I have no experience with it (yet), but I've read on some other forums that the slambox makes a good buffer at the end of the chain.
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Show posts MenuQuote from: madbean on July 05, 2010, 04:54:05 PM
There are some safety issues to consider, though, since the higher voltages can definitely hurt you.
Quote from: madbean on June 29, 2010, 09:31:19 AM
BTW: on DIYstompboxes you can find info on a terrific manufactured board for the EchoBase. The layout is just killer. I think it's made by Taylor (username).
Quote from: madbean on June 29, 2010, 09:22:13 AM
Let me put a plug in for the King of [K]lones, which is the single channel version of the Aristocrat. I really like that one. I have mine set up with an external Presence pot and the clipping switches on the outside. I find it to be very versatile.
Quote from: madbean on June 29, 2010, 04:36:28 PM
I didn't read your reply that way.
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
Quote from: Haberdasher on June 29, 2010, 10:26:23 AMQuote from: madbean on June 29, 2010, 09:22:13 AMActually, I prefer jFet overdrives over all of the op-amp based ones. But that is a different conversation
No, really. I won't think you're thread-jacking if you talk about this a little.
Fill me in!