EHX vs. MXR hot tubes

[Frances Rhodes]

hey y'all

i was going through some schematics and stumbled upon the EHX and MXR hot tubes.
i'm really not sure but i feel like i saw once a version of the EHX HT using only 3 stages of the 4049 chip, but can't seem to find that schematic any longer.
here is the schematic i found for the EHX http://www.muzique.com/schem/hottube.gif
and i was thinking of building both in the same unit sharing the same 4049, so, since the MXR circuit uses only 3 stages of the 4049, i was wondering if the circuit of the EHX could be modded to save 1 inverter, and move the tone switch between the tone stack (parallel to the .22u cap and 430k resistor array) and the last inverter stage.
i know people say that EHX never used to waste a single component and everything is there for a good reason, so my question is, can this be done or will it cause noise, popping, or any other thing we don't want?

cheers

[Mark Hammer]

There IS no MXR Hot Tubes.  A schematic was mislabelled as such in the late 1990's and has remained mislabelled and reposted all these years.

This should serve as a cautionary tale to all those folks with drunken party pics on their Facebook account: stupid stuff lasts a loooonnnngggg time on the internet.  I'm sure someone 20 years from now is going to be asking their friend "Who is Anthony Weiner and why do you have a picture of his penis?".

[vigilante397]

If you find the schematic (or do your own) only using three stages of the 4049 I see no reason you couldn't use a single IC for both circuits. That being said, I've tried the EHX Hot Tubes on a variety of amps and with a variety of guitars and was very underwhelmed by the sound it produced.

[DavidRavenMoon]

The EHX, as well as the Way Huge Red Llama are based on Craig Anderton's Tube Sound Fuzz. That used two stages, but also originally had a 741 op amp driving it. That was removed in the later revision.

Look up that circuit.


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[blackieNYC]

And Mark Hammers Forty Niner is the very pinnacle of 4049 distortions! With the Anderson frequency booster - fixed wah.

[Mark Hammer]

If you find the schematic (or do your own) only using three stages of the 4049 I see no reason you couldn't use a single IC for both circuits. That being said, I've tried the EHX Hot Tubes on a variety of amps and with a variety of guitars and was very underwhelmed by the sound it produced.

There are amps that yield smooth sustain when pushed hard, but they are deliberately designed to do that.  And there are amps that yield something that can only be called grunt when pushed hard or dimed.  The Hot Tubes is really intended to mimic the second type rather than the first.  I've had one (well, a clone) since the late 70's.  It is what it is, and I would best describe it as well-suited to Keith Richards "chunk" and ill-suited to Carlos Santana or Joe Satriani sustain.

[Frances Rhodes]

well, good to know there is no MXR hot tubes.
actually, now that i know this, i see there is no (close to) difference between the two circuits besides the tone section missing on the so called mxr circuit, silly me 

then i'll definitely look into the tube sound fuzz, if it uses only 2 inverters, then i don't have to change the circuit.
but i'm still curious about that setup though.

thanks a lot guys for answering!

[thermionix]

There IS no MXR Hot Tubes.  A schematic was mislabelled as such in the late 1990's and has remained mislabelled and reposted all these years.

This should serve as a cautionary tale to all those folks with drunken party pics on their Facebook account: stupid stuff lasts a loooonnnngggg time on the internet.  I'm sure someone 20 years from now is going to be asking their friend "Who is Anthony Weiner and why do you have a picture of his penis?".

LOL I recently built a Rat clone and was thinking it would be appropriate to put Anthony Weiner's rat-like face on it and call it the Carlos Danger.

[Plexi]

I'm starting with the layout of effectslayoutblog.
What about that 2M pot ?? 

[Mark Hammer]

The most desirable tones from the thing really come from the first 1M, so I wouldn't fret too much over use of a 2M pot. 

[Plexi]

You're right Mark
I'll try with 1M