updated "toneblaster" vero layout

pinkjimiphoton · May 15, 2011, 07:54:49 PM

this is verified....have fun!!

pinkjimiphoton · January 22, 2012, 10:29:09 PM

hi guys, sorry to bump a zombie back from the shades, but i revisited this circuit tonite.
it was a nice sounding pedal...but always too damn polite sounding. it could push an amp into overdrive, but it was pretty mild, and it always almost seemed like a compressor with a hint of dirt...not the balls to the wall in your face thing i expected.

so tonite i opened it up and had a play with it, using some recently discovered knowledge...errr...hacking, cuz face it, i am a hack and am lucky to get something right.

so here's the deal...the above vero is ok, but needs two changes to make this thing come to life. to simple changes.

replace r11 with a 1k trimmer. (you don't have to change this, i did and it just made it a little easier to dial in..pretty much pegged, here)

take a jumper to ground from the e of q1 and q2 to ground. that's it. bumps it up into a really nice fuzztone, with a good bit of drive and sustain. the attack control is more of a sustain control really (and had come disconnected, making this thing even wimpier.) and it SCREAMS.

adjust the two trimmers to taste...the one on the first ge npn in particular will let ya dial it in till it's nice or farty or anywhere in between. the usual 4.5 volts is a good place to start.

the second trimmer seems best pegged. 1k.

so...after a long, hard birth, submitted for your approval, the toneblaster. it works. if ya built it and it sounded weak, try this simple mod. the pedal should come to life.

peace!

pinkjimiphoton · January 22, 2012, 11:31:55 PM

updated vero

pinkjimiphoton · November 03, 2012, 05:11:30 PM

my brother easton was over yesterday, picking fuzzes out so he could take one on tour with him in germany next week...
so we went thru about 30 dirt boxes, and ultimately he chose my liberal komrade, which is basically just a hendrix-mod fuzzface with russkie mil surplus ge mp16b trannys..

but towards the bottom of the crates of pedals, forgotten, was this pedal.
i pulled it out after he left, to see if i liked it, cuz it used to live on my pedalboard, but i'd forgotten about it...finite space, plethora of pedals, and i cut it down to " most used "...in my case, that's a fuzzface, a klon, and a SHO.

but when i plugged this puppy in last nite, i freaked out over how good it sounded...sort of a cross between a fuzzface and a bimp, but...
"different"...i really dug it, enough to probably revisit as a stupid pedal trick again down the road, so i figured i'd give it a "bump"..

the first version is crap, garbage, and is more compression than fuzz.

the second version tho, i think is the best sounding fuzz i've worked up, which is weird, cuz it's probably one of the first experiments i did with adapting stuff. it's subtley different i think from a tone bender, yet still very much in the tonebender school.

more of a distortion that thinks it's a fuzz, and it doesn't really clean up like a fuzz, more like a cranked up marshall.
so if you're really bored, and wanna build up something, check it out.

peace

Strat68okc · November 06, 2012, 06:13:28 PM

Reading about the original version up there, that kinda sounds like a thing I might need. Anything with a bunch of compression is good for me. I'm now looking around for that ge transistor there. Yikes. Only one I could find are $7 a piece. I'm gonna trust you that its worth it.

pinkjimiphoton · November 06, 2012, 06:46:22 PM

the nte isn't necessary, really.

Strat68okc · November 06, 2012, 07:20:22 PM

Ah. Okay. What would I use then? I do have a few ge transistors I got out of an old organ. I can't recall the numbers on them at the moment. I'll try one out as soon as I get some sockets. I know its NPN, is it high gain or? Ain't got any 5089's either. So 5088 there.

roseblood11 · November 07, 2012, 04:40:54 AM

Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on November 03, 2012, 05:11:30 PM
my brother easton was over yesterday, picking fuzzes out so he could take one on tour with him in germany next week...

What's the name of his band and where will they play?

pinkjimiphoton · November 07, 2012, 12:07:04 PM

Quote from: Strat68okc on November 06, 2012, 07:20:22 PM
Ah. Okay. What would I use then? I do have a few ge transistors I got out of an old organ. I can't recall the numbers on them at the moment. I'll try one out as soon as I get some sockets. I know its NPN, is it high gain or? Ain't got any 5089's either. So 5088 there.

this was so long ago now, i forget. i know i didn't end up checking the hfe on the ge at all, this was one of the first things i've done.

i would probably use about a 500r trimmer on the q1 and q2 emitters so you can dial in a better sweet spot. i like the sound with the emitters grounded, but it may be a little too "grainy" for some.

socket your transistors, and mix and match til it sounds good to you.
5088/89 is probably too hot for this, so you may have to play with the biasing.

the NTE ge tranny could be ANY ge tranny, i'd imagine it's between about 40 and 120 or so gain wise. again, unsure, i bought the nte's at my local supply place, now, i just buy ge npn's on ebay usually.

pinkjimiphoton · November 07, 2012, 12:09:44 PM

Quote from: roseblood11 on November 07, 2012, 04:40:54 AM
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on November 03, 2012, 05:11:30 PM
my brother easton was over yesterday, picking fuzzes out so he could take one on tour with him in germany next week...

What's the name of his band and where will they play?

sweet daddy cool breeze is the band, no idea where they're playing tho, sorry!

pinkjimiphoton · December 08, 2012, 05:50:33 PM

i AM AN AIRHEAD. R9 AND 10 ARE WRONG ON THIS!!

R9 SHOULD BE BETWEEN I 19 AND H19, AS SHOWN THE ATTACK CONTROL CAN'T WORK.

i'm an airhead, sorry... i built it right. i just checked. the attack control could use a bit more balls, maybe reducing r9 to 47k from 100k would help?

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updated "toneblaster" vero layout