Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[mth5044]

That looks really good, congratulations.

When you say minus the 33nf cap, what one are you talking about? The input is a 47, did you cut it down to 33 or just leave it out all together?

[kurtlives]

Great font choice man, looks professional 

Where can I get some of those knobs from? I've got a pedal underway that they'd be perfect for... thanks!

I got mine from Effects Connection...50cents!! Mad cheap...only issue is they are push on. I had to drill mine out a bit and they were still quite snug on my solid shaft.

I just used decals on my pedal.

I made the input 33nF

[c.wright]

Sorry but I can't resist this:

Mad cheap...only issue is they are push on. I had to drill mine out a bit and they were still quite snug on my solid shaft.

...yeah, i've had some girlfriends like that ! uh, it's been quite a few years though, sadly...

But I digress -
Hello again -  I'm back after throwing another valvecaster together -
This time, I used a NEW socket, NO SALVAGED parts, and I put everything but the tube/socket on perfboard, so there was no risk of weird crosstalk/shorting/interference etc.
I am also running power through a perfboarded 7812 regulator circuit.

Overall, the sound quality is much better - where it was passable cool overdrive before, it is getting really sick good now. The noise floor seems to be considerably lower as well.

BUT - I am still getting that lousy HUM, and am still seeing 4vdc on the signal output!!!
Also, something else weird... i'll get to that in a second.

Here are numbers: (this time I'll include pin9 - i dunno why i neglected that before, i guess because it's NC)

1.   3.87 (9.5)
2.   -0.266
3.   0  (.9)
4.   0
5.   11.03
6.   4.9
7.   -0.219
8.   0
9.   5.68
(parenthesis explained below)

Also NOTE, I left out the TONE pot and cap (c4), left off VOL pot, was trying to simplify as much as possible.
I had left out the GAIN pot as well, but then i saw those weird numbers in parenthesis up there, and thought the omission might have something to do with it.
So I dropped in a 100k,  and now I can sweep it from the low setttings on pin 1 & 3 above to the high settings in parenthesis.
The control audibly works as expected.
So I dunno what that is all about. Those high numbers are way off the mark, right? Should that gain pot be doing that?


If I run the AMP gain on 0 it all sounds typical of a stompbox app, but if I turn the AMP gain up AT ALL, the hum seems to get exponentially louder...
so, what the ?!, am I missing something here, or making some noob/fundemental mistake, or am i just tweaked?

I think I am correct in blaming the hum on the 4v on the signal output, right?! 

ONE LAST BIG THING:

...remember i told you that i wired the power on my first build backwards (cuz i'm a dingus)  -
Could I/Did I damage each of the 5 tubes I plugged in trying to get that running? 
Is it possible now that my tubes are all wonky, and that's where all the hum is coming from?



... as for those knobs, and those build pics.... sheesh, i wish i could build stuff that clean.
I'm usually happy if sound comes out at all.  As for the knobs, I say again, Mendelson's in Dayton, Ohio, i pickup up a good sized handful of those same knobs, i think at 10cents each - problem is, that place is a mammoth warehouse, and there is very little organization, so i might never find them again!

[Renegadrian]

Sorry but I can't resist this:

Mad cheap...only issue is they are push on. I had to drill mine out a bit and they were still quite snug on my solid shaft.

...yeah, i've had some girlfriends like that ! uh, it's been quite a few years though, sadly...
WOAH, THAT MADE ME LAUGH!!! 


But I digress -
Hello again -  I'm back after throwing another valvecaster together -
This time, I used a NEW socket, NO SALVAGED parts, and I put everything but the tube/socket on perfboard, so there was no risk of weird crosstalk/shorting/interference etc.
I am also running power through a perfboarded 7812 regulator circuit.

Overall, the sound quality is much better - where it was passable cool overdrive before, it is getting really sick good now. The noise floor seems to be considerably lower as well.

BUT - I am still getting that lousy HUM, and am still seeing 4vdc on the signal output!!!
Also, something else weird... i'll get to that in a second.
SOUNDS GOOD!!!

IF YOU RUN PIN 3 TO GROUND YOU GET MAX GAIN OMITTING THE POT...OR DID I GO WRONG?!

ONE LAST BIG THING:

...remember i told you that i wired the power on my first build backwards (cuz i'm a dingus)  -
Could I/Did I damage each of the 5 tubes I plugged in trying to get that running? 
Is it possible now that my tubes are all wonky, and that's where all the hum is coming from?
PIN 4 AND 5 ARE THE HEATERS, BUT THEY CAN BE USED BOTH WAYS, SO NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION YOU USED...

[frequencycentral]

But I digress -
Hello again -  I'm back after throwing another valvecaster together -

Pin 6 seems a little low.

The circuit wont work without the gain pot. Directly earthing pin 3 would give maximum gain without a pot though.

The hum could be a badly filtered/regulated power supply - try the circuit with a 9 volt battery and see if the hum goes away. If it does, it's the powers upply causing the hum.

[c.wright]

Yep, I had originally run Pin 3 to ground, for simplest part setup - i knew that would give me either a min or max gain, which was fine for testing purposes.

wow, actually try it with a battery! I'm a total idiot. Why didn't I think of that?!
yeah, as i said, my wallwarts are TOP quality, from whatever random useless electronics sources...

(20 minutes later)
uh, well, scouring the house has turned up 3 batteries- 8.5v, 2.5v, and 7.8v ... needless to say, none of them are having any luck lighting that piece of shi... uh, shiny glass tube...
So, i guess i gotta run out for some good ol' cheap Odd Lots batteries! Nothing but the best for me baby!


Another question though: i AM using that 7812 circuit, for regulation... Should that be doing something, or is it just doing 'regulation' but not actually helping screen any crappy noise from my lousy PS?
(nice run-on question there)


And a quick word: I already mentioned how important this forum is to me, but I gotta also say, that even though i'm having trouble with this build, it is my favorite so far.
I've built a couple TS clones, Phase 45, Tremulous Lune, Orange Squeezer, Pulsar, a bunch of little booster/distorts (opamp and transistor), and a whole bunch of stuff that hasn't worked at all.
My previous fave was the Tillman, for low parts count, ease of build, and satisfying results. Just enough to hit my Marshall a leeetle beet harder on the front end, you know?
I really really wanna get the Tillman and this Valvecaster together, I think it could be LOVE, L U V.

[mth5044]

Might I recommend the Visual Sound 1 Spot adapter for this project? They have a 12v version. Can handle 1500mA  and is ~$20. I have three of the 9v one and they are totally silent and have not died yet. I plan on getting one when I get around to this project. Just my 0.02.

[Renegadrian]

Chris, the 7812 is mainly for regulation, you should put some filtering too - as suggested in the previous pages, a 100µF el.cap between + and - on the DC jack filters a good amount of s**t.

I really really wanna get the Tillman and this Valvecaster together, I think it could be LOVE, L U V.

I tried the two togheter - I think you are going to like them coupled...

[kurtlives]

edit

[c.wright]

Ok, still haven't run out for 9v batts yet, but going to after supper -

Tried the 100uf electro on the PS both before, and after regulator, didn't really do anything. Maybe took away a teensy hiss.
Tried higher values out of frustration  - some of those seemed to really muddy up the hum, but still didn't get rid of it.

I had a thought that maybe that 100k/220k pair were too wimpy (eh, remember, i'm very short on theory), so I pulled them and found a couple cool carbon-comp resistors that are bigger. Might be the same wattage though, i dunno. They seemed to improve the hum to an extent, and seemed to reduce the voltage on the signal output by about a volt.
But what is weird though too, the gain control, when rolled back the gain goes down and the hum goes UP.... not an aural illusion either, it's REALLY noticable, esp with the guitar quiet.


The Visual Sound 1 spot - yes, that seems a good deal at $20, i may just invest in one of those.
I DO have a Boss PSA, but it's enclosed in my pain-in-the-butt pedal board ... I might just have to break it out tonight... once i do though, i'll never get the backside back on that thing. Oh well, it really needs a good tweaking anyway. My mechanical engineering is about as good as my electrical.


But, can anyone else confirm for me whether they are getting voltage on the signal output (FOUR VOLTS?!), am I an idiot here, that just can't be right, can it? Am I gonna cook my amp?

I promise to reward everyone for their time with some cheescake pix and more dumb questions! 

[Renegadrian]

You could dub it LUXURY CASTER when you're done, right?! 
Man, I like your band...

[c.wright]

Ok, i got batteries, but the device doesn't want to run off of them.
The filaments light up - and with one of the batteries i could hear the faintest of sounds, but basically nothing.

So, does that point to a serious error somewhere or something? Did I get an old revision of the schematic or something? I've looked at that PDF of all the compiled stuff from everyone's posts, and I didn't see anything in there that looked out of place.

I just dunno what is going on. If I could just get rid of that hum it would be insane.

Eh - Glad you like the band Adriano - sadly, June was the last month it existed for all intensive purposes.... See, the singer.... eh, it's a long story, but not such a great guy, and after 3 years for me, 2 for the drummer, and FIVE for the bass player, well, everyone's had enough.
The band basically imploded a couple months ago, though I think the singer is going to try to get some schlubs to fill in for some October dates.   I'd be happy to give you copies of the albums, or access to download them, if you're interested. I guess just shoot me your email in a private message?

did get a lot of GREAT rock photos from playing in that band - i will miss that.
I got a new thing starting up though - waaaay different, but i'm gonna make a buck at it this time around.

eehhhhhhh........ but VOLTAGE on my signal out?  -  do i need to explore 'coupling/decoupling' or something?
I guess my next step is to try to sub out each of my components until maybe i hit something that was faulty or ?
oh, and get out the Boss PS and see if that works.

any other suggestions are appreciated.

[c.wright]

soorry on the long delay - weird week in Dayton, we were a disaster area!   ...remnants of Ike...

OK - the BOSS PSA power supply has eliminated the BAD HUM that I was experiencing, and I think put it into the realm of 'totally usable' now - 
I haven't swapped that input cap, but I think it sounds great on humbuckers or single coils so far! Can't believe how much crunch you can get out of it, I might look into one of those 'clean boost' mods listed in the PDF, or maybe on the next build.

Voltage on the signal output is down to 2.5v now, which still seems absurd to me, but i don't know where to start troubleshooting, or if that is even trouble. I read a post somewhere that said something like "try metering your pedals output for DC, you'll be surprised!" but it didn't really offer much by way of answers - just implied bad components/construction and/or design...

So, I guess I'll have to look into buying a few DECENT power supplies, and get rid of some of the garbage i've been using.

Success on this has inspired me to revisit some old projects I never got running - a Boss FA1, Jade Fuzz, and and Uglyface... we'll see if I get anywhere on those. If I do, I've got abot 20 others to revist after that!

thanks for the help!

[tranceracer]

OK - the BOSS PSA power supply has eliminated the BAD HUM that I was experiencing, and I think put it into the realm of 'totally usable' now -  Grin

GREAT to hear that you got it working!     
Got pics or sound clips of the build?

I also use the BOSS PSA120T, 200mA, it's a great little power supply provides good clean power.  Much better than it's little brother ACA120, 200mA which puts out a lot of hummmm.  (They are little work horses, had them for over 15  years or so and they all work fine)

[c.wright]

Well, it's all still all alligatored all to heck, perfboarded the parts, and no outboard stuff yet, it's all just on my little "test-bed" i "built"    dunno how i'm gonna mount the tube socket somewhere, it's pc mount i think...

... but i'll get a couple pics of that mess cuz you guys will like to see it, and then i'll box it up and bring it up to the computer for some sound bites. Might be a minute (=days), but i'll get that much done!

The bonus is: I actually built TWO, because i thought the first was F@#$@#$'d, and since i've narrowed it done to my awful p-supplies, that means i'll have both in the bag at once!!

Thank you everyone for your help and encouragement, even though I'm just a 'paint-by-numbers' builder, (or 'model builder' as I like to call it - y'know, like 1/72 scale Spitfires? - I build 2/1 scale distortions  ) ... even though I'm only at that level, I still have learned TONS OF STUFF from this FORUM and from the builds.

Every time I finish something and it works, it's like winning a trophy or something!!! And just think of the money I'm saving, I probably ONLY have like $1500 invested in the 4 or 5 reliable pedals I've built !

[mth5044]

Congrats on the build. You should put cascade them and tell us what you think.

[Renegadrian]

Thank you everyone for your help and encouragement, even though I'm just a 'paint-by-numbers' builder, (or 'model builder' as I like to call it - y'know, like 1/72 scale Spitfires? - I build 2/1 scale distortions  ) ... even though I'm only at that level, I still have learned TONS OF STUFF from this FORUM and from the builds.

Every time I finish something and it works, it's like winning a trophy or something!!! And just think of the money I'm saving, I probably ONLY have like $1500 invested in the 4 or 5 reliable pedals I've built !

Eheh, hey model builder!!! 
Glad you have a good valvy...Now it just needs a decent box...Hope you enjoied building it, after all that's what the DIY is about...Have fun, build nice pedals and learn something new...

[c.wright]

eh, cascading, and soundclips, and running with a tillman pre, etc., will be forthcoming...
for now, feast your eyes... on the mess... that IS... my workbench....
muhahaHAHAHA  (sob.)




naw, it does me ok. I could probly keep it a little bit cleaner...
can you spot the quote testbed unquote?

here's the current state of the 'real good' one... i forgot to get a closeup of the other.
also, i already pulled my i/o wires and stuff because i started messing with that fuzz jade again -
that other little piece of perf i think is an LPB1 that I need to box up.


and speaking of boxes, I have NO problems there... except for WHICH to CHOOSE?


Lastly, a couple 'cheesecake' shots for ya - a shelf of stuff i've built and boxed, that actually works - and then a big pic of some of the other pedals i own...






sorry for all the blur, and hope reveling in the pron isn't too off topic here... i just can't help myself.

sound clips RSN, i promise!

[Renegadrian]

for now, feast your eyes... on the mess... that IS... my workbench....
muhahaHAHAHA  (sob.)

It reminds me of this...

[c.wright]

Hah - yep Adriano, that's a good comparison - my creations are generally monstrosities that don't last too long in the light of day!
Ah yes, Helloween... did you somehow sense my metal roots?

btw, i added some little tags to those pics to help make sense of things.

I'm off to try to box up a tube or two! 
This afternoon I managed to get SOUND out of my Jade Fuzz, so I'm on a roll.
Wish me luck...