Tube boost + overdrive running off a 9 volt battery

[fair.child]

Hey I ran three valvecasters together and guess what? It sounds awsome! I dropped the input caps to .001uf on the first two ans .022uf on the third. Its still pretty fat. I also ran a 12ax7 in the second stage. Here is a link to youtube clip.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ZtpJ12C2A . Check it out and please give some feedback. good or bad is fine.

Please share the schematic Zambo... I'm going mad to hear this freaky awesome tone

[zambo]

LOL.. You inspired me to re visit this pedal last night so i did. I will post gut shots and see if I can find the schematic. If not I will redraw it. It will be a bit later today. I will get some video of it today though. 

[zambo]

this is kind of a ghetto schematic i drew. I didnt draw all the valvecaster parts but this is the order of things. It also shows the input caps I switched out. The most important part is the switching in my opinion. There is a stomp switch for on or bypass and another for one valvecaster or three valvecasters in series. it worked out pretty well although i think i would build it with just one switch thats all three on or off. if i was too use two switches still i would switch between two valvecasters in series or three in series. it would keep the levels more even.

[iccaros]

Hey I ran three valvecasters together and guess what? It sounds awsome! I dropped the input caps to .001uf on the first two ans .022uf on the third. Its still pretty fat. I also ran a 12ax7 in the second stage. Here is a link to youtube clip.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ZtpJ12C2A . Check it out and please give some feedback. good or bad is fine.

Please share the schematic Zambo... I'm going mad to hear this freaky awesome tone

Just note tone is in the fingers, you could have the same amp and the same guitar and the same pedal and not sound anything like Zambo... I know I have tried.. he oozes blues, which I do not,
Just be warned..

[fair.child]

LOL.. You inspired me to re visit this pedal last night so i did. I will post gut shots and see if I can find the schematic. If not I will redraw it. It will be a bit later today. I will get some video of it today though. 

hey zambo, thanks for your great post, Now I take a deep look into your schematic and learn to do it. It seems pretty complicated for new comer person like me LOL, but I tried to understand. Several questions come to my mind:

1) Did you use one of renegardian or dano valve caster schematic on V1 and V2 ? I guess or maybe one of them will work with it, so I saw and realized that sound came from two 12A_7 (X or U ?    I believe they are U's) but I tried to use single 12AX7 on my next build.

2) Is that okay if I use 100V value for caps, I heard it is a high voltage, should I swap it to higher value ?

Thanks in advance Zambo

Cheers all

[Renegadrian]

2) Is that okay if I use 100V value for caps, I heard it is a high voltage, should I swap it to higher value ?

Depends on the voltage you're using - just make sure you're under the limit, say a 10-15% less, so up to 85/90V to be safe.

[fair.child]

2) Is that okay if I use 100V value for caps, I heard it is a high voltage, should I swap it to higher value ?

Depends on the voltage you're using - just make sure you're under the limit, say a 10-15% less, so up to 85/90V to be safe.

I will use as your recommend 12VDC, then it would be ok 100V -250V, okay, Thank you for your confirm adriano glad to hear it from you

[Renegadrian]

if you're running the whole ckt at 12V you don't have to worry then! Glad if I can help somehow!!!

[zambo]

Ahhhh, feel the love in this room    sorry for my tardiness! I ended up using 12au7's in all three spots. I also used the dano on valve diagram. Still debating how good of an idea that was. Good for one valve but bad for 3 i think. I would use a board layout if I were to build it again I bet you could do it on vero. Either way if you do it use sheilded wire for your signal path as much as you can and be neat about your wiring. They have a tendency to oscilate or ring even when the pedal is off if you dont. If you are doing a one tube project for now, just do a single valvecaster at 12v and if you want more gain stick a boost in front of it like the tillman boost or the lpb1. I m building an sho with a irf510 mosfet right now for just that reason. Its a little dark for my taste. May try the fetzer valve....I digress.

The input caps are all . on all three tubes and the cap between pin 1 and pin 7 is a .022uf on all three tubes. I think you can leave out the 1uf on all of them execpt the last one. It filters out all the dc.

Iccaros is right by the way, Im not saying Im all that  ... but i will say I wring the living !@#$ out of my strings when I play because I have to to make the harmonics etc. jump out. Its maybe not as high gain as you suspect. Hope this helps. Still trying to make a sound clip but got super busy. Cheers!

[fair.child]

So Here what I've got so far


IMG_0649 by DIY Parts + PCB Center, on Flickr


IMG_0653 by DIY Parts + PCB Center, on Flickr

I used 68nF into my SPDT (should be 47nF, but I don't have it on hand so probably the best catch is 68nF)


IMG_0645 by DIY Parts + PCB Center, on Flickr

Little Mess around here for testing

and Finally,


IMG_0655 by DIY Parts + PCB Center, on Flickr


IMG_0654 by DIY Parts + PCB Center, on Flickr

RESULT based on my opinion;

1) This is not a high gain pedal, and it's true but I love it does, it has a some kind of bluesy tone with it. Nice stuff
2) I've got 68nF, which means higher than based on schematic (I used valvecasternylayoutmkabler.jpg and tried to combine it with 7812 schematic and mods) and it sounded better with 68nF (I realized more gain on it) so I just leave it with 68nF
3) grounding and shielding are important, I realized that I've got big hum when I didn't put shielding on it, so I tried to shield the cable, then solved....

Please if there any suggestions or comments let me know, because I'm to excited to build valvecaster again and surely, with some correction from my previous built

Cheers all

[runmikeyrun]

My single suggestion:

Go on ebay and purchase an RCA 12au7a.  sometimes they are relabeled Conn brand, with orange ink.  To make sure it's an RCA it should have the 12au7a etched inside a little oblong stop sign with "u.s.a." etched underneath it. 

These old RCAs sound incredible.  The clear tops look cool but the regular looking tubes (getter flash at the top) work just as well.  I honestly think these tubes really wake up any valvecaster.  You can get them for about 10$-15 each shipping included if you look around.

[zambo]

+ 1 on the old conn tubes. Love them. Baldwin too.

[rutabaga bob]

I snagged several out of an old Lowery, all branded with the Lowery logo.

[wizbey]

Couple of questions!

Question 1
I built a Valvecaster using a PCB design i knocked up and im having switchmode powersupply noise issues that i cannot seem to filter out.
Any other pedal, no worries at all but this one (breadboarded, PCB, Protoboard etc) ALL let through the powersupply whine.
Its becoming irritating that i cannot seem to filter out the noise.

Question 2
My PCB is a tad too big for conventional boxes, any ideas on something suitable and readily available for this ?
BB and B boxes are too shallow for what i need.




Sidenote:  Here is my band using the Valvecaster inline with marshall dsl 100 as a fifth tube.  THe marshall was set to a gain of about 10 oclock and the valvecaster test pedal was used to provide extra gain for solos and heavier rhythms

[rutabaga bob]

radioshack sells a larger/deeper aluminum project box.  i don't use them much, but i did build a cacophonator in one.  look it up online and see if it might be something you're interested in.

[iccaros]

@wizbey
have you tried another tube? what power supply are you using? and are you boosting voltage?

is it too big for a 1590BB box?

[wizbey]

@wizbey
have you tried another tube? what power supply are you using? and are you boosting voltage?

is it too big for a 1590BB box?

The pcb is about 5mm too wide for the depth of a BB box.  wanting somthing slightly deep than a BB so i can keep the tube inside while having the pots mounted on the top.

Ive tried all sorts of tubes and they are all the same.  The powersupply is a cheap switichmode power supply from a local electronics retailer here and has
variable voltage select (3, 5, 7.5 ,9 as 12).  My regular power supply (fueltank jr) for my pedal board doesnt have 12v outputs so ive been using this spare and only one i have.

[iccaros]

got ya, on pedal layout..

I pick up supplies at goodwill for $3, you might find a better supply there. you may have to cut and reverse polarity for the end.
this may not be wide enough.. but this kind of ideal may work
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-Boutique-Stompbox-Pedal-Enclosure-/120904368822?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c267642b6#ht_859wt_932

[Mustachio]

Check out the bud industries Cu-471 their a bit deeper/taller i think hammond makes a few 1590 style boxes that are tall

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bud-Industries/CU-471/?qs=2dKpBcWpADa%252bRfA0pC%2fP5utTSYBx7QDi8i8EWM5GJHg%3d

just used a few of these ^ they are good size lil deeper then the BB but not as big  but close, measure your stuff and check em out they actually make a bucha different sizes in this series.


http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hammond-Manufacturing/1590X/?qs=NiR3biyRQFf%252b7g7KjTzAmpLmLyCrmHjI9o3yh2WM9F4%3d

Something like that

For the hum, I noticed I get hum with my 12bh7s and not with my ax7s or au7s and it may be because my power supply isn't putting out enough miliamps for the bh7s I think they need more current. I probably need a new better psu as well. Im using a sketchy 18v thats a lil light on the ma. Seen some 12v neg-center on ebay for a good price gonna check out soon.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400079334083?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[Yeahno]

My first tube pedal build, the ValveMaster.



Went for the tone knob. Might throw in some input cap switching. Needs a nice paint job, which may be beyond me. Needs better knobs.

Changed up the C & R values a little, so C1 is 22nF and R2,3 are higher values, maybe 64K.

Want more gain - the volume knob basically stays pinned. 12V wall wart supplies the power. It was cheap, but is surprisingly quiet.  I get some pot noise off both volume and gain; not sure how to address that and too tired right now to crawl back through the thread to find the fix.

I like the sound. No flabby bass. Breaks up nicely, even in front of this modelling amp.

Thanks to everyone who helped, Rick Holt for the design, Renegadrian for the Vero layout and to the previous 148 pages of contributors.

Mulling over what should be build next.