Shocktave Build (well, almost)

[daverdave]

Howdy, after my Jen HF Modulator disaster i thought I'd try something new to take my mind off it.

So, I built the shocktave from the layout in Torchy's folder, I used BC549C's instead of 2n5089's and I've added the basic lowpass filter that Mark Hammer suggested in a previous post, I wanted to make it switchable so I could use it without aswell. The octave is pretty good without the filter, with it it sound great, very thick, but drops slightly in volume.

I haven't boxed it yet, but I've had a good ol' muck around with it.
There's a volume drop when the mix is between octave and dry, is this normal or is it more likely I've messed up somewhere? I did use sockets for the trannie's so I could try some others, but I'm still waiting for some orders to arrive. I'm still trying to think of mods I could try out (very basic stuff I can at least attempt to understand).

I'll try to get some photos up once I've finished, I'm still quite new to electronics, and the internet for that matter.
Dave

[daverdave]

does anyone know of a simple way to get round the volume drop between the octave and dry mix?

[oldrocker]

It might be the transistors used.  I used all 3904's and mine seems fairly loud.  If you socketed the trannys then it might be an easy fix.

[daverdave]

I did socket the transistors, so I'll try some 3094's but it's not that it's quiet in general. The Octave side of the mix is fairly loud and the dry side is very loud, it's when the mix pot is inbetween that it suddenly drops in volume.

[oldrocker]

Oh I see.  Well after checking mine out I have the same problem.  It's possible then that that's the way it is supposed to work.  If anyone else chimes in and has the same problem I think it's the nature of the beast.

[daverdave]

Yeah, I haven't boxed it up so I don't know what the level is compared to it bypassed, but it's quite a noticeable drop in volume. There's got to be a way to solve it, I tried (in an inexperience fashion) to use a summing amp, thinking that maybe the volume drop is caused by the two signals combining, but it didn't work.
I don't know whether some sort of basic leveling amp would do the trick, but I can't find any basic ones on the net. As I've said, I'm pretty new to this.