My latest Overdrive: Tubular Belle 2

[Michael Weidenauer]

I proudly present the latest version of my Fetzer-Valve based overdrive:
   

[jacobyjd]

This thread is useless without sound clips 

[Cliff Schecht]

You should also look into replacing all of those resistor strings (Q3, Q4 source resistors, Q5 and Q2 drain) with single equivalent values. You can buy 560 Ohm, 680 Ohm, 18k and 1.3k resistors for literally pennies per resistor on Mouser or Digikey.. You could always look at 1% parts as well (no real price difference for better resistors).

[MarcoMike]

anyway, the name you came out with is great!!!

does it sound like Mike Oldfield?

[Michael Weidenauer]

You should also look into replacing all of those resistor strings (Q3, Q4 source resistors, Q5 and Q2 drain) with single equivalent values. You can buy 560 Ohm, 680 Ohm, 18k and 1.3k resistors for literally pennies per resistor on Mouser or Digikey.. You could always look at 1% parts as well (no real price difference for better resistors).

I was using what I had at home and that's the standard values (mostly 1% metal-film) that I buy in packs of hundred from time to time. Sure it's nice to have the in between values, but I don't want to run to a shop every time I need a special resistor
(just to hear the value I need is sold out).
Also many parts I use (~half of the caps) are from old broken machines, no need to buy, buy and buy

anyway, the name you came out with is great!!!

does it sound like Mike Oldfield?

No not at all, as far as I know M.O. was a direct into the mixing desk player, sometimes using a fuzz-box in between.
The pedal sounds very tuby (tubular) and beautiful (belle), that's the name.
Compared to the BOR it sounds not so grainy with less intermodulation. You could say if the BOR was a Marshall then the Tubular Belle was a Boogie although in some Turbo-Modes the sound can be very similar (just better ).

I'm currently working on sound clips.

[Michael Weidenauer]

Sorry that it took such a long time for the soundclips - I had problems with uploading the file.

Now here's the link to the demo:
http://drop.io/tbelledemo

The setup was a hardtail Strat with Texas-Special PUs into the Tubular Belle into a TL071 preamp into the soundcard into clean Twin Reverb sim of Amplitube (Sorry for the funky playing, I had too much coffee that day ).

-0:12   bypassed effect
-0:48   medium gain
-1:04   gain 1/3 (to demonstrate clean/crunch change with pick attack)
-1:36   full gain
-end    full gain, turbo mode 6

[connie_c]

Sounds great, really great. Very like Rory Gallagher's live tone at the beginning. Anymore info for the likes of me (newbie) perhaps a layout?

[Michael Weidenauer]

Sounds great, really great. Very like Rory Gallagher's live tone at the beginning. Anymore info for the likes of me (newbie) perhaps a layout?

Yes, specially with the lo-cut turned up it sounds very Rory-like (I had the same thought when I first fired it up).
Thanks for the "great, really great" - in front of my real amp (modded Twin Reverb) it sounds even better.

Sorry I don't have any layout cause I'm a spontanous perf/vero builder, but the soldering part is quite easy (I'd recomend 7 or 8 stripes of vero). Most of the time building it goes in the selection of the right FETs and the matching drain/source-resistors (I recomend breadboarding and tweaking each stage before soldering it to the board). As I already said on the schem.: Read the Fetzer-Valve article first.

[Morocotopo]

Michael, great project and great sounds. I suppose that with humbuckers you´ll get more OD/less headroom.
One little thing: the schem would be clearer for everyone else if you draw the switches in "schematic" form, rather than the actual physical one, because one could have doubts about wich switch leg connects with wich other one. Anyway, thanks for sharing. Looks like something I´d like to build.

[connie_c]

Could you repost the schematic?

I want to look at this again. Might try building it.

[Michael Weidenauer]

So here's the schematic again:

[connie_c]

Thanks. Ill save it this time!