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Astrotone/Harmonic clipper/Suzie Q etc build

Started by Philthy, February 06, 2024, 12:02:13 AM

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Philthy

Hi all,
First pedal build in ages and one using what parts I had in my boxes - hence the amp flavour.
Tight for space so it ended us esentially an AM Sam Ash Astrotone clone with some symmetric/asymmetric clipping options - using the Orman 3 option arrangement.
2n5088 and bc109 in Q1 and Q2 repectively. Couldn't get this to sing at all with 2N3656s that seem to be the norm for Astrotones in the various DIY forums.
Speaking of which, this really is more OD than fuzz. If you want fuzz, put a gain recovery stage on it like the Suzie Q.
Sounds best into a driven amp.





jessenator

Nice work! I haven't done a mini turret board build before (is that what it's called?)

Did you mean 2N3565? Either way, did you measure the gain on them? I only have a few (pre-selected range), but it's not uncommon for silicon NPNs to have a wide band if they're older manufacture. Haven't messed with this particular circuit, but from a quick glance, there's a wide opinion on what the gain should be. Some say low, some say medium. Anyway, sounds like you got some replacements that work.

Philthy

Quote from: jessenator on February 06, 2024, 12:35:28 AM
Nice work! I haven't done a mini turret board build before (is that what it's called?)

Did you mean 2N3565? Either way, did you measure the gain on them? I only have a few (pre-selected range), but it's not uncommon for silicon NPNs to have a wide band if they're older manufacture. Haven't messed with this particular circuit, but from a quick glance, there's a wide opinion on what the gain should be. Some say low, some say medium. Anyway, sounds like you got some replacements that work.

Thanks. Yes, 2N3565 sorry. No i didn't measure them - just rolled a few transistors I had at home (3565, 5088, 3904 and bc109s) to see what sounded the best. THe 3565s sounded very blatty.