Parentheses – Octave volume drop/swell

[benny_profane]

With the octave maxed out and higher gain on the rat circuit, heavy polyphonic signal input causes a volume drop followed by a swell. I know the octave circuit is monophonic, but I haven’t had this exact issue with other analogue octave circuits (i.e., Ampeg Scrambler or Univox Superfuzz). Is this normal behavior with this adapted green ringer? I matched the resistors and Vf of the diodes (guessing a bit with the resistors without the schematic). If this isn’t normal, should I be looking at increasing capacitance somewhere or something else?

 

[zgrav]

Does this only happen when the octave is switched in? Does the amount of volume drop vary with how much heavy input is coming through? Would this be useful if it were a feature that could be dialed in/out instead of a wtf?

 

[benny_profane]

1) Yes, it’s only present when the octave is enabled. The rat channel in isolation is as expected.
2) The drop/swell varies with the intensity of input—that’s why I was thinking a capacitor might be a useful change?
3) As a stand-alone octave pedal that could be a cool feature. Analogue octaves are, of course, rather unpredictable by nature. As a part of this unit, though, I think I’d rather mitigate it if possible. I haven’t seen any other discussion of this particular quirk, so I’m left thinking it’s anomalous to my build.

 

[zgrav]

I am not familiar with the pedal and have not built it, but I agree it could be a capacitor. If you already have the gain high before switching in the octave, does the volume drop and then come back? How does that compare to having the octave switched in and then turning up the gain quickly?

Do you get the drop in volume if the gain is turned up slowly?

 

[benny_profane]

The octave circuit comes before the rat circuit. From what I remember, heavy input with the octave cranked up results in a volume drop out and swell (~.5 second process) regardless of how the switching occurs. If the octave is out of the signal path, but the octave channel is turned up, the drop/swell doesn't happen. I haven't tested specifically for the slowly turning up the octave.

Absent the schematic, I'm not sure where I should be looking with capacitors. I believe that the octave is on/off and the potentiometer affects the blend of the effect (like the balance on the scrambler).

I've researched experiences with the green ringer and its derivatives, but I haven't really seen mention of a phenomenon quite like this. So, it's a bit puzzling.

 

[zgrav]

I agree a schematic would be really useful.

 

[JetFixxxer]

Seems like this is pedal doesn't play well with others