2 in one mosfet boost + tubescreamer

[flateric]

Just about to finish off a modded tubescreamer project and I thought I'd add a little mosfet boost circuit into the same enclosure to kill 2 mockingbirds with one stone, so to speak. The other guitarist in our band uses a couple of my previous project builds on his pedalboard, a separate Mosfet boost pedal (which can give you up to +35db clean gain) as well as a FlatEric Sonic Kitchen tubescreamer special, so why not just build them both into the one pedal?
Question is, which should go first, tubescreamer or mosfet boost? Will the boost just oversaturate the tubescreamer without raising the volume much, or would that huge saturation be a marvellous creation of fat, dripping sustain? Maybe I could put a little toggle switch on it to reverse the fx order?

[JohnH]

I've thought the same thought based on combining my JFET boost and overdrive circuits. I think a booster after the overdrive would be more useful for when you have them on together, to get a lead volume boost or further amp saturation. Zachary Vex agrees, as in the ZVex 'Box of Rock'

John

[flateric]

nice one, whats good for zak....

[thetragichero]

while i think tubescreamer -> boost would probably be best, as long as you have room in the enclosure you might as well be able to switch the order
that WOULD be the nutz way to do it, after all

[flateric]

Be rude not to, might need a hand with the switch logic for that one though.

[Yew]

I would imagine a phase switch could be modified to change the order

[ashcatlt]

Seems like two extra jacks would make it even more versatile. Use a switched jack to give a default order. You then would use a patch cable to reverse the order when desired. It would also allow you to put other pedals between the two, or even use them independently.

[flateric]

what a canny idea ash, I think thats well worth implementing

[newey]

That is a good idea, Ash! Literally, an "Effect + Loop" . . .

This could cut clutter and simplify one's pedalboard, as opposed to using a separate loop box and a separate effect.

[JFrankParnell]

analogman's king of tone www.analogman.com/kingtone.htm
you can go boost->distortion or distortion->boost

I recommend setting the right side for most distorted sounds and the left for cleaner, then when used together you get more of a volume boost. But if you want more distortion and compression, you can try it the other way around too.

i think the signal goes from right to left (2 fx / one box)

[flateric]

The tubescreamer and the mosfet boards are done, here's the graphics for the case

[JFrankParnell]

looks really cool! Flateric, you gots a website with more?

[cynical1]

You looking for a North American distributor?

[flateric]

Heh, most of the stuff I churn out gets a pic put onto Facebook or the UK Basschat forum. Here's a few more -

img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/sc_chorus.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/DSCF0740.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/rl2-1.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/kitchentube3.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/p2.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/sonic.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/808s.jpg
img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/fozzybear.jpg

[flateric]

Had to take a bit of a break from this project, but hoping to finish it in a few more days. Revised the graphics for the enclosure, tubescreamer circuit on the left. Bring on the spaghetti.

[sumgai]

♭eric,

Been a smoker for very long, have you? ;D




sumgai

[ttsc]

Perhaps this may help with the wiring.

BYOC has a great kit called the Overdrive 2 that has all the stuff of that great pedal your building they also have a free download PDF file with the wiring for the boost switch and a boost level control for the pedal. It's like the Swiss Army knife of OD pedals.
It also has layouts of the PCB on how to make any section MOSFET and or make it 18v of more overhead.

[flateric]

www.buildyourownclone.com/overdrive2.html
That's interesting - exactly the pedal config I have ended up building, even down to the 2 toggle switches! Good to know I'm along the right lines.
Excellent detailed instructions in the pdf.

[flateric]

Took me a while to finish this one but here is the final result.
We have a shocking gutshot of the soft underbelly revealing just how disorganised my wiring is. The Mosfet boost circuit vero can be seen peeking out on the left of the tubescreamer board.
The tubescreamer has the 1meg gain pot that the Keeley mod uses, to extend range of available overdrive. We have selectable toggle switches for 2 different diode clipping stages - standard Si or LED which gives a louder harsher distortion. We have a toggle switch for the AMZ 'Phat Boost' mod which switches in a larger value input cap to allow big fat slugs of bass through, this makes the pedal suitable for use as a bass guitar overdrive/distortion too. The 2 toggle switches each have a red/yellow bicolor LEd to show the status.
Mosfet boost switches in an extra 10 or 12db of boost after the tubescreamer to act as a solo boost and really crank up the input of a valve preamp. All in all a fiddly build but a pleasing end result.

[ijustwannastrat]

Sound clips or it doesn't exist... ;D

[newey]

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[sumgai]

Alright, 50 lashes with a wet Karma point for everyone involved with this mess!

And someone owes me a new screen - I spewed pretty badly upon seeing newey's "circle of attention"!

That is all, carry on!




sumgai

[flateric]

Litte Youtube clip here:

[cynical1]

Nice...very nice...

[ijustwannastrat]

Beautiful. I apologize for trolling, but it tends to yield the best results.

I still need to know, why don't you market these? I have yet to see you produce a poor quality pedal. Even when you mix and match into a single box, it always seems to be a good combination.

Kudos, I would +1 if I already hadn't used mine for the day...

[flateric]

Thanks for the comments guys - I guess a couple of points;
When you try to turn a hobby into a business I think it can destroy the recreational fun part of it. I put these together for my own learning and enjoyment. It's always pretty cool when you use your own weird looking pedals at a gig, u always get people asking you questions afterwards.
The second point is the morality issue - these are not my circuit designs, they have been designed by people much cleverer than me and there is an ethic about not capitalising on other people's IP, a lot of the guys post their schematics with the proviso you can use them for your own projects but not to make money out of them. I'm cool with that - some of the circuits are real basic classics that no-one can really hold IP over, but others are direct clones of commercial pedals. There's a lot of small businesses cropped up making money out of ripping off other pedals designs and I let them get on with it. I think the costs of the Keeley-modded tubescreamers is ridiculous, for swapping out a gain pot, a capacitor and a couple of resistors, but if people are blinded enough by this sort of mojo and prepared to pay for it, then good luck to them.
Now if someone is really interested in me putting together a pedal for them, especially if I know them and respect them, I am happy to do it for the cost of the parts + a little wear and tear on my tools, etc. So I am not directly marketing them for profit but happy to see them go to a good home where someone else can make good use of them. I will continue to improve my knowledge here by asking lots of silly questions questions and trying new builds which end up being played by various guitar friends in the local music community here, but I don't think it will ever sustain a good living for me! If it can remain as a self-funding hobby then I am a happy man with an interesting and exotic pedalboard

[sumgai]

I think we're gonna have to rename you from ♭eric to #eric!



sumgai