Messages

Swapped it over now, and all is good, thanks for the replies.

Another question, is the "softer" clipped sound MOSFFET or Silicon?  I know I could check the circuit, but was wondering if anyone knows off the top of their head before I label it up.  I'm guessing the softer one is MOSFET.  The mid boost vs. flat is interesting too - subtler than I'd have thought.

Killer pedal, I wasn't sure if it would be as good as the Fulldrive 2 I got to play with last year, but it seems like very much the same thing.  I jumpered out the "C" of the FCV control as I didn't have the right switch, and don't think I need another clean boost.

I'm fast becoming a huge fan of Mad Bean projects.  5 down, all have worked brilliantly, I've already gigged one of them (Sunking), and I'm guessing at least 2 of them will make it onto my main pedal board soon.

Liam

Thanks for that Jacob, I guessed it would just be a case of swapping the LED over to the other pole.  The reason I was confused is that I'm pretty confident I've wired as per the wiring guide, and haven't got the boost switch wires mixed up.

I'll swap it over.

Liam

Hi,

Just finished a build of a Deadringer.  Is the wiring guide for the fabbed version correct on the Boost LED?  I've managed to confuse myself a fair bit looking at the schematic.  It does appear with my build that the Boost control is active when the LED is off, and inactive when it's on.  I've built it as per the wiring guide with very little in the way of subs (470K for 500K and 22K for 25K for Drive and Tone pots).

Aside from that everything seems to function as it should.

Thanks

Liam

I've got a few 100k Dual-Gang Linears, but they are 24 mm, and I'm in the UK.  If they might be of use, let me know, I'll put some in the post.  Seems to be less than a week to the USA at the moment.

Liam

Is this for a Sunking?  I tried a dual-gang 100k audio taper first time round, and they're not great for this.  The effect hasn't got loads and loads of gain, so you end up operating in a part of the pot range where it's really sensitive a lot of the time.  I'd suggest holding out for a 100k dual-gang linear.

Liam

Thanks all.  Seems quite well sorted now.  Took out all of the subs (been shopping), changed the pots for linear apart from volume.  I've left the input cap as the buffer is only noticeable into one of my amps (Fender SFPR).  I think for the first time everI'm going to gig a home-made effects pedal tonight.  Thanks!

Liam

How about just reducing the pot range?  Swap it for a 4k7, and then use a pair of series resistors adding up to about 5k3, one on each of leg 1 and 3.

Looks a nice build, very tidy. 

I think it will be next on the list for me.

Liam

Thanks all.  I feel a bit silly now...  All my pots are marked up Lin-A and Log-B, which always used to be European convention.  Completely forgot it's Audio-A and Linear-B in other conventions.

I've really enjoyed the project - there will be more!

Liam

Just finished my first Sunking build.  I'll start by saying what a great pedal this is, everything worked straight off, nice straight forward build, and it sounds fantastic.  Very mellow and warm, excellent clean booster with loads of headroom and gain, and a really smooth yet clear sounding overdrive.  I think I'm using 1n34a diodes, but it's been that long they've been in the parts bin I honestly can't remember.  Late 90s small signal Ge, I picked a pair that held off about 2.7 volts as they are all over the place.  The quality of the distorted sound is lovely, so not messing with that bit yet anyway.  Got loads of Ge diodes to try when the time comes.

I've got a couple of things I'd like to try to improve on the effect.  I'll start with the subs I used for parts I didn't have or couldn't readily find:

C5 - 0.47 uF, C7 - 0.1 uF, C13 - 33 nF, C15 - 3n3.  And foolishly enough I've got a 13 volt zener in D3 that needs changing for a lower value before I run it on a power supply.  It was what I had.

Things I'd like to improve if possible: 

The gain control gets very sensitive just at the top of its travel.  I could almost consider running it back to front, as the bit I want to use is probably between 80 and 100% of full travel.  Is this a common problem?  I'm even wondering if a linear dual pot might suit better.  The Citec pots I'm using aren't great, but it somehow doesn't seem quite right.

Tone control needs to be at 75% to give a "neutral" tone.  Which I can live with.  I'm guessing this is just how they are, or is it my C15 sub?

Finally, the buffer's OK, but a little bit on the thin side.  Do most people go true bypass with these?

Being picky, I'll be using it as it is, but if it can be better..

Thanks in advance

Liam

Hi All,

New around here.

Hadn't built anything for about 10 years, and for whatever reason I wanted to have a go at a Klon Centaur clone.  I started with a Dallas Rangemaster because I'd had a Small Bear OC44 equivalent kicking around for years, and it was an opportunity to get my building skills back up to scratch.





Not that pretty, but it works great.  Sounds very 60s in fact!  Enjoyed the experience that much that 2 days later I had the Sunking finished without too many weird subs.





These boards are absolutely great.  Clear instructions, circuits work brilliantly first time.  I'm one very happy cutomer - thanks so much Brian!  I'll have some tech questions about the Sunking soon though.

Liam