BuddytheReow
Breadboard Baker
- Build Rating
This build was started with a shower thought about 3 months ago and I asked you guys about it here.
forum.pedalpcb.com
Then I set out to build a "Dial-a-dirt" + Booster/Tone Shaper. TL/DR this is a 5-in-1 combo build for all kinds of dirt in a 1590DD. I still need to work on the enclosure. Now for some background.
I first set off to breadboard a booster/tone shaper circuit and eventually fell in love with the Integral Preamp, which is the TC Electronics Integrated Preamp. On the breadboard this worked wonderfully, so I pulled the trigger on that PCB and a few others (more on that in a moment). In collaboration with our local circuit wizard @Chuck D. Bones I still need to modify the Integral Preamp to run on 9V instead of through a charge pump. I also need to swap out the 3pdt switch with a relay bypass circuit (I'm starting to REALLY like these momentary switches).
forum.pedalpcb.com
So, once I got the booster all laid out on the breadboard I decided on 4 different clipping options: a hard clipper, a soft clipper, a growly fuzz, and a muff. They all behave differently and throughout this project worked pretty well with a booster.
First up was a hard clipping circuit. In my PCB stash I had a board that was laid out by @cdwillis and is a clone of a Voodoo Lab Overdrive. I found a schematic for it somewhere on the web. This board almost matched this schematic, but I decided to breadboard it and tweak it to my taste. Being a hard clipper I wanted to get as much gain out of it as possible without all the unwanted noise. Here's the schematic I found:
In tracing the board to match the schematic was a bit of a challenge since I've never traced a PCB before. The PCB didn't quite match the schematic above, but was still a fun little ditty to do. I ended up tweaking some values and this is what I came up with. It's not 100% accurate since I know for a fact the clippers aren't a 4148/LED asymmetric. I may have done a 4148/ 1n34A (fake) combo off the top of my head. Nothing too fancy, but I think I can call this circuit my own.
Next up: the soft clipper. I remember my interest being piqued when I heard a lot of talk about the Mach 1 overdrive. Sooooooo, I decided to breadboard this one a long time ago and was please with how "transparent" this sounded, so I pretty much kept the board stock. This was almost 2 years ago when I did this, but this was the takeaway.
forum.pedalpcb.com
For the growly fuzz, I chose a 2 Sticks of Derm. This one I also wrote a tutorial on. I chose this one mostly because of the amount of real estate I could use in my enclosure. That, and the sound was decent enough. It doesn't play very well with a boost in front of it (kind of splatty) and I may swap this out for something else in the future. For now it stays.
forum.pedalpcb.com
The muff style was probably the most time consuming for me from start to finish. You can read a little bit about the circuit here.
forum.pedalpcb.com
This is about 60% of a "standard" muff circuit. The input section and tone control are eliminated here. I might have been able to get away with putting this on a Muffin board, but again, I had some real estate issues in my enclosure (you'll see at the bottom). So, I decided to breadboard 2 clipping stages and a recovery stage. Thanks again @Chuck D. Bones for your help on this one! I chose a hybrid Civil War/Green Russian for the component values. It does what I wanted it to do: clipping like a Muff. It works very well with a booster and tone control in front of it.
For a few weeks I had everything drilled and wired up with the exception of the "Muff Enough" circuit until this afternoon. I'm proud to say that she's in full, working condition now!!!
The enclosure drilling was also a project in and of itself. There is no standard PPCB template for a 1590DD so I had to improvise. I chose to simply tape 3 125b templates together. I forgot that there are screw holes in the middle of the edge of the lid (6 screws instead of 4), so I had to move the DC jack over. Hoping some JB Weld can patch that right up (I didn't go all the way through with my drill). I botched one of the LED bezel holes so it sits a little bit lower than the others. I'm hoping some JB Weld, sanding and some redrilling could fix it.
The wiring, IMO, was probably the most fun for me in this whole project. To select the dirt circuit, I picked up a 3P4T rotary from Tayda, set my DMM for continuity, and worked out how to wire this up. The dirt stomp switch is a basic relay bypass and like I said in the beginning I still need to modify my Integral Preamp and install an additional relay bypass circuit.
I still have no idea what to do about the enclosure art. I still have time for rattle cans (it's only the beginning of July), but if I wait too long or tell myself "I'll do it later" it will be November before I know it. I tend to work with Posca Pens and rattle cans, so this will be hand painted whatever I choose to do. Some ideas I've had for the artwork would be a fighter jet, a dragon, a Chinese dragon, or some kind of evil plants (it is a DIRT box after all). I'm still kicking around a bunch of ideas though.
And finally, the pics. Wiring is a bit of a mess compared to others' builds, but I had fun with this process. Heck, once I close the lid no one will know the difference! If anyone has any ideas about the enclosure art (or actually read this to the bottom here) let me know your thoughts.
BuddytheReow
EQ Before and After a Circuit?
I had a shower thought and wanted to bounce it off you guys if it's even worth pursuing. Regardless I'll breadboard something to find out for my own. Take a one knob fuzz for example (i.e Two Sticks of Derm) and build it stock. Putting a boost in front of it will produce a different sound...
forum.pedalpcb.com
Then I set out to build a "Dial-a-dirt" + Booster/Tone Shaper. TL/DR this is a 5-in-1 combo build for all kinds of dirt in a 1590DD. I still need to work on the enclosure. Now for some background.
I first set off to breadboard a booster/tone shaper circuit and eventually fell in love with the Integral Preamp, which is the TC Electronics Integrated Preamp. On the breadboard this worked wonderfully, so I pulled the trigger on that PCB and a few others (more on that in a moment). In collaboration with our local circuit wizard @Chuck D. Bones I still need to modify the Integral Preamp to run on 9V instead of through a charge pump. I also need to swap out the 3pdt switch with a relay bypass circuit (I'm starting to REALLY like these momentary switches).
Buddy's Breadboard and Circuit Design Notes
Alright. Here's version 3 of the Spooky Dookie. R3 changed to 68k. Diodes swapped out to 1n4148 (standard). BITE control changed to a C20k (100k was too much and I didn't have a 50) and acting as a voltage divider which can dial out the clipping. Once you dial the diodes out the volume goes up...
forum.pedalpcb.com
So, once I got the booster all laid out on the breadboard I decided on 4 different clipping options: a hard clipper, a soft clipper, a growly fuzz, and a muff. They all behave differently and throughout this project worked pretty well with a booster.
First up was a hard clipping circuit. In my PCB stash I had a board that was laid out by @cdwillis and is a clone of a Voodoo Lab Overdrive. I found a schematic for it somewhere on the web. This board almost matched this schematic, but I decided to breadboard it and tweak it to my taste. Being a hard clipper I wanted to get as much gain out of it as possible without all the unwanted noise. Here's the schematic I found:
In tracing the board to match the schematic was a bit of a challenge since I've never traced a PCB before. The PCB didn't quite match the schematic above, but was still a fun little ditty to do. I ended up tweaking some values and this is what I came up with. It's not 100% accurate since I know for a fact the clippers aren't a 4148/LED asymmetric. I may have done a 4148/ 1n34A (fake) combo off the top of my head. Nothing too fancy, but I think I can call this circuit my own.
Next up: the soft clipper. I remember my interest being piqued when I heard a lot of talk about the Mach 1 overdrive. Sooooooo, I decided to breadboard this one a long time ago and was please with how "transparent" this sounded, so I pretty much kept the board stock. This was almost 2 years ago when I did this, but this was the takeaway.
TUTORIAL - Mach 1 Overdrive - Greer Lightspeed OD
One of the more popular overdrives on the forum recently (at least over the past few months), I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Rather than being selfish and finding out for myself, I decided to document my build and share it along with anyone who may be interested in seeing why this...
forum.pedalpcb.com
For the growly fuzz, I chose a 2 Sticks of Derm. This one I also wrote a tutorial on. I chose this one mostly because of the amount of real estate I could use in my enclosure. That, and the sound was decent enough. It doesn't play very well with a boost in front of it (kind of splatty) and I may swap this out for something else in the future. For now it stays.
TUTORIAL - Two Sticks of Derm Fuzz
Hey All, Been a looooong time since I've posted one of these sweet breadboard tutorials. My new job is pretty demanding, so unfortunately I'm going to have to do this in parts. Please be patient with me. I should have this done in a day or two. Two Stick of Derm Fuzz. As the name suggests...
forum.pedalpcb.com
The muff style was probably the most time consuming for me from start to finish. You can read a little bit about the circuit here.
Buddy's Breadboard and Circuit Design Notes
Removing Q3 and the circuit is much too quiet compared to the others in my project. Removing Q2 and there's not as much compression/clipping as I'd like. Would it be worth throwing a resistor before Q3, say, 10k? It doesn't sound bad to my ears...
forum.pedalpcb.com
This is about 60% of a "standard" muff circuit. The input section and tone control are eliminated here. I might have been able to get away with putting this on a Muffin board, but again, I had some real estate issues in my enclosure (you'll see at the bottom). So, I decided to breadboard 2 clipping stages and a recovery stage. Thanks again @Chuck D. Bones for your help on this one! I chose a hybrid Civil War/Green Russian for the component values. It does what I wanted it to do: clipping like a Muff. It works very well with a booster and tone control in front of it.
For a few weeks I had everything drilled and wired up with the exception of the "Muff Enough" circuit until this afternoon. I'm proud to say that she's in full, working condition now!!!
The enclosure drilling was also a project in and of itself. There is no standard PPCB template for a 1590DD so I had to improvise. I chose to simply tape 3 125b templates together. I forgot that there are screw holes in the middle of the edge of the lid (6 screws instead of 4), so I had to move the DC jack over. Hoping some JB Weld can patch that right up (I didn't go all the way through with my drill). I botched one of the LED bezel holes so it sits a little bit lower than the others. I'm hoping some JB Weld, sanding and some redrilling could fix it.
The wiring, IMO, was probably the most fun for me in this whole project. To select the dirt circuit, I picked up a 3P4T rotary from Tayda, set my DMM for continuity, and worked out how to wire this up. The dirt stomp switch is a basic relay bypass and like I said in the beginning I still need to modify my Integral Preamp and install an additional relay bypass circuit.
I still have no idea what to do about the enclosure art. I still have time for rattle cans (it's only the beginning of July), but if I wait too long or tell myself "I'll do it later" it will be November before I know it. I tend to work with Posca Pens and rattle cans, so this will be hand painted whatever I choose to do. Some ideas I've had for the artwork would be a fighter jet, a dragon, a Chinese dragon, or some kind of evil plants (it is a DIRT box after all). I'm still kicking around a bunch of ideas though.
And finally, the pics. Wiring is a bit of a mess compared to others' builds, but I had fun with this process. Heck, once I close the lid no one will know the difference! If anyone has any ideas about the enclosure art (or actually read this to the bottom here) let me know your thoughts.
BuddytheReow
