GGG Marshall Guv'nor - Build Report

[Bucksears]

Wow. That's the first thing I thought when I started hitting some power chords. I feel like an idiot for not trying this one sooner.
I finished it up tonight in the case w/3PDT switch (no LED yet) and I....am.....floored. The eq is very usable (and very sensitive): it will do the 80's heavy metal (mids scooped w/the gain maxed) and will do the classic rock thing easily.
Three things I DO find peculiar about this circuit:
1) The volume is a bit low; I have to turn it up a bit to match the bypassed signal.
2) The gain doesn't really kick IN until that last 1/5 of a turn, but it sounds amazing.
3) The Bass is wired backwards - clockwise CUTS the bass. The bass sounds fine on mine, BTW. (But I have the mids up and the treble rolled back a little.)

**I must note that I am using a TL082 IC, but will try a TL072 and JRC4558 as well.
I was playing some classic rock riffs (AC/DC & ZZ Topp), and I just had a grin on my face the whole time. I'm very please with this unit. I wanted a 'Marshall sounding' pedal for, well, that 'Marshall' sound; this has it in spades.
It looks like I'm going to have three main distortion pedals (not fuzz or OD) in my lineup: Dr. Boogey, Guv'nor and my BSIAB II - Special Edition (with the dual mid mods). Those three cover about all I do.
Thanks to all that worked out the schem and JD for having the site up and the layout. This thing rocks.
- Buck

[d95err]

Three things I DO find peculiar about this circuit:
2) The gain doesn't really kick IN until that last 1/5 of a turn, but it sounds amazing.
3) The Bass is wired backwards - clockwise CUTS the bass. The bass sounds fine on mine, BTW. (But I have the mids up and the treble rolled back a little.)

2 - Try a linear pot
3 - If you wired the bass backwards, just wire it "forwards" instead...

[Bucksears]

Thanks d95err.
I'll rewire the bass pot tonight, maybe, and swap out the log gain pot for a linear. I'll doublecheck my wiring too. I thought of these things on the way to work this morning prior to reading this.
After I posted last night, I pulled the TL082 out and swapped it for a TI TL072. The 72 is a little less warm sounding than the 82, although the controls function the same (no more/less gain or any particular part of the eq).
I'm going to try a JRC4558 tonight and see if there is a difference.

I really like this pedal. It doesn't sound like any Marshall amp in particular, it just has 'that sound'. I hope to get the lower gain thing worked out on this. It really excels at mid to high gain right now.
-Buck

[vanhansen]

Nice report, Buck.  It's one I've been wanting to build myself.  Looks like I may have to push it up the list some.  It's not getting ahead of the Blues Breaker though.  I breadboard everything first so these two may be good to breadboard one after the other.  They're pretty darn similar circuits.

[Bucksears]

I did the Bluesbreaker build about a couple of months ago and was less than impressed. It was a bit muddy/dark sounding, no bite to it. I might revisit it someday now that I have different (not as hot) pickups in my Ibanez, but not anytime soon.
- Buck

[Grocha]

it's a really good pedal.

1) The volume is a bit low; I have to turn it up a bit to match the bypassed signal.

  not for me. I use a TL072 Op-amp, and the volume bypassed is very lower than distortion volume

Gabriel

[Roobin]

I did the Bluesbreaker build about a couple of months ago and was less than impressed. It was a bit muddy/dark sounding, no bite to it. I might revisit it someday now that I have different (not as hot) pickups in my Ibanez, but not anytime soon.
- Buck

Eh? When I built this, I was overwhelmed by the treble. However, seeing as it was my first project, and the gain is a little odd (when compared to Tone Frenzy sound bite), it may just be me... Also my Squire pick ups are pretty bitely.

Anyway, Im thinkin of building this one. On the GGG, there is a send/return jack: what does this do and how have you used it? Could we have some pics please. And any noise issues? (sorry if Im a bit inquisitive!)

But it sounds like it suits you perfectly!

[powerplayj]

How does the Guv'nor compare to the BSIABII as far as gain is concerned?  Is it better with a clean amp (my experience with BSIABII) or do you need to use it on top of the lead amp channel?

Dual mids mod???  Did you breadboard this or were you able to do this mod from the GGG PCB?  Sounds interesting

[radio]

Owning the Guvnor I put before clean channel, it's somewhere between boost/overdrive

for blues.As allways I don't know if this is only due to guitar /amp (Ricky/Laney 15W)

As far as I heard the BSIAB(still on building list) has MORE gain.

Greetings JME

[Bucksears]

Ok, I should probably explain my setup a little more. (and I'm going to use the word 'classic' a lot)
I tried the Guv'nor out last night with my Ibanez Artist (w/Duncan '59s), straight into my SRRI with no reverb. The speakers have broken in a little better (it's about 1yr old) and I had the amp's eq set at 5 (treble), 8 (mids) and 4.5 (bass).
As far as the gain goes, the Guv'nor definitely covers that classic rock sound. Maxed out, mine gets a great heavy (ala 1970's/early 80's) sound. I was really impressed with the new Vox Big Ben Overdrive, which also sounds like a Marshall. (It's almost like the Big Ben is a (12AU7) tube-driven version of the Guv'nor with a single tone control.) But the Guv'nor nails the same sound (for much less $$$) and the gain is a wee bit higher.
So, I'm basically using a clean Fender tube amp (SR being the 'king of clean') and running all of my fuzz/distortions/ODs into that. I like a perfectly clean channel as a base if I'm going to use a distortion pedal.

The BSIAB II is a little bit of a different animal in that the gain is a WEE bit more compressed. I would have to play them back-to-back to say which one has more gain as they are that close. I will say that I think the BSIAB II is a little better for leads and the Guv'nor is better for rhythm, if I HAVE to dissect it down to a difference, but they still both excel at rhythms and leads better than a majority of commercial boxes. I was surprised that the Guv'nor sounds so 'airy' and 'open', i.e. more like amp distortion.

Here is the link to the thread from about a month ago regarding BSIAB II mods. I'm going to do #'s 1 and 2 in Mojo's posting; basically, it's supposed to give full control over the mids (low and high).
http://www.elixant.com/~stompbox/smfforum/index.php?topic=41118.0
Hope this helps,
- Buck

[audioguy]

Isnt there a few mods floating around to make the Guv'nor a really high gain monster?

[Bucksears]

Isnt there a few mods floating around to make the Guv'nor a really high gain monster?

Probably, I would be surprised if there weren't. This thing is all about that niche, for me, anyway.
But I already have a high-gain monster called the Dr. Boogey, and I don't need more gain than that. 

[d95err]

Anyway, Im thinkin of building this one. On the GGG, there is a send/return jack: what does this do and how have you used it?

It's an effect loop. It lets you switch in/out another effect when you switch on/off the Guv'nor. Could reduce the tap-dance a bit by saving an extra stomp in some situations. For example, say that you want to use 3 different sounds: Clean, rythm (guvnor), solo (guvnor + clean booster). You put the booster in the Guv'nor send/return loop. Now you can switch from clean to solo with a single stomp. To change between rythm and solo, you just step on the booster.

[audioguy]

Im hearing lots of reports that the Dr Boogie is killer... maybe I'll give it a shot soon.

[Bucksears]

Im hearing lots of reports that the Dr Boogie is killer... maybe I'll give it a shot soon.

It is. It is the best circuit I've found for doing that CHUG-CHUG palm muting gain and mimicing the Dual Rectifier.

On the GGG, there is a send/return jack: what does this do and how have you used it? Could we have some pics please. And any noise issues?

I didn't mess with the effects loop. Sorry. I'll do what I can to get some pics posted sometime, I'm busy working on a pickup replacement and finishing the BSIAB II. No, I haven't found any noise issues with the Guv'nor. Yet another reason to love it.

But it sounds like it suits you perfectly!

I'm hoping it will. I love it so far. 

[mojotron]

Isnt there a few mods floating around to make the Guv'nor a really high gain monster?

referring to http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/guvnor_sc.gif

I'll call this the "Mr. Dirty Harry" mod...

The good:
- Change C1 to .2uF  - a bit more bass/gain

The Bad:
- Replace R1 with a 5kB pot - use this to tweak the depth of the lowend

The Ugly:
- Short VR1 wiper to the C3 side of VR1 forming a variable resistor - this increases the gain from monster to full on Godzilla! 

- ...You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?
From there I use a JRC4558 opamp and no diodes/LEDs, but 3mm red LEDs sound nice too (and look really cool if you pop them up through the top of the enclosure  ).

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

the Dr. Boogey is wonderful. it's like

zzzzzhhhhhhhhhhh chig chig chig bwoooooowowowowooooooo zhhhh zhhh zhhhh chig deeleelee deeleelee deeleelee weeeeeieieieeeee zhhhhhhhhh!

seriously, just build it 

[mojotron]

 

[MartyMart]

the Dr. Boogey is wonderful. it's like

zzzzzhhhhhhhhhhh chig chig chig bwoooooowowowowooooooo zhhhh zhhh zhhhh chig deeleelee deeleelee deeleelee weeeeeieieieeeee zhhhhhhhhh!

seriously, just build it 

Thats the best description of sound in words, I've ever seen  !! 

MM

[Bucksears]

I might have to look at a few of those mods, probably the more gain/bass first. I've already got it boxed up, so adding more pots isn't doable right now.
Sweet, thanks!
- Buck