Dr. Boogey clips - here you go

[Bucksears]

Don't laugh as I had a bit of 'stage fright' since I knew I was recording and knew that I'd be posting the clips to you guys. It's embarassing listening to how sloppy my playing is; I'd forgotten how tedious recording can be.
Both clips were recorded with my Ibanez Artist AR700 (Jap) w/Duncan '59s, into my Super Reverb reissue. EQ on the SRRI was set to 5 on treble and mid (25k pot on mid), 4 on bass, volume was on 2; all of this recorded with a Shure SM57 going into a Presonus Firebox. Wearing a grey 'MGM Grand' t-shirt, olive green shorts, no socks, no shoes. AC is set at 75deg inside. Not raining outside.

http://www.4thlevelmedia.com/DrBoogeyHalfGain.wav
This clip has the gain at 50%, treble at about 60-65%, bass at 70%, mids at 50%, presence at 0%.

http://www.4thlevelmedia.com/DrBoogeyFullGain.wav
This clip has the gain at 100%, treble at 75%, bass at 100%, mids at 0%, presence at 0%.

The biggest difference I can hear between the two settings on the Dr. Boogey (that you can't hear as well in the clips) is that with the gain maxed, it stops adding distortion and starts adding compression once you reach 75-80% of the way up. WARNING: The first clips is around 2MB and the second is around 3.5-4MB, so you dial-up users should go get some lunch while you wait.
Enjoy.

[Alex C]

Those sound really great, thanks!  I've been wanting more clips of this for a while. 

It sounds like it does a good "palm-mute chug," which is something I haven't found in most high-gain DIY distortions (not including the BSAIB II). 

I'll be looking into this.  Thanks for sharing!

-Alex

[Bucksears]

A co-worker of mine is a bass player in a local band and gave me some good recommendations for mic placement, so I'll try those tomorrow night and see if there's a difference. The sound in those clips is more midrangey than in reality, so I'd like to capture the TRUE sound as close as possible.
- Buck

[RDV]

How in the world do you stop the mid pot from squealing in those things?

I finally got mine working pretty well tonight by putting the original DB values back in, but I still get oscillation at anything over 25% on the mid pot regardless of how the other knobs are set.

It would be the perfect high-gain pedal without that quirk.

RDV

[Bucksears]

RDV,
Dude, I don't know. Using an MPF102 for Q1 is the biggest thing I've done that keeps the noise down and the gain up to 'Rectifier' levels. I had that problem I think the first time I put it in a case, but not since then.

I've rewired this thing at least five times now; from the first build outside of a case, to the final build now, inside the case. In between there, I changed a few part values to match the 'Dual Rectifier specs' that the guy from OLCircuits uses; I didn't like them so I went back to the stock Dr. Boogey values. This last time, I took my time and cut all wires to almost exact lengths before soldering. The only real 'mod' I've done, and I'm only saying that because it deviates from the schematic, is that I removed the .001uF cap (1nF) between the trimpots on Q2 & 3 (I think those are the ones). Electrictabs recommended this a long time ago, and this is how I had it set up most of the time. That's it.
It's a finicky device that is VERY sensitive to outside noise (which is why I now have to invest in a flat-panel LCD to replace my VGA monitor), but man, I don't have anything else like it.
The other high gain boxes I've built (Big Muff, BSIAB II & May Queen) have been remarkably quiet.

- Buck

[mydementia]

Ricky,
I'm not the best builder here by any means...but my Dr. Boogie works GREAT!!  I used J201's throughout and get excellent recto gain - no squeeling anywhere in any of the dials.  Might be time to cut bait and rebuild...
Once I get all the new builds off my bench (Nelson's Orange Graphic PCB/Vero anyone?), I'm going to rebuild my BSIABII and Thunderchief from Torchy's vero layouts (I've never been happy with the sound of either...but you guys all seem to love them!). 

Just my 2-cents.
Mike

[Bucksears]

mydementia,
I may have to try a J201 in the Q1 spot again; I just remember that it has SO much gain that way that I had to tame it down some. I wasn't terribly happy with the Thunderchief build, but you're right; some folks seem to love them. I'm more than happy with the hot Marshall sounds out of my BSIAB II right now.
Did you finish with the Orange Graphic sim? How does it sound? One reviewer mentioned that it's a little fuzzy a la Big Muff, which kinda turned me off as I'm not much of a fuzz guy and like tubey distortion more.

- Buck

[mydementia]

Haven't tried the Orange sim yet...I've been sidetracked by a flurry of vero projects (just discovered Torchy's archive at Indyguitarist).  MartyMart seems to like it (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=45112.0) and I tend to agree with his JFET Emu tastes (except the JCM800...too brittle/shrill for my ears - but fits that certain 80's hair metal/Nigel Tufnel 'goes to 11' niche...).

I was hoping in the couple months of my being sidetracked that someone would make a nice vero or PCB layout for the stand-alone version of this beastie... Paul did provide this: http://cordova.asap.um.maine.edu/~raymondj/imagehost/stereoamp.pdf but I haven't been able to make a 1:1 correlation to the schematic...

I'll have a go at a PCB layout using banika's tool as soon as I get some time...sure wish I thougth in vero - it's so easy!
Mike

[RDV]

What value did you guys use for the presence pot? I used 100k, but I've also seen 25k.

I did a lot of work last night changing the values back to the Dr. Boogie values which made it sound really good. It's just that I can't turn the mid pot up much before I get that squeal. I'm gonna trim my wires tonight to the exact length needed to box it up and see what that does.

RDV

[Bucksears]

I think I used 100k for Presence. I'll try all J201s tonight and see if there is any difference.

- Buck

[mydementia]

I built from Buck's layout here:


Used a 25kB for the Mid and a 250kA for the Treb.  No other subs...

I had two boards made when I did my first boogie - I'm going ot build my second one (for my other practice space) this summer... hopefully I'll be lucky twice!

Good luck with yours.
Mike

[RDV]

I used the layout Gringo did. I wonder if there's a difference as far as the noise factor.

RDV

[Bucksears]

I used the layout Gringo did. I wonder if there's a difference as far as the noise factor.

I can't attest to my layout being quieter than another, I just know that I laid everything out the best I could and tried to keep it as close together as I could. If I had to do it over again (and I probably won't), I'd space everything out a little more to make it less susceptible to noise. I THINK it was Gringo's layout that I used for the English Channel, but can't be sure.

- Buck

[RDV]

I used Gringo's because that's the layout the person who made the PCB used. They look pretty similar except gringo's has more ground points.

I need to get off my big butt and start etching my own PCBs!

RDV

[RDV]

I just noticed that gringo left out the 5nF from the power rail to ground. I'm going to add it and post the results, if any.

I put it back in the case and the output went down and it started that confounded whistling again, but I believe I've found the culprit. It seems to be the treble pot being pulled all the way across the circuit cause I wanted it in a certain place. Phooey!

I'll be back.

RDV

[RDV]

A-HA!!

That was it!

Anybody that bought a PCB from OLcircuits for the DB before he pulled them and is having a problem, there was a 5nF from the 9v to ground by the second FET that was left out of gringo's layout that apparently is real important!

I used a .0047µF that I soldered to the rail and then to ground. I can now turn up all the knobs all the way with no SQUEAL.

I'm happy for the 1st time in days dude.

I apologise for hijacking your thread Bucksears but this was driving me crazy!

I came home from work yesterday in my hot van only to find a hot house. My air had gone out during the day and it was 95 out. They told me my air's shot and I was bummin' but this makes my day. I've been working on this for a week at least.

COOL.

RDV

[Bucksears]

Man, no apology necessary. I'm glad you got it working. I'll do some clips of the May Queen and Big Muff next.

- Buck

[powerplayj]

Thanks for the clips.  (and thanks for the PCB and layout as well)  To me, this pedal really shines with a Strat.  Maybe it's just Mesa Boogie's in general but the shimmer just accentuates the tone of a Strat.  It's not bad with a LP but can sometimes sound indistinguishable from my other distortion pedals.

I can't decide between the J201 and the MPF102.  I love the fact that the MPF102 eliminates the noise but I wish it had just a tad more gain back.  The J201 is definitely more noisy and I find that I only need 75% of the gain on hand.  Is there a low noise option between the J201 and MPF102?  Where would the 2N5457 fall?

Thanks,

Jason

[RDV]

Lots of people are using Mpf102 at Q1. This includes me. I think some have also tried one at Q2 also. I tried all Mpf102 at 1st but thought it lacked some volume like that. I also used a 500k gain pot instead of 1meg because I want to try it with my Marshall and I run the amp with some front end gain in the 1st place so I'm hoping to keep things from getting mushy. With the 500k gain pot I seem to be able to dial in some lower gain tube amp type tones. More testing will take place tomorrow.

RDV

[powerplayj]

Tried the  2N5457 and it is the perfect compromise between the J201 and MPF102.  Unfortunately it is quite noisy like the J201.  Although the MPF102 is much quiter, something about the way it effects the EQ annoys me.  It seems to take away the bass and makes the eq less responsive.  To me, the J201 and 2N5457 are more noisy but retain that mid scoop a bit better.