Marshall Shredmaster Veroboard Layout

[ArnauVB]

Hi there!

I've been obsessed with the Marshall Shredmaster for quite some time and I decided to take matters into my own hands and build one. I found a veroboard layout but, after building it, I wasn't quite pleased with the result. After some research online I found a clone by AION called "Solstice Amp Distortion", which has attachments to the BOM and the schematic. I made a veroboard layout based on the aforementioned schematic on DIY Layout Creator, but it seems rather sloppy, full of empty tracks and I just can't seem to optimize it so it fits in a smaller stripboard. Any tips on how to optimize space? Btw I haven't checked that the connectors on the layout are all connected where they are supposed to. Is there any way to check if it's right automatically?


Hope you guys aren't as lost as I am (I'm a total newbie to veroboard layout design)   

[pinkjimiphoton]

look around on tagboardeffects.blogspot.com

[andy-h-h]

Takes a bit of practice to get layouts half-decent.  To make life easier for yourself when it comes to building, I'd look at clearances around electrolytic caps and other parts.  It's going to be very cramped in some spots. 

I would not stress about layout size when it's going to need decent size box to fit the pots and switch anyway.  When I do layouts, I think of how easy it will be for me to build, that's about it.  May not be to everyone's liking, but I only have one person to please 

Here's my layout using a TL074  https://vero-p2p.blogspot.com/2021/06/marshall-shredmaster-vero-layout.html

Anders (AKA Fuzzhead from Dirtbox layouts) is about as small as you can get  http://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/2019/06/marshall-shredmaster.html     

good luck

[ArnauVB]

Thx for the links to both layouts! The Anders one is great, hadn't seen it before! But just like you I've done it with the diode mod (guess you based it in the solstice distortion too). Mine is 21x24 and yours is 20x22, so I guess I've done a decent job (even though it isn't as omptimized as yours cause i use separated ICs). I checked my schematic and the 3k3 should be connected to pin 6 instead of 7, but otherwise it's fine.
Hope someone can find our layouts helpful in the future 

Tbh I was not that worried about the size of the veroboard but the fact I wasn't optimizing the schem correctly (which I've realised now was pretty decent).

Arnau

PS: I found a TL074 among the unorganised component bins on a colleague's workshop, so I might try to build another Shredmaster for a friend with your layout!

[bartimaeus]

i know a lot of folks use the tl074 for convenience, but i do worry about noise/crosstalk?

[andy-h-h]

i know a lot of folks use the tl074 for convenience, but i do worry about noise/crosstalk?

It can happen with dual opamps too (see link).   Vero is generally considered more prone to crosstalk and stray capacitance due to the strips running directly next to each other.  There's also no ground plane.   I usually add more cuts to keep strip length down and try and keep the signal paths away from each other.

I've not had any issues with opamp crosstalk myself, but it certainly seems to be possible.

https://www.ti.com/lit/an/slyt190/slyt190.pdf?ts=1671417112379&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com.au%252F

[bartimaeus]

i know a lot of folks use the tl074 for convenience, but i do worry about noise/crosstalk?

It can happen with dual opamps too (see link).   Vero is generally considered more prone to crosstalk and stray capacitance due to the strips running directly next to each other.  There's also no ground plane.   I usually add more cuts to keep strip length down and try and keep the signal paths away from each other.

I've not had any issues with opamp crosstalk myself, but it certainly seems to be possible.

https://www.ti.com/lit/an/slyt190/slyt190.pdf?ts=1671417112379&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com.au%252F

with a two dual opamps you can more easily separate the two input gain sections from the two output EQ sections. i'd mainly worry about that final stage having crosstalk with the super high gain input stage. but that a good point about vero, probably wouldn't matter much.

[PRR]

i know a lot of folks use the tl074 for convenience, but i do worry about noise/crosstalk?

How many guitars are plugged into this one box?

Crosstalk is when Liza shouts in her (landline) phone and I hear it in my phone. Or the broadcast network ball-game bleeds into the flower-hour show.

And in practice it is more about circuit layout than inside a chip. (The inside parts are too small to pick-up much signal, and the junior engineer spent months testing and fine-tuning chip details.)

It is often easier to lay-out a complex circuit with two duals than one quad. Think four cooks in one kitchen vs four in two.

[stallik]

Think four cooks in one kitchen vs four in two.

Appreciated Paul

[ArnauVB]

Takes a bit of practice to get layouts half-decent.  To make life easier for yourself when it comes to building, I'd look at clearances around electrolytic caps and other parts.  It's going to be very cramped in some spots. 

I would not stress about layout size when it's going to need decent size box to fit the pots and switch anyway.  When I do layouts, I think of how easy it will be for me to build, that's about it.  May not be to everyone's liking, but I only have one person to please 

Here's my layout using a TL074  https://vero-p2p.blogspot.com/2021/06/marshall-shredmaster-vero-layout.html

Anders (AKA Fuzzhead from Dirtbox layouts) is about as small as you can get  http://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/2019/06/marshall-shredmaster.html     

good luck

After failing miserably with my own layout (gotta put in more hours to get the hang of this) I built the one you made using the layout from your blog. The thing is that the pedal boosts massively my volume when I turn it on and it's almost unusable cause of the dB bump. Do you know what could I do to fix it? The pedal sounds great but only functional with the volume knob at almost 0 (otherwise it's just too loud).

[duck_arse]

without a circuit diagram to match that layout, I can't see how there would not be DC on the V pot. is that volume? it isn't marked as such. is there a circuit dia? do you have DC on CW of V pot?

[pinkjimiphoton]

just a headsup,
this circuit will NOT SOUND GOOD with a jfet bean.

use a 324, or whatever... a tl082 will make it glassy and hissy and sound horrible.
ideally, ya want 1458's, that's what the guv specc'd.

a 4558 is fine. a mess of 741's..... but them jfet quad amps just don't sound right in this kind of circuit.

[andy-h-h]

Takes a bit of practice to get layouts half-decent.  To make life easier for yourself when it comes to building, I'd look at clearances around electrolytic caps and other parts.  It's going to be very cramped in some spots. 

I would not stress about layout size when it's going to need decent size box to fit the pots and switch anyway.  When I do layouts, I think of how easy it will be for me to build, that's about it.  May not be to everyone's liking, but I only have one person to please 

Here's my layout using a TL074  https://vero-p2p.blogspot.com/2021/06/marshall-shredmaster-vero-layout.html

Anders (AKA Fuzzhead from Dirtbox layouts) is about as small as you can get  http://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/2019/06/marshall-shredmaster.html     

good luck

After failing miserably with my own layout (gotta put in more hours to get the hang of this) I built the one you made using the layout from your blog. The thing is that the pedal boosts massively my volume when I turn it on and it's almost unusable cause of the dB bump. Do you know what could I do to fix it? The pedal sounds great but only functional with the volume knob at almost 0 (otherwise it's just too loud).

I'd start by checking the resistors on the final stage (the 2 x 100k resistors on pin 13) as this sets output level.   If you have an audio probe, test what's coming out of the IC vs the volume pot.

[bartimaeus]

Takes a bit of practice to get layouts half-decent.  To make life easier for yourself when it comes to building, I'd look at clearances around electrolytic caps and other parts.  It's going to be very cramped in some spots. 

I would not stress about layout size when it's going to need decent size box to fit the pots and switch anyway.  When I do layouts, I think of how easy it will be for me to build, that's about it.  May not be to everyone's liking, but I only have one person to please 

Here's my layout using a TL074  https://vero-p2p.blogspot.com/2021/06/marshall-shredmaster-vero-layout.html

Anders (AKA Fuzzhead from Dirtbox layouts) is about as small as you can get  http://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/2019/06/marshall-shredmaster.html     

good luck

After failing miserably with my own layout (gotta put in more hours to get the hang of this) I built the one you made using the layout from your blog. The thing is that the pedal boosts massively my volume when I turn it on and it's almost unusable cause of the dB bump. Do you know what could I do to fix it? The pedal sounds great but only functional with the volume knob at almost 0 (otherwise it's just too loud).

most people complain that the pedal is too quiet and needs a boost, so i think something is wrong.

the volume control should be logarithmic. did you use linear?

did you include the diode clipping options mod? the original pedal only has a single set of symmetrical silicone diodes. if you simply did not wire up the switch in andy-h-h's layout, it'll be LED clipping, which has a much higher headroom and is therefore much louder. if you want it to sound like the original, you'd need to jumper the blue and the gray switch pins.

[ArnauVB]

Takes a bit of practice to get layouts half-decent.  To make life easier for yourself when it comes to building, I'd look at clearances around electrolytic caps and other parts.  It's going to be very cramped in some spots. 

I would not stress about layout size when it's going to need decent size box to fit the pots and switch anyway.  When I do layouts, I think of how easy it will be for me to build, that's about it.  May not be to everyone's liking, but I only have one person to please 

Here's my layout using a TL074  https://vero-p2p.blogspot.com/2021/06/marshall-shredmaster-vero-layout.html

Anders (AKA Fuzzhead from Dirtbox layouts) is about as small as you can get  http://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/2019/06/marshall-shredmaster.html     

good luck

After failing miserably with my own layout (gotta put in more hours to get the hang of this) I built the one you made using the layout from your blog. The thing is that the pedal boosts massively my volume when I turn it on and it's almost unusable cause of the dB bump. Do you know what could I do to fix it? The pedal sounds great but only functional with the volume knob at almost 0 (otherwise it's just too loud).

most people complain that the pedal is too quiet and needs a boost, so i think something is wrong.

the volume control should be logarithmic. did you use linear?

did you include the diode clipping options mod? the original pedal only has a single set of symmetrical silicone diodes. if you simply did not wire up the switch in andy-h-h's layout, it'll be LED clipping, which has a much higher headroom and is therefore much louder. if you want it to sound like the original, you'd need to jumper the blue and the gray switch pins.

Hi, I actually did use Log pots for the volume control and include the diode clipping spdt switch, so i don't think any of that might be the problem. I'll have some spare time in a couple weeks or so, I'll examine the circuit thoroughly and I'll report back.

Thx for the tips everyone, I just have a lot on my plate rn so idk when I'll be able to continue with the project