Blue Magic...doesn't get much press these days...

[Toney]

I have never built one, although when I first started out hanging here it was getting constantly recommended.
I came in like a shiny noob and asked about TS's and got told to "forget TS'a and build the blue magic".

With all the discussion of the Peppermill recently, it sort of reminded me of if this one.

Well plenty of time has passed and I have more TS variants than I can realistically use but still no BM.

I'd like to know from those that have built this.....did it stand the test of time?

Do you still favor it for TS/od work?

[jimbob]

This was a great one except that the values included a lot of mica ect.. specialty types and that the switch didn't make ANY noticeable difference. Otherwise, maybe better than a TS.

[MartyMart]

For the "Flavour" of TS but with much better gain/tone I would happily recommend the
ROG Odie 
Very, very under-rated build IMHO

MM.

[markm]

I built the Blue Magic as my first project but, it never really appealed to me as much as the Peppermill.
I like simple circuits like the Peppermill and Blue Magic just didn't seem to have as much "magic" as I would have liked. 

[Ge_Whiz]

Agreed. I didn't really like the Odie, but had a friend who loved it so I gave it to him. The Blue Magic is good if you pump up the tone switch capacitor to make a difference, but ever since I built the Peppermill, the Blue Magic has always come a close second for me.

[swt]

the blue magic is a really good pedal, and a totally different machine compared to the peppermill, although they look similar. i used to love mine, because of the tubular sound in it, but then i discover i couldn't get enough grind from it, it was too flat...so i began modding it...and you know the end...it never ends...but i'll come back one day and make it sound as i wanted. if you play blues, ala srv, it's an onteresting build.

[george]

yes I built the Blue(s) Magic too - I started out really liking it but the lack of gain started to frustrate me.  I modified it to have a Tillman JFET preamp stage feeding the BS170, but .... it's since been cannibalized.   Bit of a shame because it was the first circuit I built on perf which gave me a curious sense of achievement!

Revisiting the circuit, one thing that puzzles me is the really big resistor coupling the two FET stages.  I'm sure if that was smaller it would have more gain and maybe please more people.

But JFETs are great and the ROG guys have a lot of good stuff - I built an Eighteen and I can't get over how Marshall-y it sounds.

The important issue seems to be, what do you want to use your OD for?

- as a grainy or even clean boost (which a lot of people seem to use a TS for)?
- or do you want the pedal itself to have a good OD sound by itself, so you can switch quickly between a dirty and clean sound with no volume jump or drop?

I tend to the latter, and the Shaka Tube does that job beautifully, and I think a BSIAB in a box and the other ROG amp emulations would be great for this.

But probably simpler circuits like the Peppermill, DOD OD250 etc are better for feeding a tube amp when it comes time for the big solo and you're playing situation allows more latitude in terms of playing volume ...

[Toney]

Yeah.. I may have that ground covered.

I use OD's for both. Sometimes I like to hear od as drive on it's own other times boost and a bit of spice spanking an amp over the edge.

Glad to see the peppermill having "its day"....been a fan for some time.

I really must do some of those ROG amp sims...

[Paul Marossy]

I like the Blue Magic a lot, but it tends to be a little too muddy for my liking, with the amp that I normally use. 

[george]

yes muddiness was another issue I had ...

[hilbi]

I use both the peppermill and the blue magic on my board. I Like them both a lot. I use the peppermill for the really low overdrive. I Use the the blue magic for the TS sounds, drive at 13.00. I preferred it over my ts808.

I modiefied the mid switch and added a bass cut switch to remove the mudiness a bit.

[Ben N]

The important issue seems to be, what do you want to use your OD for?

- as a grainy or even clean boost (which a lot of people seem to use a TS for)?
- or do you want the pedal itself to have a good OD sound by itself, so you can switch quickly between a dirty and clean sound with no volume jump or drop?

I think that is indeed THE issue.  For me, that is the dividing line between basically flat response ODs (volume neutral switching) and the TS or OD-250-type mid-humpers (lead boost with or without distortion).

Ben

[alfafalfa]

Hilbi,

I agree about the muddiness, the bass tends to sound farty so what filtervalues (for bass cut ) did you use ?
Mine could use a bit more grind too .
I like the pedal very much , in front of ( yes  !) a ross or dynacomp , it gives very good rather cleansounding sustain . If I put it after the comp it doesn't sound that good.

Alf

[swt]

one thing i did before giving up was using a back to back pair of diodes with a series cap, something between .005 and .047 from drain to gate. that gave me the grind i needed, and keep the cool sound in it. you can also have a small series resistor in one of the diodes, for assymetric clipping. think of it as a big muff stage...you can try it in the fet, or the mosfet. my final thoughts were to design something along the lines of this one, but a three gain stages one, with some mods, and maybe a different tonal shaping. anyways...this was a good project...

[hilbi]

alfafalfa,

Have a look in this thread http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=31371.msg215558#msg215558 it is explained here.

Wit the bass cut on and the mid boost on, you get a TS sound.

I normally have the bass cut on and the mid boost off, that way you get a real nice natural overdrive, Gain at 12 o clock.

[alfafalfa]

Hilbi,

Thanks a lot for your advice ,  I performed the midboost with a 1N  cap and  just removed one of the 3,3 uF electrolytics and  there it was : a very smooth TS type of sound but with enough bite in it .
Then I put the mosfet boost in front and this gave the bite  a bit extra but I had to take care not to give it too much gain because that took away some of the very natural overdrive.
As for now I'm very happy with this sound . Let's just wait untill the first enthusiasm wear off and see if I still like it then.
There's one thing I would like change ; the output volume can go a long way and I would like it to a bit more compressed at the very end .
Any suggestions   

[hilbi]

There's one thing I would like change ; the output volume can go a long way and I would like it to a bit more compressed at the very end .
Any suggestions   

I have no suggestions for that.

[Paul Marossy]

I didn't know about the bass cut mod. Maybe I'll revisit mine sometime.

[ezanker]

I have not built the peppermill yet, so I can't compare.  The blue magic sounds great with my strat into a fender tube amp and really comes alive with a sparkle boost in front of it.  For those of you who have not tried this, put a booster in front of the blue magic and see what you think.

[hilbi]

The blue magic sounds great with my strat into a fender tube amp and really comes alive with a sparkle boost in front of it.

I use the BM also in combination with singlecoil (fender strat, tele & jazzmaster) and fender tube amp.