Always on boost/low drive pedal

2204Stuff

Member
First post......
I've now gone through (20) pedals looking for an always on that will also stack well with other drives......... using Marshall type amps.
some of what I've gone through, Kingsley Page V2, Saturn VI, ClinchFX EP+ custom, Vertex SS SRV.

I really like the Jack Orman’s MOSFET boost, original version, though it sounds thin in the G, B & E strings.
Wanting something harmonically rich, even or a slight mid hump, clean, that when I dig in surrenders a low drive growl, nothing modern sounding.

Drives I currently have on my board
Landgraff OD clone, BB/POT derivative, Mythical Overdrive VS, Xotic SL & Tonebender MkII pro.

suggest a build?
 
I really like the mostortion for this. I use it as a preamp essentially. I leave the volume very low, and have the gain up just Higher than I’d like for cleans, so I can roll my volume back just a little to give me my clean sound. Then I can roll the volume up the rest of the way to get a boost.
 
How would that pedal work with the volume increased and the dirt rolled back?
I rarely use the volume knob, all the dynamics are in my picking hand.
Pedals I normally set 6 to 8db above unity so I’m pushing the front of the amp.
 
I always use a boost of some sort, but the one consistent always-on for me (for gain tones at least!) is a GE7 eq at the beginning of the chain just to cut some lows and boost some mids. Not extreme, but enough to make the unboosted sound a bit clearer and tighter, and the boosted sound (with a tubescreamer or similar) sound devastating. I also modded the GE7 by replacing the op amps with NE5532 so it is quieter.

I think an eq up front is very useful and more flexible than most other options.
 
I’ve done a few of the boss EQs/modded, I currently use the ParaEQ.
What I am searching for is a step above, both the Kingsley page V2 and the Saturn VI gave me what I wanted, harmonically rich, they both had flaws that I did not care for and I couldn’t get past it.

Thanks, for all the input.
 
What is it that the Kingsley Page and Saturn VI got wrong? I haven't tried the Saturn VI but have used a couple of the Kingsleys - excellent ODs but aimed more at a sound which isn't me. Probably a tiny bit more compressed than I like. For a tube OD the Badcat Two-tone is the best I have heard. It's basically a Vox AC30 preamp in a box but not as compressed or boxy as that might suggest. It can get very compressed and dirty if you want but I love it with all the controls around 9.00-10.00. Fat, clear, not thin!

All my other fave pedals are modified from stock so I can't really suggest anything that you can easily get hold of. Depending on how much dirt you want I could probably recommend trying some of the Rockett and Friedman stuff. The Friedmans are too gainy for me but are very good and may be what you are chasing. I like some of the Rocketts like a Caliber 45 - you can build a Caliber 45 on an Animal/Mammal PCB.

FWIW the Timmy was built specifically to make a Strat sound good through a Marshall so the Tommy here is worth a try. Also very good here would the Guardian, the XB-MB Preamp and hopefully the Malachite - that's my next build!

My favourite OD at the moment is a modded BJF Model G style pedal. It might suit you but you'd have to enjoy building something on Vero. :)
 
What is it that the Kingsley Page and Saturn VI got wrong? I haven't tried the Saturn VI but have used a couple of the Kingsleys - excellent ODs but aimed more at a sound which isn't me. Probably a tiny bit more compressed than I like. For a tube OD the Badcat Two-tone is the best I have heard. It's basically a Vox AC30 preamp in a box but not as compressed or boxy as that might suggest. It can get very compressed and dirty if you want but I love it with all the controls around 9.00-10.00. Fat, clear, not thin!

All my other fave pedals are modified from stock so I can't really suggest anything that you can easily get hold of. Depending on how much dirt you want I could probably recommend trying some of the Rockett and Friedman stuff. The Friedmans are too gainy for me but are very good and may be what you are chasing. I like some of the Rocketts like a Caliber 45 - you can build a Caliber 45 on an Animal/Mammal PCB.

FWIW the Timmy was built specifically to make a Strat sound good through a Marshall so the Tommy here is worth a try. Also very good here would the Guardian, the XB-MB Preamp and hopefully the Malachite - that's my next build!

My favourite OD at the moment is a modded BJF Model G style pedal. It might suit you but you'd have to enjoy building something on Vero. :)
I'm a fan of the BadCat Two-tone as well
 
KPv2 ~ string clarity/compression, drive tone only 15%, and did not want a tube on my pedalboard (in the past, nightmare type gigs).
Saturn VI, drive tone/30%, a little to modern sounding, not as thick/fat in the G, B and E string as the Page.
*both pedals did not stack as well as others with a couple of the drives.

most pedals I've built are on vero, even did a 5F2a on one, I had to look up vero/lol, always referred to as PC board.

Using the B & N PU clean-ish, very soft picking, the Big E/.046 sounds bell like ~ piano big, this is what I'm after, no amp will get what I'm describing, this requires something slightly pushing the FOA, disclaimer, never tried a Dumble, so it may be possible.

***If I had something that was 40% page and 60% Jack Orman’s MOSFET boost, so the G, B and E string did not sound thin, this is what would work.

*again, looking for that always on, harmonically rich, clean when picked softly and a "little" dirty when digging in.

*what is a little painful is the reality that I'll only be using this maybe 35% of the time, most of what I write is more two of the other drives stacked, heavier.

most designs, that have a harmonically rich tone, sacrifices the G, B and E strings, they become thinner sounding, this is what I loved about the Page, it's what I did not care for that required it to be dismissed.

*From 8am to 10pm I can play as loud as I want, so no BdRm volume issues.
*I know that when the band/gig comes into play, what I'm wanting will not matter, this is specifically for writing mood in the studio.
*I'm not looking for a MIAB, only a pedal that does well with Marshall type circuits.
*guitars are B&N PU's only and PAF's, a couple with singles in the neck, a couple P-90's/bridge, and one in drop C with a Dimarzio Titan.

what I've tried and what is (**)currently on my board;
Kingsley Page V2, ClinchFX EP+ custom, Saturn VI, Jack Orman’s MOSFET boost, **Empress paraEQ, J. Rockett Melody & the Dude, Simble OD,
Xotic EP boost "and" RC booster V2, Thumnus deluxe, **Landgraff OD clone, **BB/POT derivative, LP Amp 11, Keeley GC-2, 75’ MXR Dyna Comp,
MXR Micro plus, Vertex steel string SRV, Timmy, stratoblaster booster, **Mythical Overdrive VS

Thanks again,
 
For lower gain and clean stuff, just on top of the clean tone as an ‘enhancement’, I really like the boss FA1, my very first pedal I made was a BYOC kit of the FA1.

pretty simple but the eq is very flexible, and as the volume goes up it also adds a bit of drive in a very pleasing way. Simple circuit you could do in an afternoon on veroboard, probably just using spare parts. The BYOC kit did come with the original op amps though, not sure how much of a difference (if any) you’d hear using modern replacements.

i think my tonal ballpark is likely a lot different from yours but it’s a thought at least.
 
embarrassed to say, the mostortion and now the boss FA-1, I've never known about.

the FA-1 looks like it may work, do you know of a location that is best for searching this one out?
it looks like there are many places that have dug into this circuit, I'd like to keep it as close to the original, unless someone has really improved it.

Thanks!
 
embarrassed to say, the mostortion and now the boss FA-1, I've never known about.

the FA-1 looks like it may work, do you know of a location that is best for searching this one out?
it looks like there are many places that have dug into this circuit, I'd like to keep it as close to the original, unless someone has really improved it.

Thanks!

since I dont see a pedalpcb version : https://aionelectronics.com/project/prism-boss-fa-1-fet-amp-pcb/
 
It sounds like you are into similar sounds to me. I love the sound of the Badcat Two-tone, but I don't use it gigging any more for pretty much the reasons you describe. I once played an outdoor gig with a Matchless Dirtbox (similar to the Two-tone) and didn't realise power for the stage was coming from a generator. Power spikes fried the power transformer in the Dirtbox. Plus tubes needed changing from time to time.

If you're adventurous you could try building this, based on the BJF Model G.

Model The G- T+B 4001.png
 
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wow
I also looked into the Hudson Broadcast, the Mostortion, Boss FA-1 and the Model G, all sound great and in the ballpark of what I'm looking for.
I may end up building all four, for now I'm going to start with the Model G, after all the clips and research it seems to be the closest to what I'm wanting, a very close 2nd was the FA-1, only concern was having to push the FOA a little harder to get the breakup wanted.

@HamishR ~ did you build this one or do you have the real? just want to know/heads up if I need to fix anything with the layout, or if it's good to go?

Thanks again, for all the input.
 
Hey 2204 (BTW I LOVE the Marshall 2204 circuit and have built a few!) I just built this particular layout today so yes it definitely works.

With Chuck's help I have been working on the Model G and this is a modified version of it. I have used an original and it is a killer pedal, but hey, we like to tweak, don't we? Things I didn't like about the original (but you may like): LED clipping diodes. I replaced the two red LEDs with my favourite 1N4001/1N4148 combo as you see above. To be more faithful the the original replace them with red LEDs. Also I prefer to have separate treble and bass controls and in this pedal it has really opened it up a lot. I find the 4-knob layout vastly more useful. I did tidy a few things up and the bass and treble controls work really well. I am using it with a tweed/Marshall hybrid kinda amp and a Les Paul, Es-335, Es-225 etc and it's very vocal, crunchy, punchy and clear. Not as screechy as some Marshalls can be and it excels at that low-gain thing where if you play gently it's clean, hit harder it barks kinda thing.

I like the Mostortion but it's possibly a little clinical through my amp - your experience may be completely different from mine.

Anyway, I love it (as you might tell) and would love to hear what other players thought of it. The layout above is good to go. Oh, if you want to be more faithful to the BJF design you can use 2N5952s as diodes where I have used diodes at K13 and K15. The sound great - possibly a hair clearer - but the 1N4001s sound pretty darn good too.
 
What Pots are you using? there are a few layouts on the model G and none are the same.
my main amp, though I should call it a 2204-ish circuit.
what iron are you using on yours?
 
I've used Heyboer, Marstran and Mercury Magnetics for 2204s. I think the Marstrans were made by Heyboer and they sounded amazing - for a plexi they sounded the most "authentic", and worked well in the 2204 as well. My current main amp is pictured in the amps thread. It's a tweed Super/Bandmaster/Pro style amp built as a 1x12, uses MM iron (fatstack power transformer) and runs KT77 power tubers - they sound like EL34s I guess. It's a classic tweed sound but with way firmer low end and an almost Marshall sound - maybe a bit richer in the midrange. It's a punchy sound which fills a stage. :) Compact but sounds huge.
 
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