peppermill with a clipping section...

[alderbody]

after adding a switchable clipping section to my AMZ booster, i thought about doing the same to my peppermill...

And it suited the pedal just fine!
In fact, it's much better than before, at least for my twin reverb...
And i have the option to operate it as a "stock" peppermill, too!

I used a DPDT on/off/on switch.
One side has a mosfet_as_diode section (BS170 with 1N34a and BS170 with another Ge i took from a 60's TVset...)
and the other side has a Ge diode configuration (two 1N60 with two 1N34a).

The Ge diodes steal a bit more level compared to the mosfet part, but since the pedal produces a big volume pump this is no problem at all!

The Ge part gives a smooth yet crisp tone, while the mosfets have a relatively cleaner output with a bit of a grain.
All these, played with a Strat on a twin reverb.

Humbuckers make things hotter, as expected...

I think i added what i felt that was missing from my peppermill!

Great tone plus versatility.

[Xavier]

Where did you add the diodes? I might try that also with my peppermill...........

[alderbody]

Where did you add the diodes? I might try that also with my peppermill...........

Right after the circuit output and before the Volume pot.
You can connect one lead to the pot terminal and the other to a ground point.

Try some diode combinations to suit your ears.


tip: experiment not only with different components, but also with reversing the same network's leads,
because even the same part number diodes (etc) have differences in the real world,
hence different clipping "knees" for upper and lower cycles.
One side might sound more interesting than the other.

[swt]

i've done this a little different, a long time ago, also looking for some grind out of it, just put back to back diodes from gate to drain, with a series cap, ala big muff. This way bass remains clean if the cap is properly chosen. You can do it on the mosfet too ( this was my first option) try it and let me know what you think.

[alderbody]

That sounds interesting.

I'll give it a try.

Any suggestions on the cap value?

pico, nano or micro farad area?

[WGTP]

Interesting.  You can also add a cap with diodes to ground.  Since the bass doesn't get clipped as much, it is cleaner and louder.  Different cap values provide different amounts of bass "boost".   

[swt]

my target was to have od grind...as this pedal is boost and od designed. i felt it lacked the grind. and i wanted to avoid the compression inherent in diodes to ground. Also wanted clear bass, and feel the singing quality of a bluesy pedal. The cap...from .005uf to .22uf depending on your taste...i used .022 as far as i remember. and i think i attached it at the mosfet, after trying both...can't remember now. But experiment to taste, and let me know. All the tricks for distortion work great here too...small series resistance between diodes and caps, small cap parallel to diodes, a string of 2 diodes against one, or different types for assimetry...i used 1 1n4148, and 1 1n4007. Please report back if you like some of the ideas...

[alderbody]

Great info, swt!

I'll report after i run some tests.

I have another thought for my peppermill.
I want to tweak the 8K2 resistor to raise the cutoff frequency a bit.

This might add a little "sparkle"...

I just have to find the time to do all these...