We need a new stompbox myth...

[Peter Snowberg]

Stompswitch lugs have to point downward for decent tone.

I never buy x-wing switches for this very reason.

If you mount a JRC4558D upside down (i.e., bend the pins the other way and install so that the top layer of the IC is closest to the copper side of the board) you get less noise.

There is a grain of truth there. Inside DIP packages the semiconductor die is mounted on the top of a metal platform that the leads are stamped from. Mounting the package upside down would provide a shield over the bottom of the die. This would be useful for noise reduction when you also have an electromechanical buzzer in the same box.

[grs149]

On the subject of 9V batteries.....
Cheap zinc-carbon batteries give better tone than alkalines. Electricity from carbon rods gives a nice earthy, woody tone, while alkaline cells give a harsh, sterile tone.

Greg

[Peter Snowberg]

Here's another in the process of formation....

http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=36905

[nooneknows]

On the subject of 9V batteries.....
Cheap zinc-carbon batteries give better tone than alkalines. Electricity from carbon rods gives a nice earthy, woody tone, while alkaline cells give a harsh, sterile tone.

Greg

ehm... some people already hear differences between carbon and alkaline battery in fuzz face circuit (eric Johnson if I remember correctly).
And about the capacitor: it's a common mod in Hi-End hi fi sytem coupling large electrolytics caps with metal ones to improve the 'speed' of reaction.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Different batteries (even of the same type, or even the same battery some time later) can make SOME effects sound differetn, because of feedback caused by resistance in the battery itself (which increases as the battery ages).

[Peter Snow]

Mark Hammer wrote:

If you mount a JRC4558D upside down (i.e., bend the pins the other way and install so that the top layer of the IC is closest to the copper side of the board) you get less noise.

...And just how do you know this to be true Mark?



Peter (who already knows the answer (evil laugh-> :lol: ))

[mojotron]

Mark Hammer wrote:

If you mount a JRC4558D upside down (i.e., bend the pins the other way and install so that the top layer of the IC is closest to the copper side of the board) you get less noise.

...And just how do you know this to be true Mark?

Peter (who already knows the answer (evil laugh-> :lol: ))

I don't know how I do this, but invariably when I make a new layout for a circuit that I'm designing it ends up being flipped...  :oops:  In the process I've made some great sounding stuff with a flipped opamp - which I would not attribute to mounting the IC upside down, but you never know....

[Doug_H]

Actually, you can achieve the same low-noise advantage by just turning your pedals upside down. In addition this keeps the in/out cables oriented properly in the left->right direction which, in the northern hemisphere anyway, keeps the signal properly in phase with the earth's rotation and gravitational field. This produces sweeter sounding even harmonics and an overall "rounder" tone.  Also, the back of the pedal serves as a large footpad for easier switching- no need to worry about stomping/breaking knobs after a few beers and etc...

Doug

[Mark Hammer]

Mark Hammer wrote:

If you mount a JRC4558D upside down (i.e., bend the pins the other way and install so that the top layer of the IC is closest to the copper side of the board) you get less noise.

...And just how do you know this to be true Mark?

Peter (who already knows the answer (evil laugh-> :lol: ))

I don't know how I do this, but invariably when I make a new layout for a circuit that I'm designing it ends up being flipped...  :oops:  In the process I've made some great sounding stuff with a flipped opamp - which I would not attribute to mounting the IC upside down, but you never know....

Well here's the thing.  Just about EVERY myth has to have a basis in truth, or at least something which is true but misconstrued and grossly exaggerated ater 20th generation retellings.

Of course the reason why both Peter and I know about the flipped-over chips is because we've both made PCBs without first compensating for the flipped image needed for PnP technique. :cry:

[wampcat1]

On the subject of 9V batteries.....
Cheap zinc-carbon batteries give better tone than alkalines. Electricity from carbon rods gives a nice earthy, woody tone, while alkaline cells give a harsh, sterile tone.

Greg

ehm... some people already hear differences between carbon and alkaline battery in fuzz face circuit (eric Johnson if I remember correctly).
And about the capacitor: it's a common mod in Hi-End hi fi sytem coupling large electrolytics caps with metal ones to improve the 'speed' of reaction.

My $.002...
EJ is a bit strange on that sort of thing...remember - he INSISTS on keeping his fuzz held together with a rubber band, because it sounds better that way.  :roll:

IMO, Hi fi in general when related to guitars is freaking crazy. Guitars are midrange. Guitar amps are midrange. Stop with the hi-fi hype already (not directed at you, nooneknows )!!  :lol:

There... I feel better now.. hehe!  :lol:

Take care,
Brian

[jmusser]

If you have your amp on, your guitar plugged in, and drop it down a flight of stairs, you can pretty much nail any Neil Young break! I have had a couple circuits like the Orange Sunshine Fuzz, that I used big high voltage (250v) "orange drop" capacitors in (because theat's all I had), and they ended up sounding better than the sound samples. I have no idea weather bigger plate area has anything to do with it or not, but it's as good a rumor as any.

[Johan]

red plastic cap's sound "hotter" than green plastic cap's..that's why they are red..

desoldered, re-used 4558's sound better that n.o.s units, since the corrosion on the legs on the ones that wasnt protected by lead, prevents the tone from coming through...

shorter battery-snapp cables means less powerloss..

top-mounted battery-hatch ( Boss/ibaneze/dod ) lets the "mojo" slowly vapourize in a way that just doesnt hapen on "booteek" style boxes ( read Hammond ) that you have to turn over to replace the battery in.. this is also why most massproduced boxes sound great in the store, but not when you get home..

using only purple wire make the guys from the bombsquad confused....

no good tone ever came without hum...

johan

[Mark Hammer]

If you leave the legs/leads on a transistor as long as possible (that is, you leave very little to clip off on the copper side of the board), they sound better.  Wait.  That's too vague.  Okay, got it now.  The distortion sounds "smoother".

[Paul Marossy]

You have to use connectors between stompboxes which have "oxygen free" wire.

The ProCo RAT has to be in such a large enclosure.

Carbon comp resistors must be used in any "good pedal".

The JRC4558 opamp is the only acceptable opamp for the "mojo factor".

A 1N914 diode sounds better than a 1N4148 diode.

[10acErnie]

1. Pedals that cost less than $150 can't possibly sound good.

2. Tube Screamers sound OK stock but you have to have some guy on the internet mod something in some way or else you will never sound like a famous guitarist.

3. The rarer a pedal is; the more it's worth........ regardless of what it sounds like.

4. The biggest secret that the music industry doesn't want you to know is:
IT'S NOT IN THE FINGERS, IT'S IN THE PEDALS!!!!

[dr]

.....this pedal DOESN'T suck!......

[Basstyra]

Assembling pedals in white rooms is really better to avoid parasites.

Painting a stompbox green will make it sound more Ts9 like, yellow more DS-1, black more Rat.

The way you solder resistors does matter. A way sounds betteer than the other, allways.

[Killer Queen]

If you use cheap curly guitar cable inbetween every effect, it gives you genuine mojo tone, ala. Jimi Hendrix and Brian May. This is because the magnetic field of the curly wire is strengthened by the shape, and so it picks up natrual resonance from the atmosphere, which will deepen and improve your tone.
 

Each resistor lead needs to be exactly the same length, so the resistance is balanced. Ditto for trannies- the more equal the length of the leads, the smoother the distortion.


Yellow painted pedals are the least noisy, because yellow paint has a special pigment in it which helps shield the pedal from radiowaves and inteference. :lol:

[BigLloyde]

If you make the little gold band on the resistors all face the same end of the board, it does nothing to improve the tone, but it does prove that you are crazy.  And everybody know that crazy = genius. :idea:

[Ed G.]

Actually, you can achieve the same low-noise advantage by just turning your pedals upside down. In addition this keeps the in/out cables oriented properly in the left->right direction which, in the northern hemisphere anyway, keeps the signal properly in phase with the earth's rotation and gravitational field. This produces sweeter sounding even harmonics and an overall "rounder" tone.  Also, the back of the pedal serves as a large footpad for easier switching- no need to worry about stomping/breaking knobs after a few beers and etc...

Doug

Enough of this! Do you guys want to give Eric Johnson a nervous breakdown?