BSIAB II - build report

[Bucksears]

Ok. Finished the BSIAB II this morning, enclosed it in the original case I had my BSIAB in and updated the graphics. Using Jack Orman's Golden Rule, I built it stock first before tweaking it to what's good for me.
Using the stock 2N5457s for Q's 1, 2 & 5, and J201s for Q's 3 & 4, it was definitely more 'open' sounding than the original. Playing through my SRRI with an Ibanez Artist AR700, it has a very tube-like crunch that's Marshall-esque in flavor. All of the classic pinch harmonics were there when running it at full gain. It's a very quiet unit, even with the gain dimed. The trimpot on mine wasn't really all THAT sensitive, with its 'sweet spot' in a rather broad area.
I played it for a few minutes and realized that yes, it does have the classic BSIAB sound and gain, and yes, it IS rather dark. The brighter tone exists (for me anyway) at that last 10% of the tone control. If my amp were newer and the speakers weren't broken in, I imagine that it would be fine.
I unplugged everything and swapped out the two J201s, replacing them with 2N5457s, making them a full compliment. This made the biggest difference for me. It opened the sound up a little more, giving it a little wider range of brightness as well; rolling the tone back and upping the gain gives a bit of that (slightly) Mesa-like crunch. i.e. rolled-off treble, pseudo-compressed sound. Not to mention, it was even MORE quiet with all 2N5457s.
The biggest thing that impressed me about this unit is how (with all 2N5457s) it gets a killer low-gain sound. IMHO, it gets very close to that lead sound the (female) guitarist uses on Natalie Merchant's 'Carnival'; and I really like that sound.
All in all, I'm really glad I built this unit. It's versatile, quiet and has a permanent place in my pedal board. It's like a little Swiss Army knife of distortions.

[gaussmarkov]

Thanks for this report. The BSIAB II is on my todo list.  And it's good to repeat those Golden Rules ... I had not heard that one yet.

[solarplexus]

I just ordered the parts to do this one two days ago.  Is it sounding as good as the soundclips on www.generalguitargadgets.com ?  Cause if it does... nniiiiiicccceee!

[Bucksears]

I'm still trying to squeeze the sweetest spots out of it, but I think I'm going to use it more for its low-gain properties; I'm getting the biggest kick out of the blues sounds that are coming out. The higher gain crunch for some reason muddies up on me a little when playing at louder volumes; may need to play with the trimmer some more.
I like using all 2N5457s, but may try using the stock arrangement of 2-J201s just to get the original sonic perspective.

[jmusser]

Will this box get the GGG sample sound through a solid state amp, or will it only enhance a tube amp to a Marshall sound?

[Melanhead]

cool! ... this is on my to-do list, but it's a long list! ... just painted up 4 boxes last night so now I have to decide what to build next ... thanks for the report....

[Bucksears]

jmusser,
I think it would still sound good through a SS amp, but I can't say for sure whether or not it would sound the same as the sound clip.