Jump Drive (LPD Sixty8) - Revisited

[MichaelW]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

This is one of those few pedals that I've built that has not lived up my expectations.
I've generally liked all the LPD pedal line up that I've heard and this one is supposed to represent his favorite 68 Plexi.

I really wasn't expecting it to sound EXACTLY like a Plexi, but I dunno, it's not anything like one, nor his description on the website

"I wanted something that sounded and felt like my favorite 1968 Plexi. Completely natural note decay, no strange fizzy artifacts. It’s very dynamic, and responds to the guitar volume control and pick dynamics very well. Highly versatile with super-low noise and killer sustain, without needing a ton of distortion or fuzz to get it. "

That blurb is what got me excited about building this when it dropped. Then I kinda forgot about it, and when I looked at the board in my pile of PCB's somehow I conflated it with a BSIAB that I'm also working on. (I've been doing a lot of conflating lately it seems....)
It wasn't until @szukalski's build report that I remembered it wasn't an "Eddie-in-a-box" pedal I got excited about it again. I drilled and painted an enclosure and have been waiting for it to try for about a week now (more one that later).

It's not a bad sounding pedal but it's also not knocking my socks off either. I put it side by side with all the MIAB pedals I've built so far....
Golden Falk
XS Drive
King Midas

To me the Golden Falk still rules, it's the most amp-like and most flexible in terms of available tones. You can get from plexi-ish to JCM800-ish between playing the the two gains and the toggle.

The Jump drive by comparison sounds like a YATS. It's got a pronounced mid hump and is somewhat muffled. The overdrive itself is pretty smooth but a bit of a one trick pony and it's a bit hard to find that pony. Definitely has that nasally pedal sound as opposed to the bigger more open sounding Falk.

The XS drive has that same "pedal-ish" quality but it's got a lot more tones available and flexibility to it. I can get an early "Custard Pie" or a later JCM sound out of the XS with all it's toggles.

Tomorrow's agenda is to try some different guitars and amp models with it to see if I can crack the code

So, the enclosure, I really like this "Hammered Black" Krylon color but I think I need to try some different brands or series from Krylon. This thing just won't cure.
It's been sitting for a week drying and I still got fingerprints all over it from how soft the finish is. That's two pedals I've painted with this paint with the same result.
I really tried to go slow, put down a coat of primer then hit it with multiple very thin coats of color over a couple of days. It LOOKED nice before I started handling it.

I love the idea of being able to do rattle cans and have access to more colors than Tayda's powdercoat but at $10 a can, it's getting to be a bit of a discouraging endeavour trying different colors.

No substitutions on this build. I built off the PCB as there's no BOM or schematic I could find. I used a pair of Russian G223 Ge Diodes that measured ~350-ish on my GM328 tester (which I've found out tests diodes at 10ma).

The toggle switch, as far as I can tell from the board traces do not control the diodes, seems like those are always on. But rather I "think" it toggles the second BJT transistor. So it's either running a single 2N7000 or both depending on the toggle position.

Used my @swelchy printed pot covers

Looking at the pictures it looks like I didn't do a great job cleaning the board off after cleaning the flux off. I've been using the MG Chemicals Flux remover then rinsing with a little QD contact cleaner. I think I wiped the back of the board off after that with a cotton cloth but left some "Schmook" on the front.....hahah.

Built itself went super smooth and a typically thoughtfully laid out @Robert board. Next up in my MIAB series is a long waiting BSIAB2 that's been on the back burner for over a month now....

 

[Feral Feline]

I've been wondering whether to get the Jump Drive or not.

Your build makes me think not, but Szukalski's build makes me think yes.


Maybe try it with another guitar and a different amp some day down the road...

 

[szukalski]

Demos or it didn't happen...

Interesting how yours turned out. The only difference I can see are the diodes, I wasn't happy with the D9's I tested with (~0.28-0.34) as they sounded too muffled in comparison to 1N4148 (which I found a bit too fizzy). With the BA282s in there, it was fire. 1N4148 with a slight tweak of the tone knob could be pretty close to the BA282 though.

If anything, I find mine hi-fi. I run a Chop Shop in front of it with a bunch of sag to blur the edges a bit. Not to muffle it, but just round it out for personal preference.

Only other thing I can think of is the amp, the JTM45 makes a stinker shine, but I also ran the Jump through my TWE-style head and it was the same.

I know it can't be your wiring, that shizz is great. I like the solid core on the DC jack. I've been thinking about my use of solid core for a while now, I use it for the footswitch to PCB because it's easy for the workflow. I was thinking that it would become a stress point if the footswitch nut came loose, stranded core would just flex but solid could break. It's these damn fine board layouts that get me thinking all utility-like..

 

[MichaelW]

Demos or it didn't happen...

Interesting how yours turned out. The only difference I can see are the diodes, I wasn't happy with the D9's I tested with (~0.28-0.34) as they sounded too muffled in comparison to 1N4148 (which I found a bit too fizzy). With the BA282s in there, it was fire. 1N4148 with a slight tweak of the tone knob could be pretty close to the BA282 though.

If anything, I find mine hi-fi. I run a Chop Shop in front of it with a bunch of sag to blur the edges a bit. Not to muffle it, but just round it out for personal preference.

Only other thing I can think of is the amp, the JTM45 makes a stinker shine, but I also ran the Jump through my TWE-style head and it was the same.

I know it can't be your wiring, that shizz is great. I like the solid core on the DC jack. I've been thinking about my use of solid core for a while now, I use it for the footswitch to PCB because it's easy for the workflow. I was thinking that it would become a stress point if the footswitch nut came loose, stranded core would just flex but solid could break. It's these damn fine board layouts that get me thinking all utility-like..

Hmmm.....I have some 282's. But I'd have to sacrifice that pair of Ge diodes since I soldered. I didn't think the diodes would make such a huge difference. I'm gonna play it some more today. Maybe I had indigestion when I was testing it....it's all very subjective sometimes I find hahaha.

 

[music6000]

Hmmm.....I have some 282's. But I'd have to sacrifice that pair of Ge diodes since I soldered. I didn't think the diodes would make such a huge difference. I'm gonna play it some more today. Maybe I had indigestion when I was testing it....it's all very subjective sometimes I find hahaha.

This is the first LPD 68 Drive with pushbutton or Toggle from 6 or more years ago , the current LPD 68 that is on the website with the I wanted something that sounded and felt like my favorite 1968 Plexi. Completely natural note decay, no strange fizzy artifacts. It’s very dynamic, and responds to the guitar volume control and pick dynamics very well. Highly versatile with super-low noise and killer sustain, without needing a ton of distortion or fuzz to get it
... maybe a different Pedal.

 

[MichaelW]

This is the first LPD 68 Drive with pushbutton or Toggle from 6 or more years ago , the current LPD 68 that is on the website with the I wanted something that sounded and felt like my favorite 1968 Plexi. Completely natural note decay, no strange fizzy artifacts. It’s very dynamic, and responds to the guitar volume control and pick dynamics very well. Highly versatile with super-low noise and killer sustain, without needing a ton of distortion or fuzz to get it
... maybe a different Pedal.

Hmmm interesting. There is NO WAY I am getting those low gain sounds like in Mike Herman's demo. I'll have to try it with a Strat today and see if I can replicate some of those sounds.

 

[MichaelW]

Also that second demo with the Nash Sonic Blue Strat, those are lovely transparent tones. I'm not getting that.

 

[music6000]

Also that second demo with the Nash Sonic Blue Strat, those are lovely transparent tones. I'm not getting that.

They look like Pedalhacker 1N34A suppose to be the same diodes????

Does it sound like this:

 

[MichaelW]

They look like Pedalhacker 1N34A suppose to be the same diodes????

Does it sound like this:

See that's why I built it. That lovely harmonic content. Ok, I'm barely awake yet but I'm gonna fire up my rig and play it some more.......

 

[MichaelW]

Ok, just tried it with my LP Special w/Lollars, Eastman w/Lollars, PRS 594 w/58/15 LT's, my Strat w/Lollars.
It just ain't happening. The breakup is not smooth like the videos but a bit harsh and fizzy.
Those sounds Phil McKnight is getting are sublime, I am not hearing any of that in my build.

Sigh, I guess I'm taking it apart today and socketing the diodes....
Maybe the BJT's too? I dunno if it would make a difference, I didn't check the gains on the 2n7000's I used.

 

[MichaelW]

They look like Pedalhacker 1N34A suppose to be the same diodes????

Does it sound like this:

I did buy them from PH a while ago. He was selling them as G223's. They've done really well for me in other pedals as a 1N34A sub.

 

[MichaelW]

Demos or it didn't happen...

Interesting how yours turned out. The only difference I can see are the diodes, I wasn't happy with the D9's I tested with (~0.28-0.34) as they sounded too muffled in comparison to 1N4148 (which I found a bit too fizzy). With the BA282s in there, it was fire. 1N4148 with a slight tweak of the tone knob could be pretty close to the BA282 though.

If anything, I find mine hi-fi. I run a Chop Shop in front of it with a bunch of sag to blur the edges a bit. Not to muffle it, but just round it out for personal preference.

Only other thing I can think of is the amp, the JTM45 makes a stinker shine, but I also ran the Jump through my TWE-style head and it was the same.

I know it can't be your wiring, that shizz is great. I like the solid core on the DC jack. I've been thinking about my use of solid core for a while now, I use it for the footswitch to PCB because it's easy for the workflow. I was thinking that it would become a stress point if the footswitch nut came loose, stranded core would just flex but solid could break. It's these damn fine board layouts that get me thinking all utility-like..

The downside to using buss wire for the DC jacks is there's no way I can take the board out w/o unsoldering.
But the DC in was so close to the jack it didn't make sense to run wires.

 

[szukalski]

Hmmm interesting. There is NO WAY I am getting those low gain sounds like in Mike Herman's demo. I'll have to try it with a Strat today and see if I can replicate some of those sounds.

I am getting those tones, albeit with the colouration of my amp. I can hear the amp from the Herman and McKnight demos, the old YT challenge, but I can hear the pedal is pretty close to mine.

My 2N7000 were from Tayda if that makes any difference.

The main difference I noticed was the diodes. I did socket mine because I was too lazy to breadboard it first, and there were large enough differences in the ones I tested to say that it mattered.

Harsh and fizzy is what I was getting with 1N4148 (maybe I am too hard on them, but I do remember them being harsher to my ears).

If you can't get it going, I'll ship you mine in exchange for a replacement PCB

 

[MichaelW]

I am getting those tones, albeit with the colouration of my amp. I can hear the amp from the Herman and McKnight demos, the old YT challenge, but I can hear the pedal is pretty close to mine.

My 2N7000 were from Tayda if that makes any difference.

The main difference I noticed was the diodes. I did socket mine because I was too lazy to breadboard it first, and there were large enough differences in the ones I tested to say that it mattered.

Harsh and fizzy is what I was getting with 1N4148 (maybe I am too hard on them, but I do remember them being harsher to my ears).

If you can't get it going, I'll ship you mine in exchange for a replacement PCB

Well I just tried it with a different amp model. I'd been using a Friedman Buxom Betty clean model but that's a bit of a bottom heavy EL34 type amp. I switched to a 6L6 blackface type and it seemed to open up the pedal a bit more. I'll mess with the diodes later today.

 

[MichaelW]

Ok, I got the Ge's out intact. Gotta love the Engineers Solder Sucker, that thing is worth it's weight in gold!

So, here's what I've tried:

BA282 - Vf ~.92 - Better but lost a lot of compression and saturation

1N34A - I have some 34A's that measure super high, like all in the mid-900's. I've never found a use for them. I tried them in this pedal and it sounded better than the original low Vf Ge's I had in there. But one of the really odd things about these diodes (aside from the high Vf) is that they always introduce noise. Super noisy Ge diodes, distractingly noisy. I should just pitch those.

BAT41 - Vf ~.635. You'd think these would be fizzy and splatty, but they actually sound the best of all of the ones I've tried. These are the Vishay ones. They're staying in and I think I'm calling this pedal done. It still does not sound like the demo's. I WISH it sounded like Phil McKnight's demo but it doesn't. So either I borked something, or it's my paint job, or it's the phase of the moon, or something.

Again, not a BAD sounding pedal, but my build is not as nuanced and sublime as the demo video's sound.

 

[harmaes]

Hey Mike, I noticed a difference in the 4558D you used and the 4558P used by szukalski but I wouldn’t expect it to make a huge difference. It’s unclear which diodes were in the original so it’s trial and error. I will build this one when I receive the PCB, probably next week. I might try some OA1182 as they‘re one of my favs in my Klon.
To me this one sounds more open than the Falk. In other demos I hear a lot about the feel of the pedal being better than a box of rock for instance.
Curious how it compares to the Falk. Somehow the Falk sounds better into an IR pedal where it reacts more as a Plexi amp than into a Fender like amp (Dream65) where it quickly becomes bright.

 

[MichaelW]

Hey Mike, I noticed a difference in the 4558D you used and the 4558P used by szukalski but I wouldn’t expect it to make a huge difference. It’s unclear which diodes were in the original so it’s trial and error. I will build this one when I receive the PCB, probably next week. I might try some OA1182 as they‘re one of my favs in my Klon.
To me this one sounds more open than the Falk. In other demos I hear a lot about the feel of the pedal being better than a box of rock for instance.
Curious how it compares to the Falk. Somehow the Falk sounds better into an IR pedal where it reacts more as a Plexi amp than into a Fender like amp (Dream65) where it quickly becomes bright.

I'd be very interested in how yours turns out. In the demo videos it DOES sound more "open" than the Falk but in my rig it's the exact opposite.

I even auditioned it outside my chain, just guitar->pedal-> interface. Sounds.....well, like a Tube Screamer If yours turns out as good as David's then I may buy a second board and try it again. I'm not seeing any resistor value or cap value errors in mine though. I did validate resistors before stuffing them but I did NOT validate the caps.....got lazy. Maybe I have a bum cap that's way out of spec, who knows....

 

[Feral Feline]

Don't throw away the super-noisey Ge diodes, keep them as a reference comparison for future builds. Hell, you might even find a build you can use them in, like a faux-AM-radio thing that you can use in intros/outros/breakdowns etc.

If you must pitch them, throw them my way — I may have just the circuit for them...




I'm just a pack-rat, though, never know when something will prove useful — like Cybercow's coffee stir "sticks", making great LED-leg insulators on builds...

A minute after I throw something away that I've kept for forever already, is the minute that I find a need for that thing.

 

[MichaelW]

Don't throw away the super-noisey Ge diodes, keep them as a reference comparison for future builds. Hell, you might even find a build you can use them in, like a faux-AM-radio thing that you can use in intros/outros/breakdowns etc.

If you must pitch them, throw them my way — I may have just the circuit for them...




I'm just a pack-rat, though, never know when something will prove useful — like Cybercow's coffee stir "sticks", making great LED-leg insulators on builds...

A minute after I throw something away that I've kept for forever already, is the minute that I find a need for that thing.

I was just kidding, I'm a pack rat too. I find stuff in my garage from like 30 years ago all the time.....I can't even throw away those little cheap Allen wrenches that come with cheap pressboard furniture that let's you assemble them....I have a bucket full of them....because "you never know....."

 

[Feral Feline]

I've got the perfect circuit to add those noisy diodes to...


Escobedo's LofoMofo.