Orange Squeezer Question...s

[jacobyjd]

I just finished up an Orange Squeezer circuit that will eventually serve to feed the front end of a blue box (with various mods) all in one enclosure.

It seems to work ok in testing, but I noticed a strange issue I've never encountered before in an OS build--when I try to crank the output level up to unity gain (or just above it), it starts to oscillate. Is this a relatively common characteristic?

I know there is some variation between Ge diodes, so this may be part of it. As far as any QC issues go, to my knowledge there aren't any problems with my soldering or component orientations on the OS board.

In reality, I'm kind of excited about this turn of events...with a certain amount of oscillation, it makes a distorted amp sound...scary...but it's still VERY musical--so i can't wait until my Blue Box PCB arrives.

One concern I do have is that I may be running into an issue with bringing it up to/above unity gain. Since the Blue Box usually falls slightly below unity even at max volume, I'm a little concerned that I won't get enough gain out of this monstrosity--my first inclination is to add in a boost that I can dial in after both effects, but is there a better solution? (the goal is to keep it all in one box, and there's plenty of room)

-Josh