Something For Everyone

[BodomHatecrew666]

Hey guys, well i have been thinking alot about the effects of the common parts in the distortion pedals and other effects pedals i was wondering if there is a list that compares the parts and lists the characteristcs of each and how even if subtle the change in sound or tone of replacement parts would be (more dist, cleaner sound, more bass,higher output ect.. if no such comparison list or chart exists i would like to get some help in creating such a list for everyones reffrence i would like to include Diodes, transistors , the different types of amps (OP, CMOS, FET), capasitors. But since I dont have alot of personal exp. with effects pedals i would need alot of input from others who have the know how of trial and error so some of us dont have to and any known replacements to get a diff sound if you choose to participate and help me and others and all DIYers  please list the model #'s the type and the description , maby your rating of the quality of product and sound and any personal experience you may have of replacements that may make it more to our likeing or maby didnt work.
well i will need a lot of help so unless there is a chart already your assistance would be very much appreciated by me and others..
Example:

Model #/ Type / Description    /  rating/  exact replacements / various replacements and the diff effect they may have on sound. also there application most used in..
Thanx to anyone that contributes there personal know how.

(please excuse the spelling mistakes)

[R.G.]

...sigh...

It's near impossible to get any two people to agree on what sounds good, let alone which parts sound good.

Oh, there are people who will tell you that Von Klauswitz's Beezwax Kreme wire insulation will keep gamma rays off the wires and that will make your sound "smoother" with better "inner detail" and that it will "remove a veil around the notes". These people usually want a lot of money for whatever they're peddling, too.

You've come up with a well-intentioned idea, but I think it may be impractical for a number of reasons.
(1) the same parts make for better or worse sound, depending on the rest of the circuit; example, carbon composition resistors versus metal film. In high voltage amps, there exist some places where CC's have some beneficial sound. In effects, they just add noise. Germanium transistors are not magic tone makers, they just happen to work well in a few older fuzz pedals. In anything else, they add noise, unreliability, and thermal drift, as well as price.
(2) the same part type is made by many manufacturers, and they may not be marked as to manufacturer, date, etc., making the opinions useless even if they were accurate to some objective scale; worse, the inherent variation in semiconductors from batch to batch, even in the same part number and manufacturer makes consistency impossible. Beyond that, components degrade with time, and they do so depending on circuit operations; for instance, bipolar transistors get noticably noiser if their base-emitter junction is reverse-broken even once, and some circuits do this every time they're turned off.
(3) Using the "best" transistor, the "best" capacitor, the "best" opamp, and the "best" resistors may not result in good sound.  The circuit will go ahead and do what Mother Nature's rules say it should, and that may or may not be musical. Combinations of subtle cork-sniffing vintage components from authenticated provenances don't necessarily make good sound, and it is certain that one can't add a hint of smoothness to, say, distortion by adding some "smoother" resistors, and spicing it up with some "hotter" capacitors.
(4) you can't get enough opinions to construct a statistically significant guide
(5) personal opinions, which is what you'll likely get, are notoriously unreliable. The hifi community has been arguing for almost a century now over what is good sound. They still haven't reached any conclusions. Here's another good illustration of opinion reliability: musicologists have done repeatable lab tests where they have shown that people from different cultures hear musical intervals differently. All people **don't even necessarily hear the same tune when it's played to them at the same time**. How can they tell they like MegaBlatt's resistors better?

That being said, there are a few things that we have learned about parts.
(a) use low noise resistors, like metal film, for high gain applications. The maker doesn't seem to matter much
(b) use low-dielectric constant capacitors where you can; prefer teflon, polystyrene > polypropylene > polycarbonate > polyester (mylar) > paper > aluminum electro > aluminum NP > tantalum, high dielectric ceramic for the audio chain
(c) corrosion and bad contacts always seem to sound bad
(d) use circuits that do not degrade components by zapping them sublethally
(e) Bad layout can make even a good circuit sound or behave badly.

As I said, you have good intentions, but I think it may be impractical to make a list of the good, better, and best parts.

[Fret Wire]

Great explanation.

It would probably be easier if you told us what sound you're looking for. What gear you have helps alot. If there's a certain pedal out there you want the same sound as. Or a certain player's sound you want to emulate.  With a specific example or reference like that, the suggestions (opinions) can be more narrowly focused.

[RDV]

It all sounds 'better' when I wear my tinfoil hat!



RDV