Bright Orange Germanium Cherrybomb.

[JakeFuzz]

Wow this is the brightest pedal on my board. This is sparkle orange from PPP. The Cherrybomb sports a 2n2925 in Q1; a 2n1308 in Q2; and a 2n1304 in Q3. This is a super versatile pedal. You can get almost fuzz face sounds out of it with the gain cranked. You can also get sweet overdrive tones and the EQ is very powerful. I like it better than my rangemaster for pushing things like the Marsha or the RAH. This one also has a very nice guitar volume knob roll off that gets brighter instead of dull and dark. Why germanium? Well I initially tried it with a trio of 2n2925's and it was way too crackly and spitty. The germanium in the last two positions smoothed it out a lot.

[nzCdog]

So shiny! ♥♥♥ 
And now I feel like candy

[mshuptar]

Looks super cool! I think this is my next build.

[Haberdasher]

Wow man, thanks!  The fizzy sound is the only thing I don't like about mine so I'll definitely have to try this out.

[JakeFuzz]

Wow man, thanks!  The fizzy sound is the only thing I don't like about mine so I'll definitely have to try this out.

Yeah I played through mine before boxing it up and I totally wasn't feeling the fizz. That is my number one criteria for drive and fuzz type pedals. This thing was just bright and crackly with the silicon. I tested a high gain Ge in Q2 and that helped a lot, Q3 made it really nice and smooth. There is still the same amount of high end bite I would say but very little fizziness. Maybe Ill do a demo this weekend. The problem is coming by high gain Ge npn's. These were the only ones I had and they were too leaky to use for anything else, but they sound awesome in here.

[Diamond]

Yeah I tried a germanium in Q2 once in mine. Really liked it! Didn't try it in Q3 though. Btw, a good mod for bringing back some bass to the Colorsound OD is to increase the 220pF cap between the B and C of Q1 to 560pF. That would be C4 in the Madbean project file. Some older versions of the Overdriver/Powerboost already had this value there. Try it. You will find that it sounds more balanced and as a result the bass pot now also works better.

Also try feeding it 18 volts, like the older Powerboost version. That smooths it out as well.

[Bret608]

I had wondered about this possibility after seeing the Throbak OD/Boost a few years back. Glad to see some folks have tried it out!

I saw that color at PPP and thought it positively screamed CSOD! Really sweet build. A demo would be awesome.

[JakeFuzz]

Yeah I tried a germanium in Q2 once in mine. Really liked it! Didn't try it in Q3 though. Btw, a good mod for bringing back some bass to the Colorsound OD is to increase the 220pF cap between the B and C of Q1 to 560pF. That would be C4 in the Madbean project file. Some older versions of the Overdriver/Powerboost already had this value there. Try it. You will find that it sounds more balanced and as a result the bass pot now also works better.

Also try feeding it 18 volts, like the older Powerboost version. That smooths it out as well.

Hmm I may give these a shot. The trouble with replacing values now is the bottom of the board is almost totally shielded by the board mounted pots. I like that 18 volt idea though. I wonder if these Ge's can hang...

I had wondered about this possibility after seeing the Throbak OD/Boost a few years back. Glad to see some folks have tried it out!

I saw that color at PPP and thought it positively screamed CSOD! Really sweet build. A demo would be awesome.

Yes! I was looking through the color list and saw this one and it just screams loud and gnarly. I love it! Ill try and bust out a demo this weekend.

[Om_Audio]

Very nice! Let's hear it!
C

[JakeFuzz]

Ahh I forgot to post it, sorry about that! I made a demo for this a while ago. Here it is:

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/jakefuzz/csod[/soundcloud]

[Bret608]

Wow, I like this a lot! How do you find this compares to the Cosmo in terms of available gain? If I was going to use a GE transistor for even just one position, what's a good position and hfe?

[JakeFuzz]

That is a good question. I would say the CSOD and the screwdriver have a similar gain range. The SD has much more useful sounds over the entire range while the CSOD gets too crackly in the middle gain settings. I feel like the CSOD should be an all out fuzz or a booster while the SD is more of a standalone drive. They both have tons of character though. To me the CSOD is more touch sensitive to gain and makes whatever you are boosting have similar dynamics especially with the volume knob roll off. The CSOD has much more upper harmonic content than the SD also which makes the SD a smoother lead tone drive.

As for the Ge, it really depends on what type of Ge and what gains you have. The ones I had were both very high gain ~180 NPN's which are probably going to be difficult to get a hold of. I would use any gains over 70 and start with Q2. For me Q2 made the biggest difference as far as smoothing the effect out. I find that for some types of Ge's with a unique frequency response (CV7112 and OC140) the Q1 position has a huge effect on sound so that may be what you would try next. I would audit whatever you had in every position though to see what you like the best. 

[Om_Audio]

You can always count on JakeFuzz for a n00b-esque greenhorn response.

C

[JakeFuzz]

You can always count on JakeFuzz for a n00b-esque greenhorn response.

C

Haha, I know. Sorry it's my first day guys! My old project manager used to say that when he messed up really expensive parts.

When are we going to get together with Magic and have a pedal party Cliff?

[eldanko]

You are the transistor KING.