Best diy box for AC/DC plexi tones?

debutvm · May 21, 2006, 08:22:09 PM

What is the best diy box for marshall plexi type tones? I wanting to pull of ac/dc tones fairly well. I will build on vero, and the more simple the better..Thanks in advance for the informative suggestions.

JHS · May 21, 2006, 09:04:29 PM

The HAO Rustdriver and a Blackface Fender will produce that sound ('69-plexi 50W).
You can alter the BIAS-circuit a bit (better filtering) to make the unit sound more like a 100W.

The Carl Martin Plexitone is more than satisfiying with Blackface Amps, you can cancel the 2nd drive pot and the booster stage for ACDC type crunch.

A slightly modified Drivemaster V1 or Guv'ner will get you close too (the Blues Perplexed Project is a good mod to start with).

JHS

debutvm · May 21, 2006, 09:07:02 PM

Is the firecracker a possibilty or not what im looking for? Havnt heard much about the rustdriver, anybody got sound clips?

powerplayj · May 21, 2006, 09:43:38 PM

.......BSIAB2 and to a certain extent the Thunderchief because it seems to be voiced with a bit more mid/bottom end. Somebody did some comparison clips a few weeks back (Don-o-coustic) possibly?

debutvm · May 21, 2006, 10:10:48 PM

I was wanting to build a bsiab2 pedal anyways, so if i can kill two birds w/ one stone...Is the bsiab a complex/costly build? Im in college and on a budget.

rockgardenlove · May 22, 2006, 12:44:14 AM

I'd say Thunderchief...sounds great for that sort of thing.

AC30Dirty · May 22, 2006, 01:42:27 PM

I think the Indyguitarist Plexi Drive would nail it!! :icon_biggrin:I've heard clips and it sounds AMAZING! I think he mentioned here a while back what the pedal was based on and how he made it. Maybe you can figure it out.

sta63bmx · May 22, 2006, 02:13:38 PM

I built a BSIAB2 and evidently I toasted a FET or something, since it doesn't seem to have as much drive as it should, but it nails the AC/DC sound. It was the "homely" build in this subforum.

vanessa · May 22, 2006, 04:05:58 PM

Quote from: JHS on May 21, 2006, 09:04:29 PM
The HAO Rustdriver and a Blackface Fender will produce that sound ('69-plexi 50W).

Is there a schematic floating around for this?

tcobretti · May 22, 2006, 06:17:55 PM

If you want Angus-in-a-box, build the ROG Eighteen. It absolutely nails the AC/DC sound. I don't even plug that pedal in unless I wanna play AC/DC.

debutvm · May 22, 2006, 08:51:05 PM

I think i will do the eighteen pedal. I will post pics of the build/sound clips after im done. Thanks for the input everyone!

alderbody · May 23, 2006, 04:02:46 AM

+1 on the ROG eighteen.

a bit off topic-> i tried the 18 "pushed" by my rangemaster clone and it's somethin' else...

MartyMart · May 23, 2006, 08:49:33 AM

Yup, ROG's Eighteen will do a fine job for you

Quote from: vanessa on May 22, 2006, 04:05:58 PM
Quote from: JHS on May 21, 2006, 09:04:29 PM
The HAO Rustdriver and a Blackface Fender will produce that sound ('69-plexi 50W).

Is there a schematic floating around for this?

I borrowed a few HAO's a while back and thought that they all "sucked top end" when engaged
so I wasn't impressed at all ....
I have a "Sole pressure" pedal which doesn't do that, and it's quite a nice Boost/Grit but there's
plenty of DIY versions that are probably better IMHO
Mark Hammers "Crank" will cover that very well indeed.
MM.

RollingElbow · September 04, 2006, 03:46:35 PM

Gents, sorry if this is an old post but I think it does bring up an interesting question. I currently have a tube amp which I built that has a good high gain preamp BUT it flabs out and loses its tightness when cranked distorted all the way and with the volume. As I can't afford to build tube amps forever more, I liked the idea of driving one of the ROG pedals like the 18 or thunderchief through my clean or slightly dirtied channel and then even boosting it slightly afterwards with a mini booster or something. Will this sound good? Do boosting these "amp in a box" work well? Who has experienced this and have some soundclips?

Also, how much truth is there to cloning an amp in pedal form by simply replacing the input and output tubes on the schematic with fets? How do you duplicate the push-pull of a tube amp?

Thanks.

The Tone God · September 04, 2006, 04:14:24 PM

Quote from: RollingElbow on September 04, 2006, 03:46:35 PM
Also, how much truth is there to cloning an amp in pedal form by simply replacing the input and output tubes on the schematic with fets?

It is not true that simple replacing tubes with FETs will give the same result.

Quote from: RollingElbow on September 04, 2006, 03:46:35 PMHow do you duplicate the push-pull of a tube amp?

There is IMHO no way to duplicate tubes with other components otherwise tubes would have been obsoleted long ago. This topic has been beaten to death.

The

function is your friend.

Search criteria: tube fet

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=45926.0

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=30355.0

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=30365.0

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=28845.0

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=43989.0

Andrew

LP Hovercraft · September 04, 2006, 05:17:50 PM

In addition to those already mentioned. The ROG Supreaux is another really good one. Built one for a buddy who uses an SG with Iommi pickups and the only thing that's missing is the schoolboy uniform and the insano stage antics.

RollingElbow · September 04, 2006, 06:05:53 PM

Yeah i found a few threads on the push pull question after i had posted

my "bad"! It doesn't seem to be worth the effort trying to duplicatepast a certain point.

I am still interested however, in what people ave found chaining these pedals together with boosters of some sort.

tungngruv · September 04, 2006, 08:54:30 PM

All of the above are great places to start. I used just the "Rangemaster" part only of my SkyRipper fuzz through my clean Marshall. It got a real good AC/DC tone, even with the Marshall on the low channel, set clean. I'll bet a Rangemaster clone with a NOS NPN germanium transistor from Aron,

a tube amp and a humbucker equipped guitar will get you real close. Check this clip I made with the above mentioned gear:
http://www.tungngruv.com/sounds/SkyRipperRangeOnly.mp3

mojotron · September 04, 2006, 10:20:03 PM

I was going for a Plexi sound via an Eric Johnson 'Ah Via' kind of sound - adding a Tube Driver in front of it.

I followed wampcat1's (indyguitarist) notes on this thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=44976.0;prev_next=prev

Which is to basically follow the same approach as used on the Thunder Chief, use J201 JFETs, and add in the tone stack following a Marshall 1959 schematic.

I also added 150pF ceramic caps between Gate and Source on all of the Fets to model the Miller capacitance - this actually makes a huge difference. It sounds very close to the sound I was shooting for, the tone controls make a big difference. I'm not quite done with it yet as I'm playing with feedback/presence parts of the 1959 circuit. Not that the world needs another distortion circuit, but I will post the schematic/PCB when I get done.

I get a very good 'Angus' sound out of this too.

RollingElbow · September 05, 2006, 02:03:15 PM

Nice clip! That is a nice fat juicy tone.. the High Octane I built blows on when the gain is too high so hearing this gives me hope that it can be salvaged and still used with a pedal driving it. Now what would be interesting is chain another booster to the rangemaster and record a lead that has more gain.. interested in how this will alter your initial tone as well as the noise factor.

Mojotone, do you have any clips of the pedal you built to get your Eric Johnson tone?

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Best diy box for AC/DC plexi tones?