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Messages - PeterMorton

#1
I had a KOT and sold it. It was nice. I was underwhelmed by the drive side. The boost was excellent. If he sold just the boost... maybe I'd keep it. Is the Aristocrat the drive side or the boost side?
#2
Maybe a syringe?
#3
Global Annoucements / Re: 7.25 - Store Closure
July 27, 2010, 10:19:24 AM
I offer my condolences as well, Brian.
#4
General Questions / Re: Wiring pots
July 27, 2010, 09:54:50 AM
Thanks, guys! I'll read that thread, too.
#5
General Questions / Wiring pots
July 26, 2010, 09:50:25 PM
How do I know if I have wired the pots backwards? If I am looking at Madbean's diagram for the Grapevine, for example, I see the numbers. Is that with the shaft facing me or facing away? And, I am assuming that it is pictured in relation to the copper side of the board facing me?
#6
Global Annoucements / Re: 07.13
July 15, 2010, 12:22:20 PM
My condolences for you and your family, Brian.
#7
Open Discussion / Re: Organizing the work bench
July 07, 2010, 02:14:49 PM
I was thinking that I needed a spreadsheet to keep track of what I have on hand. Does anyone do anything like that? I would list resistors by value with equivalent values alongside (uf, nf, pf) because I get confused by the multipliers. Same for caps, sometimes. I bought a bunch of grab bags from Futurelec and I need to organize. They list things by pf & uf and Bean's instructions list by nf sometimes. That's the hardest part about these projects for me. I want to order parts for various builds at once to save on shipping and I just don't have a good handle on my inventory! :'(
#9
Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: Firebomb problem
July 07, 2010, 02:05:17 PM
Quote from: madbean on July 07, 2010, 05:40:26 AM
You've got a solder bridge between the Master vol and one of the led's or the 9v rail, I think. Or, the grounding isn't correct. Those are the only two things I can think of that would make that control affect the LED.

stecykmi is right on. I would disconnect it from the switching altogether and verify that the circuit works correctly first.

How do you go about this? With an audio probe?
#10
Requests / Re: Sub-mini tube amps
July 05, 2010, 01:50:02 PM
Like the ZVEX nano or  EH .22 caliber? Yes!
#11
Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: Pots for Dig Dug?
July 05, 2010, 01:43:58 PM
Thanks, fellas! That looks cheaper and more effective than what I was thinking... copper sheet from a hobby shop=$$$
#12
Build Reports / Re: Dig Dug (almost)
July 01, 2010, 11:36:08 AM
No kidding! That is beautiful. Brilliantly executed.
#13
General Questions / Re: Eternity or OCD?
July 01, 2010, 10:57:53 AM
Your reasoning is much better than mine! I was thinking about my chances of hearing an Eternity in person are about zero, so I would build the one I can't get my hands on. I can go to the local Guitar Center and try an OCD. So, I wasn't advising the build of the Neutrino based on the mojo factor, but rather on availability. And this might be colored by the fact that I have an OCD, v.4! I really would love to play an Eternity to find out what the fuss is about, but I can't easily afford one. So, I have actually bought the Neutrino board for that reason.

What you wanted to know is probably better answered by those who have played the actual units. I apologize for muddying the waters, so to speak. But the OCD is a great pedal. You couldn't go wrong with it, IMO.
#14
General Questions / Re: Eternity or OCD?
June 30, 2010, 01:00:09 PM
I haven't needed to make this decision, but I would follow this line of thinking:
1) OCD's are plentiful and the used market and cheap, relative to the Eternity
2) The Eternity is a simpler build of an expensive and more rare pedal.
Conclusion? Build the Neutrino.
#15
Quote from: madbean on June 29, 2010, 04:36:28 PM

I'm not talking about any one particular effect, as much as stating a general preference. JFets sound more natural to me, with more harmonic content than most op-amp based overdrives. They work great for boost and distortion, too. I came to that conclusion solely from having built lots and lots of circuits and listening to their character and texture. I can usually tell one type from the other just by listening, although voicing and other factors can make them sound similar.

Anyway, there are a lot of great op-amp OD's out there, and in a way they a bit easier to work with in terms of bias and gain. The jFets can be finicky with the biasing (except for mu-amp type stuff like the BSAIB) so it requires a bit more attention if you are actually trying to DESIGN something. With op-amps, it's more predictable: stick a large enough resistor in series with your Vref and then it's just plugging in the right pots/resistors/caps to get the voicing you want. You get a good OD or distortion from only one stage.

The fets require multiple stages to get those kinds of gains, which opens more possibility for shaping the tone between and through those stages. But, that's also part of the fun. For example, the "Faultline" has A LOT going on. Three gain stages and two buffers and tone controls. And the result is something you just won't reproduce exactly if you were trying to do it with op-amps. It would not be as warm and "sticky" sounding. And that's the real magic, IMO: there's a certain saturation and feel to them that is unique.

Obviously, IC's are made up of a bunch of transistors, and there are jFet-based ones out there like the LF347 that might work just as well. Honestly, I haven't spent enough time researching that to give a better opinion. I'm commenting only on what I hear, and trying to wrap some kind of reasonable explanation around that. I might be completely wrong :)

I have often tried to explain the difference between these two types in guitar player language. I think of the IC-based OD's like humbuckers. Humbuckers normalize things. They sound more the same from player to player, guitar to guitar. They don't lack character as much as they lack individuality. And I'm overstating it to make my point. Singlecoil p'ups, on the other hand, sound different from player to player, guitar to guitar. Again, I'm overstating/oversimplifying, but I hope that you can see that single coils reveal more of the player behind the note. Many players can hear a TS-style boost, but it's harder to pick out the jfets. Maybe it's just compression that makes the difference? And, of course, transistors are easy to ID. Almost no one mistakes a fuzz for a TS.