13 posts
I've got two more Maestro clones on my desk, an xotic BB, both the xotic RC and AC boosts, an opamp big muff, a Boss CE2 clone, an orange squeezer, a Zen Drive, a couple of different takes on tube screamers, a Barber Silver LTD clone, a couple of Colorsound ODs of various sorts, some option-laden boosts, and more coming. Tons of stuff getting built... I am super stoked! Hopefully soon I'll be able to get a Memory Man clone going too, some of the chips are hard to find cheap if you want to run it at +12v...
Anyway, watch this space... at some point I'll probably start selling pedals because I'm going to have too many even for the 5 pedal boards we have in the studio...
Itz an addiction...but a fun one!
wow, that's a bunch! can't wait to see/hear them.
I'd seek out the BAT41's (I think that's correct) for the Zen clone rather than using alternatives just because they aren't easy to find. Having read tones about them and intending to do one myself at one point, it seems they make a difference and make it more like the original. I think I have some...
Also, given the conversation you and Matt had about the Pumpkins and muffs, I'm surprised you haven't dived into them more. I'd love to try a Triangle, Mayo, and and several versions and have a shootout to see which one or two to keep.
If you start making a custom line of pedals you ought to call them things like FuzzBert, ReverBert, OverDriveBert, etc. ;) :D
DreamTheaterRules — Jun 13, 2012wow, that's a bunch! can't wait to see/hear them.
I'd seek out the BAT41's (I think that's correct) for the Zen clone rather than using alternatives just because they aren't easy to find. Having read tones about them and intending to do one myself at one point, it seems they make a difference and make it more like the original. I think I have some...
I've got Schottky diodes... I think I got them at mouser. Bat-41s aren't hard to find, just not cheap, about 12 cents a piece. Still cheaper than Ge diodes though.
Finished a tremolo pedal last night and used it in the jam, it was slick. I'll build something with distortion tonight.
I built an opamp big muff, which is the Siamese dream sound. I used some funky zener diodes I had for the 6 clippers, they had a Vf of ~.85 so it's loud and proud, which is good because I scooped the hell out of the midrange. I won't go so extreme next time, there's only a very small window on the tone knob that is effective now. But it definitely sounds in the Siamese Dream vein. I'll build another one to stock specs--stock it has a lot more midrange, it's a different circuit from the standard muff, way more of a massive rock pedal.
Also finished a shredmaster clone, again BYOC (clearing out my old boards), I did the 3-position diode switch in that, stock, asymmetric silicon, and a big long chain of germanium diodes. Stock and asymmetric sound nearly identical (not the first time I've noticed this), Ge sounds amazing but is way too quiet, that always happens with Germanium. Gotta figure out a way to compensate on the switch for the volume loss, maybe wire up a little boost circuit that gets engaged when the Ge diodes are in.
Also built two triboosts from BYOC, we needed some boost pedals in the studio, I had most of the parts so I ordered the boards. Very cool little circuit with three different types of boost on a rotary switch and a 3-color LED. Mosfet boost is totally killer on this, and Germanium boost a close second (only real downside to that is decent Ge transistors cost around $6 a pop--the mosfet by contrast cost 10 cents.) Silicon boost is totally underwhelming, I tried the recommended 5088 and a 5089 transistor. It's dark and quiet compared to the other boost options. Gotta look at the circuit and see if there's a way to change the output resistor for only one stage.
I'm working on my own switchable mosfet/fet boost. I love the grunginess of the fet boost, and the mosfet has a real scoopy chimey "heavy Fender" tone. This could be all you need for an amp that has gain on tap and just needs a push over the cliff.
Charger,
IF you scooped it even more, it has to be pretty scooped because the pedal has some scoop by design. Well, I know the regular ones do! In fact, the biggest complaint on Muffs is that they sound great but easily get lost in a mix. Also, yeah, the Pumpkins at that time were using the opamp version. I'm not exactly sure how different that design is as I haven't researched them like I did the regular one and it's variants. I know there is a "flat mids mod" for the regular one that is a very popular mod.
The Tri-boost is very cool!
As for the volume drop on germ clippers, it's obviously because of their lower voltage. Depending on which ones you are using, putting two per side can raise the voltage to where it's close to diodes, making for more even volume, but you can also just turn the volume up when using the germ clippers. May people think they "sound" better once you match the volumes. The lower voltage they pass also acts as a compressor, which could be part of the reason, but most people just think they clip more nicely. (smoother, sweeting clipping that other clippers).
I can't wait to hear what you think of your Zen clone. I will say ( I may have mentioned this before) several of my buddies at BYOC that are more big time builders, have said that the BAT41s are part of the secret of the real Zen, and that they sound better than anything else they tried. Some didn't agree, but several of the guys there who are long time builders, said that careful A/B-ing of them vs. others that the original BAT41s came out on top every time. Just a thought. I know they aren't the easiest to get ahold of.
DreamTheaterRules — Jul 05, 2012Charger,
IF you scooped it even more, it has to be pretty scooped because the pedal has some scoop by design. Well, I know the regular ones do! In fact, the biggest complaint on Muffs is that they sound great but easily get lost in a mix. Also, yeah, the Pumpkins at that time were using the opamp version. I'm not exactly sure how different that design is as I haven't researched them like I did the regular one and it's variants. I know there is a "flat mids mod" for the regular one that is a very popular mod.
The Tri-boost is very cool!
As for the volume drop on germ clippers, it's obviously because of their lower voltage. Depending on which ones you are using, putting two per side can raise the voltage to where it's close to diodes, making for more even volume, but you can also just turn the volume up when using the germ clippers. May people think they "sound" better once you match the volumes. The lower voltage they pass also acts as a compressor, which could be part of the reason, but most people just think they clip more nicely. (smoother, sweeting clipping that other clippers).
I can't wait to hear what you think of your Zen clone. I will say ( I may have mentioned this before) several of my buddies at BYOC that are more big time builders, have said that the BAT41s are part of the secret of the real Zen, and that they sound better than anything else they tried. Some didn't agree, but several of the guys there who are long time builders, said that careful A/B-ing of them vs. others that the original BAT41s came out on top every time. Just a thought. I know they aren't the easiest to get ahold of.
I've got a bunch of BAT-41s (and BAT43, and 46, and 5817). Schottky's are kind of a not-so-secret weapon because they have about the same forward voltage as Ge diodes, but silicon, so they don't have the smooth transition to distortion of Ge. That's what makes them sound so good---lots of crunch, but fast-onset gain. Ge's have lots of crunch, too, but a much smoother onset of it, which is why they sound so much sweeter.
The BMP opamp is an interesting design, it's not really a standard muff at all. The tonestack is different, and it has a lot more mids. They also use 6 clipping diodes in one clipping stage (3 and 3) instead of 4 in two stages, and there are a number of other changes. It's got massive gain and clipping but it isn't going to be playing any Pink Floyd solos anytime soon.
In my clipping for the Shredmaster I used assymetric germanium, 5x1n34/3x1n34. On paper, that's .3 x 5 = 1.5 Vf one way, and .3x3 = .9Vf the other way. That's why sometimes math is useless when you dig into things like sound... theoretically the forward voltage in the germanium stage is ~.7V higher one way, and .25v higher the other way, than the stock Si diodes (.65vF each way). But in practice it's much quieter... so there ya go.
Yeah, but everyone says the 1n34s sound SO nice...
Yeah I totally boneheaded this one and have to rebuild the diode board... I was working with stripboard for the first time, which is brilliant in some ways and futzy in other ways, and I forgot to cut traces, so all the diodes are parallel, hence I'm getting only the lowest forward voltage diode of each pair. Will redo tonight, should be better later.
Yes, 1n34a's sound great, as do all the other Ge diodes I've tried, i have weird Russian Ge diodes, 1n270, 1n277, 1n60... all have the same character with varying shades of crunch.
Sounds sick now... I used 8x 1n60 Ge diodes asymmetric (, 5x3. The other options are stock (1x1 1n914) and asymmetric silicon (2x1 1n914).
I'm going to build another distortion pedal tonight and use some other options... 4x4 1n60 or 1n34a Ge diodes (5x3 is a little loud). I'll also use Si + Ge on each side to get a vF around .9, and do something asymmetric, maybe 2x Si, and 1 Si + 1 Ge on the other side. I'm also looking at using infrared LEDs which have a pretty low forward voltage for an LED, to get to that next level above diodes but not as loud and grungy as say red LEDs.
I'd love to hear some clips with switch flipping to show the differences in the clipping sections.