Clean/Dirty boost build

[pkenney]

Hi! I'm new to the forum. Excited about diving in more. I have modded a few pedals (overdrives) and wanted to start trying to build some pedals. Just seems like it would be a lot of fun and hard work! I have a question about my first build that I couldn't find an answer to when searching.

My first build I want to try is essentially a more transparent Micro Amp circuit that has a toggle to switch from a straight clean boost and a dirty boost (choosing Micro Amp because of the op amp option). The dirty boost I want to be a soft clipping stage (so off of the op amp, no?) with a simple symmetrical clipping. The idea of the dirty side would be to act a lot like the Lovepedal Amp 50 except more transparent. The idea of the pedal is that I can either just use it as a simple clean boost or as a low gain boost either before or after an overdrive pedal for a more natural gain push.

My question is how to attack this. I would just get the micro amp schematic and build it on breadboard most likely so that I can easily experiment with how to get the toggled dirty side wired in properly. Is it possible to toggle a soft clipping stage off of the op amp like a traditional overdrive in a micro amp circuit? My other option would be to build a micro amp with a distortion plus clipping at the end that can be toggled in and out, but I would much rather have soft clipping than hard clipping.

Thanks!

[ashcat_lt]

My most recent build does what you describe and a little bit more.

[pkenney]

Appreciate it, Ashcat! Good to see that in schematic form!