Orange Squeezer and others--Pics !

[MartyMart]

This was a "box only" from E-bay, so I paid probably too much for it !
and perfed the "squeezer" with new tiny dpdt switch/jack sockets etc.
Now its almost as the original.....

http://www.pbase.com/martymart/image/39839680

Click on this link and scroll through the 4 pics with the "next" prompt, also included is a "Fetzer Valve" ( fender boost ) "Mayqueen" ( AC30 Boost ) and a "Stratoblaster" in a small mint tin.
My "Fat Boostered" is not quite finished, need a box and switch so I'll post that up later this week.
Orange squeezer info:
Fired up on second try, I had a "salvaged" 47n cap that was dead ! found it with a good guess . . .
The "Bias" pot is soooo sensitive, 1mm too much and it distorts to hell or 1mm too little and there's no sound !!!
I put the 10k gain pot on the board, as the squeezer didn't have an external knob - of course !
The only subs were 200k feedback resistor to tame some "crunch" and a 330k rather than 390k from Q1 drain, if this is changing the circuit too much, then someone chime in with what could be wrong
Sounds subtle but nice  
Thanks to ROG/Torchy and everyone for helping me get so far with this stuff ---  MUCH appreciated !

Marty.

[jimbob]

Very cool! I would have bought the Org sq. box too!!

[MartyMart]

BUMP :
OK, well I thought there may be SOME interest in "bringing an old classic back to life"  ??

la la laa la la laa  . . . .  ..

Marty. :roll:

[JimRayden]

Yea, it's cool to see some dead gear coming back to life. Hey, what about finding a real orange squeezer and doing a layout and finding parts that are exactly the same. There's another challenge for you.

I actually feel a bit guity since I currently have an amp project that requires me to cannibalise an old and totally original guitar amp and build an even older russian tube amp in the cab instead. It's a good thing the amp isn't too valuable (SS Vermona from 1986) and the russian amp has already been cannibalized before.

I don't recommend you do that kinda things to an orange squeeser. You have an almost original circuirity in an original box. If I had that kinda classic piece of gear, I'd start searching for parts and making pcb's to rebuild it to exactly what it once was. The reason is rather the mojo than the tone. It's the knowledge of having the exact same thing that were played back then - a brand new original.

That leads me to a thought that people often overemphasize the importance of vintageness. To think of it, the people back in the beginnings of stompboxing didn't use vintage effects. They were brand new. So why would an original of a stompbox be better than a brand new exact same clone?
With guitars, I can understand that it's the aging of the wood and pickups that gives the tone everyone loves today. But come on, people in 1954 didn't use vintage Strats. They were all brand new. So the vintage tone doesn't sound exactly what the early masters sounded like. We can say that the sound of an aged guitar is a rather modern craze.

On the other hand, it also feels cool to know that the pedal or a guitar you're using, has been used by early rockers and has the sweat, beer, and blood(!) of them on it. I have a few vintage items and I actually love them more than the new pieces of cheap labour. They might not sound as the latest high technology but it's the sweat, beer, blood and untrue bypass that screws with the signal and gives that Mojo. Oh and I adore the looks of them with a heavily scratched and peeling paint that reveals a dark metallic steel and the dark brown goo that is stuck in the scratches and under the edges of knobs. Who would want to replace that with a brand new shiny true bypass good sounding pedal without a mojo? (not being sarcastic, by the way)

But hey, you wanted someone to post.
ok I'll stop now

-------------
Jimbo

[MartyMart]

Hi Jim,
I think that with guitars, that can be correct as in "aged wood" etc causing a great "tone" due to the 40 years or whatever they've been around,
But .... I've played some "vintage" and rather expensive guitars that play/sound like POO !
So they were not a "good" guitar in the first place !! and age wont help..
With FX the reverse is more likely, ie: parts dont "age" well, electro caps can fail/beer isn't too good for them etc.
I'd have liked to get an "original" squeezer to check out, but in the UK they go for about 150 bucks !!
So my "box" and new tonepad perfed layout was quite a good deal !
Perhaps I'll try and borrow one, just to check out the values.
I think I'll replace the 330k resistor that I subbed with the "correct" 390k
as the "compression" feels a little subtle to me.
Thanks for the interesting view,
Marty.

[PeterJ]

Hey, Marty -- nice work -- I love to see stuff that fits in small boxes. Any chance you could draw out your perf layout -- I can't seem to get the OS as small as I'd like.
Thanks for showing us your stuff,
Peter

[MartyMart]

Hey, Marty -- nice work -- I love to see stuff that fits in small boxes. Any chance you could draw out your perf layout -- I can't seem to get the OS as small as I'd like.
Thanks for showing us your stuff,
Peter

Peter, I used the tonepad layout- which is great by the way, all I did was "squeeze" it together a little bit as I needed some space either side of the ground wire, to "slide" the perf into the original "OS" box.
I only had to save about 5mm  ( 2.5mm each side !!)
Job done !!

Marty.

[PeterJ]

Cool. Thanks.
Peter

[Dan N]

Marty,

Nice work!

The surface of that Fender Boost is wonderful! How was that done?

Dan

[MartyMart]

Marty,

Nice work!

The surface of that Fender Boost is wonderful! How was that done?

Dan

Its "diamond plate" look-alike  comes on a roll like sticky-backed plastic !
Looks quite good but is a bit "soft" and damages easily.

Marty.