Mysterioso vs. Hot Tubes

[Thomas_H]

Hi dear community 

Somehow I got impressed by the pure and raw sound the 4049 distortion circuit produces. I already did build a Snarkdoodle.
I am not so fond of the noise this circuit produces as it definitely amplifies the tiniest input signal delivered - even unwanted 

I am now looking into some more advanced circuits and need your input if you already tried one of those and what your personal experience with those circuits is/was.

I had in mind the
Mysterioso Jr that can be found here on Madbeans and
Gaussmarkov's Hot Tubes circuit found here:http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/circuits/hot-tubes-clone/

Your input is higly appreciated.
Thank you

[maysink]

Hey, Thomas. I found the 4049 version of Hot Tubes (vero avail @ http://www.sabrodesign.com/) to be very similar to the Snarkdoodle/Red Llama/Tube Fuzz--with possibly more gain when dimed & a tone control. The Mysterioso is it's own beast. It can go filthy with the gain & boost knobs cranked but I find it excels in taking a clean amp and making it sound pleasantly over-driven rather than fuzz'd out.

FWIW, I parted out my HT vero as I already had a Snarkdoodle--didn't need 2. I think Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth used an old Hot Tubes on her bass back in the ~90s.

[Thomas_H]

Hi Erin,

thank you for sharing your knowledge and opinion with me.
Do you, by any chance, remember which of those circuits has the lowest noise level ?

best
Thomas

[maysink]

The mysterioso is lowest noise level but isn't a gain box in my opinion. The HT was a bit noisier but it was a vero vs. fabb'd PCB. I never tested the snark vs the HT w/ the tone stack disabled. Hard to say which can go louder as they both go loud as hell!

Also, the gain on the HT is seriously bunched up at the end of the 2M gain pot's rotation. I tried the 'fix' mentioned on the vero link above and thought it killed the pedal

[Thomas_H]

Hi Erin,

thanks again for your feedback. 
I have ordered a Mysterioso PCB and will go from there to see which I like better.

[maysink]

I'm a big fan of the Mysterioso but it is NOT a fuzz monster like the Snark or HT. It excels at taking a clean channel and OD'ing it quite nicely.