Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[ghostsauce]

Dude, that looks really great.

[Buildtestrepeat]

So many great builds of this pedal.  I finally got a pic up so I could share my version.

[ghostsauce]

I like it! The "Taxi Drive"

[Cozybuilder]

Now you have to use a white rectangular LED that says "Occupied"- maybe mount it to the forward tube protector bar.

[duck_arse]

taxi? I thought it was a bee or wasp, with even the stinger sitting atop the valve.

[ghostsauce]

I'm going to say that my taxi drive idea makes more sense than the bee/wasp thing, but only because I want to be right.

[Buildtestrepeat]

I was thinking when I painted it I'd do a warning sign style graphic and call it 'Caution - Overdrive'.  Maybe I should do a checker stripe and go for the New York cab look instead?  Although New York is over 10,000 miles (17,000km) from where I live.

[duck_arse]

and how far away is the nearest bee/wasp, pray tell?

[Buildtestrepeat]

and how far away is the nearest bee/wasp, pray tell?

Adelaide.

[ghostsauce]

EMG81 > Valvecaster set loud and kinda dirty > Marshall Class 5.  (heavy EQ'ing on the solos though)
http://www.ghostsauce.net/random/Akriloth%202015.m4a

Aww yeah.

[Jdansti]

Sounds great!

[ASchmalex]

Hello all,
I tried building a valvecaster off the bevis pcb-less schematic. The valve is warming up but I'm getting no sound when engaged. Any ideas? Thanks!


A ground was connected from dc jack when tested. I also was able to run the signal in at the output from the tube socket and it worked from there so I built a second tube socket assembly and no luck with that either.
This is the first "socket assembly" I tried

I think I've tested all continuity and components at this point.
Any constructive criticism would be helpful, this is my first build so I really have no clue what I have done wrong.

[fuzzyhead]

I build a valvecaster on perfboard and just finished it up last week. When I fired it up, no sound. But the tube was warm. I tried it 2-3 times, and looked the pedal over. Turns out I didn't do anything wrong in the building part, I just didn't let the tube warm up long enough. So later on I tried it again, this time I plugged it in and left it for 5-10 minutes, came back started playing and it worked! I kinda felt a little stupid, I thought for sure I messed something up while building it In my defence this was my first tube build, I'm not an expert on tubes yet.

I'm using my valvecaster with a bass guitar, it sounds awesome!! But only one thing, C1. I need to change it to a bigger value to allow for more bass to come through. It's not a big loss on the low end and I could live with it. Thought about maybe putting two caps on a switch to have the option between the two.

[duck_arse]

fuzzyhead - are you running your (12V) heaters at 9V?

[fuzzyhead]

fuzzyhead - are you running your (12V) heaters at 9V?

I used 9V to test it to see if it worked, but I will be using 12V.

[Frittenkirk]

@fuzzyhead

Hi, what is the value for C1 to go with your bass?

Thanx.

[fuzzyhead]

@fuzzyhead

Hi, what is the value for C1 to go with your bass?

Thanx.

The value for C1 is 47nf. I'm thinking I'll put in a bigger value for C1 though. Not that there's anything wrong, I like it, but there is a bit of low end that's lost with a 47nf. Nothing big, just slight. If I end up liking a bigger cap for C1, I might put the two caps on a switch. Because I do like the 47nf even though there is a bit of loss on the low end, but again, it's not a big loss, just a slight loss.

[Frittenkirk]

Hi fuzyyhead

Thanx a lot for the fast reply.

[suncrush]

Here's my two-knob build. 



Holy cow!  This thing sounds amazing.  I'm running it at 18 V, which gives me more clean headspace, but it still growls and grunts like crazy.  It beefs up my sound like a champ on low gain.  I haven't scoped it, but it sounds like I'm getting a little low-mid hump, and it sounds great.

The tube is a NOS Sylvania 12AU7 from somewhere between 1960 and 1966 (was warmer than my new-built JJ).  I soldered the components to stripboard and jumpered to the socket, and no, you can't see my solder job.  It's not as nice as the one on the last page.   

I'll decal it just as soon as I figure out what to call it.....


I'm thrilled by my first diy pedal, and a thank you to all of you who provided advice along the way.  This is a super board.

[bluebunny]

I'll decal it just as soon as I figure out what to call it.....

Call it "RED".  No decals required.