Thumbs up for the peppermill

hilbi · April 11, 2005, 03:43:02 AM

Yesterday i built the ROG peppermill, just wanted to share my experiences. I really like this pedal, it is a very transparent low gain overdrive. It does exactly what the name implies, it peppers up your sound with a small edge to it. I love it!

A big thanks to the Guys of ROG!

One small question, what would a higher cap for the .0022 on the out put do? more highs or less highs?

I put in a .0027 cap, because that's what i had on stock.

B Tremblay · April 11, 2005, 06:51:42 AM

I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the circuit. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Substituting a larger cap for the 2n2 found in the lowpass filter at the output will roll off a bit more treble content. Specifically, the 2n7 rolls off at a 7.1kHz corner and the stock version rolls off at 8.8kHz.

Whether that difference is audible depends on the rest of your rig.

hilbi · April 11, 2005, 07:16:42 AM

ok thanks, maybe i put in a 2n2 , just to test.

I built the Blue Magic as well and since the designs have some similarities it is interesting to compare both pedals.

My conclusion is that i like both pedals, i like the peppermill for really lowgain overdrive and i like the blue magic for a medium overdrive. So i have them both in my rig.

OT: my rig basically is a fender stratocaster/telecaster in a fender hot rod deville amp.

Ge_Whiz · April 11, 2005, 07:23:33 AM

Darned right, Mr Hilbi. My Peppermill now goes everywhere with me, whenever I'm playing guitar. At our guitar club gigs, everyone plays through Roland Cube amps. I switch to 'clean', plug in the Peppermill and get the best tone. :twisted:

hilbi · April 11, 2005, 07:29:39 AM

also thanks for your advice ge_whiz, it was you who suggested me to build the peppermill for a transparant overdrive.

hilbi · April 11, 2005, 04:32:28 PM

i put in a ceramic 2n2 cap tonight, it adds a little more highs to the sound and it becomes a bit more transparant, so i like it.

bean · April 11, 2005, 08:22:32 PM

I built this one myself a couple of weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it. I did have some gate-type problems with soft picking but once I adjusted the trim pot correctly it went away. It is a sweet low overdriven sound, but a little bright for me, so I may try replacing the cap as suggested. Running it between the Mosfet Booster and Fat Boostered makes it sparkle!

hilbi · April 15, 2005, 02:13:19 AM

Yesterday i tried the peppermill with a gibson les paul standard.

Concusion: i don't like the peppermill with a HB pickup, it is very nasty overdrive then, even with lowest gain settings, is there a way to improve this?

With SC it sounds absolutely fabulous.

Noplasticrobots · June 27, 2006, 12:19:38 PM

I just breaded mine last night. I liked the way it sounds with humbuckers in a cheap SG copy. I need to get my tele up and running to try it with SCs.

I highly reccomend this build. My guitar sounds excellent and I'm playing with a 12 year old Park amp and the cheap SG mentioned above. The overdrive is perfect. ROG builds are simply the best.

The only "mod" I made was subbing in a 500k pot because I don't have any 250k. I guess I technically should raise the 100k resistor that goes to ground to a 180k or 220k to keep the sweep right, but it doesn't sound horrible the way it is.

Xavier · August 01, 2006, 10:27:43 AM

Hey I just built one too. I've used my Red Llama enclosure. Sounds very natural but slightly bright (I've used a 1n5 output cap while the stock value is 2n2), so I may come back to the stock value. Otherwise it does what it's supposed to: adding an edge to your sound. I can imagine country pickers would love this one.

As always, still have to try it at rehearsal volumes, but it respects the tone integrity impressively.

The Llama adds instant fatness and body to your sound, but the Peppermill is more neutral sounding. Gain available is scarce, so I'll try the 680R mosfet spurce resistor mod for more gain range.

It seems to be a compressor-friendly OD pedal, I have to put my OS/ROSS dual comp in front of it

Way better than the Odie !!! 1950B-worthy !!

Ge_Whiz · August 01, 2006, 02:35:37 PM

I'm still surprised to hear comments to the effect that 'gain is scarce' from the Peppermill. Mine adds more than enough boost. Also, as regards humbuckers - I've never had a problem with the HB tone, but try backing off the guitar volume somewhat.

oldrocker · August 01, 2006, 03:32:50 PM

I haven't heard a lot about the Peppermill until now. I'm going to have to look into that. Thanks.

hilbi · August 01, 2006, 04:03:04 PM

I think it is the best light od there is, don't expect big crunch, but just a small edge to your guitar signal.

Xavier · August 01, 2006, 05:45:52 PM

Quote from: Ge_Whiz on August 01, 2006, 02:35:37 PM
I'm still surprised to hear comments to the effect that 'gain is scarce' from the Peppermill. Mine adds more than enough boost. Also, as regards humbuckers - I've never had a problem with the HB tone, but try backing off the guitar volume somewhat.

I mean dirt. Obviously it has quite enough boost, but the dirt available is scarce. That's the way the pedal has been designed. This is not a complaint, just a statement.

Noplasticrobots · August 27, 2006, 10:44:48 AM

I've never had a problem with the amount of gain from the Peppermill. Then again, I don't play metal. I think the Peppermill is my favorite and most used pedal that I've built.

The only downside to it is that FETs are noisy (according to a Fetzer Valve discussion a while back) and at high volumes you can really hear it.

wampcat1 · August 27, 2006, 03:22:33 PM

Quote from: Xavier on August 01, 2006, 05:45:52 PM
Quote from: Ge_Whiz on August 01, 2006, 02:35:37 PM
I'm still surprised to hear comments to the effect that 'gain is scarce' from the Peppermill. Mine adds more than enough boost. Also, as regards humbuckers - I've never had a problem with the HB tone, but try backing off the guitar volume somewhat.

I mean dirt. Obviously it has quite enough boost, but the dirt available is scarce. That's the way the pedal has been designed. This is not a complaint, just a statement.

If you look at the schem ( http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Distortion_Overdrive/ROG%20Peppermill/peppermill.png ) I would change the 1uf to a 47uf off the j201 to get a bit more gain. At least, that's an easy way about going about it. It will probably add more bottom end too.

bw

markm · August 27, 2006, 03:50:13 PM

Check this thread for Peppermill mods

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=47870.0

B Tremblay · August 27, 2006, 04:12:07 PM

Quote from: wampcat1 on August 27, 2006, 03:22:33 PM
If you look at the schem ( http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Distortion_Overdrive/ROG%20Peppermill/peppermill.png ) I would change the 1uf to a 47uf off the j201 to get a bit more gain. At least, that's an easy way about going about it. It will probably add more bottom end too.

bw

Please don't serve the schematic from your site. It's just as easy to link to the official one, right?

mjones99 · August 27, 2006, 04:24:07 PM

changing a 1uf for a 47uf should change the freq response adding bass, as well as gain. You could go to something like a 4.7-10uf which should give a scoshe more gain without lowering the shelf of the bass reponse too awful much. Of course if you go with the 47uf you could also change the coupling cap to a lower value to compensate the response I think.

wampcat1 · August 27, 2006, 05:31:28 PM

Quote from: B Tremblay on August 27, 2006, 04:12:07 PM
Quote from: wampcat1 on August 27, 2006, 03:22:33 PM
If you look at the schem ( http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Distortion_Overdrive/ROG%20Peppermill/peppermill.png ) I would change the 1uf to a 47uf off the j201 to get a bit more gain. At least, that's an easy way about going about it. It will probably add more bottom end too.

bw

Please don't serve the schematic from your site. It's just as easy to link to the official one, right?

...sending you a pm...

News:

Thumbs up for the peppermill