Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[trad3mark]

hey again all,
so does anyone have a verified schem / vero for a TWINcaster? I got some nice Pre 1970's Philips EEC83's, and i was thinking they'd be tasty in a Twincaster running off either 12V or a voltage doubler and go for 18V (9V battery lol?!) First things first though, i need a verified schematic or layout.

Cheers,
tm

[Ripthorn]

Have you tried the schematic earlier in this thread?  It's basically just two cascaded valvecasters, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.  I actually have one wired up, just haven't wire all the pots and put in the tubes yet.  A more pressing matter popped up with a different project.

[Renegadrian]

isildur100, I used a lot of different tubes, and yeah I found some differences amongst them...I definitely go with the old tubes, as they are cheaper than the new ones (lowest price paid=1€+1€ shipping from Germany!)
Go to EvilBay and you'll surely find some tubes at great prices...So great you'll be tempted to buy more than you need, just to try them out...
The ones I like the best are GE and Sylvania. The new EH I have doesn't sound so good to my ears...but that's ok...

[isildur100]

isildur100, I used a lot of different tubes, and yeah I found some differences amongst them...I definitely go with the old tubes, as they are cheaper than the new ones (lowest price paid=1€+1€ shipping from Germany!)
Go to EvilBay and you'll surely find some tubes at great prices...So great you'll be tempted to buy more than you need, just to try them out...
The ones I like the best are GE and Sylvania. The new EH I have doesn't sound so good to my ears...but that's ok...

Hi Renegadrian!  I will definitely try old ones as the only ones I've tried were new EH I have also bought some 12DW8 on ebay which are supposed to be 12U7 (not 12AU7) replacements but I was not impressed. Maybe I need to bias them differently... Anyways, the 12DW8 I bought are intended for a pepper shredder build. Can't wait to hear how they sound

cheers

[D20]

hello everyone,

I am very new to building effects, in fact i have never built one in my life haha! I am very interested in building a Valvecaster to use as a bass drive. I have saved a few images from this thread so that i can use them for building a Valvecaster. Since i am a newbie, I was wondering if anyone has a list of parts that i would need to purchase to build this? Also, since i live in the US would http://www.smallbearelec.com be the best place to get everything i would need?

I would be most thankful to anyone who can give me advice/help with this as i am very excited to try this as my first project. Thanks in advance,


Cory

[azrael]

^ the first post has all the parts on the schematic. In addition to those parts, you'd need a mono jack, a tube socket, a stereo jack, a 3PDT, an LED, and an enclosure.

[the_electrifier]

i rekon it doesn't sound too good on bass, there's too much compression for using it clean and not enough drive to get it sounding proper dirty. i'm gonna try modifying it for a more clean boost and run a fuzz circuit into it for distortion

[Renegadrian]

I use it on bass too and am quite satisfied, it adds a good fatness...I like it so much...

[bassmannate]

I really like this thing on bass as well. I took the tone control out. Like Adrian said, it really fattens up the sound nicely! With the right eq settings on your amp, it also gives your tone a very "upright" sound.

[doitle]

I took the tone control out and my valvecaster doesn't work anymore... I'll have to find some time to troubleshoot what I did wrong when I removed it.

[Renegadrian]

In order to get the toneless version you need the remove the pot (obviously) and C4 (10n) - So you have tube pin 6 connected to the 100k (to 12V) and to the volume pot lug 3 thru the C3 cap.
See all the schems/layout as reference. Hope it helps.
A.

[mmaatt25]

Hello everyone,

I've read the entire post (70 pages must show my dedication) and finally built the no tone version of the valvecaster as per Renegadrian's vero layout.

The only part I've haven't got is the gain pot, shown as a B50k pot, I've only got B100K or B10K pots and for some strange reason trying get a Alpha B50K in the UK seems near impossible.

So my question is can I use the B100K pot?

Many thanks

Matt

[Pigyboy]

Hi Everyone,
Finally finished two Valvies.  Sounds great.  I tried to ground everything to the back of one of the pots. I also used the 7812 voltage regulator. I found it is very important to use a good power supply to keep the pedal quiet.  I have one question:

Has anyone had a problem with a noisy gain pot? Using new parts and on both pedals I can hear a scrape like a dirty sounding pot. Other than that I love the pedal.
Thanks for the help and the great design.

[frequencycentral]

The only part I've haven't got is the gain pot, shown as a B50k pot, I've only got B100K or B10K pots and for some strange reason trying get a Alpha B50K in the UK seems near impossible.

So my question is can I use the B100K pot?

I prefer a 100K gain pot - it will give you cleaner boost.

[Renegadrian]

Hi Everyone,
Finally finished two Valvies.  Sounds great.  I tried to ground everything to the back of one of the pots. I also used the 7812 voltage regulator. I found it is very important to use a good power supply to keep the pedal quiet.  I have one question:

Has anyone had a problem with a noisy gain pot? Using new parts and on both pedals I can hear a scrape like a dirty sounding pot. Other than that I love the pedal.
Thanks for the help and the great design.

Man, we want PICS!!! As for the pot scratching, it's not a "problem", it's a known feature of this kind of gain - you are working on the cathode, and a change with the pot brings some lil noise.

[Pigyboy]

Hi All,
Ok, this is going to sound really bad.  I can build a pedal but I cannot figure out how to post pictures up on the forum! Give me a few pointers on this and I will be glad to put up my pics.
Thanks

[Ripthorn]

You can get a photobucket account and copy the link to the picture.  Then in a post here, click the picture button and paste in the url for the picture.

[Pigyboy]

Thanks for the photo upload info. I will give it a try now. Here are pics of the 2nd Valvey I have made. Not too special to look at for my first time out but it really does sound good. Last night was the first time using it live. Not only did it work great, everyone said, 'Wow, What is that!?' I am waiting for some stand offs to properly mount the board so as you can see for now I have it snuggled in on top of a piece of foam.

[Pigyboy]

[Pigyboy]

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