Orange Smoothie Compressor Build Guide

[GGBB]

The build guide has been updated (click the 'Download document' link):

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/diyuser/GGBB/OrangeSmoothieCompressor.pdf.html

Thanks everyone for their interest. Please take the time to share your feedback here - good or bad. It will be a great help to anyone else considering building this pedal.

[stringsthings]

I've had the original pdf for a while now.  I don't use compressors a lot these days so I haven't etched a board.
But your circuit is really nice.  And the pdf has lots of good information.  Very impressive.
Thanks for sharing this project.

[dbp512]

My board arrived today, which is perfect as I am done with school and can dedicate much more time to pumping iron; my soldering iron that is. I want to try it with all 6 knobs, but that will be tight in a 125B. It might work with 9mm pots and a vero daughterboard, but I'll need to see if that would interfere with top mounted jacks.

[GGBB]

I did the original that way in a 1590N1: . The new board is of course different - 2x2" vs 2.4x1.6" with pots in different places and on the PCB reverse side - so there are new challenges - mainly running the pot leads. Otherwise, all hardware should fit even with 16mm pots (assuming the 125B is as roomy as the 1590N1). You'll probably need to mount the LED off-board as well to let you move the board around. The switch is a really tight fit where I put it and I had to use electrical tape to insulate the jack from the switch. A sub-mini switch would fit better but I hate dealing with those tiny lugs.

[bloxstompboxes]

The 125B is slightly larger than the 1590N in all dimensions so it should be easier. However, my biggest issue with all my builds is space management. I always have a tough time figuring out where and how to fit things in my enclosures. That build above is an excellent example of how to do it.

[bloxstompboxes]

Just wanted to say that I received my board in good time and have it mostly populated. Need to solder in the pots and then I'll rock it before boxing it. Been extremely busy lately and haven't had many chances for building. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks GGBB!

[bloxstompboxes]

Sorry for the multiple posts but I wanted to comment on the build so far. I have not boxed it but I just rocked it. Having never used an orange squeezer, I can't say if it sounds the same or not. However, it does seem to work well. I have a 5 knob version with the switch wired up. I remember reading comments on the squeezer having a pleasing distortion and that Mark Knopfler used it in the early days. Well crank up the threshold and the volume and you do get a nice distortion. Not heavy but good. I used Mark Hammer's method of biasing and set it to 1.6V on the nose. I'll have to get an enclosure ready.

EDIT: Oh, I used a 1N270 for the diode in place of the 1N34 too.

[bloxstompboxes]

Hmmm. Boxed mine up and while it still works as a compressor, my beloved distortion is all gone. May have accidentally changed a trimmer setting in the assembly process. Too damn busy to mess with it now though, lol.

[GGBB]

Hmmm. Boxed mine up and while it still works as a compressor, my beloved distortion is all gone. May have accidentally changed a trimmer setting in the assembly process. Too damn busy to mess with it now though, lol.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think you are going to get that from the smoothie. That's one of its "advantages" over the squeezer - very clean. The "side-chain" processing is responsible - the compression chain is in one op-amp and the signal chain is in the other.

[bloxstompboxes]

But I SWEAR it was there when it wasn't  boxed up. Weird. Wonder if the Gnd of the enclosure is to blame. Either way it works well. Thanks for the design and the board!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[GGBB]

Hmmm - I can't think of how that could happen - but I'm no genius. Would love to know what's going on if anyone has any ideas.

[bloxstompboxes]

I believe you did sell boards to some other people also. Perhaps they would be kind enough to try it out of their enclosure first and then in their enclosure and tells us what difference they find.

[dbp512]

Hmmm. Boxed mine up and while it still works as a compressor, my beloved distortion is all gone. May have accidentally changed a trimmer setting in the assembly process. Too damn busy to mess with it now though, lol.

I finally finished making my delicious smoothie, and with the volume up all the way I get a nice, mild crunch. It cleans up very well, but its there if I want. I can take photos and measure the bias trimmer tomorrow and try to see why. Coming to think about it I turned the bias trimmer all the way up to measure its resistance, and I don't think I set it before anxiously testing it out.

[GGBB]

You might just be clipping the input of whatever is following the pedal, but the volume control is active - it's really make-up gain - so that it doesn't merely attenuate the circuit's output like many pedal volume controls do - it boosts it. So turning it all the way up could introduce clipping in the op-amp - max gain is about 21dB.

[Mgt280y]

Good afternoon I have finally got round to finishing this, I have a slight issue tho  , bypass fine but when engaged can hear a slight change but no matter what I adjust doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference build is on a pre fab with all 6 knobs and bp switch, could the bias be the issue working from the build docs I used the mark hamer option of 1.5 - 1.7 at source q2, I'm wondering if I was on the correct leg of q2 can anyone confirm which leg it is? I had 1.58v on leg 2?
Thanks in advance
Dan

[GGBB]

Glad to hear you got it built. Source is middle pin - which is probably what you meant by leg 2. The fab pcb has the pins marked. It's best to bias by ear using an audio probe and following the instructions in the build guide. The voltage range is useful as a starting point, but JFETs are inconsistent by nature, and the bias is quite a finicky adjustment.

[Mgt280y]

Thanks for the quick reply does the issue sound like it's is going to be the bias need to sort a audio probe

[mlp-mx6]

I finished mine some time ago but set it aside. Perhaps I did something wrong (PCB version) but I cannot even get unity gain out of it. Any ideas? Oh, it's the full-featured 6 knobs plus BP switch version.

Thanks,
Michael

[GGBB]

Does the compression control have any affect on it? Does the volume control work at all? Have you double-checked all the component values? Have you tried using an audio probe to find out where the level drops in the circuit?

[mlp-mx6]

Yes to all but the last. I'll go there next. Thanks.