Ruby Amp with Bass and Treble controls!!

[Burton]

I'm new to electronics and I've been browsing hundreds of schems and layouts trying to get a better understanding of things, and with a lot of help from this forum, I think I came up with an original idea.  I like the Ruby amp and plan on building one in the future beacuse of its simple but great features.  I was also browsing the "schmatics & layouts" of this forum and noticed a treble/bass control schem made by Aron.  Assuming my layout  is correct (because I have absolutely NO experience designing layouts from schems) here:


would the following mod work to add treble/bass controls to the Ruby?:


If it would work, I'd like build each cicuit seperate to get experience and a better understanding of how each works, and then connect them together with a wire or 2 (as show in the second picture).  If anything is confusing, please ask.  All help is appreciated, thanks!!

By the way- if this, or something similar, has already been done, please let me know.  As far as I know, It has not been done as of now.

<edit> If the modifcation is not as simple as this (but hopefully this will work) then where would the treb/bass circuit connect to the Ruby?

[B Tremblay]

The tonestack cannot be placed at the output.  It needs to be added before the circuit input.  Also, I recommend added a small gain stage before the tonestack, since you'll lose some signal there.  So the complete project would be, from guitar to speaker:

guitar - small gain stage - your tonestack - Ruby - speaker

You can use the NPN Boost Beginner's project for the gain stage.

[Burton]

The tonestack cannot be placed at the output.  It needs to be added before the circuit input.  Also, I recommend added a small gain stage before the tonestack, since you'll lose some signal there.  So the complete project would be, from guitar to speaker:

guitar - small gain stage - your tonestack - Ruby - speaker

You can use the NPN Boost Beginner's project for the gain stage.

oh nice!! all three projects I'm looking forward to in one big project! sweet! so how would I wire these together? ins to outs and outs to ins,  with a 1/4 stereo in on the small gain stage and a 1/4 mono out on the ruby? and would I need 2 9v batteries then (one for the booster and one for the Ruby? I plan on putting all of this in one cabinet or enclosure)? This is like a very complex lego set or something.. I dig it!

by the way, if you're wondering why I'm so excited, it's because I haven't really built anything electronic yet and it looks like theres a huge journey awaiting me.

<edit> Would the 5k pot on the boost act similar to a master volume control?  (The questions keep on coming.. I hope somebody can answer them all!!)

[Burton]

cmon.. nobody knows?? there arent that many questions.  a little help, please.. 

[B Tremblay]

ins to outs and outs to ins,  with a 1/4 stereo in on the small gain stage and a 1/4 mono out on the ruby?

Yes.

would I need 2 9v batteries then

No, but using 6 AA batteries may be a wise choice.  They'll still be providing 9v, but will last longer than the single 9v battery.

Would the 5k pot on the boost act similar to a master volume control?

No, more like a gain control.  The 10k pot in the Ruby would be the main Volume control.

[Burton]

6AA batteries providing 9 volts... The thing is, the booster requires 9 volts and the Ruby requires 9 volts.. So how would I go about wiring this up? Looks like there will have to be a bit more modification than I expected... That's okay!

Also, I was thinking about it a bit more and this dilemma arose. I'm pretty confused about grounding.  Normally, you would have to ground the sleeve of an output jack and the sleeve of an input jack, but in this circuit I will be connecting the output of the booster directly to the input of the tonestack (with one wire I assume)... so do I have to ground either one of them?  The same applies for the tonestack to the Ruby... and if there is no input jack to be grounded for the tonestack or the Ruby, then where do I ground the parts that have to be grounded?  I think I've answered this question myself... As long as I put everything in the right order, I guess I can put all three circuits on one circuit board, linking the outputs to inputs with one wire each.  Then I will have to find a central ground... Correct?
<edit> so I would just ground the main input, ground the main output, then ground everything inbetween(that requires grounding), right?

[B Tremblay]

A single AA battery provides 1.5 volts.  Six of them in series will provide 9v.  Both booster and amp can share that 9v supply.

Connect all the ground points, except the negative lead of the battery, which will be connected to the ring lug of a stereo input jack to provide power switching when a cable is inserted.

I do recommend that you start out with a simpler project as your first build.  The circuit that we're discussing may be less confusing and stressful if you have a bit more experience.  I understand that you're excited to dive right in, but it seems that you're still getting familiar with the fundamentals.

[Burton]

A single AA battery provides 1.5 volts.  Six of them in series will provide 9v.  Both booster and amp can share that 9v supply.

Connect all the ground points, except the negative lead of the battery, which will be connected to the ring lug of a stereo input jack to provide power switching when a cable is inserted.

I do recommend that you start out with a simpler project as your first build.  The circuit that we're discussing may be less confusing and stressful if you have a bit more experience.  I understand that you're excited to dive right in, but it seems that you're still getting familiar with the fundamentals.

I appreciate your concern and all of your help, but I think I'll be able to handle it.  I'm a pretty fast learner.  Each of these projects is fairly simple, so I think I'm going to assemble each project seperately (but on the same perfboard) then connect them all together, make the proper mods, etc.  I'm taking them schems and layouts for each one and creating a combined layout right now.  It's taking longer than I thought, but it's helping me learn by analyzing each and every component and connection.  I'll post the layout when I'm done, so hopefully an experienced DIYr can verify it...  And if it doesn't work.. then more experience comes as I troubleshoot and get it to work.  And if it still doesn't work.. I guess you could say "I told you so!!!"  But seriously, I appreciate everyones help thus far.  This place is awesome!

[Burton]

Heres a much cleaner updated version.. it's not completed yet, but you may be able to tell that there is a booster and a treble/bass control layed out.  The Ruby part is soon to come, but its 3AM and I've got to go to sleep.  I hope everything is correct...Please let me know if there are mistakes.

[Burton]

so does anybody know if this would work? ^^^

[AzzR]

If your interested in having a mid pot aswell look at the fender 3 knob tone stack in the schematics and layouts section