AMP OVERLOADER PEDAL

[David]

well, the name "overloader" seems to be taken...
how about:
the "Melting Tubes",
"Glowing Tubes".
"Purple Tubes",
"Liquid Bottles",
"Melting Glass",
"Tube Meltor",
the "RedHot X-former",
"Wailon Transformer",
"Crying Coils",
the "Goodbye EL34",
"Goodbye 2 Toobz",
"Marsholl`s Lament",
the "P.A.-Shutdown",
the "Fuse-Exterminator",
"TUBE-ZERO"

"PoorTooB"

Then there are always...

Blown Fuse
Halon Discharge
Electrical Fire
Expensive Repair
Mournful Musician

[Doug_H]

grid-blocking...

What's that?

http://www.aikenamps.com/BlockingDistortion.html

[A.S.P.]

thanx, Doug: that`s it... 

[The Tone God]

Great! You got a vague hyperbole filled description of the effect's sound and a name. Now that the hard part is done on to the easy task of actually designing the pedal. 

Andrew

[Roobin]

Have you seen the Truely Beautiful Disaster? I'm trying to think of the maker...
It has a feedback look, an LDR 'eye' and some other wonderful stuff.

Ps overloader, please please please in the future do not put things in capitals like your first post. On the internet, this is generally seen as flaming i.e getting angry with people. I know this isnt what you intended it for, but its just nicer to look at small letters. Plus it doesnt hurt my eyes.

[petemoore]

  Starved Jfet Mu Amp did that pretty neat trick with a LM317 adjusting the V+ voltage down...3v...5v...and something boosting the input of it to 'make demands' the power supply/circuit couldn't deliver made cool 'duck/recovery' type tones, of course the input voltage of ~source has a direct and frequency/attack amount dependancy for the 'duck' to take place...voltage turned down further allowed this for leads on high strings, but low string use would be ducked severely or for longer transient periods, not good for lead to chord work without at least guitar attenuation...temperamental that way...but mostly I set it up at a voltage that would get good/consistantly attainable ducking [like much fewer highs and some overall attenuation] for just low notes/mid note chords.
  I'd call it an 'Overdrive' though...soft clipping could be had.
  Mu amps were chosen because of their ability to maintain 'workable' bias as voltage of supply drops.

[lethargytartare]

Crikies, I TOLD you I had it!

Builid a very small tube combo amp, with some indestructable 6" speaker.  put a clean (or vClean...virtua-clean...since clean isn't quite clean) booster in front of it, and a microphone in front of the speaker.  Connect the mic to another booster, then to an output jack. But that whole shebang into a big wooden box with a stomp switch on the top and an input and output jack.   Crank everything inside that has a knob to be cranked.  That whole thing is your pedal...

...
THE CLOSEST I CAME TO THE SOUND: Plugging a les paul w/emg's (60s) into a Way Huge swollen pickle fuzz (sustain on "0", tone with some lows/highs, volume 5), into a Pete Cornish SS-2 overdrive pedal (sustain on "0", tone adjusted to so there's some highs, volume 5 - not too high so I don't blow amp), then into a Silvertone 1451 w/8" rola alnico speaker.
...but I would like the audio quality and headroom to be good...

or at least I was close to your thinking, eh?  And let this blow your mind -- the small tube combo I had in mind was my Silvertone 1481 -- I am not shitting you!  So you were close with your fuzz into overdrive into slivertone, but wanted more headroom (and quality, but nobody's perfect); and I had recommended boost into silvertone into boost into another amp -- TA-DA! added headroom...when I said "small tube combo" you shoulda realized I was telepathically connecting to EXACTLY what you were after...

Sorry, I'm geniusing again...I put my cape on this morning...

[TheBigMan]

Have you seen the Truely Beautiful Disaster? I'm trying to think of the maker...
It has a feedback look, an LDR 'eye' and some other wonderful stuff.

Effector 13.  I've tried a TBD, I couldn't get any useful or even discernable sound out of it, just a load of pops, squeals and speaker thumping.

[A.S.P.]

wasn`t  E 13 a former forum-member?

[wampcat1]

wasn`t  E 13 a former forum-member?

Yes...devi's still around...

[Mike Burgundy]

All noise aside, this thread got an inkling of an idea started, even before I read the envelope-modulated bias post:
Does anyone know of an attempt to *randomly* vary the bias? Current-starving has much the same effect - what if you construct a class AB small-signal amp, with both ends independantly and varyingly starved?
Not sure if that'll deliver sounds this thread was started about, but might be interesting...

[gez]

I've always wondered if the blocking thing could be simulated with a FET, using a diode (or two) to replace the source resistor.  This would force the gate-source junction to conduct when the gate is raised high enough.  Would need a current limiting resistor too to prevent the device being fried. 

[A.S.P.]

try it !   

(dunno what`ll happen)

but: the liniting R might prevent the "hickup"... (?)

[gez]

try it !   

Too many projects on the go!  Plus, other types of circuit take priority over distortions these days. 

but: the limiting R might prevent the "hickup"... (?)

Yeah, I was thinking that too.  Maybe a large drain resistor in the preceding stage (assuming FET is used) might allow for this resistor to be excluded?  One day I'll give it a whirl!

[Elektrojänis]

- Use an envelope follower (maybe RMS based) on the input signal. Amplify the output of the envelope follower, sum it with the input signal, and run the result through a soft clipping circuit.

I think this signal dependent bias thing should be experimented more even in less extreme overdrive/distorition circuits. Some call it duty cycle modulation. It should cause the balance between even and odd harmonics to change depending on the signal strenth and make the sound more interesting. Actually the changes in the harmonic structure of the distortion when doing duty cycle modulation is probably even more complex than just even/odd balance...

One way to produce some duty cycle modulation in the distortion is to use two asymmetric clipping stages in series. It will not be as extreme as mr. Overloader might want though.

Hmmm... BTW. Doesn't Fuzzface do a bit duty cycle modulation too? I think I hve read something like that from somewhere but I don't remember where.

My idea of this tone is Hendrix's performance of 'Wild Thing' at Monterey 67'.

You mean the racing-car-track -intro? Yeah! That's really something. It's probably impossible to do with any decent volume though as the feedback from the speakers to the guitar is probaby very important part of those sounds.

[RDV]

My idea of this tone is Hendrix's performance of 'Wild Thing' at Monterey 67'.

You mean the racing-car-track -intro? Yeah! That's really something. It's probably impossible to do with any decent volume though as the feedback from the speakers to the guitar is probaby very important part of those sounds.

I think he had the FF on during the part you're referring to.
I meant when he turned it off and started the chords.
Things are just going all kinds of wrong there, especially on the part where he stops before saying "Wild Thing, I think You Move Me". Lot's of cone cry and gating just from the sheer overload.

RDV

[A.S.P.]

"Cone Cryer" 
thanx, Ricky!

[RDV]

"Cone Cryer" 
thanx, Ricky!

You're welcome.

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

RDV

[A.S.P.]

[A.S.P.]

"FUZZBREAKER"