Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[BarnyardBill]

@PaulBass

Oops, I meant to say that pin 5(heater) is getting ~12V and 15V is running to resistors that go to pin 1 and pin 6.  This is correct right?  I don't want to fry my baby.

-Bill

[PaulBass]

Hey guys!
I must say that matsumin's schematics is somehow becoming mysterious for me...I've built it 3 times and it didn't work 3 times...
I verified my perfboard so many times that I can't even remember how many...(remember rainman)
At best, i get a very low volume nasty sound with a huge hum, and at worst, I get nothing...
What is hurtful is that I'm not even a noob in building pedals...what the ****!
Does anyone have a perfboard layout that works?!
Thanks!

do you have only one tube? It's better to have several for troubleshooting. Also I always test the circuit with a 9 volt battery before hooking up to a power supply. If none of tubes work with a 9 volt battery that means there is either an error in the circuit, bad solder joint, or bad component

[zambo]

@ artsinbloodshed - are you using a 12au7? some people use a different tube like an ax7 or at etc. those dont always work at low voltage. au7 will work. makes sure you have all your capacitor polaritys correct. also the resistor from pin 3 to ground and pin 7 to ground ( i think they go to pin 4 on the beavis layout) can be troublesome and cause no sound. My first one didnt work the first time either.Look for grounding issues. The walwart is a huge help or hinderance. They can cause motorboating, hum etc. Try the battery first. if that works a simple 200ma or more 9 volt walwart from boss or 1spot should work. good luck!

[fabienl]

Hi everyone,

i'm working on making a power supply on a pcb, for everyone who encounters problems, and that could be used in fact for other uses.
This would include at first a rectifier (to avoid problems of inversion of polarity), a capacitor, followed by a 7812, followed by another capacitor.
It would also include all the necessary pads to connect directly wires for the voltages.
Two pads for heaters, two pads for 12v, and two other pads for powering up a led for example (including a resistor).
This should make things a little easier to wire.

This should more or less something like that :


Fabien.

[BarnyardBill]

Fabien,

Did this power supply you made clean up all the noise you were getting?

Bill

[fabienl]

This power supply is not done yet. As for now, i'm trying to make a fine pcb, and as it will be my very first one done in a cad software, i work slowly !
What i had tested firstly, without pcb was :
a wall wart DC 12v (giving 16v in output).
followed by a 7812 regulator, followed directly by a 100uf capacitor. The result was a fine 12v in output.
But as i haven't get yet the valvecaster to work successfully (disto doesn't work), the only thing i can say is that it purifies the power supply, and therefore all thoses annoying noises.

Finally, I want to do this pcb to allow delivering a filtered 12v, and simplify a little all the wiring.

Fabien.

[BarnyardBill]

i believe on those caps you have to look at the numbers as a code. The code will tell you what size they are. As far as hissing, Mine are pretty quiet. I use a .002 on the coupling caps a lot of times when running multiple valves in series. For a plain valvecaster I run .01 and .0047 for input and coupling caps. I never turn it all the way up as they sound bad to me that way. Volume at 3/4 and gain about the same is my fav. Picofard sized caps i think are to small for any good sound. Bigger caps like stock value sound awesome on single coils. thats my opinion what its worth 

hello again zambo,

I wanted to make a few confirmations about the cap sizes you use for a single valvecaster.  You use .01uF in place of the 1uF coupling cap, .0047uF in place of the .047uF coupling cap and you use .0047uF in place of the .047uF input cap?

Thanks,

Bill

[BarnyardBill]

Bill, those values are way out of standard...please read them better and report...my layout is verified and the pots are wired the right way just like you see in it...

you were correct about those values.  However, I am getting a lot better results when I combine the vavlecaster with a another booster type circuit.  I have heard other builders having the same issue with loud buzzing and little to no guitar signal.  Did you experience this when you built your many variations? 

Thanks for all the layouts Renegadrian,

Bill

[zambo]

i believe on those caps you have to look at the numbers as a code. The code will tell you what size they are. As far as hissing, Mine are pretty quiet. I use a .002 on the coupling caps a lot of times when running multiple valves in series. For a plain valvecaster I run .01 and .0047 for input and coupling caps. I never turn it all the way up as they sound bad to me that way. Volume at 3/4 and gain about the same is my fav. Picofard sized caps i think are to small for any good sound. Bigger caps like stock value sound awesome on single coils. thats my opinion what its worth 

hello again zambo,

I wanted to make a few confirmations about the cap sizes you use for a single valvecaster.  You use .01uF in place of the 1uF coupling cap, .0047uF in place of the .047uF coupling cap and you use .0047uF in place of the .047uF input cap?

Thanks,

Bill

Almost. Leave the 1uf cap the same. Replace the input with .0047uf ( i make this one switchable using a dpdt mini toggle switch to .022uf or .047uf a lot of times on a single valvecaster). Replace the cap from pin 1 to pin 7 with .01uf or .022uf.  This should drive the input of a decent guitar amp hard enough to make some seriouse grind. If you just want to warm up another distortion use the bigger caps.

[Renegadrian]

I have heard other builders having the same issue with loud buzzing and little to no guitar signal.  Did you experience this when you built your many variations?  

Never, even my first valvy (which actually was my third pedal built ever) sounded good at first try. There can be differences
related to the tube you use (all tubes have their own character) but the signal is always loud!

Thanks for all the layouts Renegadrian,

Bill

My pleasure, I am glad if anyone finds them useful!!!  

[yoo86]

Hello good people ,great work!and very friendly atmosphere!first time building the valvecaster with 12Vdc , second time building a pedal circuit,please help because i'm confused.I have only mono jacks and i've noticed that in some layouts there is a stereo and a mono jack,do i have to go and buy a stereo jack neccesarily ? And another thing is that i bought a six contact switch S1,that's because i saw it in a by-pass diagram method from the internet, but i see that a 9 contact switch is being used in the layout.Am i going nowhere like that? 

[deadastronaut]

@voo86 :no you'll be ok, stereo jacks are usually used to just switch the 9v battery on/off when plugging in..(saves juice when unplugged etc)..in your case your using 12v...so it wont matter...

unless you put a car battery in it ...

as for the switch..

the 9 pole '3pdt''s are used just to have the option of an on/off led .....your 6 pole 'dpdt' will be ok, but no led ok..

welcome...

[yoo86]

thank you dead astronaut,do you play in god is an astronaut??? you were very helpful!!!i don't mind putting a led indicator at this stage,i just want it work decent.Yet, you said that i need 3dpdt for a led indicator addon.So , is this correct?

[yoo86]

great you tube channel and track by the way,i m subscribing,cheers

[deadastronaut]

yep, that is a version of a millenium bypass...with led...and yes can be done..with dpdt...(your switch)

i never bother with that type of bypass i just buy a 3pdt and wire it up like..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/kev93_10/3pdt-wiring_png.png?t=1244105908

and no i dont play in 'god is an astronaut'...

glad you like the channel...cheers...

[yoo86]

ok thanks mate

[Anon]

It looks like the trick with the Valvecaster is keeping the heaters at 12V while having a higher voltage going to the anodes. since there is a 100K resistor connecting pins 5 & 6 there is always voltage leaking from pin 6 to 5. I have it running at 12V but I know it will sound a lot better running at around 30V. I have a dual power supply that puts out 32V and 16V. Is there a way to have 32V going to the anodes and breaking down 16V to 12V for the heaters? I'm thinking using a voltage regulator to convert 16V to 12V but how I do run 32V to the anodes without it leaking to the heaters?

[yoo86]

That's what i 've been wondering today.Maybe you can use the dual power supply just for the circuit, and a separate supply of 12,6Vdc for the filament.Well, someone more experienced can inform us.

[Anon]

That's what i 've been wondering today.Maybe you can use the dual power supply just for the circuit, and a separate supply of 12,6Vdc for the filament.Well, someone more experienced can inform us.

the problem is the 100K resistor that connects pin 5 to 6. whatever voltage is going to pin 6 it will also go into pin 5. if the resistor isn't connected to pin 5 the tube won't work. I'm gonna try using the 32V part of the power supply and using an LM317 to lower the voltage to the heater

[yoo86]

pin 5 and  6 are connected through the circuit.So, if pin 5 is supplied seperately  there is no intervention at all.If you already gave it a try please let me know your results