Guvernator - More Cowbell! No, I mean more Bass

[Spiff4565]

I assembled a Guvenator recently and over all I am very happy with it.

I'm building another one and rather than PCB mounted pots I'm going to fly leads to the solder lugs.

The reason I'm doing this with the pots is because I want the controls laid out like you would find on a Marshall amp panel, Bass, Mid, Treble, gain and volume. The PCB pots put the order of tone controls Treble, Mid and Bass.

Which brings me to my query. The bass on this pedal is a bit anemic, IMHO. Want I am looking for is essentially a bass boost.is this possible by just changing out passive components or would such a modification require circuit/component wizardry? To be clear I am not looking to change the range of frequencies, I am looking for a way to accentuate the frequencies currently controlled by the Bass control.

I've played any number of amps that employed a bass boost and it is this effect I would like to integrate into the Guvenator.

If there is an existing PCB that sounds similar to the Guvenator that already has this feature or characteristic already baked into the design, please let me know which board to look at.

 

[hamerfan]

The easiest way to change the bass of a pedal is vary the input cap (c1: 9n6) or make it selectable with a switch or use a blend like Dragons Breath.

 

[Feral Feline]

Since it's already built, it would not make sense to socket input cap and risk damaging the board; however with a set of alligator-clip wires and a small selection of caps...

Attach the first cap, say 47n, to the gator clips, then running a looper or a reverb with tails touch the other ends of the clip-wires to the C1 solder joints. 9n6 + 47n parallel = 56n6. Try it again with your next bigger value cap and keep going until you have enough bass to your liking. When you've narrowed it down, solder-tack in that value and then while playing mess around with the controls some more to make sure you like that value at all settings.

I like Hamerfan's suggestion best though, on C1 either a pot or a switch for some versatility and the ability to go full stock.


You can also increase C3, though I'd do that in smaller increments than the large jump on C1. Maybe if you increase both a bit, you'll get the Goldilocks-solution.



As for other Guv'nor-based circs:

Eight-years old vid, probably lots more Marshall Guv'Nor derivatives on the market since this was shot:

Also check the Crunchbox and circuits based off it.

Some other odds 'n' ends:

Original Marshall Guv'Nor - Mod for more bass

Original Marshall Guv'Nor - Mod for more bass

www.diystompboxes.com

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/modded-guvnor-clone.1441500/
with link to a dead vid, but also a link to FuzzDog's clean blend mod

https://reverb.com/ca/news/say-ello-to-the-5-finest-marshall-guvnor-clones

https://www.marshallforum.com/threads/need-more-bass-on-guvnor-pedal.28070/

Quick point, it's a Governator, with an "r" — I was sure I'd DL'd the build doc but didn't find it when I cut'n'pasted the thread-title into my search.

 

[Spiff4565]

Since it's already built, it would not make sense to socket input cap and risk damaging the board; however with a set of alligator-clip wires and a small selection of caps...

Attach the first cap, say 47n, to the gator clips, then running a looper or a reverb with tails touch the other ends of the clip-wires to the C1 solder joints. 9n6 + 47n parallel = 56n6. Try it again with your next bigger value cap and keep going until you have enough bass to your liking. When you've narrowed it down, solder-tack in that value and then while playing mess around with the controls some more to make sure you like that value at all settings.

I like Hamerfan's suggestion best though, on C1 either a pot or a switch for some versatility and the ability to go full stock.


You can also increase C3, though I'd do that in smaller increments than the large jump on C1. Maybe if you increase both a bit, you'll get the Goldilocks-solution.



As for other Guv'nor-based circs:

Eight-years old vid, probably lots more Marshall Guv'Nor derivatives on the market since this was shot:

Also check the Crunchbox and circuits based off it.

Some other odds 'n' ends:

Original Marshall Guv'Nor - Mod for more bass

Original Marshall Guv'Nor - Mod for more bass

www.diystompboxes.com

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/modded-guvnor-clone.1441500/
with link to a dead vid, but also a link to FuzzDog's clean blend mod

https://reverb.com/ca/news/say-ello-to-the-5-finest-marshall-guvnor-clones

https://www.marshallforum.com/threads/need-more-bass-on-guvnor-pedal.28070/

Quick point, it's a Governator, with an "r" — I was sure I'd DL'd the build doc but didn't find it when I cut'n'pasted the thread-title into my search.

Ja, I always drop the r . Do t ask me why as I continuely screws my searches up.

Thanks for the info, will be building another GuveRnator in the near future. I'll give these mods a go.

 

[HamishR]

You can increase the size of the input cap (C1) but sometimes this leads to unintended consequences, such as a fuzzier low end. Sometimes this is cool, sometimes it's annoying.

I too have wanted more low end from the Guvernator and found that simply increasing C3 to 220nF has done the trick for me. I have tried 470nF but it's a bit borish - 330nF might work for you. But for me 220nF is fine.