that size.
> 
> However if you can find a step drill bit that gets big enough that's probably even better. Those are amazing for drilling holes in panels.



I asked my dad and he luckily has a step bit that is large enough, so at some point in the next couple weeks I’ll head down to my parents house and grab it. 

He got a set of them from Aldi for really cheap, wish I had seen them. My drill bits are getting pretty dull.


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 14, 2018)

One step bit will last you a while and do pretty much any hole you need on a chassis. They're awesome.


----------



## Shask (Jul 14, 2018)

I have had a Unibit for like 20 years. It has always worked great. Just recently after building all those pedals it started to get dull.


----------



## Shask (Jul 14, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Another necrobump for this old thread because I made some more stuff.
> 
> I wanted to use nice caps this time, so I ordered a bunch of Wimas from mouser. Luckily they have a big selection and the measurements are right there on the site, so I can make sure I get ones that fit (I've made that mistake more than once in the past).
> 
> ...


Very cool! Those are actually 2 of the ones I want to build of the new ones he has posted. I just haven't been in pedal building mode. 

Years ago I had a BBE Stinger pedal. This was years before BBE made pedals, and it was very rare and hard to find. I had the same impression. It made the VS100H I had sound more like a tube amp, and the 5150 Head I had sound more like a Solid State amp, lol. I don't think I have used one since, except for the VST Plugin I had.

Kind of annoying about the resistor, but I have found that on a few different PCBs. The last one was the Sea Machine clone I made. That one was kind of a pain in the a$$, and I don't think I have made another since.

I definitely want to try that Buxom Boost also. It seems like a cool pedal that is really not like other boosts and is unique. Yeah, the tight control on my BE-OD clone is not nearly as drastic as the tight control on my Tightmetal clone. That thing gets super thin when you crank it, lol.


----------



## zilla (Jul 14, 2018)

Back in the day I had a bbe sonic maximizer rack that was the required accessory for my MP-1 preamp. Those two sounded heavenly together.


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 14, 2018)

Kind of crazy that the sonic maximizer can be fit in that tiny of a box. The only one I've ever used was a 1u rack unit.


----------



## buriedoutback (Aug 17, 2018)

So I finally got around to putting together 1 (of 4) 100watt pwr-amps from ebay. These were about $5 I think.
I plugged my line 6 hd500 into it, and it into my marshall mg412b cab. Sounds really good! I don't think I'd make this my #1 rig, but i'll definitely keep it in my bag for a backup.

using my hm300 box :


----------



## buriedoutback (Aug 17, 2018)

Almost forgot. I added leds to my diy 5150 footswitch. I made one for my buddy/other guitar player too, in black.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Aug 17, 2018)

buriedoutback said:


> So I finally got around to putting together 1 (of 4) 100watt pwr-amps from ebay. These were about $5 I think.
> I plugged my line 6 hd500 into it, and it into my marshall mg412b cab. Sounds really good! I don't think I'd make this my #1 rig, but i'll definitely keep it in my bag for a backup.
> 
> using my hm300 box :


You put it in a cardboard box? Amazing. Also possibly dangerous.


----------



## buriedoutback (Aug 17, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> You put it in a cardboard box? Amazing. Also possibly dangerous.


naaaaaaaaah. well maybe, i dunno. 
I screwed rigid foam 'feet' to the bottom of the "amp" to keep it a couple inches off he bottom and improve air flow. It's just a temporary situation until I can get something better.


----------



## mnemonic (Aug 18, 2018)

buriedoutback said:


> So I finally got around to putting together 1 (of 4) 100watt pwr-amps from ebay. These were about $5 I think.
> I plugged my line 6 hd500 into it, and it into my marshall mg412b cab. Sounds really good! I don't think I'd make this my #1 rig, but i'll definitely keep it in my bag for a backup.
> 
> using my hm300 box :



Haha, nice enclosure. I guess it could cause issues if it got too hot though, like LiveOVErdrive said. 

About two weeks ago I was bored and I found a veroboard layout for the ‘mockman’ which is supposedly a simple DIY version of the Scholz Rockman (of Boston fame). I had all the parts to make it except an enclosure so I stuck it into the box of my old broken Xbox power supply. Not quite as ghetto as yours though haha 







No eq, gain level is fixed, just a volume knob and a ‘voicing’ switch which does almost nothing. 

It sounds pretty cool though!


----------



## buriedoutback (Aug 18, 2018)

Love it! ^^^^^^^^^^^^


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 11, 2018)

Finally got around to milling some pcbs on my cnc machine. Works pretty good, though I need a different hold down method to keep them flatter.


This is for an amp build I'm working on. I'll share more details when it works


----------



## Shask (Sep 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Finally got around to milling some pcbs on my cnc machine. Works pretty good, though I need a different hold down method to keep them flatter.
> View attachment 63965
> 
> This is for an amp build I'm working on. I'll share more details when it works


Very cool. I used to program CNC machines to make circuit boards, and did some pretty crazy stuff for the Military. These kind of remind me of some of those things I made back then.


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## technomancer (Sep 19, 2018)

That moment when you remove a cap you need for an upcoming build from your Mouser order because it is back ordered with an ETA of 3 weeks in the future... and it is in stock the day after you place your order


----------



## LiveOVErdrive (Sep 19, 2018)

technomancer said:


> That moment when you remove a cap you need for an upcoming build from your Mouser order because it is back ordered with an ETA of 3 weeks in the future... and it is in stock the day after you place your order



The worst. 

I bought a box of resistors and a box of capacitors of varying values off Amazon a while back and it's been great. You have anything you need and can easily swap values if you need to.


----------



## technomancer (Sep 19, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> The worst.
> 
> I bought a box of resistors and a box of capacitors of varying values off Amazon a while back and it's been great. You have anything you need and can easily swap values if you need to.



I've been trying to stockpile and do larger orders when I grab stuff. I almost have everything here for my next 2 builds except for stuff like the chassis and transformers. Even better it's a cheap ceramic Murata it's just nobody had it in stock. I'll probably go through and double check my pot selection and some other stuff and do an order for anything I don't have handy and maybe some rotary switches for when I do a Jose-style build. It's just hilarious as even grabbing 10 of them it's $3


----------



## Shask (Sep 19, 2018)

Yeah, whenever I would order resistors for pedals, I would always grab at least 10. I would order like 30 of something, and it is like 12 cents or something, lol.


----------



## mnemonic (Sep 19, 2018)

I always feel bad about only ordering one cap or one resistor, so I always order in multiples of 10.

Good for stock also.

At this point when I order parts for a pedal I’ve got most of the stuff, it will just be a couple resistor or cap values, then pots and enclosure.


----------



## mnemonic (Oct 19, 2018)

I made some really simple stuff today. First is a blender/splitter box. 







Look at those sputnik-looking transistors. So cute. 




Basically I have my axe fx II in the loop of all my amps for gate, some light reverb and delay, and some EQ if needed. All except my Recto since the channel bleed causes phasing issues and it sounds like shit. 

I tried the series mod for the fx loop, which is pretty simple, but its not really different at all from just turning the mix to 100%. This is a 3 channel dual recto, I hear its more effective of a mod on the 2 channels. 

I thought it was something I did wrong, or a flaw in the fx loop circuit, but if I go as far as to pull the FX loop tube, I still get the same level of bleed. And if I hard-bypass the fx loop with the switch on the back and then turn the channel master to 0, I suspiciously still get the same level of bleed. I'm convinced at this point its a layout issue in the amp, the power amp must be picking up some of the preamp signal via induced voltage or something. Its most noticeable in Modern mode which I would suspect if that were the case. My assumption is that Mesa decided on a parallel loop to mask this issue, since with a series loop you'll always get the phasing but with the parallel loop you can just set your fx at 100% mix and blend them in. Maybe that induced voltage is crucial to the sound of the amp or something. Just my conspiracy theory, as I have read the multiwatts with their series loops are still leaky in the same way. 

Anyway, I like having an EQ in the loop so that requires having fx mix at 100%, or a series loop, but I also want to have some reverb and delay. So I had the not-so-original idea of building a blender box so the dry signal is unaffected, but I can set the fx mix on the axe fx at 100%, and then just blend it in with the knob on the box. Luckily, it works exactly as expected. 


The second thing I made is a clone of the Amptweaker Defizzerator, which is even more simple. Just a passive low-pass filter with some minor level of adjustment. 






I was a little less neat with my wires this time. 

I wanted to give this a shot since the EQ I use in the loop of my Recto is typically just to pull down the highs a bit, and that can probably be done more efficiently with this. Unfortunately I didn't really work so well in my Recto's fx loop. As soon as it was enabled it rolled off all the high end above like 1000hz or something. I traced the circuit and it all seemed right. I tried it with my BE-OD clone into a clean amp, and same thing again. 

I don't know much about impedance but I figured that as this is completely passive and has no buffer in it, maybe it just reacts poorly if the signal it gets isn't low enough impedance. I stuck a turned-off boss pedal between my BE-OD clone and the defizzerator clone, and voila, works as intended. I guess both my Recto's fx loop send and the BE-OD must have high output impedances. 

I don't really want to have to have a buffered pedal before it for it to work correctly, as the idea is to slim down the amount of pedals on top of my head, so maybe I'll drill an extra hole for a power socket, and wire a buffer into it, that way it works as intended no matter where I put it. There's plenty of room in there.


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## Shask (Oct 19, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I made some really simple stuff today. First is a blender/splitter box.
> 
> View attachment 64657
> 
> ...


Very cool. I am interested to see the Depthfinder. I assume it is probably very simple also.

I was thinking about ordering some PCBs soon. Christmas break is coming up again soon, lol. I think I built about 15 pedals last Christmas break. I still need to do my VH4, and want to do a Buxom Boost, and Sonic Maximiser. I am not sure what else. Many of the other cool projects that are not distorion based all require SMT soldering, which I am not set up for.


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## Shask (Oct 19, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I made some really simple stuff today. First is a blender/splitter box.
> 
> View attachment 64657
> 
> ...


My Dr. Boogie pedal is like that. It will have some squeal and howl since it so high gain, but if I stick a Boss SD-1 in front of it, it is quiet. Weird.


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## mnemonic (Oct 20, 2018)

Shask said:


> Very cool. I am interested to see the Depthfinder. I assume it is probably very simple also.
> 
> I was thinking about ordering some PCBs soon. Christmas break is coming up again soon, lol. I think I built about 15 pedals last Christmas break. I still need to do my VH4, and want to do a Buxom Boost, and Sonic Maximiser. I am not sure what else. Many of the other cool projects that are not distorion based all require SMT soldering, which I am not set up for.



I’m interested in seeing the depth finder also, though I don’t actually have much use for one given all the eq options in the axe FX. But I’d still like to know what it’s about. I’m assuming it’s a tweaked sonic maximiser until I see otherwise. 

I need to order some pcb’s also, just need to decide what I want to do. I’m surprised pedalpcb hasn’t done a parametric eq pcb.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Oct 20, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I made some really simple stuff today. First is a blender/splitter box.
> 
> View attachment 64657
> 
> ...



The dual recto (at least the two channel) has its fx send volume knob as an unbuffered 100k pot after a low-ish impedance buffer. So it's kinda high impedance output, yeah. Turning the FX send up all the way might help. Building a buffer into your pedal would be better. Id put one on both sides, but I'm overly meticulous sometimes.


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## mnemonic (Oct 20, 2018)

Buffer added. Now it responds as expected with my BE-OD clone directly before it. I haven't turned my recto on yet today but I presume it will work there also. I'll check if I like it more than an EQ pedal in the loop. 



I know there are smaller buffers out there, but this one got some good comments, and it uses a TL071 which I have a ton of. Its called the 'Stupidly Awesome Buffer'. 

The advantage of adding a buffer is that now it reacts the same even after high-impedance pedals or fx loops. The downside is it needs power. But thats fine by me as I have plenty of daisy chains.


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## Shask (Oct 20, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I’m interested in seeing the depth finder also, though I don’t actually have much use for one given all the eq options in the axe FX. But I’d still like to know what it’s about. I’m assuming it’s a tweaked sonic maximiser until I see otherwise.
> 
> I need to order some pcb’s also, just need to decide what I want to do. I’m surprised pedalpcb hasn’t done a parametric eq pcb.


I am thinking it is a tweaked Baxandall EQ.... somehow modified to not allow the frequencies to be subtracted. I think the Sonic Maximiser circuit is too complex to be added in as a mod to the TM pedals.

I am surprised the Defizzerator is only a LPF. I would have thought it would be a couple of notch filters with a LPF.

I built a BYOC 3-Band Parametric EQ. It is pretty nice, so you might grab one of those. It kind of reminds me of the Furman PQ-3 I had many years ago.

I know, it is hard to decide once you have a lot of stuff. I have been buying a bunch of cheaper pedals also, like Boss, Digitech, DOD, etc.... That Ghost Rain clone he has might be interesting, and it is PT2399 based, which is usually easy and cool. I think it is some sort of ambient Reverb type pedal. I see he has a soldering option now for the FV-1 stuff, so I might think about a few of those, even if more expensive. There is some cool stuff in that category, but I don't want to mess with soldering SMT.


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## Shask (Oct 20, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Buffer added. Now it responds as expected with my BE-OD clone directly before it. I haven't turned my recto on yet today but I presume it will work there also. I'll check if I like it more than an EQ pedal in the loop.
> 
> View attachment 64670
> 
> ...


I assume this just goes before the effect? No buffer after it?

I need to play with some more Tagboard stuff. I have the parts, just always opt for PCB when I can.


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## mnemonic (Oct 20, 2018)

Shask said:


> I am thinking it is a tweaked Baxandall EQ.... somehow modified to not allow the frequencies to be subtracted. I think the Sonic Maximiser circuit is too complex to be added in as a mod to the TM pedals.
> 
> I am surprised the Defizzerator is only a LPF. I would have thought it would be a couple of notch filters with a LPF.
> 
> ...



That’s a good point about it being a mod on the TM pedals. The sonic maximisers aren’t that complicated but to squeeze it into a TM pedal with everything else going on in there, it would need to be some little SMD thing. 

The BYOC parametric eq is something I’d like to build, along with their HM2 clone, I just haven’t got around to buying them yet.


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## mnemonic (Oct 20, 2018)

Shask said:


> I assume this just goes before the effect? No buffer after it?
> 
> I need to play with some more Tagboard stuff. I have the parts, just always opt for PCB when I can.



Yeah I just put one before the effect since that’s all I was doing with a buffered pedal before it, and it was working out okay. 

Pcb is a lot easier but there’s a lot more out there on tagboard. Also more modable, can choose how the control layout is myself, etc. It does get real messy with complicated pedals though.


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## Shask (Oct 20, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> That’s a good point about it being a mod on the TM pedals. The sonic maximisers aren’t that complicated but to squeeze it into a TM pedal with everything else going on in there, it would need to be some little SMD thing.
> 
> The BYOC parametric eq is something I’d like to build, along with their HM2 clone, I just haven’t got around to buying them yet.


I wanted the HM-2 clone, until I got the Behringer HM300, lol. I haven't found a good use for it yet, so that made me question the Swede. I may do it one day though.

I like that they have been doing more finished enclosures lately. I am hoping for a Royal version of a Chorus and Flanger.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Oct 20, 2018)

Shask said:


> I am thinking it is a tweaked Baxandall EQ.... somehow modified to not allow the frequencies to be subtracted. I think the Sonic Maximiser circuit is too complex to be added in as a mod to the TM pedals.



The pres/res controls on the 5150/6505 allow the bands to be both boosted and cut IIRC. I designed a circuit that functions as a standalone clone of said presres control a little while back and that's how the simulation showed it anyway. Still need to build it and throw it in a box. Mine uses negative feedback like the actual controls do, but I don't see any reason it couldn't be a James or baxandall circuit (no nfb and yes nfb respectively)


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## mnemonic (Oct 20, 2018)

Shask said:


> I wanted the HM-2 clone, until I got the Behringer HM300, lol. I haven't found a good use for it yet, so that made me question the Swede. I may do it one day though.
> 
> I like that they have been doing more finished enclosures lately. I am hoping for a Royal version of a Chorus and Flanger.



I also have the HM300, and it is fun from time to time, but I also kinda want to experiment with different voltages, different clippers, etc. 

I remember reading a write up on the HM2 where someone analysed the various stages of the circuit, and apparently at 9 volts the eq gets overdriven by quite a lot when the controls are cranked, and that is a big part of its sound. Apparently it doesn’t clip (or not as much?) at 18 volts, but my HM300 has I think 12 volt electrolytics so I don’t want to pop them. 

Also the byoc kit comes with all the nos parts in the original, where other PCB’s for the HM2 I have seen are built around more readily available, still in production op amps.


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## mnemonic (Oct 26, 2018)

Built another thing the other day. Clone of the Amptweaker Tightmetal. Kind of complicated for veroboard, but I don't know of anyone making PCB's for this one.

I tried doing my wires a bit differently this time. In the past with veroboard stuff I'd solder the wire to the control first, then cut it to length and solder it to the board. But its super awkward to do, and I usually end up with a rats nest of wires. This time I soldered a bunch of 6" wires to the board, then set it in place and trimmed to length, soldered to controls. Its quicker and easier, but I do end up with a ton of 2" to 4" lengths of junk wire, so a lot of waste. 

Also I don't think a rats nest is avoidable with this amount of wire anyway.




Seemed okay once it was done. 




I was expecting some serious noise issues with this much wire criss-crossing, but its surprisingly quiet even without the gate on. One of these days, I'll have to buy some insulated wire though, for the inputs and outputs.







I found some flat black paint so I tried a two-tone flat/gloss look. I think it came out pretty good, I'm getting better at taping off the lines. 


As far as sound goes, I don't care for it as much as my Theta, R2, Be-OD, etc. It doesn't sound as clear as them, but it does have a cool grind in the midrange that just makes me want to play tremolo picked death metal all day. Pretty chunky too. I may have done something wrong or maybe there were some issues with the layout/schematic though, so who knows. The 'Tight' knob doesn't really add as much tightness as I was hoping, certainly less effective than the tight control on the Friedman clones I've made. I think I've read its supposed to be very effective though? Probably an issue with my build. I kind of prefer just leaving it at 0 and putting an overdrive in front. 

The gate also cuts a noticeable amount of gain, not sure if this is expected behavior or another issue with my build. I don't care as much about this though, as I can just leave it off as I have other gates I can use. Thrash switch cuts a lot of mids.

If I were to make another, I think I'd leave off the Tight knob, Gate and Thrash switches. Maybe I could fit it into a 125b then. Maybe also leave off Tone, and work in a passive 3 band EQ.


I found a schematic and layout for the preamp of the old Randall RG100es, so I'm gonna try making that next. Its about similar complexity to this.


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## Shask (Oct 26, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Built another thing the other day. Clone of the Amptweaker Tightmetal. Kind of complicated for veroboard, but I don't know of anyone making PCB's for this one.
> 
> I tried doing my wires a bit differently this time. In the past with veroboard stuff I'd solder the wire to the control first, then cut it to length and solder it to the board. But its super awkward to do, and I usually end up with a rats nest of wires. This time I soldered a bunch of 6" wires to the board, then set it in place and trimmed to length, soldered to controls. Its quicker and easier, but I do end up with a ton of 2" to 4" lengths of junk wire, so a lot of waste.
> 
> ...



Nice! Yeah, that is a lot going on for Vero. I actually got a PCB for my Tightmetal clone, but his website went offline like 2 days after I bought it. There was a few weeks where I didn't know if I lost my money. Shame too, cause he had a bunch of cool high gain stuff I wanted to order later. I attached a picture (even though it is earlier in this post). I definitely had issues cramming it all in the enclosure with the way the drill template was. Mine is a little different though. It has a Charge Pump IC built in, the Thrash is a knob instead so you can blend in how much scoop, and the gate is a knob also.

I also tend to put longer wires on the PCB, and then cut to length to the pots. I have a little bowl of 4" wires, lol. I generally find uses for them later on other pedals, like when I wire the stomp switch or something.

Your experience sounds similar. The tight knob is not nearly as dramatic as the one on the BE-OD. The first half don't really do much. I only keep the gate on about 25%. It would dramatically cut the volume if it were on/off like yours. I don't think the scoop scoops a dramatic amount, but there is a definite difference over the sweep of the pot. Mine is not real bassy though. The BE-OD clone definitely has way more bass. I think it is best with an EQ after it boosting 100hz. It doesn't have as much gain as I thought it would have, and I keep the gain about 80%-90%. Yes, there is definitely some grindy mids in there. It always reminds me of an ENGL sound for some reason. Overall, it is a cool pedal, but I generally prefer my BE-OD clone. However, I will say I was always using it in front of a clean channel until recently when I remembered it is suppose to be a preamp. Plugged into the loop of my Recto is WAY better than how I have been using it.


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## mnemonic (Oct 26, 2018)

Shask said:


> Nice! Yeah, that is a lot going on for Vero. I actually got a PCB for my Tightmetal clone, but his website went offline like 2 days after I bought it. There was a few weeks where I didn't know if I lost my money. Shame too, cause he had a bunch of cool high gain stuff I wanted to order later. I attached a picture (even though it is earlier in this post). I definitely had issues cramming it all in the enclosure with the way the drill template was. Mine is a little different though. It has a Charge Pump IC built in, the Thrash is a knob instead so you can blend in how much scoop, and the gate is a knob also.
> 
> I also tend to put longer wires on the PCB, and then cut to length to the pots. I have a little bowl of 4" wires, lol. I generally find uses for them later on other pedals, like when I wire the stomp switch or something.
> 
> Your experience sounds similar. The tight knob is not nearly as dramatic as the one on the BE-OD. The first half don't really do much. I only keep the gate on about 25%. It would dramatically cut the volume if it were on/off like yours. I don't think the scoop scoops a dramatic amount, but there is a definite difference over the sweep of the pot. Mine is not real bassy though. The BE-OD clone definitely has way more bass. I think it is best with an EQ after it boosting 100hz. It doesn't have as much gain as I thought it would have, and I keep the gain about 80%-90%. Yes, there is definitely some grindy mids in there. It always reminds me of an ENGL sound for some reason. Overall, it is a cool pedal, but I generally prefer my BE-OD clone. However, I will say I was always using it in front of a clean channel until recently when I remembered it is suppose to be a preamp. Plugged into the loop of my Recto is WAY better than how I have been using it.



There was a version for a gate pot, but I didnt think I’d need to adjust it that often so I did it with a trim pot on the board. I have it set pretty low and I’m not a big fan of it. 

Having the thrash/scoop on a knob would probably be way more useful. Like a backwards-mids control. ‘On’ is a bit too scooped for me, but ‘off’ has a bit more 400hz than I like. I just added a 7 band graphic eq after it and all is well. 

Sounds like my ‘tight’ knob is acting as intended then. I’ll just stick to leaving it at 0 and using an overdrive instead. 

So glad I went with a 1590bbs enclosure, plenty of room and the same height as a 125b. I briefly entertained the thought of using a 125b and I’m glad I didn’t.


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## mnemonic (Oct 26, 2018)

I’ve been messing around with the pedal on and off all day, and I really like it now. 7 band eq to pull down 400hz slightly, and boost 1600hz, gate and thrash off, tight off, and boosting it with my integrated preamp clone. Can do sludgy with a darker overdrive pedal (or none) or very tight with my integrated preamp. 

Defizz clone also works well after it, as one might expect.


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## Shask (Oct 28, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> I’ve been messing around with the pedal on and off all day, and I really like it now. 7 band eq to pull down 400hz slightly, and boost 1600hz, gate and thrash off, tight off, and boosting it with my integrated preamp clone. Can do sludgy with a darker overdrive pedal (or none) or very tight with my integrated preamp.
> 
> Defizz clone also works well after it, as one might expect.


Yeah, I like mine a lot also when I use an OD pedal in front, and an EQ after. However, that is probably not fair because pretty much all my gain pedals can sound awesome that way, lol.


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## buriedoutback (Oct 28, 2018)

I built another 5150 foot switch for a friend. I decided to gut a fender foot switch and use the housing cause it was cheap (and didn't function with a 5150 like I had hoped).

Parts : https://photos.app.goo.gl/nhQneQQHVq5RzYpHA
Wired up : https://photos.app.goo.gl/D3azwG7ZVf16tGCR8
Cheap amazon switches : https://photos.app.goo.gl/c123UguX2pNWYGVd7
All Done : https://photos.app.goo.gl/SmL1rZHBGyS5kSKN7

Works as it should. Most wiring I see online has resistors for the leds, but I 'think' that's just to tame the brightness? I haven't used them so far, and if the leds are too bright, I just use a sharpie to dim them lol


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## Shask (Oct 28, 2018)

buriedoutback said:


> I built another 5150 foot switch for a friend. I decided to gut a fender foot switch and use the housing cause it was cheap (and didn't function with a 5150 like I had hoped).
> 
> Parts : https://photos.app.goo.gl/nhQneQQHVq5RzYpHA
> Wired up : https://photos.app.goo.gl/D3azwG7ZVf16tGCR8
> ...


An LED always has a resistor in series, called the current limiting resistor (CLR). The current can actually burn out an LED without them. They do control the brightness, but also makes sure too much current doesn't go through the LED and destroy it.


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## buriedoutback (Oct 28, 2018)

Shask said:


> An LED always has a resistor in series, called the current limiting resistor (CLR). The current can actually burn out an LED without them. They do control the brightness, but also makes sure too much current doesn't go through the LED and destroy it.


Good info, thanks. I'll keep an eye on that.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 8, 2019)

Just found this tread...very cool builds Guy's !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 8, 2019)

Here’s the 1st one I built the T.C boost clone pedalpcb also built the Chugga pre...I’m building one now that’s it’s I guess both pedals in one from Pedalpcb , the ones now give more bass and treble but not much volume boost but sound good in front of a T.S OD. The chugga pre has one sweet spot around 1 pm

Mike


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## mnemonic (Sep 9, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> View attachment 72614
> Here’s the 1st one I built the T.C boost clone pedalpcb also built the Chugga pre...I’m building one now that’s it’s I guess both pedals in one from Pedalpcb , the ones now give more bass and treble but not much volume boost but sound good in front of a T.S OD. The chugga pre has one sweet spot around 1 pm
> 
> Mike



If you’re not getting much volume boost there may be a problem with them, they ought to give about 20db of volume boost, much more than you’d get from a typical tubescreamer. 

First thing I’d check is that pin 3 of the op amp chip is getting the full 30(ish) volts from the charge pump in the pedalpcb board. Charge pumps can be temperamental sometimes, and running this circuit at 9 volts cuts a lot of headroom and limits the boost on tap. 

The rullywow one I think only has the charge pump set up as a voltage doubler so that one will be around 17 volts. Though I haven’t built the rullywow one, just the pedalpcb


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## Mourguitars (Sep 9, 2019)

Ok...Thanks for the info !

Its been a fun learning experience ...trying to take in so much info can be a little over whelming at times, i will check that pin 3 ...thanks for chiming in !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 9, 2019)

Im reading 26.5 on pin 3....Its the Chugga Pre i think i miss spoke earlier , think i should try 18v on the CS12 one spot power supply ? 

Mike


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## mnemonic (Sep 9, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Im reading 26.5 on pin 3....Its the Chugga Pre i think i miss spoke earlier , think i should try 18v on the CS12 one spot power supply ?
> 
> Mike



What charge pump did you use? Check the max voltage input of the charge pump on the datasheet, and don’t exceed that power supply voltage. 

in my experience charge pumps are finicky and tend to die instantly if you exceed that maximum supply voltage. 

It may be something further in the circuit, you can check the back of the pcb and keep an eye out for solder bridges.


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## zilla (Sep 9, 2019)

Not sure which pump you’re using but verify it in the bom. 

The lt1054 has a max input voltage of 15v I think. The 7660 is 10 or 12v. If you did blow the charge pump then you’d either get nothing or 9v or less.

Check the diodes that you’re using also. If you’re using 1N400x diodes the voltage drop across all those diodes might be why you’re only seeing 26.5v.

Check the voltage on the ground pin on the ic to make sure you’re actually at 0v and not shorting to something that isn’t ground.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 9, 2019)

TC1044SCPA is the chip i used and soldered the jumper underneath the IC socket. I got my new Hakko station so ill go back and reflow all the joints again . 1n5817 is the diodes i used but , in my Tadya order i got in today i got a giant order of diodes, caps, Jfets , pots well....pretty much everything i need for upcoming builds...im parts central now ...in quantity !

I followed the build sheet to spec but i know and read that people sub parts ive got a note book with what they sub with and what is inter changeable or you can sub with something else...

I will trouble shoot a little later today since i have it open and report back , but a big thanks to all chiming in ! you guys rock.....

https://lovemyswitches.com


these guys are very cheap on pots and Knobs fyi


Mike


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## zilla (Sep 9, 2019)

Tip: socket your ic’s and transistors. It reduces the risk of frying them by overheating them and also makes it easier to swap out parts.

Also, Tayda is ok for passive parts like resistors and caps, but I don’t trust any of their ic’s and transistors. All/most are either out of spec parts or fakes. 

Don’t expect anything that calls for J201 or 2n5457 or any other jfet to work. Also don’t expect anything that uses germanium diodes like 1n34a, 1n270, etc to work properly... all of taydas “germanium” parts are actually silicon “work-a-likes”


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## Mourguitars (Sep 10, 2019)

Your reply got me thinking Zella, so I do and will socket things ..I put aside the trouble shooting on that one pedal as my Tester some in yesterday so I tested my J201s I bought off the bay...readings are everywhere seems there is 2 different types ? Please help me understand what I’m reading here..

Mike


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## zilla (Sep 10, 2019)

you're confirming that Tayda is complete shit for parts 

if you want legit through hole J201's or 2N5457 you're either going to have to go to a specialty shop like smallbear or you're going to have to go SMD and use TH adapter boards.

this is one that i made about 5 years ago using TH adapters.




now i don't even bother with TH parts anymore. i just use SMD versions of transistors and ICs if i can. it's not that hard to solder.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 10, 2019)

zilla said:


> you're confirming that Tayda is complete shit for parts
> 
> if you want legit through hole J201's or 2N5457 you're either going to have to go to a specialty shop like smallbear or you're going to have to go SMD and use TH adapter boards.
> 
> ...




Those come from eBay.. two different sellers....face palm ..I bought my others from mouser and + 1 on the 201s from small bear...I’ll order those by weeks end. I think that the SMD and board is the way to go nowadays..just takes a little more time that’s all !

Mike


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## zilla (Sep 10, 2019)

you can get 100 mmbfj201 transistors for less than 20 cents each thru mouser and not have to worry about "is this a real j201? is it going to bias properly?"

or you can buy a TH j201 from mouser and pay a stupid large amount of money (thanks, InterFET).


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## Mourguitars (Sep 10, 2019)

zilla said:


> you can get 100 mmbfj201 transistors for less than 20 cents each thru mouser and not have to worry about "is this a real j201? is it going to bias properly?"
> 
> or you can buy a TH j201 from mouser and pay a stupid large amount of money (thanks, InterFET).




They are out of stock on the SMDs and you are right on the $$$$$ they want for the other ones ...

Is a 2n2222 the same as a Pn2222 can they be subbed ? Im not that great yet at reading specs ... ( again yet )....but would like to add to my notes that if you can't find this, well this will work also....Same for IC chips

Mike


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## zilla (Sep 10, 2019)

they can be subbed. pn2222 just seems to have higher specs and is in a TO-92 package vs TO-18


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## zilla (Sep 10, 2019)




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## Shask (Sep 10, 2019)

zilla said:


> Tip: socket your ic’s and transistors. It reduces the risk of frying them by overheating them and also makes it easier to swap out parts.
> 
> Also, Tayda is ok for passive parts like resistors and caps, but I don’t trust any of their ic’s and transistors. All/most are either out of spec parts or fakes.
> 
> Don’t expect anything that calls for J201 or 2n5457 or any other jfet to work. Also don’t expect anything that uses germanium diodes like 1n34a, 1n270, etc to work properly... all of taydas “germanium” parts are actually silicon “work-a-likes”


That is interesting. I have a bunch of J201s, but I bought them like 10 years ago or something from somewhere like SmallBear. I didn't realize they became so scarce, lol. I think the only thing I used them in though was my Dr. Boogie.

I got some IC sockets and such from Tayda. Maybe some photoresistors for a phaser, but I think that is about it. I mostly stick to Small Bear, and then Mouser for resistors.

I went on a binge and built like 15 pedals, but been out of it for the last year or 2. I still have parts to make a few things, like the VH4 clone. I see PedalPCB has a bunch of new cool ones. I should look into SMT soldering. I don't have the tools for it, but they have a bunch of cool looking FV-1 boards.


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## zilla (Sep 11, 2019)

there's been an FV-1 shortage for several weeks now. apparently some supply problems at the fab. all of the suppliers who have stock have put it on reserve for the big builders like Keeley et al. I have a couple of FV-1 that i've been messing with and it's SUCH an amazing platform to develop DSP-based effects with.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 11, 2019)

Waiting on a few chips that will be in by the weekend , but the Isosceles Boost and Dwarven Hammer is the ones I'm excited about..

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 13, 2019)

Very cool pedal build to boost my 5150 pre , does the trick well..adds great sustain . The rotary switch as it goes up adds brightness 8 modes . Didn't have a JRC4558DD chip but put in a JRC4558D its kinda noisy , but ill get the DD chip or can i try different chips ? Any recommendations will be welcome ...


Went all Black on this one...


Mike



https://imgur.com/eXtnITC

https://imgur.com/atlM7K1


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## Mourguitars (Sep 13, 2019)

How do i load the image , not a link ?


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## mnemonic (Sep 14, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> How do i load the image , not a link ?



Imgur blocks hotlinking to this site, you’ll have to use something like www.postimg.cc or www.imgbb.com, then put the tags around the link that ends in .jpg (or .png, or whatever format your image is).

Pedal looks great though! I’ve wanted to try building that one but I haven’t yet got around to ordering more pcb’s


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## Mourguitars (Sep 14, 2019)

Wonder Drive ( pedalpcb )...very cool and great sounding build...really tightens up the low end and has a bite control...my Kartakou pre takes it well ! Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 14, 2019)

Dwarven Hammer ( pedalpcb ) ..got the image to load, got a few more builds to do but i really like these so far...

Mike


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## mnemonic (Sep 15, 2019)

Very clean work, looks great


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## Mourguitars (Sep 15, 2019)

mnemonic said:


> Very clean work, looks great




Thanks !

Yea they are getting a little better , i really like the modern T.S circuits, tighter on the low end than the classics. 

Got the magical diodes coming in this week for my Queen of bone 2 build , so going to inventory my parts order what I'm low on and most likely Jam out today...

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 15, 2019)

Play day today...these pedals sound awesome with that $50 ibanez i put a Norton in...Chug away !

Might try the Blackstar clean channel and effects loop with the BEOD clone thru a vet30/ greenback 2x12 cab later..having to much fun at the moment ..

My bigger rack with the tube power amps aren't seeing to much love as of late..the rig above sure is !

Later

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 19, 2019)

Distortion 250 pedalpcb clone...seen a AMS video with a Randy Rhoads style with this sent up with the MXR 10 band Eq....its very close . Noon on the dials on the Kartakou pre , gain maybe 8:30ish..got close but added mids to 2pm and sounded pretty great ! Lower the gain a tad more and you that Def Lep High 'n' Dry tone

Haven't played that stuff in ages !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 20, 2019)

SMD J201's...wasnt so bad soldering a fleas legs to a tick so to speak, they all tested better than those eBay J201's i bought on the bay...dont buy from there, word from the wise

Building a Tommy and a Queen of Bone 2 ( bought the magic diodes ) this weekend, Was going to build my third attempt at the T.C boost and Grind with the Isosceles Boost but I'm missing 3 odd sized resistors...

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 20, 2019)

Queen of Bone 2...fun build , dead quite used a MAX1044 in IC3, 1s1588 diodes in both sides, 
socketed them. Wasn't going to spend almost $3 each for MA856 diodes...ill try some others i have in one side and compare..havent figured out the Dip switch does yet but will tomorrow !

Mike


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## Shask (Sep 20, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> View attachment 72934
> View attachment 72933
> Distortion 250 pedalpcb clone...seen a AMS video with a Randy Rhoads style with this sent up with the MXR 10 band Eq....its very close . Noon on the dials on the Kartakou pre , gain maybe 8:30ish..got close but added mids to 2pm and sounded pretty great ! Lower the gain a tad more and you that Def Lep High 'n' Dry tone
> 
> ...


I have thought about a DOD 250, but not sure I would like it. I had the YJM drive years ago I never really used. I tend to do best with Tubescreamer types.

Looks good! PedalPCB makes it easy to make them look nice! I think the main difference in mine is that I used shielded cable between the jacks and the switch (the long runs).


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## Shask (Sep 20, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> View attachment 72967
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Living on the edge! lol. I find this very interesting. I have thought about getting SMT equipment so that I could do more of the projects, like the FV-1 based projects, like all the reverbs and such. I have soldered for years, but not sure if I would be great at SMT.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 21, 2019)

Just read that the FV-1 chips there's a manufacturing shortage..kinda still unknown when they will be made available again...Ya sparked my interest Shask, but i guess its back to the Od's and Distortions pedals...they build these so quite these days..pretty amazing


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## zilla (Sep 21, 2019)

The fv-1 is totally doable with a standard soldering iron. I’ve done many of them with a fine tip with no problem. Just use flux and you’ll be good.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 21, 2019)

Isosceles Boost....got one going ! 

Chugga Pre..(failed )
Triangulum Boost.. (failed )

Third time was the charm...great boost goes between a Grind/33/T.C boost...i like this one

Mike


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## Shask (Sep 22, 2019)

Nice. I got the ChuggaPre before PedalPCB had a version, but it seems to work pretty good. I still think I prefer Tubescreamer types, but it a nice alternative.


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## Shask (Sep 22, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Just read that the FV-1 chips there's a manufacturing shortage..kinda still unknown when they will be made available again...Ya sparked my interest Shask, but i guess its back to the Od's and Distortions pedals...they build these so quite these days..pretty amazing


Weird. I wonder why there is a shortage. I have always seen these where they just come with the loaded program, but I wonder how deep you can get with programming them. I used to know how to program DSPs years ago, could be a fun project to learn again.....


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## Shask (Sep 22, 2019)

zilla said:


> The fv-1 is totally doable with a standard soldering iron. I’ve done many of them with a fine tip with no problem. Just use flux and you’ll be good.


I have a nice Weller station, so I could probably get a micro-tip to use with it. I have just never tried. Seems like it would be like soldering with a sewing needle, lol. I worked in an electronics factory years ago where they had people who soldered SMT. They always had huge magnifying glasses that they worked with. Now that I think about it, I wonder if it would work to put a small ball of solder on each pad, lay the chip on top, and then just melt them together. That is basically how it worked when I programmed solder paste, pick and place, reflow ovens, etc.... years ago.


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## zilla (Sep 22, 2019)

You can use low level code or you can use a GUI based interface, but sacrifice control over parameters.

from what I heard there were issues with the staff at the fab. The issues have been resolved but inventory is slow to come back. I heard mid/late October for fv-1’s to be readily available again.


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## zilla (Sep 22, 2019)

Shask said:


> I have a nice Weller station, so I could probably get a micro-tip to use with it. I have just never tried. Seems like it would be like soldering with a sewing needle, lol. I worked in an electronics factory years ago where they had people who soldered SMT. They always had huge magnifying glasses that they worked with. Now that I think about it, I wonder if it would work to put a small ball of solder on each pad, lay the chip on top, and then just melt them together. That is basically how it worked when I programmed solder paste, pick and place, reflow ovens, etc.... years ago.





Smear flux on all the pads and then align the chip on the pads. 

solder one leg and then the chip is “captured” and you can work on the other pads without worrying about the chip moving.

using a magnifying glass or microscope does help but I’ve soldered a few with a fine tip and no magnifier with success.

the trick is to be slow and rest the hand that’s holding the iron on something solid that way your hand isn’t shaking in mid air.


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## zilla (Sep 22, 2019)

This is an fv-1 that I did by hand.

also another tip is to solder your SMD parts before anything else.


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## Shask (Sep 22, 2019)

zilla said:


> You can use low level code or you can use a GUI based interface, but sacrifice control over parameters.
> 
> from what I heard there were issues with the staff at the fab. The issues have been resolved but inventory is slow to come back. I heard mid/late October for fv-1’s to be readily available again.


Now you have me lurking http://diydsp.com/livesite/pages/GuitarPedals lol.

I built an effects unit using a Motorola DSP board like 20 years ago in college. Amazing how much easier this stuff is these days, Kinda want to get some sort of development board to make a programmable pedal to play around with. With companies like Strymon, Source Audio, Alexander, etc.... I definitely think unique digital pedals is where the pedal market is going in general.


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## zilla (Sep 22, 2019)

I’ve heard good things about the shark DSP from linear technologies. 

so many cool things, not enough hours in the day


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## Shask (Sep 22, 2019)

zilla said:


> I’ve heard good things about the shark DSP from linear technologies.
> 
> so many cool things, not enough hours in the day


I am thinking about buying one of these kits:

https://www.electrosmash.com/pedalshield

I have wanted some sort of programmable pedal programmed in C for years for learning. I think that could be a ton of fun, and fairly cheap overall.

Yeah, I learned how to program DSPs in assembly years ago, but definitely a PITA for random home play when you get time. I think something in C would make it easier as a hobby.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 23, 2019)

Tommy...adds a little high end and bass, and a little grit even tho its not my thing had to build it cause of the hype...

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 23, 2019)

zilla said:


> This is an fv-1 that I did by hand.
> 
> also another tip is to solder your SMD parts before anything else.
> View attachment 73032




Pretty work on the SMD !


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## Shask (Sep 23, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> View attachment 73046
> 
> View attachment 73047
> 
> ...


I always thought about building a Timmy clone, but then I ended up getting a few Caline pedals that were suppose to be clones, and never built one. I play with it sometimes, and it is kind of cool, but still always come back to the Tubescreamer types.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 23, 2019)

Oh yea i like my T.S pedals as well...these modern day T.S really tighten up things and have there place along with the old tried and true's !

Mike


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## mnemonic (Sep 28, 2019)

Got tired of having a wasted corner in my guitar room, built a little 3-guitar rack. Now I get back some wall space. 







It’s fun to make stuff entirely out of scrap wood and parts from the garage.


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## Mourguitars (Sep 28, 2019)

mnemonic said:


> Got tired of having a wasted corner in my guitar room, built a little 3-guitar rack. Now I get back some wall space.
> 
> View attachment 73183
> 
> ...




That’s awesome !

Looks fantastic..

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Sep 29, 2019)

Rullywow Plexi Cruise...

This was one of my 1st three builds that was a complete failure so i put it aside. After sourcing parts and reading build sheets for 13 upcoming builds i figured re vist it and find ( all) my mistakes and there were quite a few ...reflowing the solder fix a lot was using a cheap iron with way to big solder, looked like a BB setting on the board...I missed putting in 2 film caps..DUH !...

Had this enclosure wired up from my Chugga Pre , had to drill a hole for the toggle switch, solder the 4 wires from the breakout board switch and low and behold it worked !

This build requires biasing 3 Jfet201's with the trim pots for the gain stage at half of 9V....I got 4.56 -4.54 -4.53 those little trims are very touchy 

Been using my Prophesy and disengage the pre amp and running this and the BEOD clone into it...sounds pretty great and no noise , sounds great with the Prophesy's effects in stereo..

No black knobs but had some purple so i call this one of my favorite Spiderman villain ..the Hobbgoblin !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Oct 6, 2019)

Muffler Noise Gate...easy build, seems to do the trick but isn't as good as the big boys single knob gates..it will have its use tho

Have 15 more builds that make noise rather than stop noise..building as we speak.

This is a Fun Hobby , a little patience , follow instructions is very rewarding !

Mike


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## Shask (Oct 6, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Muffler Noise Gate...easy build, seems to do the trick but isn't as good as the big boys single knob gates..it will have its use tho
> 
> Have 15 more builds that make noise rather than stop noise..building as we speak.
> 
> ...


I have thought about building the Zuul clone that PedalPCB has, but I have read that main IC it uses can be hard to find. There is a SMT version, so I guess that might be easy if you can solder SMT.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 6, 2019)

Shask said:


> I have thought about building the Zuul clone that PedalPCB has, but I have read that main IC it uses can be hard to find. There is a SMT version, so I guess that might be easy if you can solder SMT.




I think he's is reworking the PCB to for SMD

Mike


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## technomancer (Oct 6, 2019)

Shask said:


> I have thought about building the Zuul clone that PedalPCB has, but I have read that main IC it uses can be hard to find. There is a SMT version, so I guess that might be easy if you can solder SMT.



The SMT is actually a different chip entirely, the THAT4301 is EOL. That said if you want to build the gate Profusion still has some of them in stock

https://www.profusionplc.com/parts/that4301p20-u


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## Mourguitars (Oct 6, 2019)

Mammal....MIAB sound build went very smooth until i ordered a 3PDT Order switch's instead of 3PDT Break out board's..and was like what ?!?!...lol

Wired it up the old way and it worked , a forum member pointed out what i did many thanks to him with is set of eyes..i would have still been troubleshooting !

Mike







this is not a Breakout board note to self !




Had justa nuff wire to wire it the old way...whew !


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## Mourguitars (Oct 10, 2019)

PedalPCB's Betty Boost...this pedal is very useful in tone shaping

Mike


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## Shask (Oct 10, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> PedalPCB's Betty Boost...this pedal is very useful in tone shaping
> 
> Mike
> 
> ...



Is that the copy of the Buxom boost? I know that is one I wanted to do. If/when I ever order more and get in the mood to build pedals again, that is definitely one on my list.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 10, 2019)

Shask said:


> Is that the copy of the Buxom boost? I know that is one I wanted to do. If/when I ever order more and get in the mood to build pedals again, that is definitely one on my list.



Yes it sure is , it’s a must have for sure , had to put the 1/4 w resistors on there ends but looks pretty cool that way

Doing a clone of the Golden Pearl in the a.m

Spent over 10 hrs building the clone of the Revv Red pedal...let me re phrase that spent almost 8 hrs trouble shooting...can’t find out why it sounds like a treble booster/ Fuzz...gheez what a nightmare...some one chimed in at told me to check the voltage on pin 1 and 7..I’ll do it in the a.m

Have some cool builds coming up...but I like the Betty Boost 

Mike


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## technomancer (Oct 11, 2019)

Damn, Mammoth is shutting down. They were my go to for enclosures and a couple other parts 

Just got the email, they are being acquired and effective immediately are no longer taking orders.


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## stevexc (Oct 11, 2019)

technomancer said:


> Damn, Mammoth is shutting down. They were my go to for enclosures and a couple other parts
> 
> Just got the email, they are being acquired and effective immediately are no longer taking orders.


TBH I've heard a lot of complaints about their service over the past couple months (likely related to the shutdown), which is why I went with Smallbear on my last order. Mammoth was quite a bit cheaper though, and my past orders didn't have any problems, but that was quite a while ago.


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## Gnarcade (Oct 11, 2019)

technomancer said:


> Damn, Mammoth is shutting down. They were my go to for enclosures and a couple other parts
> 
> Just got the email, they are being acquired and effective immediately are no longer taking orders.



Yeah I just saw that email as well. Crazy, but to echo what @stevexc said, they have a pretty crummy reputation with follow through and order accuracy. I even had some trouble with them in the past with a few kits that were missing parts, and incorrect items.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 11, 2019)

technomancer said:


> Damn, Mammoth is shutting down. They were my go to for enclosures and a couple other parts
> 
> Just got the email, they are being acquired and effective immediately are no longer taking orders.


 
Ive had a order in for two weeks with status ..Unfulfilled

Better call or do a PayPal dispute..sucks

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Oct 11, 2019)

Golden Pearl clone ...a.k.a Black Pearl

Sounds great i like these settings

Mike


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## technomancer (Oct 11, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Ive had a order in for two weeks with status ..Unfulfilled
> 
> Better call or do a PayPal dispute..sucks
> 
> Mike



They said they will be fulfilling open orders, just not taking any new ones.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 11, 2019)

technomancer said:


> They said they will be fulfilling open orders, just not taking any new ones.




Gotcha ! Thanks


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## technomancer (Oct 13, 2019)

New head shells for my next two builds

View media item 2369


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## Mourguitars (Oct 13, 2019)

Oh man ....sweet ! 

My goal is to build a amp one day...

Mike


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## technomancer (Oct 13, 2019)

These will be builds 3 and 4 for me. First multi-channel amps and first time using pc boards as well. The first 2 were single channel using turret boards I made. I actually need to get a thread up for my second build soonish since it's completed now.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Tyrian Distortion...Revv3 (purple) clone

Sounds just like the demos..very quite , i was amazed.
I put the IC's in backwards LOL...blew the 10R resistor, but i had to think how to build this for days..had to put 10#s in a 5# box as someone said , very glad other forum members chimed in a helped out..im still learning and i will do rookie mistakes !






Had to mock this one up, use sockets instead of the recommended way on the build docks..a forum member suggested this..props !

Had to socket the LED underneath , i always solder in wrong it seems but some older PCB's are wired different ..so 

Anyways ..it sounds great ! I done the Revv4 but it sounded like a treble booster/fuzz..ill come back to that one again once i can trouble shoot a little better 

Mike


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## mnemonic (Oct 17, 2019)

Those TL074’s always confuse me, with the dot on one side and the notch on the other, I can never remember which side is the top and I have to google it.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

mnemonic said:


> Those TL074’s always confuse me, with the dot on one side and the notch on the other, I can never remember which side is the top and I have to google it.




Thank you !...i know right, lol

Always thought dot goes forward...lol


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## Merrekof (Oct 17, 2019)

These are some clean looking pedals!


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## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> These are some clean looking pedals!




Thank you...im learning , making mistakes but most of all having a blast doing it !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Ember Boost...TC SparK

I subbed the OPA2134's with the NE5532's and it sounds very thick with my JMP-1..i like it..i like it a lot !

Every overdrive / boost I've built sound's awesome...each has a purpose and is very inspiring

Mike


----------



## mnemonic (Oct 17, 2019)

It is nice to have a pile of pedals that all do something different. I’ve kinda narrowed down my favourites but there are cool sounds in every one. 

Only exception is the RC booster clone I made, everything it could do, I thought could be done better by either a generic tubescreamer clone or my boss FA1 clone.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Constrictor.....Demeter Compulator clone. The VTL5C10 i ordered from China off eBay , took 2 months to get here and the leeds were bent all the crap , so i just thru this one together .

To my amazement it sounds pretty good , almost no noise for a compressor ..adds sustain to the dirty channel and sounds awesome with a strat on the clean channel ...it does its job..dont know if ill use it much but....i got it if i need it !

Mike


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## Shask (Oct 17, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Tyrian Distortion...Revv3 (purple) clone
> 
> Sounds just like the demos..very quite , i was amazed.
> I put the IC's in backwards LOL...blew the 10R resistor, but i had to think how to build this for days..had to put 10#s in a 5# box as someone said , very glad other forum members chimed in a helped out..im still learning and i will do rookie mistakes !
> ...



Crazy, it looks like it was designed with those ICs too close together.


----------



## Shask (Oct 17, 2019)

mnemonic said:


> It is nice to have a pile of pedals that all do something different. I’ve kinda narrowed down my favourites but there are cool sounds in every one.
> 
> Only exception is the RC booster clone I made, everything it could do, I thought could be done better by either a generic tubescreamer clone or my boss FA1 clone.


That is why I havent built any for awhile. I have so many of them, that I dont really use a lot of them. I have my favorites. It is cool to have other tones I don't use much (Klon, Rat, Bluesbreaker, etc...), but it has really made me more picky about what I would build next.


----------



## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Shask said:


> Crazy, it looks like it was designed with those ICs too close together.



yea I know...man , I had to think and mock up a different way to put them in ...they do have a board ( ya need 2 ) and 4 ICs...the other way...it was challenging !


----------



## Mourguitars (Oct 17, 2019)

Shask said:


> That is why I havent built any for awhile. I have so many of them, that I dont really use a lot of them. I have my favorites. It is cool to have other tones I don't use much (Klon, Rat, Bluesbreaker, etc...), but it has really made me more picky about what I would build next.



I don’t know how may I’ve built so far...work is slow so have to have something to bide my time ! 

Ive selected things I would have liked to try but didn’t wanna buy...so far I’ve built things I can use and will use....

Building a T.S next..swap diodes or LEDs out..I have a lot of T.S !

Valhalla is after that , Brown Betty...Suhr Riot clone..Klon klone..Revv 2 Green...

I need help ....lol

Not into Fuzz....but after these I’ll be selective and slow down....lol


Mike


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## mnemonic (Oct 18, 2019)

Shask said:


> That is why I havent built any for awhile. I have so many of them, that I dont really use a lot of them. I have my favorites. It is cool to have other tones I don't use much (Klon, Rat, Bluesbreaker, etc...), but it has really made me more picky about what I would build next.



Same, the only things I want to build now are a boss OD1 clone (original with the quad op amp) and an HM2 clone (I have the behringer version which is good but I want true bypass so I can leave it on my pedalboard). Apart from that I’m pretty much set with pedals. 

I’ve been checking pedapcb periodically but there hasn’t been much new that I wanted.


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## Mourguitars (Oct 18, 2019)

Little Green Scream machine ! Its a very low noise T.S pedal as are most PedalPCB builds are..Its like they are already Modded or just built right in 2019 nowadays..i plugged my 808 , TS9 and Ts7 to A/B and was like Hissss ..ok...unplugged them

Socketed the diodes for switching out as well as the LED's as diodes ..tried the 1n4148 and Red LED's...put the Green LED's and was very pleasing to my ears...tightens up the low end , not harsh , very ear pleasing....So went with the Green theme !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Oct 19, 2019)

Valhalla Distortion...VH4 clone

Build went smooth , no issues and powered up first time...need time to dial it in , but that Deep knob will make things flubbie....

Mike


----------



## Merrekof (Oct 25, 2019)

Fellow diy'ers..

Can you give me some advice?

My soldering iron is yelling "uuuuuse meee" for a while and my fingers are itching.
Sooo, I figured I wan't to build an Aion L5 preamp. Now I want an OD along with it, but I don't know wich one. I figured I might as well ask you guys since you've all built several OD's.

I never looked into OD because I mainly play metal but I like an extra classic/heavy rock OD. Any idea wich one would suit me? Remember, building is half the fun 

I'm already set with my modded Boss MT2 so no heavy distortion. And I don't know how I feel about fuzz..


----------



## Mourguitars (Oct 25, 2019)

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product-category/od-distortion-fuzz/

Look at the Compare to :

Then youtube them ....the ones I've build on the pages here are very cool and nice 

LGSM is a awesome T.S clone with Green LEDS as diodes...my Fav !
Aurum Drive...quite useful
Dwarven hammer is a must have !
Isosceles Boost...33/TC/Grind thing
Betty Boost...can be used as a Boost and Eq
Ember Boost...is very awesome sounding !

Just noticed your in Belgium , hope that isn't a problem with shipping

Mike


----------



## Merrekof (Oct 25, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> https://www.pedalpcb.com/product-category/od-distortion-fuzz/
> 
> Look at the Compare to :
> 
> ...


Not at all. Musikding.de is a Germany based webstore that sells lots of pcb's, kits and electronics from lots of brands including pedalpcb. They even have some FV1 kits that are sold out everywhere else. 

Thanks for the tips, I'll check these out


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## Mourguitars (Oct 27, 2019)

Disarray Distortion...Suhr Riot clone

Smooth build no gremlins , tried the ribbon cable on this one..kinda on the fence about it...dont want to be taking it in and out , its kinda flimsy 

Mike


----------



## Merrekof (Oct 28, 2019)

That ribbon should be enough, I assume the boards won't be moving anyway.

However, I did run across a DIY amp from some guy on the internet which had several of these ribbon cables. The kit didn't work because one lead in one ribbon was broken, presumably during assembly. Once properly assembled, these cables should suffice..


----------



## Merrekof (Oct 28, 2019)

Also, has anyone ever ordered components through AliExpress? Been thinking about ordering some boxes with a bunch of mixed values. Like 1500 carbon resistors for 9€, 1000 ceramic caps for 11€, other caps like elco's or 300 leds in different colours for 2€.. it is dirt cheap and it's always handy to have some spares!
I don't know about transistors though, I read on this thread that values could be all over the place. 
Any thoughts?


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## Mourguitars (Oct 30, 2019)

Klone ....no gremlins , fired up and played for a hour before boxing it up...no noise as of most PedalPCB's builds...back to rocking it !

Mike


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## Shask (Oct 30, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Klone ....no gremlins , fired up and played for a hour before boxing it up...no noise as of most PedalPCB's builds...back to rocking it !
> 
> Mike
> 
> ...


 Lol. That is so funny. Here is mine


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## Mourguitars (Oct 31, 2019)

Shask said:


> Lol. That is so funny. Here is mine
> View attachment 74028
> View attachment 74029




Looks great ! I started to install the battery clip on mine but I’ll never use it...so

Yellow is the new gold !


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## Mourguitars (Oct 31, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Also, has anyone ever ordered components through AliExpress? Been thinking about ordering some boxes with a bunch of mixed values. Like 1500 carbon resistors for 9€, 1000 ceramic caps for 11€, other caps like elco's or 300 leds in different colours for 2€.. it is dirt cheap and it's always handy to have some spares!
> I don't know about transistors though, I read on this thread that values could be all over the place.
> Any thoughts?



I mainly use Tayda....most resistors are like a penny each or so, every order is spot on ever a issue , I pay a few bucks more in shipping I get it here in 4 days like clockwork...Transistors are a fickle component lots of fakes , beware of eBay some you buy are DOA...I use a tester and check every batch...Mouser here in the states have them but are kinda pricey but at least you know they are good...J201’s just bite the bullet and do the SMD and board thing...every one I bought on eBay are bad....I had to buy a 390n looked everywhere but had to buy off eBay.....

Oh yea ...always good to have components on hand for sure , most builds use a lot of the same values bulk up on those..look at build sheets...but there is always that one hard to find part tho....lol.... part of the fun !

Mike


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## Merrekof (Oct 31, 2019)

Well, there are great webshops in Germany. Banzai and Musikding both sell a bunch parts and kits. Both are heavily music related ofcourse. 

I haven't ordered from AliExpress yet, been looking through customer reviews and I'm kinda reluctant now, even though these are the simplest of components. The resistors are probably b-stock and often mislabeled or have a different value. No biggie for a hobbyist, you just need to measure resistance for each one to know for sure. If 90% of the bulk pack is faulty, than it's still cheaper than buying from a respectable webstore, so it's tempting!
Capacitors are the same story but I don't have an esr meter, so no bulk package of caps for me.
IC's and transistors are a no-go to buy on the cheap imo.
What I probably will buy is a bunch of LED's. 6 different colours x10 for about 3€. And knobs, different colours and shapes. 

You know what sucks about DIY pedals? Going to a above mentioned site and finding all the parts..except for that one IC and potmeters with the wrong shaft dimendions..


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## Mourguitars (Oct 31, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Well, there are great webshops in Germany. Banzai and Musikding both sell a bunch parts and kits. Both are heavily music related ofcourse.
> 
> I haven't ordered from AliExpress yet, been looking through customer reviews and I'm kinda reluctant now, even though these are the simplest of components. The resistors are probably b-stock and often mislabeled or have a different value. No biggie for a hobbyist, you just need to measure resistance for each one to know for sure. If 90% of the bulk pack is faulty, than it's still cheaper than buying from a respectable webstore, so it's tempting!
> Capacitors are the same story but I don't have an esr meter, so no bulk package of caps for me.
> ...




Gotcha ....i had a bad batch of blue LED's...3mm....i bought clear blue ones that worked better in ways

Mike


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## technomancer (Oct 31, 2019)

Given that AliExpress is typically the home of cheap knockoffs can't say I would order electronics components from there.


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## Merrekof (Oct 31, 2019)

technomancer said:


> Given that AliExpress is typically the home of cheap knockoffs can't say I would order electronics components from there.


Oh yeah, I totally get you. I would never buy more complicated parts like IC's on AE anyway. But really, where do you think every component comes from? AE sellers are at the source. 

Like I stated earlier, you'd probably be buying b-stock, mislabeled, recycled or failed QC batches for a fraction of the cost. Best case scenario; 90% of the parts work fine. Worst case scenario; I wasted 3€ on a bag of broken LEDs.

I ordered stuff before like router bits, decoration,.. Got one extremely bad product and one package that took 4 months to get to me. In those 4 months I filed a complaint and AE costumer service sent my money back. AKA free router bit! So my experience is pretty good for now. 
If you ever see an FV-1 chip for half the price, you know you are likely to get screwed.

There is one I just can't get my head around. How can they offer me free shipping on a 3€ package? That 3€ doesn't even cover shipping costs..


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## Mourguitars (Nov 1, 2019)

Brown Betty...PedalPCB

Used Tayda's black matte enclosure...have a P-touch coming so going to be label crazy !

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Nov 5, 2019)

Time to learn and label ! Ill be needing this when i get around to labeling / wiring my rack and labeling my All Access midi controller .....Labeling my pedals first..pics later in the week

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Nov 10, 2019)

Having a little fun this morning learning the P Touch..using words and images found on the web experimenting with the fonts in the editor ...My white on clear tape was bad so done these ....went with a random theme...i can always redo them , learning the machine

Mike


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## Merrekof (Nov 11, 2019)

Okay, now I want one too


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## Shask (Nov 11, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Okay, now I want one too


Yeah, those labels look really nice. They would probably be durable also with a light clear coat over them.


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## Mourguitars (Nov 11, 2019)

Im going to redo them ....just testing fonts and images, the black on clear tape is very transparent on the Green enclosure you can hardly notice its a sticker so different colors hide the clear more than others...

Its fun for sure, next batch ill trim as close as i can to the image or font to try to make it less visible ....it has potential tho !

They are on sale at Amazon btw....

Mike


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## Merrekof (Nov 19, 2019)

Look what arrived today!


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## Merrekof (Nov 26, 2019)

Look what I built!


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## Shask (Nov 26, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Look what I built!
> View attachment 74974


What is it? lol

Looks like you are missing some transistors!


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## Deadpool_25 (Nov 26, 2019)

Oh damn, that PTouch is sweet. I'll need to check into that and similar devices. I was just going to ask about how people make professional looking graphics and that looks like a good way to do it.


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## Deadpool_25 (Nov 26, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Having a little fun this morning learning the P Touch..using words and images found on the web experimenting with the fonts in the editor ...My white on clear tape was bad so done these ....went with a random theme...i can always redo them , learning the machine
> 
> Mike
> 
> View attachment 74513



Does the white on clear not work well?


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## Merrekof (Nov 27, 2019)

Shask said:


> What is it? lol
> 
> Looks like you are missing some transistors!


Oh snap, and it worked without them.. 
No, actually it is designed to work with regular OR SMD J201's. If you look closely, you can see them (Q3, Q4) next to the empty transistor holes. First time I ever soldered SMD stuff.

It's a Darkglass B3K clone. Took me about 5 hours to build. There is also an internal send/return and 4,5V supply on the board so I can upgrade the board to a B7K.

Stuff I've learned: -watch out for big caps, they need space. -I need IC tweezers. -And my solder tip has seen better days.


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## Shask (Nov 27, 2019)

Deadpool_25 said:


> Oh damn, that PTouch is sweet. I'll need to check into that and similar devices. I was just going to ask about how people make professional looking graphics and that looks like a good way to do it.


Using Waterslides is probably the most common way. You can print them with your printer, and then soak them in water, and slide them on top the pedal. You then clear coat over them.

I have only did one pedal like this, and pain in the ass is an understatement. Not because of the waterslide, but because of the clear coat on top, and not melting the waterslide. I have a pack of like 10 of them, so maybe I will try again one day, lol.

Mine wasn't too fancy, but I could have printed anything, including pictures.


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## Mourguitars (Nov 28, 2019)

Muzzle ( Fortin Zuul clone ) with added output mod...this build is bad @zz ! Glad i was too busy to get around to doing the build and looked on the forum this morning and someone figured out another output mod to make this pedal even better !

I used the wrong Key jack..Duh..had the right one forgot i bought it when i first started building pedals...but anyways this pedal really clamps down and tames the noise...better than any gate I've tried and will get a lot of use daily....

Mike


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## Shask (Nov 28, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Muzzle ( Fortin Zuul clone ) with added output mod...this build is bad @zz ! Glad i was too busy to get around to doing the build and looked on the forum this morning and someone figured out another output mod to make this pedal even better !
> 
> I used the wrong Key jack..Duh..had the right one forgot i bought it when i first started building pedals...but anyways this pedal really clamps down and tames the noise...better than any gate I've tried and will get a lot of use daily....
> 
> ...


I see you have a SMT chip. I have heard the older through-hole version of that THAT chip is getting pretty scarce.


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## Mourguitars (Nov 28, 2019)

Shask said:


> I see you have a SMT chip. I have heard the older through-hole version of that THAT chip is getting pretty scarce.




It is scarce and pricey ...PedalPCB soldered it when you you buy the chip and PCB..That output mod makes things awesome just one wire and another jack..pretty straight forward vs they way it was originally designed..i tried it that way..after watching demos..i was like (head scratch ) !

Wasn't this noise gate design from a Marshal K.K head ?


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## Shask (Nov 28, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> It is scarce and pricey ...PedalPCB soldered it when you you buy the chip and PCB..That output mod makes things awesome just one wire and another jack..pretty straight forward vs they way it was originally designed..i tried it that way..after watching demos..i was like (head scratch ) !
> 
> Wasn't this noise gate design from a Marshal K.K head ?


That is cool you can get it with the chip soldered on. I would probably order it that way. This and the Buxom boost clone are at the top of my list if I order any more PCBs in the future.

What does the wire mod do? Why is it better?

Yes, the original design was copied from the gate in the KK JCM800 head.


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## technomancer (Nov 28, 2019)

Yep pretty much the same gate from the Marshall KK...

Also wow Profusion had a couple thousand left when I bought the THAT4301s I have... somebody bought them out since then.


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## Mourguitars (Nov 28, 2019)

About the Mod...it’s a extra output like on most NG’s. Run it in the loop thru the top jacks, run your other pedals OD’s ..Distortion ..thru the pedal and out to the amp..just a thru and thru...the Other way with that key input you had to go into some pedal with 2 ins and outs like on the boss tuner....then your other pedals..very confusing...watch Olas YT vid on it

That’s what I thought it was in the same design from the K.K amp


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## Merrekof (Nov 29, 2019)

Shask said:


> That is cool you can get it with the chip soldered on. I would probably order it that way.


Remember those transistors I forgot? Well they were 3-pin SMD J201s and that is doable with a soldering iron. For those..what..32 pins you really need and oven or so!



Mourguitars said:


> About the Mod...it’s a extra output like on most NG’s. Run it in the loop thru the top jacks, run your other pedals OD’s ..Distortion ..thru the pedal and out to the amp..just a thru and thru...the Other way with that key input you had to go into some pedal with 2 ins and outs like on the boss tuner....then your other pedals..very confusing...watch Olas YT vid on it
> 
> That’s what I thought it was in the same design from the K.K amp


Sorry man, I tried reading it three times but I just don't understand what you are trying to explain here..


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## Mourguitars (Nov 29, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Remember those transistors I forgot? Well they were 3-pin SMD J201s and that is doable with a soldering iron. For those..what..32 pins you really need and oven or so!
> 
> 
> Sorry man, I tried reading it three times but I just don't understand what you are trying to explain here..




Lol....Turkey makes ya sleepy.

https://www.pedalpcb.com/docs/PedalPCB-Muzzle.pdf

You don't need to run the side Key into a splitter / buffered box

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/41021191204/


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## Merrekof (Nov 29, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Lol....Turkey makes ya sleepy.
> 
> https://www.pedalpcb.com/docs/PedalPCB-Muzzle.pdf
> 
> ...


Ahaaa, now I get it!


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## Merrekof (Nov 30, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Also, has anyone ever ordered components through AliExpress? Been thinking about ordering some boxes with a bunch of mixed values. Like 1500 carbon resistors for 9€, 1000 ceramic caps for 11€, other caps like elco's or 300 leds in different colours for 2€.. it is dirt cheap and it's always handy to have some spares!
> I don't know about transistors though, I read on this thread that values could be all over the place.
> Any thoughts?


Small update: I got 120 LED's from AliExpress last week. Different colours in 3 and 5 mm. I've tested a few and haven't come across a single defective LED. It wasn't the cheapest seller on AE but it was still only 0,05 cents while the regular supplier charges 0,12€. 
So if you're willing to stock up, these are good.


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## Mourguitars (Nov 30, 2019)

Got around to labeling this morning...Family pic 

Mike


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## Shask (Nov 30, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Got around to labeling this morning...Family pic
> 
> Mike
> View attachment 75140


Those look great, and you probably surpassed me on how many pedals I have made, lol.


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## Merrekof (Dec 1, 2019)

Cool, you did all this with that Brother Ptouch?


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## Mourguitars (Dec 1, 2019)

Merrekof said:


> Cool, you did all this with that Brother Ptouch?



Yep , went very easy once you got the hang of it , a few of the colored enclosures from Tayda doesn't look like a sticker , it looks silk screened but you can trim real close to make the others look that way as well...Black is Tuff to make look good tho


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## Merrekof (Dec 1, 2019)

Mourguitars said:


> Yep , went very easy once you got the hang of it , a few of the colored enclosures from Tayda doesn't look like a sticker , it looks silk screened but you can trim real close to make the others look that way as well...Black is Tuff to make look good tho


So, last week I was around town, had some spare time and walked in a small store that sells all kinds of Dymo labelmakers to get some info. Turns out they also sell the Ptouch in backorder, for the price of 175€! 
I'm all about supporting local stores but when the first result in Google charges me 68€ instead of 175€ for the exact same model, I think: screw you! 
I'm certainly interested in that Ptouch though, I think my whole house will get labeled if I buy one..


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## Mourguitars (Dec 1, 2019)

Lol....you will go label crazy ! I been wanting to do my cables for my rack as well as the input and outputs...its a handy unit for sure


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## Merrekof (Dec 12, 2019)

Another AliExpress update. Bought some bakelite knobs and a switch with LED ring. The knobs were clearly bstock or so. Paint stains here and there and the inner shaft is narrower than 6,35mm. Presumably from excess material inside. May need to file a bit away.
The LED ring however. That's a neat piece I think. Couldn't find characteristics of the LED on the app so I sent the seller a message. She replied with 3A 250V. So, a) she gave the characteristics of the switch instead of the LED or b) when I stomp on my effect, it'll look like a nuke going off because that would be a 750watt LED! Try calculating a resistor for this thing. Might need to look for a bigger adapter though..


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## Mourguitars (Dec 14, 2019)

PedalPCB's version of this ..no gremlins fired right up gotta love that ! Sounds fantastic thru the Kartakou 5150 Pre amp ..digging it

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Dec 14, 2019)

PedalPCB Uber Drive...sounds great and no gremlins, easy build...

Mike


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## Mourguitars (Feb 21, 2020)

Built another PedalPCB Muzzle

Awesome gate , going to keep this one in my rack....pretty rusty with the soldering iron...been a while !


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## Mourguitars (Feb 22, 2020)

LGSM...another T.S


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## Mourguitars (Feb 23, 2020)

Trying them out with the Rack pre's , made doubles of the ones i like....some stack pretty well together 

Kinda got lost with the P-Touch again....its fun !

Mike


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## technomancer (Feb 24, 2020)

Damn man, you are a pedal building machine


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## Mourguitars (Feb 24, 2020)

technomancer said:


> Damn man, you are a pedal building machine




Lol....yep , learning how to tweak them , learning how to read a schematic so i can build me a modded Marshall !

Have my Rack done now...so back to my research on amp building...lot of drama to weed thru tho

Any suggestions (links ) on a 50w 800 kit with a loop , Head shell good components to start off with with Res/Pres controls...Jose style mods ?

Mike


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## technomancer (Feb 24, 2020)

As far as general understanding of amp components this is a great place to start

https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm

I typically buy 99% of my stuff from Mouser, axial caps from ARS (though you pretty much need to call them if you want to buy something), with occasional other stuff from Amplified Parts. Project chassis from Valvestorm. Transformers I've done Classic Tone as well as Heyboer.

Good luck, it can be both fun and frustrating as hell


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## Mourguitars (Feb 24, 2020)

technomancer said:


> As far as general understanding of amp components this is a great place to start
> 
> https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm
> 
> ...




Oh thanks for the link and info....sourcing parts is part of the game , learned that from building pedals !

I plan on taking my time , i have lots of builds gut shots , some are a work of art !

Lots to study from ! I plan on taking my time....do it right, i know it will be frustrating...every thing has a learning curve.....

Mike


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