Shaka Braddah III

[swangor]

I'm getting ready to build the Shaka Braddah III and had a couple questions.

1.  I can't seem to find 1N34A diodes,  I have other styles.  I checked a radio shack catalog and small bear electronics.  

Is there a good source for the 1N34A diode.  I was hoping to start my customizing using the given circuit with as many correct components as possible.

2.  The notes on the schematic in the second paragraph:  "I also have 2 caps, a 33pf and 220pf in the feedback loop."  I only see a 220pf on the schematic.  where should I place the 33pf cap in the loop?

I plan on beadboarding and experimenting with what I have on hand but would like a "to the print" breadboard version for comparison.

Any comments would be helpful.

Thanks,
Rob S.

[swangor]

Update,

I did some more searching and found sources for 1N34A diodes, but still weighing my options since I plan on getting the rest of my items from small bear.

I still would like some help with:

2. The notes on the schematic in the second paragraph: "I also have 2 caps, a 33pf and 220pf in the feedback loop." I only see a 220pf on the schematic. where should I place the 33pf cap in the loop?

Thanks,
Rob S.

[EdJ]

The SB3 is a great pedal indeed!I higly reccommend socketing the opamp because in my opinion it makes a huge difference what you use.For diodes i used  1n48(?)you know the standard types because that is what i had at the time.I remember that what you asked about the caps but i don`t remember what i did unfortunately.Look closely at the schematic,then you will see.At first glance it might not be as clear but when you look at it again a few times you will get it i`m sure!
For what it`s worth mine still has the 6 diodes;i tried to install the mosfet but the legs broke of so..
Have fun!
Greetings,Ed

[aron]

Rob,

Don't worry. Use a 220pf there as that is what I ended up using.

Let me know how it goes!

[swangor]

Thanks for the input,

I got enough parts to start experimenting with the circuit while I place the order for the rest of the parts.

I do plan on socketing the op amp section and the clipping sections - thanks.

I am getting a variety of diodes and op amps and caps so I can experiment with tonality.

If my wife ever figured out how much I've dropped to get this DIY thing going, she would kill me.  I've been doing breadboarding for a couple years now - digital and analog stuff, but never boxed anything.  The SB3 seams like a very worthy circuit to build.

Aron, cool forums.  I visited the old site many times over the past couple years.  It was good then, but this is much cooler.

Thanks,
Rob S.

[Nasse]

1N34A is germanium diode, I believe, and for clipping purposes any Ge diode may be about same, or good replacement, I believe. I have used AA119 and OA91 in some fuzzboxes. But that was not your biggest problem any more...

But it is nice to hear somebody else too has problems makin things ready and boxed... :oops:

[swangor]

I started bread boarding the SB3, but I don't have all the correct parts -- my order is placed -- Yeah.

Anyway,  I built the vr network using 9V battery as a source.  I Also built from the Input up to the 1.2k resistor.  I know it is not very much but I thought I wouuld try to get that much right first and see how it works.

Here is my question: is the op amp section suppose to be a clean boost or a distortion stage?  I get heavy distortion here at all Drive settings?  I'm using TLS272 op amp -- TL072 on order along with the 500k pot.  I also substituted a 1M pot the 10K pot didn't do much.

I know basic gain is set by total r=1+r1/r2 but I never tried to over drive an op amp before, just use it as an amplifier, comparitor, and buffer.

I guess I didn't expect the 500k pot to be wired the way it is.  I disconnected the leg that connects to the output of the op amp and just used the wiper to set r1 and therfore r2 = 4.7k from schematic, but I still only got distortion not amplification like I expected.  Oh well, I'll look into it later -- got to go to work soon.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,

Rob S.

[aron]

>Here is my question: is the op amp section suppose to be a clean boost or a distortion stage? I get heavy distortion here at all Drive settings? I'm using TLS272 op amp -- TL072 on order along with the 500k pot. I also substituted a 1M pot the 10K pot didn't do much.

You should not have distortion at all settings. Yes, the op amp section is capable of boost only before distortion.

I'm not familiar with the TLS272 op amp.

Sounds like something is not biased correctly or the chip is not compatible or???

[swangor]

Your right aron,

I had a bias problem.

The op amp was a TLC272,  it caim with the radio shack project kit I bought a few years ago.

I'll keep plugging away at it in the morning.

Thanks,
Rob S.

[aron]

Cool, let me know how it goes.

[swangor]

Hey, I Finished the Shaka Braddah III -- with a few mods.

maybe I'll get some pics up soon, but need to find a site to host them.  Any input would be great.

Oh, aron what does "shaka braddah" mean.

Thanks for the cool design,

Rob S.

[aron]

Rob,

Send me the pics, I will post them.

Shaka Braddah, is kind of like, "Cool brah" which is Cool brother!?

There's a hand sign you see Hawaii people do. Stick out your thumb and pinky and roll the other fingers into your palm. Rotate your wrist.

You will see Hawaii people doing this all the time.

Supposedly it came from this guy that worked at the train station and he lost his fingers except the thumb and pinky and he waved at everyone........

[Peter Snowberg]

Supposedly it came from this guy that worked at the train station and he lost his fingers except the thumb and pinky and he waved at everyone........

I always wondered where that hand sign came from.

[swangor]

Thanks for the info and the offer aron

I will send some pictures shortly.

My didgital camera stinks; so, it's better to take pictures in the day time.

Thanks,

Rob S.

[swangor]

Aron, I got the pictures.

Now where do you want me to send them.

I didn't find an email address for you inside the forum and I didn't see an option to attach files.

I'll gladdy email the pictures to you from my personal email if you like.

Thanks,
Rob S.

[swangor]

Update Update Update
Check out my Shaka Braddah III pictures.  Just go to my site.  I hope to add more later.

http://www.freewebs.com/swangor

Oh, and thanks to whoever mentioned using freewebs.com.  It's a great way to get started with web pages.

Aron, If you want the pics. I'll still email them to you.

Thanks,

Rob S.

[Kleber AG]

Very nice Rob!
Looks good.

I have always wondered about the shaka 3 sound, but never actually build one,
How have you liked the tone? Does it goes from almost clean to overdrive?
Tell me more about the sounds please...

Regards
Kleber AG
PS: Maybe it would be great to have a new sound sample of this circuit Aron?

[swangor]

Hey Kleber AG,

My SB3 is very clean at its lowest setting and mildly distorted after cracking open the drive -- the diode clipping kicks in at that point.  After that I get a lot of distortion throughout most drive range.

I believe my trim pot for the Mini-booster section is set to hot because at the highest drive settings I start loosing a little sound so I'm going to pull back the mini-booster trim pot and see what I get.  Unfortunately, I know I'll loose some of the high gain I like, but it will bring it back more into aron's specs for this pedal -- it wasn't intended to be a super high gain pedal.  Sigh,  I guess I'll have to build the shaka express for that.

In short there is a range of effect from clean to diode dist. + miniboost dist. + op amp dist.  Depending on drive setting.

I have my crappy les paul knock off with humbuckers plugged straight into the SB3.  When I was testing it I could distort the op amp at higher drive setting which is why I believe the schematic suggested trying different op amps to see what you like.  I'm sure there are other factors but in my tests the op amp distortion contribution seemed like the main difference in choice of op amp.

I use the suggested TL072 -- I liked it the best.

I also got a wrong cap in the tone circuit which I need to change out.  I breadboarded the circuit right but mistakenly put the wrong cap on the per board; nevertheless, that has played little into the equation because I didn't care for the tone control much anyway and added a bypass switch for it.

I also added 5.1 zener diode into the circuit on and bypass led's so I can experiment with different voltages and keep a constant voltage and current (via 470 ohm resister).

I got the idea for different voltages from jacks shaka V schematic the zener idea was mine.

Anyway I also put an IC socket in so I could experiment with different diode clipping configurations.  I tried it with silicon diodes in place of the ge diodes, but liked the ge better.  Oh, well I'll mess with it more later.

Thanks for looking at my pictures,

Rob S.

[Kleber AG]

Thank you Rob, for the nice answers!
Looks like a really nice pedal indeed, I'm goona build one myself soon...

Regards
Kleber AG

[swangor]

If anyone cares to know.

I cracked open my SB3 again last night to fix some small problems.

I changed out the wrong cap I put in in the tone control -- the tone control works now but I still like the bypass better.

I also replaced the 33k resistor before the mini-booster section with a 100k pot tied to ground (as aron schem mods suggests) that solved my sound loss I was at high drive settings.

I suggest anyone building this to put it in so adjustments can be made based on your setup.

I'll try it out on my better amp today and see how it sounds.


Thank you aron I'm starting to like this box a lot,

Rob S.