PedalPCB Son of Ben (Benson)

T

TillMack

Well-known member
Build Rating
5.00 star(s)
I already built a Son of Ben but sold it, cause a friend was falling in love with the pedal.
When I ordered some new PCBs on PedalPCB this also went into my cart.

I redone the UV Layout and I used the new grey hammer enclosure. Which looks so classy.

On the new PCB revision, you can solder the SMD J201 directly on the pcb.
For those who want to build it, don't make the mistake like I do. SMD parts always first.
I do it last and then there was nearly no room to solder it, so I went with sockets and SMD J201 on a PCB.
The Pedal sounds really nice and it is a pedal you should check out, when you want to build some overdrive pedals.

IMG_8487.JPG IMG_8486.JPG
 
Yup, SMD first! I always used to put transistors on last but that's kind of impossible with SMD trannies unless you do what you did with the mini SMD boards.

Nice job!
 
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I built one of these without C10, but I haven't heard it with C10 to compare! Sounds good to me. I like to try these JFET ODs with the recommended drain voltages first and then sometimes try just tuning it by ear. All JFETs are different so setting to a prescribed drain voltage doesn't guarantee identical results. With this circuit I found I like Q1 and Q2 to have around 4V on the drains but really like around 6.5V on Q3. It clears up the sound a bit - with Q3's drain at 4V I was getting some unpleasant/unmusical distortion.

It was interesting to adjust the trimmers by ear only to discover that I ended up with very close to the recommended 4V on Q1&2.
 
HamishR said:
I built one of these without C10, but I haven't heard it with C10 to compare! Sounds good to me. I like to try these JFET ODs with the recommended drain voltages first and then sometimes try just tuning it by ear. All JFETs are different so setting to a prescribed drain voltage doesn't guarantee identical results. With this circuit I found I like Q1 and Q2 to have around 4V on the drains but really like around 6.5V on Q3. It clears up the sound a bit - with Q3's drain at 4V I was getting some unpleasant/unmusical distortion.

It was interesting to adjust the trimmers by ear only to discover that I ended up with very close to the recommended 4V on Q1&2.
Click to expand...
It’s a dark sounding pedal, or mine is, even with the treble dimed it has a lack of highs and abundance of restraint. Is that the actual circuit or does mine need tweaking? Without an original on hand I can’t make an informed opinion.
 
Just tested some more with different guitars. There are some excellent sounds in the Benson! It's quite a fat sound. I have one or two other ODs I like better but the Benson is a real keeper. I do really like these simple three JFET ODs. I love the clarity you can get at lower gain with a good JFET OD. The Benson doesn't get quite as clear in the low end as my faves but it's a lot of fun to play and can get some classic old school dirt sounds. I like it. It's particularly good with a Strat with some delay. I'm using it with treble at noon and it's plenty bright, BTW. The treble pot has more range than the bass pot, but then I am using a 1M bass pot. A 2M might finish it off nicely.
 
HamishR said:
Just tested some more with different guitars. There are some excellent sounds in the Benson! It's quite a fat sound. I have one or two other ODs I like better but the Benson is a real keeper. I do really like these simple three JFET ODs. I love the clarity you can get at lower gain with a good JFET OD. The Benson doesn't get quite as clear in the low end as my faves but it's a lot of fun to play and can get some classic old school dirt sounds. I like it. It's particularly good with a Strat with some delay. I'm using it with treble at noon and it's plenty bright, BTW. The treble pot has more range than the bass pot, but then I am using a 1M bass pot. A 2M might finish it off nicely.
Click to expand...
My brother's borrowing my build presently but I'll noodle with it further when I get it back!
 
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