Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[runmikeyrun]

what, you didn't read all 125 pages??   

You're talking about the volume output when the effect is engaged, right?  You should be getting more than what you're getting when bypassed.  I got a decent amount of boost out of mine.  Maybe your tube might be at the end of it's life?  Try a different 12AU7 and see what happens.  Also, did you perform any mods to the circuit?

[dam28]

I got through about 35 of them! Then I was hoping people on the board would not be too harsh with my question .

Its just a little bit more than what you get when bypassed. Maybe ill order a new 12AU7. No modifications. Built it on the socket. Get quite a bit of hum also which might be due to the wiring?

Cheers for the comments!

[zambo]

yeah you should be getting a decent amount of boost. Hum is almost always a power supply deal.

[runmikeyrun]

I had to use laptop power supplies to get rid of hum.  I found pretty much any wall wart will have some level of hum to them.  You can find laptop power supplies at thrift stores in the states for a couple of bucks.

[nexekho]

I found this circuit to have no noise at all when running through an amp even with my brother's strat copy which has major interference problems when ran into a POD.  Using a Roland 9v wall wart.

[brett25]

hey. I am about to start on my build for the valvecaster. Before I start I was hoping someone could verify that this schematic is correct and will work:



thanks very much

[waltk]

I was hoping someone could verify that this schematic is correct and will work.

You might want to put a resistor in series with the LED.  (Didn't look at anything else)

[zambo]

+1 on the resistor. i use 4.7k for that. not sure if thats the norm. The rest looks pretty good but hard to tell with the switching.

[nexekho]

Use a calculator to determine the correct resistor.
http://ledz.com/?p=zz.led.resistor.calculator

[iccaros]

hey. I am about to start on my build for the valvecaster. Before I start I was hoping someone could verify that this schematic is correct and will work:



thanks very much

It looks like there is an issue with your layout, signal is shunted over c3 to ground. there is no way I can see it would pass through the tone and volume pot.

this layout works -- notice the differences
see

see schematic  and trace connection in the layout  -->

[brett25]

thanks iccaros,


I see that now. So if I route the C3 into tone 3 and across to volume3, is that the only issue?

however Krinor has followed the C3 wiring as shown in my diagram, so that leads me to belive it also works that way:



thanks

[brett25]

any other thoughts? I could switch this part of the wiring but I have also seen a couple of otheres using it the other way, so I was hoping someone who has done it could verify. Im a tube noob, and am trying to avoid having to trace problms later.

[esdiezy28]

your wiring looks far more orderly than anything I can ever manage. I didn't see any errors myself, but I do not claim perfection. Hope it works for ya

[iccaros]

I would switch it,
The issue, in my mind is the tone strait to ground, while others may get volume, I bet if you hooked it to a scope, you would see that signal drops dramatically before and after the cap.   So they may not be getting as good a sound as possible, I do not even seeing it work, will have to put on my board as the resistance after the cap is higher than strait to ground.  
Its not about tubes, all electronics work the same way, what we used to say, is that it will find the quickest path to ground. We now know that electrons flow from ground and go to positive, but its hard for people to picture their electronics working that way.
so we have a path that is easier for electrons to flow over than from the end of this chain.

Plus he has pin one and 3 of the volume pot to ground.. I say that does not work no matter what is drawn, I would have to hold it in my hands and use it before I believe it works...

but put it on a bread board and see..

[iccaros]

sorry, don't mean to sound harsh.. I just electrically do not see that layout working, could be wrong...

that layout make the schematic look like this

[brett25]

thnaks iccaros, i appreciate your advice! will let you know how it turns out

[thereminator]

HI.

It looks like there is an issue with your layout, signal is shunted over c3 to ground. there is no way I can see it would pass through the tone and volume pot.

this layout works -- notice the differences
see

see schematic  and trace connection in the layout  -->

Layout shows schematic to be like this:



It's electrical correct.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Actually... according to the schematic you posted, C3 is in Series with C4 to the Tone pot. According to the layout, you show C3 going straight to the Tone pot Lug 3 and C4 going to the wiper of the Tone pot  

So, the layout and schematic you posted ARE NOT electrically the same  

To make them the same, you need to connect C3 from Pin 6 of the tube DIRECTLY to Lug 3 of the VOLUME pot. Then, install C4 from Lug 3 of the Volume pot directly to Lug 3 of the Tone pot. Then, connect Pins Tone pot Lugs 1 and 2 along with Volume pot Lug 1 to Ground.

Gain pot is also wrong.  Tube Pin 3 should go to Gain pot Lug 3. Gain pot Lugs 1 & 2 go to ground.

The layout does NOT match the schematic at all!!

[BryanC]

Hi

I have not not read all of the posts so far. I read about the first 16 and then decided to post my question.

I built the circuit on a bread board, as originally posted and all was fine. (As I play bass I played around with capacitor values and settled on doubling all the values).
The heater was connected positive to pin 5 and earth to pin 4, giving 9V over both heaters. The circuit works well and is quiet.

I read the discussions regarding heater voltages and decided that a tweak could be in order. I wired up a LM317 voltage regulator to give 6.3V on the output, connected the output to pin 9 and pins 4&5 to earth. from what I understand this should be correct. Now I have a hum

Any suggestions to trouble shoot.

Bryan

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Hi

I have not not read all of the posts so far. I read about the first 16 and then decided to post my question.

I built the circuit on a bread board, as originally posted and all was fine. (As I play bass I played around with capacitor values and settled on doubling all the values).
The heater was connected positive to pin 5 and earth to pin 4, giving 9V over both heaters. The circuit works well and is quiet.

I read the discussions regarding heater voltages and decided that a tweak could be in order. I wired up a LM317 voltage regulator to give 6.3V on the output, connected the output to pin 9 and pins 4&5 to earth. from what I understand this should be correct. Now I have a hum

Any suggestions to trouble shoot.

Bryan

Hi Bryan.

Well you know the old saying.... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Go back to what worked! Try to get 9V out of the regulator and hook it back up in series.

If you STILL get the hum, then you need to look at your regulator circuit. Maybe some caps may be in order.

Good Luck  

P.S. You should try to put 12V in series on the heaters. It will maximize the life of the tube. Hence the 12xx7. 12V for heater power.