Tube Cricket Vero Layout

[duck_arse]

bams, C4, C12, C14 don't have their connections showing. you might need to fiddle their transparency level to show the legs.

are all your cuts showing?

if you are up to optimising yet, shift the long blue link at "S" left 5 holes, and the whole lower right section can move left by 5 or 6 holes. there are others .....

[bamslam69]

Thanks, Ducks_arse.
Yeah cool, transparency will be fixed.
I'm pretty sure I've got all the cuts right, but as the old saying goes "Measure twice - cut once". I'll double check it tonight
Yes, I was cramming it all in. There's definitely room to shuffle the ic power stage.
I'll also mark it as "Not Verified", and clean up the whole jpeg so there's not so much zooming to do.

One thing I noticed was I couldn't get this to bias properly. I'm running a 12AT7 tube. 12V Power supply is from an old external Hard drive. Voltage at Bias Point 3 is measuring about 11.4V, but at the bias points I could only get it to drop to about 10.5v.
Would adding more resistance between Vcc & both trimpots be the way to go?

edit: clearing up my question.

[bamslam69]

Finally worked out how to post pics.
Apologies that it's soooo big.

[duck_arse]

you can add resistance on top, or reduce resistance underneath, to increase current. try reducing R7 and R11.

[bamslam69]

you can add resistance on top, or reduce resistance underneath, to increase current. try reducing R7 and R11.

Thanks mate.
Already soldered the board together today.
There's one or two mistakes in there - a missing cut.
Glad I added "unverified".
I just need to find the right box for it, and I'll repost the final work, with photos.

[lefos21]

bamslam69 can you please tell me the corrections for the final layout?

[bamslam69]

Hi Lefos,
I have a mate building a box for it so the tube cricket is still in pieces.
The board has been soldered, but I'll post it once it's complete and functioning. It worked okay on the breadboard, but as per ducks arse's comment I may need to add/decrease some resistance values for the biasing.

My mate has been sending me photos of the build, and I can't wait to put it together - the wood is from a Tasmanian myrtle burl.
Honestly, the tube cricket may need to be replaced in future for something more worthy.

[bamslam69]

Finally finished my Tube cricket.
It's boxed up and running. I promise I'll ATTEMPT to post pics tonight (and hopefully a vid).
I'll also repost my "verified" Vero layout. (there is a missing cut). It was based on the Beavis Audio/OLC schematic rev 1.05 2007. Google for the schematic image.
(I say "verified" because I class myself a bit of a noob with this stuff - but it's as per the schematic)

I've never biased tubes before, but I noticed when using 12AT7, only the first trimpot works (lowest reading it gets is 9V), but with the 12AU7, the second trimpot works (lowest reading is 7v)!

Sound test, it sounds pretty damn cool.
Another thing is the tone pot seems to do SFA - and I REALLY need to change the strings on my SG.

[williamluke]

Finally finished my Tube cricket.
It's boxed up and running. I promise I'll ATTEMPT to post pics tonight (and hopefully a vid).
I'll also repost my "verified" Vero layout. (there is a missing cut). It was based on the Beavis Audio/OLC schematic rev 1.05 2007. Google for the schematic image.
(I say "verified" because I class myself a bit of a noob with this stuff - but it's as per the schematic)

I've never biased tubes before, but I noticed when using 12AT7, only the first trimpot works (lowest reading it gets is 9V), but with the 12AU7, the second trimpot works (lowest reading is 7v)!

Sound test, it sounds pretty damn cool.
Another thing is the tone pot seems to do SFA - and I REALLY need to change the strings on my SG.

Thanks a lot for the vero layout. I am very inexperienced but I wanted to build something like this and this was perfect for the sound I was trying to accomplish. I figured the tone and gain pots out by comparing them to the schematic and it's fully functional with a couple of cuts and my own moving around according to the schematic. I used a 12AU7 for the tube and decided to omit the 10uf electro caps where mentioned in the OP and used PIO caps for the volume and tone. The JRC386Ds make it a bit more distorted than I expected but it's a great sounding circuit. Even though I tried to add a buffer before the input, I'm confident it doesn't need any buffing (at least at that stage). I'll try some LM386s before I box it up tonight (hopefully). If you have any questions feel free.

[bamslam69]

Thanks a lot for the vero layout. I am very inexperienced but I wanted to build something like this and this was perfect for the sound I was trying to accomplish. I figured the tone and gain pots out by comparing them to the schematic and it's fully functional with a couple of cuts and my own moving around according to the schematic. I used a 12AU7 for the tube and decided to omit the 10uf electro caps where mentioned in the OP and used PIO caps for the volume and tone. The JRC386Ds make it a bit more distorted than I expected but it's a great sounding circuit. Even though I tried to add a buffer before the input, I'm confident it doesn't need any buffing (at least at that stage). I'll try some LM386s before I box it up tonight (hopefully). If you have any questions feel free.

Glad it helped - You sound like you've got your head around it more than me. LOL.
And I still have to figure out the tone pot.
Here's the pics from the picture page. Hope the link works.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.msg1089117#msg1089117
post #27083

[williamluke]

And I still have to figure out the tone pot.

Thanks for the vote of confidence... I'm a scholar.
but I think your tone issue is with a missing cut on row D, in between columns Q & V where your 2 tone capacitors and the 2nd trim pot aren't supposed to be touching. As far as my memory serves, the only other issue on the vero layout is that the lead line to Drive 1 should go to Drive 2 instead... I actually built one, then built another with a few changes to the layout (C1 between R2 & R3 and basically moved R10 and C9 down by 1 hole plus PIO caps for giggles) but I'm not sure if any of this makes a diff.

Trust me. The hardest part of it all was trying to stuff components in a 1590BB (120mm x 94mm x 33mm) enclosure and drill holes... I made many compromises so everything is placed in the only place it could fit and I still couldn't put everything (switches, even the tube (JJ Electronics gold pin, just to play it safe) I had planned inside. It took 2 weeks of mostly deciding on things and testing out different components but it's mostly at original specs. I still have to paint it I guess.


Tone, Vol, Gain


Mono & Stereo Outputs, Neutrik Mono XLR Combo Jack Input



Did you ever get the tubes to bias? I haven't really tried (as far as understanding) yet but I figured I could just get 250K trim pots to fix it.
I have to say I seen your build and it's very nice. I was also trying to see what VCC was for because it was keeping me from finishing the first board I made. Then I took the leap and connected it to nothing and it worked just fine. It's been a lot of fun so thanks for saving me a lot of work. I always thought the JRC/LM386 IC would be a perfect fit for a tube and it turned out fine. Peace, and thanks for replying.

[williamluke]

Oh, and here are the guts...

[bamslam69]

Nice work William. Tidy box.
Re: VCC, go back to the first page. It's listed on the schematic - I would've added it to the veroboard as a reference point for my multimeter, if anything.

Thanks for the tip on the tone issue - Pretty sure I went through checking that vero out with the schematic, but it's worth looking over.
I still have to fix up some shielding issues - it's working like a theramin when I go to adjust the pots. LOL.

Glad to help. It was a fun project, working with the DIYLC program.... fiddly, but rewarding.

[williamluke]

Haha. You should look up how a theremin works to reverse engineer it or something. I had the same issue once but it must've been a component touching another in an inappropriate manner. It could definitely be the gain pot, if I'm not mistaken.
I hope you finish your layout. I'm not rushing you at all but I can remake it with my changes if you need me to.

[Badpaw]

I know it's been ages but does anyone have a verified layout for the Tube Cricket...I would LOVE to make one. HEEEELP!

[Valleyslad]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but is there now a verified layout for this?

[GibsonGM]

Sorry, don't know - but this one would make a great point-to-point build on terminal strips, just working from the schematic.    The last stage with the 386 would be all that one needs a small piece of perfboard for.   Just offering encouragement