5th gear overdrive help

[aqautarkus]

hi all, just built the 5th gear overdrivehttp://www.musicrivals.com/game/profile.php?viewid=3338 using scavenged parts using a 10k pot instead of the 5k advised, and a 9041 transistor out of the works radio that ahem died  today hehehe,sounds great but on the decay of the notes it seems to choke off in drive, only giving a smooth(ish) drive when your playing full power. i know its difficult to describe sounds in words but you may know what im on about. also it seems a little mid and bassy with the 22uf electrolytic cap and 0.47uf caps, could i change these to get a brighter sound and if so what values would you knowledgeable stompers recommend.is there a set pattern ie higher value caps = more bass?or vice versa, anxiously awaiting your help as ive only built a couple of real simple pedals as of yet but im really getting the bug for this, cheers
chris

[pyrop]

hi all, just built the 5th gear overdrive using scavenged parts using a 10k pot instead of the 5k advised >Ok put a 10K resistor between the outer 2 pins of this pot. That will simulate a 5K pot close enough<, and a 9041 transistor out of the works radio that ahem died  today hehehe,sounds great but on the decay of the notes it seems to choke off in drive, only giving a smooth(ish) drive when your playing full power. i know its difficult to describe sounds in words but you may know what im on about. also it seems a little mid and bassy with the 22uf electrolytic cap and 0.47uf caps >I believe you should have 2 0.047uF caps not 0.47uF caps, you could try 0.033uf as well< , could i change these to get a brighter sound and if so what values would you knowledgeable stompers recommend.is there a set pattern ie higher value caps = more bass?or vice versa, anxiously awaiting your help as ive only built a couple of real simple pedals as of yet but im really getting the bug for this, cheers
chris

I presume you built this one as you have the drive pot

I suggest adjusting R2 so you have 4.5v or so at the collector since you have used a different transistor.
Hope this helps

pyrop

[Joecool85]

The current version uses a 2K pot, not a 5K.  With 5K you got poor gain adjustment till you reach the "top" end of the pot.

The 22uF cap won't change the bass too much, if you want more of a bright sound, I suggest using .022uF caps instead of the .047uF ones.  I have built one with .022uF and almost used that as the official cap, but wanted more bass so I went with the .047uF.  As far as using a 9041, I have no clue, is it even NPN?