Diy preamp eq/tonestack placement

[iainpunk]

Hey, everyone

Im planning on building a preamp to go with my DIY solid state power amp and was wondering how to go about the eq section.

I was thinking about putting the bass control before the distortion section, to go from fuzz to tight. The thing is the mid and trebble controls. I want them to go post distortion, but am not yet shure about how id implement it. Maybe a marshall tone stack but with a fixed bass resistor, or seperate mid and trebble controls. And when i go for the second option, how do i make a passive mid-cut control...

Thanks in advance, Iain

[vigilante397]

I was thinking about putting the bass control before the distortion section, to go from fuzz to tight. The thing is the mid and treble controls. I want them to go post distortion, but am not yet sure about how id implement it

There are tons of different ways to do these, and there is plenty of math and simulations that can be done with lovely bode plots and the like, but I will always say trust your ears. Breadboard breadboard breadboard

[Danich_ivanov]

One of the options could be Bandaxall (or james, if you want passive) after the preamp, it will cover the mids also, and third control before the whole thing to alter fuzz/tight characteristic. Only 3 controls for everything, and you will also get a proper bass control after the preamp.

[iainpunk]

Yeah, the james tonestack came up also. im in a WhatsApp group chat with some friends and after some discussion, we came to the conclusion to put a passive bass cut before the distortion, the same type as the bass side of the 'pbt' tone control from G&L guitars. And after the distortion section a marshall style pr james style tonestack, so i can boost the bass after the distortion if i cut it before, or when using a bass.

I'm still open to suggestions tho, because im not shure yet.

On a different note, should i use symmetrical or asymmetrical clipping? Does it really make a difference? It doesn't matter to my ears ti be honest, i dont hear any significant difference other than volume.

Iain

[PRR]

Experimentation is a good teacher. Build it up, but not locked in stone, so you can change things around and try many possibilities.