Just an idea...tube buffer?

[mars_bringer_of_war]

I've been thinking about building a tube single gain stage preamp with tonestack. Maybe a tube buffer circuit is more what I'm thinking. I'm not really interested in any starved-plate designs, but I'm also a newbie with tubes, so I'm not really comfortable with high voltages. Something in between maybe? I've searched around but can't seem to find what I'm thinking about. Any help would be appreciated.

[aron]

Try a 12V car tube as a buffer - very, very tubey sound if that's what you're after.

[MikeH]

A lot of "Tube" distortions do this.  The tube is just a buffer and the real distortion is created via opamp or transistor.

[mars_bringer_of_war]

A 12v tube would work for my purposes. Not looking for distortion at all, just a unity gain buffer with a tonestack incorporated.
Aron, any specific tubes I should consider?



Edit: Seems a 12L8 would be a good candidate. Any thoughts?

[aron]

I did a lot of work with these but it was a while back. I think I used a 6GM8 tube which was still fairly readily found back then. It's sounds really tubey - but for me - not quite good enough to replace silicon for overdrive (which is what I wanted). I think it would work great for a buffer.

[Thomas P.]

intended for Hifi:

[mars_bringer_of_war]

What is the V+ on that circuit?
Looks pretty high.
On second glance, it looks like an output stage.

[moosapotamus]

Search "Huffer". That one looked kind of interesting to me.

~ Charlie

[puretube]

http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Verstaerker/ECL86-VV1.jpg

[mars_bringer_of_war]

Search "Huffer". That one looked kind of interesting to me.

~ Charlie

Looks like what I'm thinking of. No input cap on that?
I'm wondering if I'll need a recovery stage after the tonestack (after the 1uf cap)?

[moosapotamus]

Yeah, let us know... 

~ Charlie

[sjaltenb]

check out www.petecornish.co.uk

he used multilple tube buffers and line drivers in David Gilmour's new rig. he has a lot of info on his site about it.

[QSQCaito]

Wow, it sounds like a good idea. Aron is it tube sound enough to notice it.. or it just better the experience and "mojo" of doing it than the sound??

If it sounds good.. I'd be totally willing to do one of the circuits with the ECL86, because it's the only of the 3 low voltage valves named I can get here in Argentina. Are both circuits running 12v? They're buffers, so no distorsion.. thats good.. but does it give a bit of crunch if you crack it full?? Or maybe if you put a buffer before it, hehe.

bye bye.

thanks

DAC

[mars_bringer_of_war]

My idea was to run my od/dist/amp sim, etc. pedals through a tube buffer/tonestack to warm up and smooth out the sound, as well as shape it tonally. From there it would go through any modulation/delay processing, then on to a power amp.
If what I end up with provides crunch on its own, that's not a good thing for my purposes. I'll obviously need to pay attention to the input resistor, and add an input cap (assuming I use the Huffer as a starting point). Now all I need are a couple 12aJ6s..anybody have a few for sale?

[aron]

>Wow, it sounds like a good idea. Aron is it tube sound enough to notice it.. or it just better the experience and "mojo" of doing it than the sound??

It might be cool... hard to tell. I would just hook up a 6GM8 as a "standard" tube stage and tap the output off the cathode - like an emitter follower but a cathode follower.

http://www.platenspeler.com/background/tubes/uk_tubesinfo_1.html

The 12V tubes are easy to work with.

Aron