Radio Shack Rectifier Diodes in TS style OD pedal...

[SteveB]

Well, I went out & got some of those huge diodes cat # 276-1661, & while they sound okay, there is a significant volume drop compared to other diodes. Maybe I should have used only one, & another type on the other side like Mojotron did. These are definitely NOT what is under the epoxy on FD2's. From what I can see, they are probably something like a 1n4001 size. I see that there are other diodes at RS in that size labeled as "epoxy rectifier diodes", but I didn't get any. For kicks, I tried 2 of those little round epoxy diodes, & while they sounded okay, they did not sound just like a FD2. I put in 2 1n4001's,  & to me, the sound is close. I added a 10uf electro, a .005uf cap, & a 47K resistor in series from the drive wiper to pin 7 of the IC. This is as close as I've ever gotten to to the FD2 sound. I closed my eyes, & would A/B mine & a FD2, without knowing which one was on, & I really got confused, not knowing which one I was playing through. BTW, the FD2 I comparing to has a .005uf cap in the flat mnid circuit, not a .010uf.

Thanks to Fooltone & Mojotron for the flat mid insight.

SteveB

[mojotron]

Wow that's interesting - Thanks Steve. I'm in the middle of building some pedals this weekend, but I will definately try that as well when I get some time.

One addition to the other stuff I mentioned before was that the really big rectifier did cause me to have a little less overdrive. This was a good thing as I think this got me a lot closer to duplicating the way my Fender amps get overdriven. I'm using a 1MA drive pot and with the big rectifier this also gives me a bit more 2nd overtone than the fooltone.

I'll try your idea some time next week, I'm also trying some tone knob mods.... The tone control is muddy, but so are my Deluxe Reverbs with the stock speakers at about 7-9. I'll let you know what I find.. Thanks for the ideas - when I read your post just now a light turned on above my head and the difference in the distortion level all of a sudden made scense.  :shock:  I'll let you know where my mods end up.

[mojotron]

I'll let you know where my mods end up.

After re-hasing the rectifier experiment, I decided on the 1N5400 (http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/1N/1N5400.pdf).

I get less clipping, but the asymetry and tone is nice and smooth...