A first look at my Nu-Valve pedal

[ahermida]

I never forgot the pic that R.G. made hammering a tube inside a pedal.  Here's what I came up with.  Its called Nu-Valve and it is the size of a Distortion+ box but it has 2 tubes in it.  It runs on 9V ~ 12V but I always run it at 9V.  Here are the pics of the proto unit and the insides.  The tubes are located in the battery area.  They are installed in their own sockets.  I didn't have a board to mount them on so I used a perf board.  JD Sleep is making a nice looking one for the pedal.

I'll be posting info on my board soon but wanted to give you guys a quick peek at it before it shows up on my website.

The approach is obviously hybrid.  Based in part on my Zendrive and Mosferatu designs.   Hopefully this will be food for though among the DIY'ers in this forum.  I want to get some clips done soon and will post them on my site.

http://www.hermidaaudio.com/Nu-Valve_proto.jpg

http://www.hermidaaudio.com/Nu-Valve_proto_inside.jpg


Alf

[ragtime8922]

Are they tubes? They look like metal can transistors. What kind of tubes are you using in this pedal?

[MartyMart]

Great looking pedal ... tell us more  ??  
I'm done with op-amp/diode clippers and trannies,
so "valves" next for me  !!

Marty.

[aron]

I couldnt' see the pic....

I wonder if it uses a nuvistor:

http://digilander.libero.it/paeng/what_the_nuvistor.htm

[nelson]

Looks like it Aron, I had never heard of a nuvistor till now....



This forum is great......I wonder what it sounds like......

[ahermida]

I couldnt' see the pic....

I wonder if it uses a nuvistor:

http://digilander.libero.it/paeng/what_the_nuvistor.htm

You hit it in the head.  They are Nuvistors.  They measure about .8" tall and .4" in diameter.  An extremely small tube!

Alf

[vanhansen]

I couldnt' see the pic....

I wonder if it uses a nuvistor:

http://digilander.libero.it/paeng/what_the_nuvistor.htm

You hit it in the head.  They are Nuvistors.  They measure about .8" tall and .4" in diameter.  An extremely small tube!

Alf

Hmm....I wonder how those would sound in some of the amp emulation circuits.

[nelson]

I couldnt' see the pic....

I wonder if it uses a nuvistor:

http://digilander.libero.it/paeng/what_the_nuvistor.htm

You hit it in the head.  They are Nuvistors.  They measure about .8" tall and .4" in diameter.  An extremely small tube!

Alf

Hmm....I wonder how those would sound in some of the amp emulation circuits.

I was thinking the same thing....My next thought was where I could get some.

[ahermida]

Nuvistors are not easy to get these days and when you do they end up costing more than some of the regular tubes.  I've also looked at tubes that run at lower voltages such as the ECC86.  The ECC86 might be a good choice for the amp emulation circuits....well, now that I think about it you can't call them "emulation" anymore if you put tubes, eh?

Alf

[aron]

I have tried the low voltage tubes (not the nuvistor). IMO they do not provide the great tone required of us etremely picky individuals nowdays.

It sounds hard to believe, but I do not think they are that good for a pedal. They ARE somewhat easy to wire for sure.

[Johan]

I have tried the low voltage tubes (not the nuvistor). IMO they do not provide the great tone required of us etremely picky individuals nowdays.

It sounds hard to believe, but I do not think they are that good for a pedal. They ARE somewhat easy to wire for sure.

..I've heard arguments that the reason ( or part of the reason ) some tubes sound "better" than others is becouse the plate is bigger ( compare the first "Sovtecs" with any old Mullard or Seimens..)...I dont know if there is any truth in that, but if there is...physicaly smaller tube would have to mean smaller plates, right?...so maby...

...great looking pedal anyway..

johan

[RDV]

Brilliant!!

RDV

[Regan]

Very cool pedal!!
There is some very high end modern hifi that uses nuvistors in the preamp so they must have some good sound merits:)
The only problem I have heard with nuvistors is they are prone to being microphonic.
My problem with them is, they just sit there and work,, no glow nothing!

Regan

[ahermida]

Very cool pedal!!
There is some very high end modern hifi that uses nuvistors in the preamp so they must have some good sound merits:)
The only problem I have heard with nuvistors is they are prone to being microphonic.
My problem with them is, they just sit there and work,, no glow nothing!

Regan

yeah and I can't even put an LED behind it to make it glow either.

Alf

[Doug_H]

Very cool Alf!

Much smaller than mine will be. Haha!! :lol:  :lol:

Looks really great, can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Doug

[doug deeper]

what are the voltage requirments for the ECC86s?

[ahermida]

what are the voltage requirments for the ECC86s?

check here (6GM8/ECC86):
http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/sheets/035/6/6GM8.pdf


Alf

[doug deeper]

25v is a no go for me!
(DANGER)
thanks though!
what tube will run on 9v or less?
sound quality does not matter...
the worse the better!

[aron]

I tried to use the best tubes I could with the low voltage ones and only got a semi-decent tone. For me, it wasn't worth implementing them. I got lots better sounds with our transistor circuits.

[ahermida]

I tried to use the best tubes I could with the low voltage ones and only got a semi-decent tone. For me, it wasn't worth implementing them. I got lots better sounds with our transistor circuits.

Here's a clip recorded by Scott Lerner using my Zendrive 2 with a Groove Tubes 12AX7-M (Mullard clone).  The pedal is running at 9V (with a DC adapter):

http://www.scottlernermusic.com/mayclips/Zen2FirstTestGT12AX7.MP3

Alf