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I just started testing my rangemaster build using the road rage and I'm getting less than perfect results. Just to make sure I have things connected properly, I have a DC jack running to the +/- pads of the road rage, -9v/G connected to -9v/G on the rangemaster. When I hook it up to my tester, I get a faint signal and some response from turning the pot but nowhere near the volume I should be hearing for a boost. Did I miss something here? The road rage doc seemed pretty straight forward.

Matt is correct; Smallbear's Q1, 2 and 3 will correspond with those same part numbers on the Soulbender layout.

I'm curious, what hfe and leakage did they list for each transistor? I built a slightly modded Sola Sound version on the Pastyface board a couple of weeks ago. Long story short, I left off the trimmer and jumpered the pads per the BOM, and ended up finding out that this circuit needs a bit more attention paid to hfe and leakage than I thought. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty forgiving circuit; but the Soulbender does go for a lower bias voltage on the collector of Q3 than historical Tonebender MkIII versions did. I think this can give a smoother, thicker sound, maybe a bit less aggressive but I'm not sure. Also, the Soulbender trimmer/10k in R7 setup works well if your transistor for Q3 isn't leaky. The old Sola Sound, Park, etc. versions didn't have that setup at all (on the Pastyface board that would be R7 empty, no trimmer, and pad 1 and 2 in the trimmer space jumpered). But they had Q3 filled with leakier transistors that could bias up at 2 to 2.5v easily. I used non-leaky ones for sure and got 3.8v with R7 empty. With 1m in there and no trimmer I have 1.8 or so volts at Q3's collector and actually the best sound among all the tweaks I made.

Q1 hfe- 75 L- 291
Q2 hfe 89 L- 184
Q3 hfe- 153 L- 266

So the pasty face is the first germanium build I've undertaken and I just wanted to make sure I've got everything correct before I install the transistors and test the circuit. I ordered the PNP "continental" package from smallbear I believe. They sent me 3 Ge transistors, 2 Mullard OC77 and an OC71. Each transistor was labeled with leakage current and what I assume is an hfe measurement. It was sent with a colour sound schematic which differs a bit from the soulbender version I've been working on. The OC77's are labeled as Q2 and Q3 and the OC71 as Q1. How should I install these according to the Soulbender version? Is it ok to install them as labeled or do I need to switch them around to fit the soulbender version?

edit-  disregard, I forgot this one needs the charge pump. DUH.

Just finished populating the pcb, installed the OC44 (socketed) and hooked it up to my test rig. Getting the faintest signal when the pot is dimed and a weird clicking/thumping sound that keeps repeating over and over. What in the world could that be on a circuit this simple? I touched up all my solder joints just to make sure, but the problem remains. I removed the transistor as well and it was still making the sound. Would a backwards electrolytic cause that sound?

Kudos brother. Thanks.

No need to rush this one, I'll grab some film caps on my next order. Thanks.

So I was populating the capacitors and I noticed for C9 it lists a 1uf cap but on the board it looks like a film cap should go there. Can I use an electrolytic cap for this, and if so how should I orient it?

edit- C11 appears to be the same as well.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Getting the solder sucker out right now.

So I picked the smoothie as my first 1590a build, and I just finished populating the board and realized I didn't use any low profile electrolytic caps in there. Is that an absolute must for getting the lid to fit on properly? I won't have time to wire this up for another week or so but i figured now would be a good time to backtrack and order those if need be.

Thanks!

been trying to find these at the usual suspect purveyors to no avail. really want to do a rusted finish.

For the 'your choice' diodes, what are good ones to test? i'm going to socket it anyway so fire away. i've heard good things abot the bat41.

Here's an interesting topic I stumbled upon while I was at work the other day. I work at a bar which (go figure) employs a few underachieving musicians such as myself and I got into a conversation with a buddy about how the craft brewing explosion of the past few years (in the US anyway) is starting to show some signs of saturation as there are quite a few breweries out there that really lack character, flavor, style etc. yet command the craft prices. This got me thinking about the "boutique" pedal market and the various companies that I keep stumbling across. When do you think the commercial pedal building world is going to hit a wall? Will it? Conventional capitalist wisdom would suggest it must, but do you think we're in the midst of seeing these niche industries (craft brewing, pedal building, etc) become more diversified as opposed to over-saturated?

Also, I have a bottle opener screwed to the leg of my workbench.

Old Baby, it's Evan Patterson's (of young widows) new band.

i just did this yesterday on my most recent build. forgot to put in the IC's for my boss fa-1 clone.