questions about Smash Drive

[ercol]

Hello all,

Have finally built and boxed my Smash Drive, thanks again to all that aided the process.

However having finally plugged it in (after sorting out a slightly strange case of it picking up short wave international radio and playing it through my amp....?) the sound, while good, is more of a Fuzz than a 'marshall style distortion'.

i have no real complaints in this case, as i like it all the same, however as its a build as a gift, i was wondering whether this could have been caused by something ive done, or it could be cleaned up and made more 'chunky' and clean by replacing any parts/switching stuff around. Very new to this so any pointers and suggestions are very gratefully received(and hopefully i''ll learn a bit from it!)

thanks,

Sam

[Stellan]

You could try different diodes for clippers. Some are more raw or smooth or compressed than others.  I have never built the Smash Drive but it might get you where you want.  (It does use diodes  to ground for clipping right???)

[petemoore]

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/smashdrive_lo.gif
  No diodes in the SD. The distortion is created in the 386.
  I believe you have it working, if the sound is boosted and the knobs work.

[suprleed]

You could try putting a buffer before the input to prevent excess loading of the pickups and help retain some high end clarity and add some "chunk."  See runoffgroove.com Grace/Big Daddy for examples and explanations.   

Rock on!