Hwy 89 finally built it...NICE ONE!

[9 volts]

Sad news to hear Doug Hammond is not doing it anymore. If you read this I hope what ever your doing is inspiring. Why? Because I think you've inspired alot of people.

I've certainly enjoyed making your designs and playing your pedals. In a world which Bon Scott called 'dog eat dog' thanks for sharing some cool sounding creative pedals

I'd reckon a 21 canon salute to boot!
Rock on Mr Hammond!

[Paul Marossy]

Huh, I wonder what happened with Doug. Well, I'm sure there's a good reason, whatever it is.

"For those who design pedals to rock, we salute you!"

[joegagan]

I talked to Doug on the phone a few weeks before he left.
he was tired of the way the way things were going around here, all the things he mentioned in those controversial threads here right before he left.
it is a shame, he is a great guy and helped/influenced many many people.

[Mark Hammer]

I think we forget how diversified Doug's interests are.  He's not JUST a pedal tinkerer (check out those amps).  Nor is he a guy in a band living in his parents' basement.

Respect for the contributions and generosity.  Respect for the choices made.

Speaking of which, has anyone heard from "Troubled" Tom Pollock?

[Paul Marossy]

I talked to Doug on the phone a few weeks before he left.
he was tired of the way the way things were going around here, all the things he mentioned in those controversial threads here right before he left.
it is a shame, he is a great guy and helped/influenced many many people.

Yeah, some people get burned out "listening" to all the crap people can spew out. I keep away from things like that as much as I can - I got enough troubles in life! That's his choice. I can respect that.

[WGTP]

Yes Doug has done some cool stuff.  If you can find a Sweet 16, check it out.

I have wanted to discuss this, so here goes.

What is an impedance scaled tonestack and how does it differ from the standard Marshal/Fender stack.  Obviously John likes it.

Also, for those about to mod, the final stage could be a number of things other than the Blackfire.  Fuzz Face, Mu-Amp, Vulcan - maybe 2  stages, JFets, BMP, MOSFET, whatever...

Hope Doug stops by from time to time.   

[John Lyons]

Ah..back on topic...

An impedance scaled tonestack is a low impoedance version of a high impedance tone stack (or the other way around)
Basically lowering the resistance values and increasing the capacitance. So scaling by 10 would be from 1M to 100K.
This lowers the impecance of the circuit at the point of the tone stack.
There is a bit a bout this in the Doctor boogie thread towards the end. Go to do to get a nice low impedance at the circuits output in order to drive effects better after the circuit in question. The tone and controls will sound the same in theory.

Worth a mod or two maybe. Although the Stock circuit here sounds nice as is me thinks.
You could add another type of output and switch between then for different tone option.

John

[Antero]

The Highway 89 is pure badassery.  My band recorded some simple demos recently, and on our signiature tune I'm running that thing the whole time, full-on, and it sounds incredibly musical even as it melts your face.  I'll post it for hearing when I have it up somewhere.

[km-r]

can i use NPNs in this design?

i have lots of spare NPNs... no PNPs...

[ezanker]

2n5089s are NPN

[John Lyons]

2N5089s are available everywhere...even radioshack! That is one of the reasons this circuit is a nice one to build. Common transistors. I just soldered mine straight in with no sockets. You could probably get a few different sound by swaping out a transistor or two for 2N3904s etc for low gain sounds.

John

[snoof]

I finally got around to building this one, nice indeed!  I'm gonna have to try some lower gain trans some day.  Even though Doug is gone...Nice job man, Kudos!!

[Steben]

Finally I see and hear the thing...

I don't know about you guys, but it seems a Tonebender III-killer to me. It has more of a "Fuzz" than distortion. Hendrix would have loved it my guess.
The emitter follower is very "sexy". It is biased near cut-off, so it must give very assymetrical response.

[WGTP]

Thanks for the explanation.  The last 2 transistors are a BlackFire Stage from Joe Davidson.  He has said that 2N3904's will be noisy, but since only one stage is used rather than the 2 of the BlackFire, it may be OK.  I have always thought this would be cool to morph into a BlackFire and make the last stage switchable.  IIRC Doug said the BF had a SLO sound to it.   

[km-r]

2N5088s are overpriced here! what the~!
they cost 6x normal transistors!

ill be building mine with bc549's

[Phorhas]

These trannies sond nice as well in that circuit.

I have a bunch of 2N5088, and I can send you sone if these are hard to get over there, no charge ofcourse

PM if you'd like some


Cheers

[Dingleberry Electronics]

I've made different transistor based overdrives/fuzzes/distortions and I have liked very much those 2N3904's for lower gain OD type stuff and BC107's and BC109's for higher gain.
BC109C is one a h*ll of a gain beast if you are after that.  BC547's and BC549's are alternatives probably easier to find nowadays.
That HWY-89 circuit looked like one that I have to build.
I've got bunch of old 2N2219's which sound very amazing in a silicon fuzzes. Also I've got lots of 2N3439's which are very low gain. I've measured hfe values from ~30 to ~120.
Would be worth to try those too. Got them for free from my dad's old job. They were throwing all the old electronics stuff away. My dad asked do I need old resistors, caps and trannies and all that kind of stuff (N.O.S). Quess what I replied...
Soundclips sounded nice. When I'm back from easter holiday I'll build one immediately.
I would probably make a vero-layout during my holiday.

Happy Easter everyone.

-Dingleberry

[mcasey1]

Highway 89 is just a block away from my house.

[jakenold]

Highway 89 is just a block away from my house.

And you haven't tried to plug your guitar into it yet!? 

[Antero]

My band has a myspace page now.  The guitar on "Don't Waste Your Time" is a P90, a Silvertone 1484, and the Highway 89.

http://www.myspace.com/leopoldandloebchicago