Treble booster vs Boost with 3-knob EQ

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

Update:

I have been tweaking the fuzz and treble booster circuits.

Also, I have sold many of my commercial pedals to raise cash and space for what’s coming. 

I have bought some more pots and pedal hardware, and so will be making some of those circuits permanent soon. Got a few ACY19 germs off eBay (haven’t received them yet) and I have invested a bit on op amps and the voltage converter IC that was on the vero layout @Cookiemonster had posted. 

I have finally managed to read hfe off my multimeter (the socket does not hold the trannies very securely). So I don’t think I shall be buying another tester for now. 

The one thing I’m still fearful of is the lack of space in 1590b cases for home made (eg on perfboard) circuits. Will need to get creative. 

Jon

125b gives you more space and top mounted jacks as an option !!

By the way a multimeter doesn’t measure the Germaniums well.  So bare that in mind. But you can just try a few out and see how you get on. 

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

Update:

I have been tweaking the fuzz and treble booster circuits.

Also, I have sold many of my commercial pedals to raise cash and space for what’s coming. 

I have bought some more pots and pedal hardware, and so will be making some of those circuits permanent soon. Got a few ACY19 germs off eBay (haven’t received them yet) and I have invested a bit on op amps and the voltage converter IC that was on the vero layout @Cookiemonster had posted. 

I have finally managed to read hfe off my multimeter (the socket does not hold the trannies very securely). So I don’t think I shall be buying another tester for now. 

The one thing I’m still fearful of is the lack of space in 1590b cases for home made (eg on perfboard) circuits. Will need to get creative. 

Jon

Here is one for you though. If you use a a similar switch to the one for your footswitch. You can put a germ one side and silicon the other.  Then switch between them !!!

Yorkie

Cookiemonster said:

125b gives you more space and top mounted jacks as an option !!

Thanks, but I have made a decision to go with 1590b as standard. I love how the enclosures look and, crucially, I originally designed my home made board with them in mind, and with side connections too. 

Yorkie

Cookiemonster said:

Yorkie said:

Update:

I have been tweaking the fuzz and treble booster circuits.

Also, I have sold many of my commercial pedals to raise cash and space for what’s coming. 

I have bought some more pots and pedal hardware, and so will be making some of those circuits permanent soon. Got a few ACY19 germs off eBay (haven’t received them yet) and I have invested a bit on op amps and the voltage converter IC that was on the vero layout @Cookiemonster had posted. 

I have finally managed to read hfe off my multimeter (the socket does not hold the trannies very securely). So I don’t think I shall be buying another tester for now. 

The one thing I’m still fearful of is the lack of space in 1590b cases for home made (eg on perfboard) circuits. Will need to get creative. 

Jon

Here is one for you though. If you use a a similar switch to the one for your footswitch. You can put a germ one side and silicon the other.  Then switch between them !!!

I think I will compare Ge and Si while the circuit is still on the breadboard and build whichever sounds best to my ears. I’m incredibly curious about the whole Ge vs Si debate  

Neilybob

Watched this today which I thought was pretty interesting. 

https://youtu.be/KjpbvysR7Qk

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

Cookiemonster said:

Yorkie said:

Update:

I have been tweaking the fuzz and treble booster circuits.

Also, I have sold many of my commercial pedals to raise cash and space for what’s coming. 

I have bought some more pots and pedal hardware, and so will be making some of those circuits permanent soon. Got a few ACY19 germs off eBay (haven’t received them yet) and I have invested a bit on op amps and the voltage converter IC that was on the vero layout @Cookiemonster had posted. 

I have finally managed to read hfe off my multimeter (the socket does not hold the trannies very securely). So I don’t think I shall be buying another tester for now. 

The one thing I’m still fearful of is the lack of space in 1590b cases for home made (eg on perfboard) circuits. Will need to get creative. 

Jon

Here is one for you though. If you use a a similar switch to the one for your footswitch. You can put a germ one side and silicon the other.  Then switch between them !!!

I think I will compare Ge and Si while the circuit is still on the breadboard and build whichever sounds best to my ears. I’m incredibly curious about the whole Ge vs Si debate  

Just might need to bias slightly different between the two. For the suggestion I said about a foot switch you would but the silicon on three pins on the right and the germ on the three pins on the left and the three middle pins go to where you normally put the transistor, but connected by wires. It will pop as you switch so turn the amp down, but it’s a lot of fun

Yorkie

The germs are here. They. Are. Huge. Like four times bigger than the Si trannies. 

I’ve also got the voltage converters and a few popular op amps from the same seller. 

I managed to work on an enclosure for the treble booster during the weekend. It became clear that I need 10 and 12mm drill bits. I am not going through all this filing ever again  

Now I am considering options for labelling the controls. My Dymo died decades ago, so that’s unfortunately not an option. 

Yorkie

Hello again everyone. 

Sorry for the lack of updates. I realise it's been two months since I pitched this idea here, so here is the latest on my pedal building adventure. 

I have a couple of treble boosters on breadboards – I got a great deal for 10 military-grade breadboards on eBay and have been experimenting with many circuits. The germaniums are still waiting in the box, because I got very excited with the idea of modifying one of the silicon designs to add some sort of EQ. After spending weeks on the drawing board, I had one of those epiphanies and came up with a circuit that sounded absolutely killer, starting from a fuzz circuit from the book that got me started on this.

But it wouldn't fit into a 1590B.

So, I simplified it a bit, went from 5 knobs to a manageable 3, and ended up with something that very much resembles the Hot Snake circuit @roberty had posted here ages ago  

It's got a couple of component changes, but the overall idea is, to my amazement, pretty much the same. 

I then decided what board to use (bitsbox 3x7 cm) and took a picture of it so I could draw the components on a tablet. I made three revisions of the layout before being somewhat satisfied that I wouldn't have to fly leads from one side to the other. Most connections were to be simply done by joining the legs. I went for a horizontal design because I have a Morley wah/volume mini that leaves a space at the top of my board and I used to have a Box of Rock in that spot until I retired it when I got my Marshall.

So, here's the completed build:



Then I spent an awful lot of time deciding how to label/decorate the enclosure. I tried using my 'made in Sheffield' metal punches, but ended up destroying two cases. I bought a few adhesive vinyl sheets to print on, but kept postponing it because I wanted to print a few designs on one page and I only had the one! And at some point I just wanted to keep building stuff and the vinyl anxiety was holding me back. 

So, I ended up making the labels with...



NOT A DYMO! 

It's a Penco ('Pen Company') Tape Writer I got in Japan. What can I say? It's got personality. 

I shall keep experimenting with designs, and at some point I think I will build this same circuit with a germanium transistor – if I can fit the huge can inside the case, that is. 

Jon

Yorkie

Been putting the circuit through its paces today, and I’ve got to say, it’s wild. By far the best boost I’ve ever tried. Sounds glorious through both the DSL40 and the AC15 (normal channel). With the filter on the treble boost side (fully cw) I can get Rangemaster type sounds, and fully ccw I get a saturated growl worth putting into a standalone always-on box. 

Yorkie

One thing I've noticed with the Rangemaster-style circuits I've built (the boxed one included) is that they all seem to make a loud pop when you activate them. I've tried adding a 1M pull-down resistor after the output capacitor, but that was not the game-changer I was expecting it to be. Do you guys also get that pop when activating your treble boosters?

Dave_Mc

Yorkie said:

One thing I've noticed with the Rangemaster-style circuits I've built (the boxed one included) is that they all seem to make a loud pop when you activate them. I've tried adding a 1M pull-down resistor after the output capacitor, but that was not the game-changer I was expecting it to be. Do you guys also get that pop when activating your treble boosters?

I can't say I've noticed but I haven't tried mine for a good while. If I remember (if I don't, post again to remind me!) I'll try mine in the next day or two and see. (I don't think I'll have a chance to try it tomorrow and it's too late to try it now.)

dean111music

rze99 said:

A slightly different take....  I couldn't make the Treble Booster thing work for me the way I liked but I am chuffed to bits with my Drybell Unit67 pedal, which is a booster, upper mid-rangemaster, eq and compressor pedal in one. It's fab.

The Pete Thorn demo is excellent

https://youtu.be/P8pgByNOWo8

Just checked this out and looks amazing. V2 should include separate footswitch for the rangemaster and top mounted jacks. 

That would make a superb versatile pedal?! 

Yorkie

Should I request that this thread is moved to ‘Making & modding’? There’s so much ‘making’ in it  

Yorkie

I’ve moved the thread. Didn’t know I could do it myself  

Dave_Mc

Yorkie said:

One thing I've noticed with the Rangemaster-style circuits I've built (the boxed one included) is that they all seem to make a loud pop when you activate them. I've tried adding a 1M pull-down resistor after the output capacitor, but that was not the game-changer I was expecting it to be. Do you guys also get that pop when activating your treble boosters?

Tried mine there today. I have two- a Websmurfer pretty straight clone (I think!) and and a Svaha Aqstics more involved one with switchable Ge/Si transistor, a bias knob and switchable input (I think!) caps to affect the tone. I wasn't getting any pops. Well... maybe a very slight one with the Websmurfer one, but I had my Fame Tube 5 (more or less a Champion 600) cranked pretty well up and the pop was still barely noticeable. No pop with the other one. By comparison my EHX Neo Clone makes a very obvious (more like obnoxious!) pop the first time you turn it on, even at low volume, and this was nowhere near as bad as that, even though the volume was way higher. EDIT: Just to be clear, I didn't built either of those myself. They may well have some kind of circuitry to avoid the pop! Maybe there's something fancier than the 1M pull-down resistor...

Yorkie

Dave_Mc said:

Yorkie said:

One thing I've noticed with the Rangemaster-style circuits I've built (the boxed one included) is that they all seem to make a loud pop when you activate them. I've tried adding a 1M pull-down resistor after the output capacitor, but that was not the game-changer I was expecting it to be. Do you guys also get that pop when activating your treble boosters?

Tried mine there today. I have two- a Websmurfer pretty straight clone (I think!) and and a Svaha Aqstics more involved one with switchable Ge/Si transistor, a bias knob and switchable input (I think!) caps to affect the tone. I wasn't getting any pops. Well... maybe a very slight one with the Websmurfer one, but I had my Fame Tube 5 (more or less a Champion 600) cranked pretty well up and the pop was still barely noticeable. No pop with the other one. By comparison my EHX Neo Clone makes a very obvious (more like obnoxious!) pop the first time you turn it on, even at low volume, and this was nowhere near as bad as that, even though the volume was way higher. EDIT: Just to be clear, I didn't built either of those myself. They may well have some kind of circuitry to avoid the pop! Maybe there's something fancier than the 1M pull-down resistor...

Thanks! I’ve also noticed that my LED fades off when I deactivate the circuit, so there may be an issue with capacitors charging/discharging. I’ll try to figure it out… sloooowly. 

Dave_Mc

Yorkie said:

Thanks! I’ve also noticed that my LED fades off when I deactivate the circuit, so there may be an issue with capacitors charging/discharging. I’ll try to figure it out… sloooowly. 

I wasn't looking out for it, but I didn't notice any fading of the LEDs either- I think they just went off with the footswitch. It does sound like there's something not quite right going on there. Good luck  

Yorkie

Dave_Mc said:

Yorkie said:

Thanks! I’ve also noticed that my LED fades off when I deactivate the circuit, so there may be an issue with capacitors charging/discharging. I’ll try to figure it out… sloooowly. 

I wasn't looking out for it, but I didn't notice any fading of the LEDs either- I think they just went off with the footswitch. It does sound like there's something not quite right going on there. Good luck  

Nah, the LED fades out because it's got a capacitor next to it – this is part of the protection circuit I've spotted in many other designs. I had a few options for wiring the LED and went for the one that needed fewer and shorter cables. 

The pop is actually mentioned on the Naga Viper manual (a very similar circuit, mine has a different transistor and a couple of the capacitors and pots are different too), so it might be difficult to avoid in this kind of circuit. I remember I put an extra resistor to try and address that, so I will start by removing that and see if it pops harder  

Or I could just build another one after I finish with the fuzz project I'm working on... maybe in time for Christmas!?   

Dave_Mc

Yorkie said:

Dave_Mc said:

Yorkie said:

Thanks! I’ve also noticed that my LED fades off when I deactivate the circuit, so there may be an issue with capacitors charging/discharging. I’ll try to figure it out… sloooowly. 

I wasn't looking out for it, but I didn't notice any fading of the LEDs either- I think they just went off with the footswitch. It does sound like there's something not quite right going on there. Good luck  

Nah, the LED fades out because it's got a capacitor next to it – this is part of the protection circuit I've spotted in many other designs. I had a few options for wiring the LED and went for the one that needed fewer and shorter cables. 

The pop is actually mentioned on the Naga Viper manual (a very similar circuit, mine has a different transistor and a couple of the capacitors and pots are different too), so it might be difficult to avoid in this kind of circuit. I remember I put an extra resistor to try and address that, so I will start by removing that and see if it pops harder  

Or I could just build another one after I finish with the fuzz project I'm working on... maybe in time for Christmas!?   

Oh ok, I guess that explains why the LED thing wasn't happening on mine!

Yeah that's worth a try (removing the resistor), just to see what happens. I think Svaha changed their treble booster to be more like a Naga Viper just after I got mine, lol, I have no idea if it's just the Naga Viper version which pops... I know mine don't, though mine are probably slightly closer to the original Rangemaster circuit than the Naga Viper.

Yorkie

Dave_Mc said:
Oh ok, I guess that explains why the LED thing wasn't happening on mine!

I'm in a bit of a quandary here.

If I were to decide it's a bug, I'd have to rewire the LED so it doesn't do it anymore.
But if it's a feature – and I must say I kind of like it! – I would have to add another capacitor so it does it when it's powering up as well  

Asperger problems, I guess.