Green Ringer Lowpass Filter Mod: a fresher, cleaner octave

[Supernaut_]

Just wanted to report back that I finally finished my Green Ringer build and I'm digging it very much. Thanks for all the help and mod suggestions, they are very much appreciated!

Cheers!

[Steben]

The focus on octave rather than fuzz really attracts me.... i see you are satisfied. Have you tested it in combination with dirt stuff?

[Supernaut_]

In my opinion the Green Ringer works best when combined with some sort of dirt, it's not really a standalone effect as such. The main attraction of the Green Ringer for me was the ability to use it with any overdrive and fuzz pedal I have. There are probably better octave effects out there from a technical point of view but I found the early 1970's design appropriate for my vintage oriented pedalboard.

[Mark Hammer]

Octaves produced by rectifying the input signal really only become clearly audible once the harmonic haze of the pick attack has died down.  But, as noted in earlier posts, by that point the overall signal level has also dropped.  The diode pair one finds near the output on many good analog octave-up units holds the volume level constant such that the octave seems to "bloom".

One of the things that a fuzz or other drive pedal will do, if placed ahead of an octave-up, is hold its output level constant, hence hold the octave pedal's input level fairly constant (because that's what fuzz pedals do).  True, drive pedals will feed the octave-up pedal with more harmonic content than it might normally receive from a clean guitar, but most drive pedals will also include some lowpass filtering in them to eliminate the frizz that would otherwise be exaggerated by the octave-up pedal.

In past, I have described a "D-Scrambler" pedal I made that packs a heavily modified Distortion+/DOD250 circuit along with an Ampeg Scrambler, into the same package, such that one switch stomp gets you both at once.  The drive circuit provides the "front end" for the Scrambler, and not only permits one to adjust how hard the Scrambler is being pushed, but also trims back the treble, and allows for harder drive settings to provide a more sustained note fundamental.  In a sense, what a diode pair on the output is doing for many other octave-up units, is being done by a diode pair on the input, via the added Dist+/DOD250 circuit.  I'm able to get octaves whose duration I can vary, by tweaking the drive and output volume levels of the front end.

Now that I think of it, I'll wager that a single op-amp drive stage, similar to the Tube Screamer would improve the octaving in many units.  For instance, take Gus Smalley's Octave-Up Sick box.  His op-amp input stage provides a maximum gain of roughly 370x.  Why not stick some back-to-back diodes and a small cap (let's say 680pf) in the feedback loop of that input gain stage, and follow it with a unity-gain op-amp stage, which then feeds the inverting op-amp stage to provide two complementary paths, whose half-cycle is cut by the germanium diode. I bet that would yield a nice sustaining octave.  With the volume held constant at the front end, I suspect the 2+2 diode string near the output would not be needed.

[Steben]

Octaves produced by rectifying the input signal really only become clearly audible once the harmonic haze of the pick attack has died down.  But, as noted in earlier posts, by that point the overall signal level has also dropped.  The diode pair one finds near the output on many good analog octave-up units holds the volume level constant such that the octave seems to "bloom".

One of the things that a fuzz or other drive pedal will do, if placed ahead of an octave-up, is hold its output level constant, hence hold the octave pedal's input level fairly constant (because that's what fuzz pedals do).  True, drive pedals will feed the octave-up pedal with more harmonic content than it might normally receive from a clean guitar, but most drive pedals will also include some lowpass filtering in them to eliminate the frizz that would otherwise be exaggerated by the octave-up pedal.

In past, I have described a "D-Scrambler" pedal I made that packs a heavily modified Distortion+/DOD250 circuit along with an Ampeg Scrambler, into the same package, such that one switch stomp gets you both at once.  The drive circuit provides the "front end" for the Scrambler, and not only permits one to adjust how hard the Scrambler is being pushed, but also trims back the treble, and allows for harder drive settings to provide a more sustained note fundamental.  In a sense, what a diode pair on the output is doing for many other octave-up units, is being done by a diode pair on the input, via the added Dist+/DOD250 circuit.  I'm able to get octaves whose duration I can vary, by tweaking the drive and output volume levels of the front end.

Now that I think of it, I'll wager that a single op-amp drive stage, similar to the Tube Screamer would improve the octaving in many units.

I think that's a great idea. But it needs to be the first effect after guitar I guess, because any amplification in front of a TS style ruins the dynamic cut.
And what about a compressor?

One of the ideas that run through my head is a combo pedal of a green ringer and a boost but perhaps a compressor is even greater.
I though of boost because of larger signal which would lower the detector treshold/signal ratio.

(only) Slightly on topic