Deacy + Boost combo vero.

[digi2t]

Another project that's been in the parts bin for a dog's age. Finally buckled down and started it. It's the Deacy circuit, with a Brian May treble booster in front. The booster has four input caps to choose from, and I plan to use switching jacks between the amp section and the booster to create a loop. That way, I can insert something else other than the boost in front of the amp section. The vero also carries a +/-9vdc power section, so the whole thing is powered by 12vac. Many thanks to Gus, tubegeek, and amptramp for the debug help while this was on the breadboard. It's not quite finished yet, I'm waiting on some parts, but I thought I would share the vero, and a few pics of the board to date. I've gone for the "old timer" look with this build, using big components, 1/2 watt resistors, and big honkin' axials. Bit of a "left turn at Albuquerque" for me, but I hope Lucifer's Trip approves. 

Here's the vero;



And the board;







I've been using the Fryer schematics, so I incorporated the compression switching, as well as adding the direct speaker output, and direct output connection with volume control. I have an 8" whizzer coming, but I think I'm going to dump this into a 1590DD, and use it as a stompbox. I'll put the 8" into a small wooden cab, that I can just plug in when needed.

I'll post more when it's complete.

[Kipper4]

Are you doing the direct record/headphones board ?

[digi2t]

Are you doing the direct record/headphones board ?

Yes, and no. Direct record is already integrated, where you see the "output volume" leads, but I've no use for the headphone aspect. Actually, since I want to be able to pump this into an amp as well, that's why I'm using the direct out with the volume. That way, I can tone down the output, and match up the output with anything else I might be using.

Actually, I forgot to mention that I'll also be using a volume control at the output of the booster, giving me gain control, and how hard I push the amp. It was getting late last night (erm, this morning?), and it slipped my mind to add it to the vero. The "Boost Output" lead should read "Boost Output Volume 3", with an A100K pot added to the BOM. I need to update that.

[bool]

Well, it looks nice .. but that plastic BC182 sticks out like a sore thumb.

I mean, stylistically, and (probably - a guesstimate) sonically, it would make much more sense to hunt down a good specimen of the BC107/108/109 family, dress its leads/legs like you did it with the AC transistors and leave it like that ...

[Kipper4]

The bc182 treble booster was among the favorites of all the treble boosters I made.
I really liked the transistor too. It can make a nice high gain transistor replacement in lots of other circuits too.

[Gus]

I think you could power the circuit with -9VDC alone with the BM circuit changed to a PNP.

When you build on a breadboard you can have all kinds of issues.
I gave up using breadboards for testing circuits(not just effect circuits) years ago.  I go right to perf with careful layout of wires.

[digi2t]

Well, it looks nice .. but that plastic BC182 sticks out like a sore thumb.

I mean, stylistically, and (probably - a guesstimate) sonically, it would make much more sense to hunt down a good specimen of the BC107/108/109 family, dress its leads/legs like you did it with the AC transistors and leave it like that ...

Ah yes... it's there temporarily. I do have BC metal cans of various denominations, along with others that I wish to try. That's why the sockets are there. Once I have the right candidate, the sockets come out, and the transistor will get soldered in.

I think you could power the circuit with -9VDC alone with the BM circuit changed to a PNP.

When you build on a breadboard you can have all kinds of issues.
I gave up using breadboards for testing circuits(not just effect circuits) years ago.  I go right to perf with careful layout of wires.

I thought long and hard about that one Gus, and I didn't take the decision lightly. Sure, it would have simplified my life to PNP the whole shooting match, but quite honestly, I tried the Rangemaster straight up, and it's variation found in the Skyripper, and they didn't work well with the amp, at least not as well as this one. Besides, I had ordered extra regulators when I did the PLL project, so I figured I would put them to use. Everybody's happy that way.

[StarGeezers]

  Interesting this...  We found 2 old Lafayette SSamps built in the "Japanese transistor radio" manner...  Played with our Omega , they have a very May-like quality ...  now if we only had $100K of post production equipment , we could "nail" that Tone ...   

[digi2t]

Wow, that's really cool.

Would you know if there are any others available? Or, could you trace out the schematic for me, I have a few 2SB*** transistors that could use a home.

[StarGeezers]

 What came with it .... looks like all the rest ...

http://www.wattkins.com/files/wattkins/lafayette.pdf

[digi2t]

What came with it .... looks like all the rest ...

http://www.wattkins.com/files/wattkins/lafayette.pdf

Thank you Sir! Added to the archives.

It so happened that I had a bunch of BC182L's in my stock for the booster section, and it rocked a lot better than the 2N3904. I pulled all the drawers of transistors I had, and finally, my ear candy is a 2SC828R. It just rocks. I checked with my Peak meter, and the gain comes in at 267. It's got great sustain, and grunt, but seems to clean up fairly well when rolling back on the guitar volume.

I picked up an 8" whizzer cone speaker at a local surplus supplier the other day. Sounds pretty good. Just need to box it up now. And the video too, of course.

[StarGeezers]

  Just FYI ... this same exact circuit is seen /used in many many older Japanese transistor radios...  so if you have one of these laying about , it might be simple to just rewire the radio board , or use the parts for a separate build ...   seems easy enough.. 

[StarGeezers]

 Digi, it's really Cool you've included the Treble Boost in the build ...

[digi2t]

Thanks. Works fairly well, and I think I have a decent 8 inch speaker for it now. I purchased a couple of cheap 8 inch whizzers, and a 6.5 inch as well. My winner is the cheapest one, that I picked up at Addisson, for 7 dollars new in the box. The 6.5 inch sounded weak and thin. Nice range, clarity, and projection with the 8 inch. Just waiting on the enclosure now, before I shoot a video. I was playing with it again last night, with a Strat copy, and the in between pickup settings, with the tone rolled down, are great. Nice and smooth and round.

I think I might try to shoot the video, but record to my Korg D888 this time around. Then sync the two with Ableton. I`ll get a much better recording quality that way. Give me the chance to play with that aspect of Ableton as well.

[StarGeezers]

 Looking forward to it !!!... 
  We have one amp set up to plug into a "center speaker" we got at the thrift store, a sealed box , and it sounds decent ..  The other is built into a cigar box with the speaker from the same era  3" , and it sounds not so good ... awful really ... Swapped amps , and yes the speaker makes a great difference ... enclosure too ... The amp is not much  for clean but has some really interesting over driven tones ... with the Omega it does a close May tone .... naturally not that I can play as well as he ...

[blackcorvo]

I recently got a pretty decent Deacy-ish sound by accident.
I got this old walkman here, and I decided to make it into a practice amp. I simply took the wires that were connected to the tape head and used them as input.
Since the sound was way too bassy, I took a couple of small caps (3,3nF) and connected them to each input (left and right), and the other side to a jack. It still had a bit too much bass for me, so I added a third cap in series with the input (2,2nF), and now it sounds a lot like a hot-rodded Deacy with tons of gain.

I'm using 2x 1" speakers from old computers (you know, those speakers used for the beeps and boops), and I'm using a 3,7v Li-Ion rechargable battery to power it.

Here's a sample (sorry for my playing):

https://soundcloud.com/corvolino03/may

[Kipper4]

I'm in the process of redoing the off board wiring on my Deacy.
New back plate on the speaker cab. Chicken head knobs and bits.
Also the BC182 treble booster. It had a. Bc109 in it before.
I'd like to put a speaker out jack in it. With switched stereo jack that disables the on board speaker.
I'll have to go look for I can't remember how to wire it. It's late and I'm tired
Thanks for a great project Dino

[digi2t]

I'm in the process of redoing the off board wiring on my Deacy.
New back plate on the speaker cab. Chicken head knobs and bits.
Also the BC182 treble booster. It had a. Bc109 in it before.
I'd like to put a speaker out jack in it. With switched stereo jack that disables the on board speaker.
I'll have to go look for I can't remember how to wire it. It's late and I'm tired
Thanks for a great project Dino

No problem Rich. If you can, try the 2SC828R in the booster. It's got a bit more bite and sting than the 182.

Got my enclosure today, so I know what I'm doing this weekend. 

[Kipper4]

I'm done with the off board wiring now its all neat and tidy.
Also I've implimented the speaker out jack. After I put in a jack that was faulty, That had me scratching my head for a while!!!!

Much better than since i replaced the cat5 wiring i had in it before. I know it's all i had at the time and I so wanted to get it working as my first or second ever project.

I just need to drill the holes for the back of the speaker enclosure and do the stickers for the knobs and the jobs a good'un.

[mth5044]

Could someone enlighten me to what a Deacy is?