built mini booster...is that all there is?

[Torchy]

crp

[mat]

Mat - I'll take some pics of mine, then you can compare them. Nothing jumps out as wrong on yours though ...  :?:

Thank You Torchy  

This is one of the simpliest so far but i managed somehow to mess this up also  :shock:

Well its the contrast of things that makes things feel good in life ...  :shock:    :x  :wink:  :cry:        :oops:  :twisted:  :wink:   .. too many beers.. gotta hit the sack  :wink:  :idea: .............

mat

[Dragonfly]

Tried the smallest i had on hand, and .33 and still no cigar. I'm starting to realize this circuit is just not for me. Don't get me wrong...it's nice. In fact i'll go as far as to say it's the best clean boost i ever tried in a certain way. That being the grindy attack that i love. I tried it in different ways such as a boost to go over the edge gainwise when my amp is set for medium gain. Then i tried turning the gain down lower than i'd ever want it and using the pedal not as a solo boost, but as an always on boost to bring the gain back up to my normal level. It really does add a bit of that magic i was after. I'll keep messing with it.

But the overall inherent character of this pedal is just not what i need for my purpose. It has a certain midrange quality that doesn't work right for me as a gain boost for solos, which was what i was after. It's great, but sounds sorta specialized instead of being versitile. Sounds to my ear like a great boost for gritty blues, but not tight enough for me in other contexts. Also the low end isn't tight enough for me. The overall tone is it's own thing, and for some things it's really happening. just not for my main purpose. But i do like it for certain things and i'll contine to use it.......but just at home, not for gigs.

I think you said it best dragonfly....it has a lot of potential. If you're serious about marketing it, i'd start messing with it to try and get the sound a bit tighter. Then find a way to give it a bit of those tube screamer mids and make that switchable. I think it's a very good pedal, but do those 2 things and i think you'd have one hell of a good pedal.

sorry it didnt work out for ya...everyone has different needs, and in your rig, it isnt a keeper...oh well....

its funny youre having problems with the bottom end being too loose...everyone elso who has heard it has commented on how it tightened up the low end, so im not sure whats going on there...we've tried it with a HR Deluxe, a 56 tweed Harvard, a 70's JMP, a Boogie Lone Star, an Egnater TOL50, and a few other amps, all with great results...i guess sometimes you just hit a particular combination that is incompatible...

have you tried using a Tube Screamer circuit MINUS the clipping diodes that might be a "starting point" for the sound youre after....just a thought. If i can help you further, let me know !

on another note, i'll be marketing these soon...since i boxed up the first one a few days back, i've sold FIVE...so ive just made arrangements with the powdercoater to shoot 50 enclosures, and i just put in the oder for more parts...im not "delusional" and thinking i'll be able to make a living building pedals, but maybe i'll have a bit of fun for a while

[Dragonfly]

Mat,
 are you getting plenty of voltage to the Jfet ? might check to make sure youre getting voltage readings throughout the board.
 Torchy will be better on the layout, since he designed that one, but i'll look and see if anything "sticks out" as wrong...
  Andy

[oczad]

sorry it didnt work out for ya...everyone has different needs, and in your rig, it isnt a keeper...oh well....

Don't be sorry......i still like it and will use it for certain things and will still tweak around with it when i get the itch to.

its funny youre having problems with the bottom end being too loose...everyone elso who has heard it has commented on how it tightened up the low end, so im not sure whats going on there

Yea, i don't get that either because it'sn the only clean device i ever used that does that. But i gotta figure it's probably a bad component or some sloppy construction....maybe some solder blobs to closeand causing crosstalk/capacitance or something wierdd like that. I may try breadboarding one eventually and see what happens.

have you tried using a Tube Screamer circuit MINUS the clipping diodes

No, but my screamer has plenty of output even with the drive knob all the way off. So it works fine. This was never a search for something that works for  me because what i have didn't. What i have is fine. It was just one of those "i wonder what it would sound like if...." things that us guitarists can't avoid any easier than GAS.

[Dragonfly]

have you tried using a Tube Screamer circuit MINUS the clipping diodes

No, but my screamer has plenty of output even with the drive knob all the way off. So it works fine. This was never a search for something that works for  me because what i have didn't. What i have is fine. It was just one of those "i wonder what it would sound like if...." things that us guitarists can't avoid any easier than GAS.

GAS ...we all have it....some (like me) worse than others

im curious about the "diode-less" tube screamer...i might have to modify or build one just to see how it sounds...might be kinda cool...
]

RAWK ON !!!

[oczad]

I could be wrong, but i think the diodes are for all intents and purposes are out of circuit when the distortion knob is all the way down. I have 2 screamers, and one is a TS-7 which is different. But the other one is a basic screamer and when the drive knob was all the way down and the volume all the way up it was at unity gain. So i believe removing the diodes would have no effect when set that way. But i modded it so the output is a lot hotter so i could get a clean boost. My TS-7 has a mode switch that gives it a huge volume boost plus even with that on low it has much more than unity gain with the distortion all the way down.

I guess i'm just a TS guy ! They've always done well for me because the mid boost they have is in the perfect range. I can't even duplicate it with an EQ. And after this project and the mini booster i'm getting that much closer to believing there's no magic bullet as clean boosts go. I wish i could try the SHO, but hell will freeze B4 i spend that kinda cash on a clean boost !

[mat]

Hi There,

I measured voltages around the circuit and here are the results:



I also tried again different j201's plus other fets... :cry:

The volume pot works.
The gainpot works but very minor effect. When gain is zero there is still sound - should there be ?

thanks,
mat

[Dragonfly]

Hi There,

I measured voltages around the circuit and here are the results:



I also tried again different j201's plus other fets... :cry:

The volume pot works.
The gainpot works but very minor effect. When gain is zero there is still sound - should there be ?

thanks,
mat

going by your drawing, nothing is grounded...your ground out needs to be hooked up to the output jack sleeve....

like this: (a quicky drawing i did, using a 3pdt, no led or power jack....like on your drawing....)

[mat]

Hi,

I have the in and out jacks grounded, like this:



I think I'll start to swap the components one by one. I'll start by taking the 3pdt switch away. I already swapped the 22n -> 10n and it cleared the circuit a little bit but there is still the middle honk that is not right..

mat

[R.G.]

I *love* easter egging!!

[analog kid]

Hi , I've just finished my first couple of pedal projects and was thinking about one of the boosters , I was going to try one of the mini's but am looking at this one from dragonfly mostly based on this article and the nice schematic and layout here. (I seem to have most of the parts) I have a couple questions though, directed toward dragonfly I guess....
First if one didn't have a 100k log. pot handy what would be a better sub , a 100k LINEAR or say a 50k OR 250k audio "log" taper?
second , in the Q1 position if I don't have a J201 , how would a 2N5457 work in there??? i used them in my output buffers and they have the same pinout the gains seem to be around 500 and I don't know what the J201's are . BUT if this isn't a good sub. then  what GAIN of a  D/S/G transistor would work well,? I have alot of stuff pulled from old stereos that I don't know what are.

[Dragonfly]

Hi , I've just finished my first couple of pedal projects and was thinking about one of the boosters , I was going to try one of the mini's but am looking at this one from dragonfly mostly based on this article and the nice schematic and layout here. (I seem to have most of the parts) I have a couple questions though, directed toward dragonfly I guess....
First if one didn't have a 100k log. pot handy what would be a better sub , a 100k LINEAR or say a 50k OR 250k audio "log" taper?

100k linear will be just fine.

second , in the Q1 position if I don't have a J201 , how would a 2N5457 work in there??? i used them in my output buffers and they have the same pinout the gains seem to be around 500 and I don't know what the J201's are . BUT if this isn't a good sub. then  what GAIN of a  D/S/G transistor would work well,? I have alot of stuff pulled from old stereos that I don't know what are.

a 2N5457 should work ok, but someone (Torchy or Bwanasonic maybe?) noted that they didnt sound as good as the NTE458 or J201....whatever you try, id use a socket and watch the pinout...Torchy has kindly donated layouts for DSG and DGS jfets, so make sure you use the correct one...my favorite is the NTE458, which has more output, and IMO breaks up with the gain knob in a more musical way...kinda gets into "old bassman" territory....

that being said, even a mpf102 will work, though you'll have less output, and less lows and mids than the j201 or NTE458.

best of luck, and enjoy the build !

Andy
Dragonfly FX

[analog kid]

thanks, curious to know, what are the "C" labeled transistors that I come across alot in old stuff ?? ie; C1571(AP181), C945(G8C), C536(G8D)
I find and have alot of these type trans. and Figure they're useless for my purposes but if it's worth testing them for gains IF I found out what type (JFET, Mosfet, switching ,etc... transistors then I may find a use for them.
 thanks again
So you wouldn't use anything Higher Or Lower than the 100k in this circuit??

[Dragonfly]

thanks, curious to know, what are the "C" labeled transistors that I come across alot in old stuff ?? ie; C1571(AP181), C945(G8C), C536(G8D)
I find and have alot of these type trans. and Figure they're useless for my purposes but if it's worth testing them for gains IF I found out what type (JFET, Mosfet, switching ,etc... transistors then I may find a use for them.
 thanks again
So you wouldn't use anything Higher Or Lower than the 100k in this circuit??

i'm not familiar with any of those part #'s...if you have a multimeter with a hfe function, you can try using that to narrow it down...

as for the pots...100k seems to work well (its my "default" pot for most uses), so i havent tried other values....experiment, and report on how it goes

andy

[analog kid]

Ok, and one last question BEFORE I get started on it... Are there any other Layout pictures posted anywhere of your booster?? the schematic is helpful and the drawing of the layout that's been done here is nice but there aren't any "traces" shown between the components showing the optimum circuit connections for the PCB. I could figure it out from the schematic I"m sure but if there IS a better layout w/ all connections shown somewhere I'd sure like to see it to go by !
thanks again!
oh.... AND when I'm looking for a compatable JFET to use in there what are the gains I should be looking for???

[Dragonfly]

Ok, and one last question BEFORE I get started on it... Are there any other Layout pictures posted anywhere of your booster?? the schematic is helpful and the drawing of the layout that's been done here is nice but there aren't any "traces" shown between the components showing the optimum circuit connections for the PCB. I could figure it out from the schematic I"m sure but if there IS a better layout w/ all connections shown somewhere I'd sure like to see it to go by !
thanks again!
oh.... AND when I'm looking for a compatable JFET to use in there what are the gains I should be looking for???

heres a perf layout for the DGS version./....

on the jfet, as high of a gain as possible...

[analog kid]

thanks , I'm glad that you posted this for me because I do notice there are differences in yours here and the layout that the others put up! maybe not in the values but in the physical layout. which I guess just comes from one person to anothers deciphering of the schematic. Also that a 5k gain rather than a 10k in the other layout. SO I'd rather use yours though this is different than I'd seen an led wired off a 3P switch but I'll try it.
thanks :lol:

[analog kid]

does anything need to be adjusted to this layout when omitting the DC adapter jack?? I does the Tip (input) still just run to the center lug of the switch? which i noticed BOTH jacks TIPS run to. (?) also on this layout Neither Sleeve on the Jacks run to a normal ground (that I'm used to) but instead to the outers of the center row on the switch .This is a Ground??
i;'m almost done  but those are the things that threw me .
Thanks again

[Dragonfly]

does anything need to be adjusted to this layout when omitting the DC adapter jack?? I does the Tip (input) still just run to the center lug of the switch? which i noticed BOTH jacks TIPS run to. (?) also on this layout Neither Sleeve on the Jacks run to a normal ground (that I'm used to) but instead to the outers of the center row on the switch .This is a Ground??
i;'m almost done  but those are the things that threw me .
Thanks again

the jacks, switch, etc ground through the board ground...it ties them all together. basically, just run your ground wires off the board, and from there go to the switch , the jacks, the pots, etc...