Well I've been experimenting with this circuit. It's a great circuit stock of course. But through my amp it's possibly a bit more compressed than I'd like and I barely use the Normal channel at all - it's usually only just on, and anywhere above 9.00 it just adds a rumble and takes over. On its own it is actually a lot darker than the normal channel on any 4-hole Marshall I have played. I've built quite a few JTM45 and 1987 style Marshall amps and invariably mod the Normal channel to make it more useful. In fact what I often do is make it more like the Bright channel, just keeping it enough different to justify having two channels. This makes sense when you look at the history of Marshalls. They were built to the Fender 5F6-a Bassman schematic after all.
So at first I tried doing what I do to the amps but to the pedal. I reduced the 100µF C3 to 47, then 22, then 1µF - and that's still plenty bassy. I often add a 470pF bright cap at the mixers to the Normal channel too - that's like C8 on the Golden Falk only I would put another in parallel with R6 in the GF. But I wondered why I would bother - the channels are already very similar. So I tried removing the Normal channel altogether and adding a Bass pot to the Bright channel at C4. After all, that section is where the two channels differ in where the low end cuts off.
So I kept the 470nF cap at C4 of the Bright channel and tried a few different cap values for the lower extent of the bass and settled on 22µF with a B10K Bass pot. This saves a fair few parts and I actually like the sound better. And for some reason as a bonus it appears to have reduced the compression somehow - maybe having one less transistor pushing the clipping section has had an effect? I don't know but I like the sound. This is where I ended up:
I'm sure most of you will still prefer the stock Golden Falk but I thought this might interest some of you. It really works for me - It actually sounds and feels more like the old Marshalls I have played and the amps I like to make. The stock GF is kinda more hot-rodded Marshall; more Van Halen or Slash. Mine is more Malcolm Young.
Thanks for writing this up, Chuck. The Golden Falk is a great Marshallesque pedal! I hope I haven't hi-jacked your thread - let me know if I have.
So at first I tried doing what I do to the amps but to the pedal. I reduced the 100µF C3 to 47, then 22, then 1µF - and that's still plenty bassy. I often add a 470pF bright cap at the mixers to the Normal channel too - that's like C8 on the Golden Falk only I would put another in parallel with R6 in the GF. But I wondered why I would bother - the channels are already very similar. So I tried removing the Normal channel altogether and adding a Bass pot to the Bright channel at C4. After all, that section is where the two channels differ in where the low end cuts off.
So I kept the 470nF cap at C4 of the Bright channel and tried a few different cap values for the lower extent of the bass and settled on 22µF with a B10K Bass pot. This saves a fair few parts and I actually like the sound better. And for some reason as a bonus it appears to have reduced the compression somehow - maybe having one less transistor pushing the clipping section has had an effect? I don't know but I like the sound. This is where I ended up:
I'm sure most of you will still prefer the stock Golden Falk but I thought this might interest some of you. It really works for me - It actually sounds and feels more like the old Marshalls I have played and the amps I like to make. The stock GF is kinda more hot-rodded Marshall; more Van Halen or Slash. Mine is more Malcolm Young.
Thanks for writing this up, Chuck. The Golden Falk is a great Marshallesque pedal! I hope I haven't hi-jacked your thread - let me know if I have.
