Chauffeur Drive (Schnobel Daily Driver)

MichaelW

MichaelW

Well-known member
Build Rating
5.00 star(s)
This is technically yesterdays build, and lest anyone think I did nothing but build pedals Friday while I was supposed to be working....well I did to some work.....I had a few meetings....:)

Actually had this one built earlier in the week and just waiting for some components (more on that later).

This one was totally off the radar for me, I had no idea it existed and only vaguely aware of the name Schnobels, and I though it was a Youtube pedal reviewer.
(Actually I think there IS a YouTuber with that name the does pedal reviews....)

Anyway, it was a total surprise when @Robert threw this in with my Tellurian Drive order. He said "since you like low gain drives, I thought you should try this one....)
So totally stoked it got bumped to the top of the list. So this is the first vertical oriented 1590BB I've ever built (The second one was my AquaBaby).

This is a BIG honking board and it's got a lot of components. This is one of the few boards I've build where there capacitors out number the resistors. And FIVE Opamps..... :oops:.

It's also got some really goofy compnents......like a 576k resistor. Or a 12.4k. I wound up hacking those two with a pair of 1/8watts teepee style.
It also calls for a 12v Zener, a 5,1v Zener and 4x 2.5v Zeners....I'm like "wtf? what does this actually run at??" (the answer is 5v.)

Since there's no schematic for this build I had to take a bit of a guess at that does what by looking at the traces on the board. It uses Zeners for clipping, and the 2.5v choice is an odd one. Of course 2.5v Zener is the one value I did not have. I had some 3v's but I checked with @Robert and he said it would change the clipping threshold. Sigh...so I even though I have a bunch of 1 watt Zeners I went ahead and ordered a "kit" of 1/2 watt Zeners off Amazon with 50 values.

Then I found some cheap 2.5v Zeners on Ebay and got some of those. So if anyone needs 2.5v Zeners, hit me up.

When the Amazon man arrived yesterday afternoon with my Zeners. I was just buttoning up and testing my AquaBaby, so instead of cleaning up my work area, figured I'd finish this pedal as well. Only one problem, the kit contained 2.2v Zeners, 2.4v, then jumps to 2.7v. I was STILL missing the blasted 2.5v.
Robert said 2.4 was probably close enough. But I decided to socket them and swap them out when the rest of my 2.5's arrive.

I haven't played with it much yet but I do like what I'm hearing. It's a low gain drive that sounds really good when it's turned up. I don't know what the toggles do yet so gonna read up on that today. Very cool pedal!

This is also another rattle can color I'm trying, it's a textured finish. I still managed to get some scuff marks on it though, but I'm getting there! I love the color.

Also this was a re-purposed empty enclosure. I've been experimenting with different epoxies to plug holes and re-use some of my borked enclosures.
The inside looked like a mess after I finished plugging the holes with JB Weld. So I sanded it down and painted it with some cavity shielding paint so it looks a little neater.

I do have one issue with the build that I have not tracked down yet. The status LED won't come on. The pedal is engaged and also bypasses but the LED stays dark.
I've already confirmed its not the LED (swapped that) and its not the polarity (tried it both ways) and it's not the CLR, that measures fine at 4k7.
More troubleshooting later.

Anyway, very cool drive pedal for the low gain thing!

Oh, also, not completely decided if I like the 4 big knobs or the 2x2 knobs arrangement. Thoughts?

IMG_3767.JPG

IMG_3770.JPG

IMG_3766.JPG
 
Last edited:
MichaelW said:
This is technically yesterdays build, and lest anyone think I did nothing but build pedals Friday while I was supposed to be working....well I did to some work.....I had a few meetings....:)

Actually had this one built earlier in the week and just waiting for some components (more on that later).

This one was totally off the radar for me, I had no idea it existed and only vaguely aware of the name Schnobels, and I though it was a Youtube pedal reviewer.
(Actually I think there IS a YouTuber with that name the does pedal reviews....)

Anyway, it was a total surprise when @Robert threw this in with my Tellurian Drive order. He said "since you like low gain drives, I thought you should try this one....)
So totally stoked it got bumped to the top of the list. So this is the first vertical oriented 1590BB I've ever built (The second one was my AquaBaby).

This is a BIG honking board and it's got a lot of components. This is one of the few boards I've build where there capacitors out number the resistors. And FIVE Opamps..... :oops:.

It's also got some really goofy compnents......like a 576k resistor. Or a 12.4k. I wound up hacking those two with a pair of 1/8watts teepee style.
It also calls for a 12v Zener, a 5,1v Zener and 4x 2.5v Zeners....I'm like "wtf? what does this actually run at??" (the answer is 5v.)

Since there's no schematic for this build I had to take a bit of a guess at that does what by looking at the traces on the board. It uses Zeners for clipping, and the 2.5v choice is an odd one. Of course 2.5v Zener is the one value I did not have. I had some 3v's but I checked with @Robert and he said it would change the clipping threshold. Sigh...so I even though I have a bunch of 1 watt Zeners I went ahead and ordered a "kit" of 1/2 watt Zeners off Amazon with 50 values.

Then I found some cheap 2.5v Zeners on Ebay and got some of those. So if anyone needs 2.5v Zeners, hit me up.

When the Amazon man arrived yesterday afternoon with my Zeners. I was just buttoning up and testing my AquaBaby, so instead of cleaning up my work area, figured I'd finish those one as well. Only one problem, the kit contained 2.2v Zeners, 2.4v, then jumps to 2.7v. I was STILL missing the blasted 2.5v.
Robert said 2.4 was probably close enough. But I decided to socket them and swap them out when the rest of my 2.5's arrive.

I haven't played with it much yet but I do like what I'm hearing. It's a low gain drive that sounds really good when it's turned up. I don't know what the toggles do yet so gonna read up on that today. Very cool pedal!

This is also another rattle can color I'm trying, it's a textured finish. I still managed to get some scuff marks on it though, but I'm getting there! I love the color.

Also this was a re-purposed empty enclosure. I've been experimenting with different epoxies to plug holes and re-use some of my borked enclosures.
The inside looked like a mess after I finished plugging the holes with JB Weld. So I sanded it down and painted it with some cavity shielding paint so it looks a little neater.

I do have one issue with the build that I have not tracked down yet. The status LED won't come on. The pedal is engaged and also bypasses but the LED stays dark.
I've already confirmed its not the LED (swapped that) and its not the polarity (tried it both ways) and it's not the CLR, that measures fine at 4k7.
More troubleshooting later.

Anyway, very cool drive pedal for the low gain thing!

Oh, also, not completely decided if I like the 4 big knobs or the 2x2 knobs arrangement. Thoughts?

View attachment 34720

View attachment 34721

View attachment 34722
Click to expand...
It is the youtuber Schnobel that had this pedal designed & built for him and retail.
 
Nice. Welcome to the 1590bb club. You have some pretty extensive demo videos due… we want to hear these things. Also very curious about your hole patch method once perfected. I have a few candidates that could be reused.
 
Dan0h said:
Nice. Welcome to the 1590bb club. You have some pretty extensive demo videos due… we want to hear these things. Also very curious about your hole patch method once perfected. I have a few candidates that could be reused.
Click to expand...
I've tried the basic JB Weld in a stick form. Works great but is a mess. Right now I've got one that I patched using JB Weld Plastic Bonder, the double syringe type. It dries black. I have it sands but not painted yet. It makes an unholy mess when you sand it though. The next one I'ma trying is also a 2 part JB weld syringe called "Steel" something. I like the liquid type better because I can tape the holes from the outside and pour it in. But sanding the inside is a pain in the booootocks. What I might try next is put the tape on the INISIDE and pout the epoxy from the outside. Should make it easier to sand with an orbital and some 60 grit. Maybe I'll post a "process" post.
 
szukalski said:
This looks great. That colour really came off.

Five dual opamps on a low gain pedal? That’s not really frugal is it? Interested to see how this sounds.
Click to expand...
I wonder if it sounds like the DMM without delay. That build has 5 4558’s in it as well and does some magic to tone cutting off just the right amount of top and bottom.
 
MichaelW said:
I've tried the basic JB Weld in a stick form. Works great but is a mess. Right now I've got one that I patched using JB Weld Plastic Bonder, the double syringe type. It dries black. I have it sands but not painted yet. It makes an unholy mess when you sand it though. The next one I'ma trying is also a 2 part JB weld syringe called "Steel" something. I like the liquid type better because I can tape the holes from the outside and pour it in. But sanding the inside is a pain in the booootocks. What I might try next is put the tape on the INISIDE and pout the epoxy from the outside. Should make it easier to sand with an orbital and some 60 grit. Maybe I'll post a "process" post.
Click to expand...
There's a neat little trick to get a sharp blade & put a small Chamfer on both sides of the hole so it not only fills it in but locks it in place also!
 
music6000 said:
There's a neat little trick to get a sharp blade & put a small Chamfer on both sides of the hole so it not only fills it in but locks it in place also!
Click to expand...
Yah for sure, I'm using a countersink bit to chamfer the sides for a better bond. But JB Weld is amazing stuff, I have not had it fail.
So is MarineTex, which I have literally used underwater to do boat repairs. It's amazing but ungodly expensive and a mess to work with.
 
Update:

ok, another update. I got some 2.5v Zeners (1N5222B) in the mail from eBay today. In my OP I mentioned I only had 2.4v Zeners, don't remember the exact part number.

I was not expecting it to make any difference at all but I threw them in and......they sound.......different. Heh.
Not that one is worse but the clipping is slightly smoother and "softer" with the 2.5v Zeners. With the 2.4's there was a little "zing" in the after tones, almost annoying. But the 2.5v eliminates that and it's just slightly creamier.

I'd definitely recommend getting the 1N5222B's for this build if you're going to build it. They were $8.50 shipped for 25 on Ebay.
 
Well done! The chauffeur found its way onto my board. I really like it, but I think it beat out others because I like the how the artwork came out. Not the greatest reason to put a pedal on the board, but it works. I’ve been fiddling with the high cut and treble knobs recently to find a preferred setting.

Also I think the 2x2 knobs are the way to go.
 
I don't know how I missed this post. I really like the finish and I agree that 2+2 is the way to go for knobs in this case. I have had the same issue on a couple of builds where there was a trace around the switch which wasn't showing continuity. Glad you could find it and fix it.

FWIW I found the know superfluous, as usual. If I was to make it again I would just hardwire the switch into whichever setting I liked - can't remember which it was now.
 
HamishR said:
I don't know how I missed this post. I really like the finish and I agree that 2+2 is the way to go for knobs in this case. I have had the same issue on a couple of builds where there was a trace around the switch which wasn't showing continuity. Glad you could find it and fix it.

FWIW I found the know superfluous, as usual. If I was to make it again I would just hardwire the switch into whichever setting I liked - can't remember which it was now.
Click to expand...
I kinda like all 3 settings for different guitars, although I use the "no bass cut" (top position) the least.
 
I’ve had a Daily Driver on my board for a bit over a week (friend lent it to me), and I’m completely ready to build this. I find I need to have the bass turned up to about 5 to get the same amount of bass as most of my builds have at “noon”, or whatever neutral is, so I think I’ll be asking about making the circuit a bit more bass heavy before I build. Unless I want a browner sound, the toggle in the center works best for every guitar I’ve thrown at it, but the up and down both do a nice job of slightly softening and thickening up the signal

Do you find your build bass shy?
 
It's been a while since I played this. I'll have to dig it out and see but I don't recall it being lacking in the bass department.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hirti
Chauffeur Overdrive (Shnobel Tone Daily Driver Overdrive)
Replies
4
Views
430
Robert
Robert
rwl
Szukalski Blue Sheep: "Great Blues Driver"
Replies
3
Views
184
rwl
rwl
VanWhy
Hard Rock Pinnacle Purebred Drive
Replies
2
Views
149
DeadAirMD
DeadAirMD
spi
Cattle Driver and Sugarbag
Replies
3
Views
147
spi
spi
rwl
Glory Hole: "Mourning Glory Overdrive"
Replies
3
Views
272
swelchy
swelchy
Back
Top