Good touch sensitive distortion

[Cliff Schecht]

I'm looking for a smooth sounding, touch sensitive distortion to use for blues and lead playing. I was just curious what some of you guys use, as I'm currently using a Blues Driver and/or a TS-808 and don't really care for the sound of either of them. The Blues Driver doesn't clean up well and the TS-808 I built (using the RC4558, I've got a bunch I found real cheap) just doesn't do it for me tonewise. The TS can sound nice, but it isn't very balanced sounding and I'm looking for something with a better voicing. Anybody have any recommendation for a build (I don't mind a lot of complexity, I just got re-setup where I am to do PCB's).

[d95err]

Perhaps you should try something with FETs, to get away from opamp distortion. Try some of the Runoffgroove stuff, the BSIAB2 or maybe one of Dragonfly's designs. Otherwise, Doug Hammond's Highway 89 is supposed to clean up very well (you'll have to PM or email him for the schematic).

The same pedal can sound very different depending on what amp you run it into. I don't know what kind of amp you're running, but it could be that you need a new amp rather than a new pedal...

[sfr]

Also depends what p'ups you run into the thing too.  Hot enough pickups and some pedals just won't "clean up" without rolling the volume down considerably.  Which often means losing more treble than you want. 

Honestly though, for the type of distortion you've described, I find a small tube amp to be the best thing, maybe with an LPB or similar in front to hit the amp for a little more grit - but perhaps a tube-based pedal, or a small tube preamp you could run into an existing poweramp is the solution?

[MartyMart]

Perhaps a VooDoo Labs Sparkle drive would work for you, blend pot giving you a natural gtr level
along side the OD ?
HWY '89 does clean up nice and has a good "Blues/Lead" tone, I presume you mean no dirtier than
SRV perhaps ? ...
There are many Fet based drives, My Classic 30 sim has a "pure clean" path also, along with a good
and quite bright overdrive path.
Some mp3's of it :
http://aronnelson.com/userfiles/Classic%2035%20clean.mp3
http://aronnelson.com/userfiles/Classic%2035%20mid%20gain.mp3
http://aronnelson.com/userfiles/Classic%2035%20lead%20gain.mp3
Schematic :
http://aronnelson.com/gallery/Martys-layouts-and-photos/Classic35new?full=1
Veroboard :
http://aronnelson.com/gallery/Martys-layouts-and-photos/Classic_35?full=1

MM

[Gilles C]

I would suggest that you try any circuit that has AMZ minibooster circuit in it...

Too much signal and it's overdriving, but just the right amout and it gives you a warm Blues sound 

A simple transistor booster followed by the Minibooster for example.

Gilles

[Cliff Schecht]

Alright, well I'm not worried about the amp or guitar situation, I've got both covered.
Guitars:
93 Japanese Ibanez RV470 w/ EMG-h (n), SA (m) and 85 (b)
91 Jap Charvel Fusion Deluxe w/ SD Hot Rails (n) and BL X500XL, both with coil tap, and both pickups are on a preamp at all times (EMG PA-2)
70's Jap Pan LP copy with the pickups from the Charvel w/ coil tap and a homemade preamp on at all times
86 American Standard Strat w/ 2 point trem (completely stock, but not for long )

Amps:
Fender Bassman Reissue w/ NOS Mullard 6L6's
Epi valve junior

So yeah, I've got just about every end of the guitar spectrum covered and honestly, both of those amps (as well as my other ones) are very versatile amps, I just need versatility when I'm at jams and can't always just have a blues amp, I move around between a lot of different styles of play ranging from metal, blues, jazz, country and all sorts of weird in between shit. That's why I'm getting kind of annoyed with the Blues Driver and TS combo, they really are kind of limited in what they can do and honestly, I'd prefer have something I built down on my board.

I was actually thinking exactly what y'all mentioned, building something based off of FETs. I'm not really interested in a straight booster, I was looking for something that could give me some versatility to move between completely clean and a nice, warm sounding overdriven tube amp. What are some of the better Fet based amp "simulations" out there? I've taken a look at the Umble and a few others at Runoffgroove, but didn't really find what I was looking for.

Upon further thought, I'm thinking that since I'm replacing two pedals, I might as well as build two replacements. Something that can go from a nice clean to a mild overdrive into a more Marshall sounding pedal might be what I'm looking for (think plexi or 100watt non-master volume type sounds).

[MartyMart]

Cliff, good extra info
Well, you could build two spearate pedals, or perhaps ( knob space permitting ) build two
in a 1590BB "sideways" with a pair of 3PDT switches for "either/both" operation.
So, Classic 30 sim is out, that's four knobs with a TC ! 

For clean to mild OD, I recommed Mark Hammers "The Crank" - superb, use mine all the time
This could be "first" and used for clean boost/gentle drive or for boosting the second FX also.

For more "grinding" parts/ lead work how about the BSIAB II ? ( Van Halen in a box ! ) which will
get you that Marshall sound , more build reports than I've had "hot dinners" !

The Crank is a two knobber and BSIAB II is three, easily fit sideways in a 1590BB and would make
a great combo too

For two separte pedals ( and another choice ) perhaps the Highway '89 for mild and the Dr Boogey
for the higher gain ( again many great build reports on these ) That's a three knobber and a five
knobber, so possibly a pair of 1590BB's or one 1590B and one "BB"

Both of those combinations are fantastic and would put some serious "DIY tones" at your feet !

Regards,
Marty.
PS- Both the BD-2 and TS-9 could do these jobs with around 10 bucks of parts and a spare hour and  a half
PM me if that's interesting, or do some searching 

[KB]

Hi Cliff

I would like to add my two francs for the Hw-89.  It has lots of gain, responds well to pick dynamics and cleans up well when you roll off the volume on the guitar, if you use that control  .  I find that it works best in front of a Fender/Lightning rather than my 18 clone.

I have just finished a Fatboostered on the GGG layout, which as I understand it is based around the AMZ minibooster with an input buffer (just like Giles C suggested) the treble and bass offer a useful range of tone shaping.  It will go from a nice warm clean boost through a crunchy break up too mild overdrive.  It seems to respond well to pick dynamic and changes in guitar volume - I like it best with single coils. I intend to build a peppermill next, although dragonfly's "Luck 7" overdrive looks tempting, will probably build both in the end.  Markm has a layout in his gallery on the forum for both the Fatboostered and the peppermill (normal and hot).

Sorry spelling 

I have a thunderchief again built on the GGG layout.  It will definitely get you into Marshall crunch territory.  Does it sound like a 100 watt super lead, I don't know never played through one.  It dose give my blues deluxe a nice Hendrix vibe though, what it does not do is sound like "Van Halen" not with my amps and playing anyway.  I am thinking about modifying the circuit to include the tone stack.  I don't have any for the higher gain peddles (BSIAB, Drboogey) so I cannot comment.

Kevin

[Cliff Schecht]

Cliff, good extra info
Well, you could build two spearate pedals, or perhaps ( knob space permitting ) build two
in a 1590BB "sideways" with a pair of 3PDT switches for "either/both" operation.
So, Classic 30 sim is out, that's four knobs with a TC ! 

For clean to mild OD, I recommed Mark Hammers "The Crank" - superb, use mine all the time
This could be "first" and used for clean boost/gentle drive or for boosting the second FX also.

For more "grinding" parts/ lead work how about the BSIAB II ? ( Van Halen in a box ! ) which will
get you that Marshall sound , more build reports than I've had "hot dinners" !

The Crank is a two knobber and BSIAB II is three, easily fit sideways in a 1590BB and would make
a great combo too

For two separte pedals ( and another choice ) perhaps the Highway '89 for mild and the Dr Boogey
for the higher gain ( again many great build reports on these ) That's a three knobber and a five
knobber, so possibly a pair of 1590BB's or one 1590B and one "BB"

Both of those combinations are fantastic and would put some serious "DIY tones" at your feet !

Regards,
Marty.
PS- Both the BD-2 and TS-9 could do these jobs with around 10 bucks of parts and a spare hour and  a half
PM me if that's interesting, or do some searching 

I'm thinking quite hard about building the BSIAB II, from the sound clips I've heard it will be able to get me into plexi territory quite easily. It's a popular build, for obvious reasons, so I'm probably gonna etch that board up soon.

As far as the booster/mild overdrive, I'm going to build up a Crank and see how I like it (I've built a few of Mark's pedals before and I always love his designs). How would a 4558 work in that compared to a 5532 (which is what I've seen used somewhere)? I know they are interchangable, but is the 5532 going to be quieter or anything? Again, I have a bunch of RC4558's (supposedly the one used in SRV's TS808) and I love how they sound, but I don't want to deal with noise problems. I built a great power supply (about 1.5 amps, pictured on my pedalboard in the link I posted) that really keeps all noise out of my signal, so I'd like to keep my noise levels to a minimum. Also, all of my guitars have been completely rewired and have NO hum, which considering they have those preamps, is a feat IMO .

I also have been planning on building a Dr. Boogey but never got around to it, so I'm going to see if I can get that down to replace my modded Metal Zone (which sounds good with something like a Mr. EQ in front of it). I've read a lot of great reviews about the thing and I'm hoping for a different flavor of distortion to play with (I like to switch pedals around on my board anyways).

BTW, there are pics of all of my stuff posted here in case anyone is interested (I'm quite proud of my collection, but this isn't everything ): http://www.guitarworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31030

If you scroll down and take a look at my pedalboard, you can see I have room to replace all 3 of my distortions (at the bottom left). The TS is begging to be replaced, I did it in a 1590BB for some reason (I built the thing a few years ago) and really hate how big it is. I'll probably wait a while on the Dr. Boogey, but I'm hoping the Crank and BSIAB 2 can replace the TS and BD combo. I would also be interested in modding the BD, so I'll be sending a PM your way.

[MartyMart]

That's great Cliff, I'm glad that you approve of the suggestions
I've built A TON of stuff and had a decent go at "cobbling" a few of my own together !
I'm a "good tones" freak, so you can generally trust my ears !
RE opamp for the Crank, I think mine has an NE5532, which keeps it smooth, possibly
too HiFi, and of course it pulls more power.
A 4558 would be fine and I dont think there would be a noise problem at all, if built well.
It may well have a slightly better "grainy" character, but it's a subtle change, socket 'n see

Marty.

[Gus]

Something simple a Si rangemaster type treble boost might work.

[Cliff Schecht]

Anybody know of a decent perfboard layout (not veroboard or stripboard) for the Crank? I've built quite a few perfboards straight from schematics and while this thing doesn't look to be much of a challenge, I don't really have 3 or 4 hours to put into making a board (finals are coming up).

[Cliff Schecht]

Alright, so I perfed up the Crank sort of following a PCB layout I found on the internet. After about 10 minutes of debugging (I accidentally grounded the Vb ), I had it up and running. I must say it is a nice sounding boost, it colors the tone in a nice way, really making everything sound full. My drive pot is a bit rigged (I used a 100k dual pot with 10k resistors in parallel) and only goes up to about 9k (and goes back down towards the end of the travel), but I am really liking what I am hearing. I'm going to throw this in an enclosure and play around with it to be sure it's what I want and then decide if I want to commit this to a Hammond box with a PCB. Is this thing supposed to have any distortion at all? I noticed that even with my EMG equipped guitar (the 85 has around 2V of output) this thing didn't go into distortion at all like people were saying, which is great because it again just added some nice color to the sound. I'll get some pics up after I slap this in a case.