Nobelium - tube bass preamp project

[vigilante398]

This is one I've been working with Jeff (@C2C Electronics ) on for months, and I'm finally ready enough to mention it. I did the general design and let Jeff handle the PCB, and we're both really proud of how this one turned out. It's obviously not based on anything in particular (*wink-wink*), but it's a great sounding studio tube D.I. in a relatively pedalboard-friendly 1590XX.



I'm typically all for UV prints on everything, but this one obviously needed a faceplate. For reasons.



I'm in the middle of a big website overhaul, and JLC just started a weeklong holiday, so boards aren't ready to be available yet, but this has been verified and will be available sometime in October.

 

[vigilante398]

Oh and I forgot to mention, this is my build. Because I wanted one.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

super cool! This one 9v input like the rest of your stuff? what's the current draw?

 

[vigilante398]

super cool! This one 9v input like the rest of your stuff? what's the current draw?

Yup, 9-12V DC input, current draw is right around 400mA after warm-up, you could probably get away with a 500mA supply for this one.

EDIT: I lied, looks like it hadn't finished warming up yet, at full operation it's sitting at 506mA, so you'll want at least 600mA or so, but a Cioks at 660mA should be plenty.

 

[vigilante398]

How embarrassing, I almost forgot the gutshot.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Yup, 9-12V DC input, current draw is right around 400mA after warm-up, you could probably get away with a 500mA supply for this one.

Awesome! So it could get away with a 9v output from a Cioks DC7. Been planning out a new bass rig, and this seems like it could be an ideal end-of-chain instead of one of the various radial options

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

 

[Smrtokvitek]

Out of curiosity, how do you power 2 heaters from 9V input? I can imagine 12V as series 6+6 but is it enough from 9V?
Is it verified and available? It reminds me of some preamp *wink* that would be nice for my band's bass player.

 

[peccary]

Yeah, I'm into this big time. I haven't been super pumped about a PCB in a while but this has got me interested for sure.

 

[RobinMallard]

I’m never going to financially recover from all of these…

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

I’m never going to financially recover from all of these…

Seriously... I'm just glad I have no need for the supersonic. Of course that doesn't mean never but I won't be able to resist this at all.... it even looks cooler than the "inspired by" to me.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

 

[matmonster58]

You're knocking it out of the park. I just got back into pedal building after having some boards just sit around for a while.
I'm fortunate to have some many great upcoming sushi boards. I currently have a particle accelerator that i need to build after my current batch of pedals is done.

 

[matmonster58]

where did you get the faceplate made?

 

[Silver Blues]

Oh my god

Will you be offering the faceplates for purchase as well?

 

[Harry Klippton]

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

I'm using 2 supplies and 2 cords and I hate every second of it

 

[music6000]

Oh and I forgot to mention, this is my build. Because I wanted one.

View attachment 57448

This Is Gold!!!:

 

[vigilante398]

Out of curiosity, how do you power 2 heaters from 9V input? I can imagine 12V as series 6+6 but is it enough from 9V?
Is it verified and available? It reminds me of some preamp *wink* that would be nice for my band's bass player.

The very first tube pedal I ever built was a Matsumin valvecaster, which uses 9V for the heater running in series, and that put the thought into my head that 9V is okay. In testing I've run heaters as low as 8V, but below that they start to drop out because the tube isn't hot enough to pass signal anymore. 12.6V is what the datasheet tells you, but 9V works, pulls less current, and extends the tube life because it isn't stressing the filament as much.

The design is verified, but not yet available. I do have 4 boards on hand though, maybe I'll make those available for the first 4 people until the Chinese national holiday is over and I can get more PCBs made. Enclosures will be a little tricky though because of the slot on the side for the switch, I can't drill that accurately at home because my CNC isn't big enough, so you're pretty much stuck with Tayda. I do have a verified Tayda drill template though.

So I guess stand by for info on availability.

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

I like the Cioks because of the chain output from the DC7 so I can run another Cioks supply straight off that. Cioks are expensive, but my personal pedalboard has 12 tubes on it, and Cioks is the only thing I've found that can handle it.

where did you get the faceplate made?

Faceplate is a 0.8mm PCB that I got from JLC.

Oh my god

Will you be offering the faceplates for purchase as well?

Faceplates will absolutely be available as well, I'm planning to stock as many of those as I have PCBs. They came out really sharp, and I love the look.

 

[Guardians of the analog]

@Mentaltossflycoon I'm doing it human centipede style 2 supplies one cord

 

[peccary]

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

I have a Furman power conditioner on my amp rack that, when I was cool and actually played live music, my guitarist and singer would often tap into. It came in handy pretty often.