5lb Bag of Gold Fuzz (Lovepedal 200lbs of Gold - Fuzz side)

[MichaelW]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

So first off let me start by saying this is a freaking awesome sounding pedal.....and there's a reason for that, which I'll get to in a bit.

Secondly, let me say this is not really the "fuzz" that I was expecting to build.

I guess there was quite a bit of discussion about this circuit in a thread that I actually participated in....yet I missed the whole point....hahahaha.....(I think I'm starting to understand why my wife is always so frustrated with me....... )

For some reason I had it in my head that the Lovepedal 200lbs of Gold was an Si FF into a TS (a la the Grover/Dover Drive) but in a dual pedal format single enclosure. And I thought that the 5lbs of Gold iteration from @Robert was just the fuzz side of that dual pedal. When I ordered the 5lb board I thought I was just getting an Si fuzz and was planning to pair it up with a Zen Drive to have the two halves in separate boxes for more flexibility. It would also let me pair it up with a more authentic TS type pedal like the Soloist or Greengage, CKK Scream Honey, etc.

I should probably spend a bit more time reviewing the schematics of my builds before building heh. So it turns out that the Lovepedal 200lbs of Gold actually IS a Dover drive, just re-packaged with some very minor component changes and an added boost. They are essentially the same circuit, a silicon Fuzz Face into a Zen drive where the Zen is preset at 50% gain and there's a bias trimmer for the fuzz side.

So gee, a pedal maker re-packaging their own pedal and selling it as something new.....why is this not surprising......

When I built my Grover drive I converted it into a 4 knob format and exposed the internal FF bias trimmer so I could have more control over the different sounds by playing with the fuzz bias. You can dial it from super smooth to gated and starved. Some very cool sounds you can get. Since I didn't know that the 5lb was basically the same pedal until after I had already built it and was asking @Robert a question about biasing I was like "Dang, I should have done the same thing as the Grover and exposed the bias trimmer as an external control!" (I still might).

So back to my initial statement of why this sounds so awesome, the Grover drive is one of my favorite overdrives and has not left my pedal chain since I built it.
I absolutely love it. I love the Zen drive but I also tire of it pretty quickly. As an analogy, the Zen Drive is like eggnog, where the Grover/Dover is like eggnog with a shot of Myers Dark Rum in it. The addition of the FF just gives the Zen a lot more character than the Zen alone. Being able to tweak the FF bias is like the whipped cream on top of the eggnog.....

So once I learned all this, I started comparing the 5lb Bag of Gold next to the Grover and they are extremely similar. The "fuzz" control on both pedal blends in the amount of the FF into the fixed Zen drive gain setting. If I turn the fuzz knob all the way down on both pedals they are virtually identical. The 5lb sounds a tad meatier (and I think I know why).

The 5lb has an extra 100nf cap going to ground in the otherwise identical Zen-type clipping circuit (comprising of a mix of Bat46, Ge and Mosfet clippers).
The Grover/Dover is missing this cap. Curiously, the Grover/Dover has a 100nf input cap that I believe is a mistake in the schematic that has been continued to be propagated as other board makers are offering this circuit. (The MadBeans "Cliffhanger" includes this input cap, for instance). This 100n input cap should be omitted if you are building the Grover. It causes a LOT of noise and serves no purpose whatsoever. (Hence why I think it's a mistake).

As @music6000 pointed out in the thread I referenced above, the 5lb circuit is just the Dover circuit turned 180 degrees.
Anyway, as surprised as I was that I didn't build a cool fuzz like I was expecting to today, I am totally digging the 5lb Bag of Gold.
So if you happen to be sitting on the fence of whether to build a Grover drive, I'd recommend building the 5lb Bag of Gold if you want a bit meatier sound and a spittier fuzz capability. Or build the Grover if you want a more "leaner" sound and more smoother capabilities. Or better yet, build both

I would also recommend exposing the internal trimpot on both builds with a B10k and be able to adjust the Fuzz bias without needing to take the back off, there's a lot of very usable cool and different sounds by just adjusting the Fuzz bias.

For this enclosure, since I have no more powdercoated Gold 1590B's, I decided to use the same rattle can as I used on my PowerSound Overdrive pedal.
It's called "Aged Copper" but looks gold to me. (Since because...well....it's a 5lb Bag of GOLD innit?) I decided to paint the whole enclosure, and unfortunately, I painted it in the driveway after the sun went down last night to give it overnight to dry and did not see that it did a little bit of "spitting". But overall I think it turned out well and I'm happy with the way it looks.

Question is, am I going to plug the holes and re-drill it for a 4 knob mod or not? heh.....dunno yet. Since I already have the Grover, I can get those sounds from that pedal. But, but, but.....I feel like something's missing....a mod that calls for attention....sigh. We'll see.

I built this to spec. The only sub I made was the Ge diode, instead of a 1n34A I used one of the ITT Red Band diodes that I've been prattling on about. Really great sounding 1N34A substitution.

A couple of different angles and lighting to show off the color.









And here it is in action side by side with my Grover build comparing.....they are extremely similar sounding.

 

[steviejr92]

Wow absolutely incredible build! Super clean insides as well! Amazing work man!

 

[Harry Klippton]

I have no idea what a zen drive sounds like, and have never wondered that til now

 

[swyse]

Very cool build, I wanted the grover when it was on sale for $4 but it sold out by the time I went to put in an order. I bet if you were crafty you could make the zen drives controls external too for even more fun. If you didn't mind an offboard wiring nightmare, a 1590bb style layout with the standard fuzz face + bias control and zendrive controls could be cool. You could even do dual foot switches and have them both separate too.

 

[MichaelW]

Very cool build, I wanted the grover when it was on sale for $4 but it sold out by the time I went to put in an order. I bet if you were crafty you could make the zen drives controls external too for even more fun. If you didn't mind an offboard wiring nightmare, a 1590bb style layout with the standard fuzz face + bias control and zendrive controls could be cool. You could even do dual foot switches and have them both separate too.

That’s what I’m looking for the right fuzz to pair up with a regular Zen. That would give the most tonal flexibility, instead trying to cram it into a single pedal. The BC108 SunFace is front runner so far.
(Sand spur Fuzz). I’m waiting for an order of Ge trannies from the Ukraine to build out the Ge variant to try. Not sure how well Ge would work but it doesn’t seem to sound too good with a regular FF. The Triangle sounds pretty cool too. And I mentioned in another thread @Roberts “Acid Rain” and “Raincoat” both work well stacked into a Zen drive.

 

[Guilherme Collateral]

Love those knobs on the silver sparkle! Great build as usual

 

[swyse]

That’s what I’m looking for the right fuzz to pair up with a regular Zen. That would give the most tonal flexibility, instead trying to cram it into a single pedal. The BC108 SunFace is front runner so far.
(Sand spur Fuzz). I’m waiting for an order of Ge trannies from the Ukraine to build out the Ge variant to try. Not sure how well Ge would work but it doesn’t seem to sound too good with a regular FF. The Triangle sounds pretty cool too. And I mentioned in another thread @Roberts “Acid Rain” and “Raincoat” both work well stacked into a Zen drive.

I was thinking a sun face would basically do your fuzz face + bias control (silicon fuzzmaster in this case) for you.

 

[MichaelW]

I have no idea what a zen drive sounds like, and have never wondered that til now

Sounds like.....eggnog.....

 

[iamjackslackof]

@MichaelW How do you get the wire lengths perfect for the DC jack? I see you and other people get it dead on like that, but I'm not sure how to, especially on "innie" jacks or Lumbergs. Great looking build, and I learned a lot too!

 

[MichaelW]

@MichaelW How do you get the wire lengths perfect for the DC jack? I see you and other people get it dead on like that, but I'm not sure how to, especially on "innie" jacks or Lumbergs. Great looking build, and I learned a lot too!

Actually pretty easy little trick. What I do is guesstimate how much length I need by eyeballing, then adding a skootch more. I solder the ends of the DC jack to the board first, then shape the wire how I want between the board and jack. That gives me the final length. I pull the wire up, trim it one final time, strip it then solder it to the jack. Once both sides are soldered, I push the wire back to the shape how I wanted starting from the DC jack, and here's the trick, I tuck the excess under the board where it can't be seen. What you can't see if the how the DC wire loops a little bit underneath the board.

Edit: I'll also add that have a wee bit extra looped under the board makes it easier to take the board out if you need to without de-soldering the power. There's just enough for me to unscrew the jacks, pop them out and "swing" the board up with the power wires in place.

 

[szukalski]

Actually pretty easy little trick. What I do is guesstimate how much length I need by eyeballing, then adding a skootch more. I solder the ends of the DC jack to the board first, then shape the wire how I want between the board and jack. That gives me the final length. I pull the wire up, trim it one final time, strip it then solder it to the jack. Once both sides are soldered, I push the wire back to the shape how I wanted starting from the DC jack, and here's the trick, I tuck the excess under the board where it can't be seen. What you can't see if the how the DC wire loops a little bit underneath the board.

Edit: I'll also add that have a wee bit extra looped under the board makes it easier to take the board out if you need to without de-soldering the power. There's just enough for me to unscrew the jacks, pop them out and "swing" the board up with the power wires in place.

Interesting. I finish the board without footswitch, and have all the GND/9V wires attached. Then I test it before boxing (and usually play it for a few days because it's a new sound..).

When I box, I line up the 9V/GND wire to the jack and cut from there.

 

[MichaelW]

Update:

I couldn't resist it.

This pedal needed the Bias Control on the outside

So I drilled a new enclosure, painted it with the same color paint. Changed up the knob colors a bit.
The Black knob is the Bias knob. On my Grover the Cream knob is the bias knob.

I also wired the bias in reverse from my Grover, hahaha, but I'm not going to go back in yet again and change it.
So on the 5lb the bias gets starved as you move CW, on the Grover CCW.

The 5lb does seem to get a more starved sound at the extreme setting than the Grover, but that could just be variances in the pot, the transistors, etc.

Here's what it looks like now.....


And next to the Grover.....

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Awesome build and even more awesome build report! I like the mini chickenhead knobs.

I agree with you assessment of the "extra" 100nF cap on the input. Doesn't do anything good.

C3 cleans up the harsh higher harmonics coming out of the FF stage by rolling off the top end.

I too have messed around with moving the Bias trim to the front panel on various pedals. Works great in some pedals, ends up being a set & forget in others. This one is definitely destined for the breadboard. One thing I will try is replacing Q2 with Germanium.

 

[MichaelW]

Awesome build and even more awesome build report! I like the mini chickenhead knobs.

I agree with you assessment of the "extra" 100nF cap on the input. Doesn't do anything good.

C3 cleans up the harsh higher harmonics coming out of the FF stage by rolling off the top end.

I too have messed around with moving the Bias trim to the front panel on various pedals. Works great in some pedals, ends up being a set & forget in others. This one is definitely destined for the breadboard. One thing I will try is replacing Q2 with Germanium.

Hmmm, interesting.....do you need to change anything else to support Q2 change to Ge?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Changing Q2 to Ge will reduce Q1's Vce. I would compensate for that by increasing R3 or using a lower HFE tranny for Q1, or both. We want the voltage between Q1's emitter and collector to be at least 0.7V to keep Q1 out of saturation. Another way to accomplish that is to connect a resistor between Q1-E and Q1-B. Start with 47K.

 

[MichaelW]

Changing Q2 to Ge will reduce Q1's Vce. I would compensate for that by increasing R3 or using a lower HFE tranny for Q1, or both. We want the voltage between Q1's emitter and collector to be at least 0.7V to keep Q1 out of saturation. Another way to accomplish that is to connect a resistor between Q1-E and Q1-B. Start with 47K.

I have an extra Grover board and FINALLY a hand full of "Trimmits". Sounds like the perfect doodad for dialing in the bias on this. I could connect it between Q1-E and B then add a 50k trimmer? Or 100k trimmer? Am I more likely to need to go down from 47k or up?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Am I more likely to need to go down from 47k or up?

Yes. 47K is just a WAG. Try 22K in series with a 100K trimmer from E to B.

 

[MichaelW]

Yes. 47K is just a WAG. Try 22K in series with a 100K trimmer from E to B.

Lemme know how your breadboard experimenting turns out. I'm waiting on some Ge trannies from our Ukrainian friend. I've only got lots of pretty low gain ones in my stash at the moment.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Nothing wrong with low-HFE trannies, Germanium or Silicon. I just breadboarded the Karma Sutra Ge. That thing needs low-HFE transistors.

 

[music6000]

View attachment 36124

Bye, Bye Pedal!
You were only here for a short time but you were loved!
R.I.P