Coming soon to runoffgroove.com: Thunderbird

[Frank_NH]

I also noted the 1776 prototype PCB!  Hmmm...their Britannia PCB was wonderful.  I know what I'll be waiting for in 2015...

[Gary]

..Each opamp stage emulating what's going on in the corresponding tube stage?

In a way, maybe.  Sebastian did a fantastic job on this.  There are a lot of special tricks at work.  More will be revealed in the near future.

We are still finalizing and I believe there is one or more verification builds in progress.  Two have been built so far using our homemade PCBs, but a beautiful RTS PCB is being made and that needs verified, amongst other things.

I may be killed for letting out too much information, but this pedal was based on a modified 100W Super Lead clone I have had for some years.  The amp was modified by a guy and we wanted to try to capture the sound of that amp if we could.  I feel we are close enough I no longer gig with the amp and 4x12.  I use this pedal and a cab sim direct to PA.  So far, so good.

[stm]

I may be killed for letting out too much information, but this pedal was based on a modified 100W Super Lead clone I have had for some years.  The amp was modified by a guy and we wanted to try to capture the sound of that amp if we could.  I feel we are close enough I no longer gig with the amp and 4x12.  I use this pedal and a cab sim direct to PA.  So far, so good.

Hey! we are not suppossed to talk about the special cabsim yet... 

[micromegas]

Yes and what are the settings for clips 2 and 3?    clip 2 is a bit noisy

Marshalls are all about noise, aren't they? 

[Gary]

Hey! we are not suppossed to talk about the special cabsim yet... 

See!  I knew they would send the black helicopters!   

[Gary]

Another clip.  This time a stock Strat on the bridge pickup:
http://runoffgroove.com/thunderbird5.mp3

Settings were:
Gain 15:00, Tone 15:00, Top 13:00, Bottom 15:00, Presence 12:00.

[GibsonGM]

Another clip.  This time a stock Strat on the bridge pickup:
http://runoffgroove.com/thunderbird5.mp3

Settings were:
Gain 15:00, Tone 15:00, Top 13:00, Bottom 15:00, Presence 12:00.

Just like the album, Gary   

[Kipper4]

Quit teasing Gary. 

[Bucksears]

How are the low/medium gain tones on this one?

[bancika]

How are the low/medium gain tones on this one?

I was wondering the same thing.

btw, when do you plan to make it available?

[B Tremblay]

Another clip: http://runoffgroove.com/thunderbird6.mp3
Parker PM20 (LP style) bridge pickup - Thunderbird - direct to sound card with IR
Gain 12, Bottom 12, Top 13, Tone, 12, Presence 12

The ready-to-solder PCB by 1776 Effects has been sent to the fab house and we will release it when the boards arrive.

[K Zustang]

.....Can't wait....

Great Clips you guys,
HNY2015 Brian, Gary and Sebastian.

[stm]

Sounds great.

Looks like 3 sets of clipping diodes with 3 dual op-amps and a charge pump?

Almost.  D9 provides power supply polarity protection, while D10-D13 are part of a voltage tripler--the circuit runs on 24 Vdc or so to avoid opamp clipping at all costs.

That leaves D1-D8 as signal processing diodes, arranged as 4 pairs in different stages of the circuit.  Some diode pairs are composed of dissimilar diode types to encourage some 2nd harmonic distortion.  Using the correct diode types is key for the target sound.  Don't worry, instead of saying that we found a limited stash of some obscure and obsolete diodes without which you'll never get the right sound, we'll point you to some relatively modern and available devices.

[midwayfair]

Don't worry, instead of saying that we found a limited stash of some obscure and obsolete diodes without which you'll never get the right sound, we'll point you to some relatively modern and available devices.

That moment when you realize that some diodes you ordered at random from Mouser two years ago and have never used are the less common diode in a schematic where the diode choice is critical:

[stm]

Good one!

[samhay]

^Almost.  D9 provides power supply polarity protection, while D10-D13 are part of a voltage tripler--the circuit runs on 24 Vdc or so to avoid opamp clipping at all costs.

Ah - sounds like a good approach (and that it worked nicely).

[~arph]

This is taking so long.. I'm not interested anymore. 

[deadastronaut]

24v....i'm out then... 

i only have a 9v daisy psu..

[~arph]

you might want to read that sentence again.. 

[deadastronaut]

 

is there a schemo then?