The Cliff

[gordo]

This is a very slick overdrive.  No switches, no choices, just turn it up and play...



At least now I know what all the fuss about the Carbon Nano diodes is all about.  I'm impressed.

[matmosphere]

Nice! That's a very nice looking build. I like the graphic from the spec sheet, that's a cool idea

I'm waiting on parts to build mine. Finally broke down and got parts from tayda, because I'm not sure when smallbear will reopen.

[jimilee]

Carbon nano diodes? Sounds interesting. Really nice looking graphics Gordo.


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[jubal81]

Whoa, that looks great! Perfect choice on the knobs, too. So clean.

[m-Kresol]

very cool build. I really like the UI-curves on the front.
just for my understanding: are you talking about molecular junction diodes? never heard of carbon nano diodes before (wouldn't be suprised if there are some. carbon nanotubes seem to end up everywhere. not because it makes, but rather because it sounds scientific and because some of their properties are highly overstated and marketed, imho)

[Bio77]

Wow, that look great!  Those guts are beautiful. 

I missed the boat on this one and now I have the FOMO 

[jubal81]

very cool build. I really like the UI-curves on the front.
just for my understanding: are you talking about molecular junction diodes? never heard of carbon nano diodes before (wouldn't be suprised if there are some. carbon nanotubes seem to end up everywhere. not because it makes, but rather because it sounds scientific and because some of their properties are highly overstated and marketed, imho)

Nanolog has a lot of material explaining these things on their website. The distortion effect they show on a sine wave is exactly what I see on my scope. You really have to design around the thing to get the most out of it, though.

[jubal81]

Wow, that look great!  Those guts are beautiful. 

I missed the boat on this one and now I have the FOMO

I'm doing a revision with C16 actually on the PCB (DOH), so you still have another chance. Hard to say when, though.

[Aentons]

very cool build. I really like the UI-curves on the front.
just for my understanding: are you talking about molecular junction diodes? never heard of carbon nano diodes before (wouldn't be suprised if there are some. carbon nanotubes seem to end up everywhere. not because it makes, but rather because it sounds scientific and because some of their properties are highly overstated and marketed, imho)

Nanolog has a lot of material explaining these things on their website. The distortion effect they show on a sine wave is exactly what I see on my scope. You really have to design around the thing to get the most out of it, though.

The nanolog thing is definitely interesting but a lot of the description in the link you provided makes it sound like it is essentially producing the same waveform as a something like a soft clipping 2x2 diode set with a cap for smoothing (like a tubescreamer with 2 extra diodes). Ive watched some demos and it sounds pretty much like LED clipping to me. Does it sound different in person?

The clipped waveforms sure do look similar.

[matmosphere]

I could be incorrect but I believe the waveform is supposed to be about the same. The difference lies in the level of control over the degree of clipping and how quickly it reaches maximum clipping.

From what I understand standard diodes go from nothing to completely clipped very quickly. Once they are engaged it is an exponential curve to fully clipped because they are designed to function in a fully engaged state at all times in most applications.

The molecular junction diodes are supposed to have a much smoother transition from off to fully clipped, which makes them useful for people like us who want to dial in just the right amount of dirt.

I'm no expert so I could be way off base on some or all of this but it's what I have gathered from the reading I've done on these crazy new-fangled diodes.

[Bio77]

Wow, that look great!  Those guts are beautiful. 

I missed the boat on this one and now I have the FOMO

I'm doing a revision with C16 actually on the PCB (DOH), so you still have another chance. Hard to say when, though.

Cool, count me in!

[TGP39]

Superb build Gordo.   Looking forward to eventually building this.  👍🏻

[gordo]

The website has an explanation of the molecular junction technology, that's interesting but I think they might be letting the marketing guys get a bit too enthusiastic.

The "carbon" part is that the diode is created using a 4, 6, or (I think) 8 nm layer of carbon to create the diode.  Don't quote me on this...tbh I've been more concerned with the sound as opposed to the science.  Still...new tech is always pretty cool.

Soundwise I haven't isolated it as the Jubal81 circuit also incorporates LEDs.  Still, the resulting circuit is impressive in it's ability to be slightly grainy (which I would attribute to the LEDs), and smooth (which I would attribute to the Nano diode).  More impressive is the decay.  It cleans up relatively well, and as Jubal81 notes, it isn't intended to be a high gain circuit (not the Nano's strong suit) but still has a bunch of drive on tap.

I pushed it with a Dan Armstrong Red Ranger as well as a Purple Peaker and it takes both really well.