'SPITFIRE' Metal 'n' Blues Pedal...

[J0K3RX]

These might be cool lookin knobs on the Spitfire?

[WGTP]

Great knobs.  The Thrash mod lowers the midrange dip a little and with the 3.3n it also makes the dip larger.  Increasing C17 to 150n has a similar effect.

I've been looking at some of the Russian stuff and have tried replacing R9 and C7 with a GE or SI diode with the cathode to ground,  See what you think. 

[J0K3RX]

Great knobs.  The Thrash mod lowers the midrange dip a little and with the 3.3n it also makes the dip larger.  Increasing C17 to 150n has a similar effect.

I've been looking at some of the Russian stuff and have tried replacing R9 and C7 with a GE or SI diode with the cathode to ground,  See what you think. 

WGTP,

I am building it tonight... will try your suggestions.  Did you ever actually build your version 4 with 4 knobs? I would like to build that also...

Thanks
~Jim

[texstrat]

Regarding the PS to drive this creation, there were several mentions that 18V is optimal. Has anyone tried using a 12V PS? Also, what would the minimum mA requirement be for this pedal?

[WGTP]

I haven't built a pedal in several years.  It's all on the bread boards and simulations.  I have tried everything I post about, but haven't assembled it all at once.  Sort of makes me look like a fraud.  Most stuff is either standard stuff, or things I've found researching, or simulated.  Live I use an all tube amp with Celesion speakers.  That keeps me fresh on good tone. 

I been working with Tone Controls a lot lately since I figured out how to sim them in LTSpice.  It's cool to both see and hear what is going on.  Currently on the breadboard is a Vulcan Stage - SHO Stage - Mu Amp - Tone Control.  The values are constantly changing.

The 4th knob in the tone control adds lots of variation for mid-range flexibility.  Probably an audio taper would work best, depending on which way it is wired. 

[deadastronaut]

R9 and C7 with a GE or SI diode with the cathode to ground,  See what you think. 

i'll give that a go..

@jokerx: great knobs...just make sure those are blanks ha ha..BANG!!

@textstrat: never tried it...i only have a 9v psu..

[J0K3RX]

I haven't built a pedal in several years.  It's all on the bread boards and simulations.  I have tried everything I post about, but haven't assembled it all at once.  Sort of makes me look like a fraud.  Most stuff is either standard stuff, or things I've found researching, or simulated.  Live I use an all tube amp with Celesion speakers.  That keeps me fresh on good tone. 

I been working with Tone Controls a lot lately since I figured out how to sim them in LTSpice.  It's cool to both see and hear what is going on.  Currently on the breadboard is a Vulcan Stage - SHO Stage - Mu Amp - Tone Control.  The values are constantly changing.

The 4th knob in the tone control adds lots of variation for mid-range flexibility.  Probably an audio taper would work best, depending on which way it is wired. 

WGTP - That's cool, keep doin what your doin man!! Bread boards and simulations work for me! I wasn't thinking of you as a fraud at all, more like somebody who really knows what he is doing... I really wanted more tone control in this pedal to take down some of the highs and give it more mids etc.. When it's all on one knob you just don't get that control. You can eq it but I don't like doing that to make big tonal changes...  Anyway, I enjoy all of your input in this forum!!

[deadastronaut]

+1 to wgtp's input...its always welcome whether you build it or not is irrelevant as its well tried n tested theory/knowledge....far beyond mine thats for sure!..its all good stuff! 

@jokerx: i have  bass and treble tone controls on a seperate breadboard at the moment that i'm tweaking in conjunction with
the thrash/cap mods  i started off with this 'middle one...its good as the bass/treble are independant of each other...unlike a few ive tried ....tweaking as we speak.
i just want a bit more bass out of it....

http://www.muzique.com/lab/atone.htm

[Earthscum]

I haven't built a pedal in several years.  It's all on the bread boards and simulations.  I have tried everything I post about, but haven't assembled it all at once.  Sort of makes me look like a fraud. 

No way... a fraud is some kid who finds his dad's magazines, figure's that his dad is cool, so he's gonna try to be cool now after ignoring the stuff all his life. How does he try to be accepted and "Cool"? By mimicking Mark Hammer and scanning articles from magazines with his own "This is a great circuit! Here's my analysis" (and I obviously don't know what I'm talking about, but I'm gonna keep talking anyways) attached to the posting. Later, a REAL fraud will talk people into stealing software, and somehow seem to think that knowing which compressor is a REAL compressor is just basic electronics, and anyone who doesn't know should go back to school with their VCR's and stuff. 

Lol... at least you own a breadboard and give some great ideas and input. You go much beyond that, but you at least experiment and research, not just assume your knowledge from a magazine article from the mid-80's.    We're all here to build, learn, share, and enjoy. I think of "frauds" to be the types that come on here and pretend just so they can just socialize. It's kind of understandable, since there's hardly a board out there without some kind of niche attached to it, but still, some people just have some issues they should get over so that they could lose the social retardedness and hang out with people normally. To me, it's all in the fakery, or sincerity.

[deadastronaut]

^well put!..


looking at tone controls etc..i guess what we ultimately would like/need is a bass / treble and a notch filter (which btw wgtp did suggest early on) to get as many tonal possibilites

out of it as possible....or parametric?......just thinking aloud!...

in laymans terms (which i understand) a bass / treble...with a moveable centre freq <> to cover everything.....possible?....i lack the knowledge to perform such endeavours though...

i can do the bass treble (standard controls) , but how would a moveable centre freq be wired?...any thoughts as i'm a dumbass...

[Earthscum]

I've played around with a muff filter using a dual gang pot to move the center. That was accidental, I was actually trying to make a different mid control and hooked it up wrong. Only thing I ran into for a snag was that I couldn't quite get a smooth shift because I dropped and subsequentially tapered the value of one gang in half. The notch, according to DTS, was getting deeper and shallower through the sweep, which makes sense with one gang being tapered.
Food for thought.

[deadastronaut]

hmmm....say i have this graph, and i want to adjust the scoop section fully left/right (pot adjustable)


but using these simple tone controls (middle one)

http://www.muzique.com/lab/atone.htm

how would i add a pot to shift that?....sorry for the dumb ?'s....


edit: passively, preferably...

[WGTP]

Thanks guys.  What I was thinking was that I don't actually put the stuff in a box and use it on stage.  I (over) use a 40 year old Echoplex and that is about all I can manage and remember which song I'm playing.  

OK how about this tone control I stumbled upon while simming the Spitfire tone control.  The mid-range dip of the Spitfire tone control moves forward and reduces as the Treble is reduced (similar to other tone controls).  It is basically a BMP with one of the resistor values set to infinity.  Using the switch for the different cap values allows you to sort of tweak the mids and treble content.

Adding a resistor between Q5 and the tone control may shift the bass treble balance towards the bass.  Start with 10k.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/WGTP/Tone+Control.jpg.html

This one is different in that the mid-range doesn't move in frequency when adjusted (I wanted to identify where I liked the mid notch the most  ).  Replacing the 2 resistors with a dual gang pot should slide it up and down in frequency while the existing pot adjusts the Treble.  I haven't tried this one, since I just change the resistors on the breadboard.  A separate pot for each resistor would allow even more flexibility, but get a little crazy.  Doing much more than this will probably require active tone controls.  

[deadastronaut]

@wgtp: cool, so are you adding this to the existing tone control?...or replacing it with this one after the mode caps?...

i'll give it a go on its own first...


heres a clip of the notch tone...with a 10k off Q5 to a 3.3n..then notch tone (6.8k's)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7464107/notchtone.mp3
doesn't seem to change much until a little treble bunched at the end, is this right?....or is it meant to be used in conjunction with the other tone?

i'll have a tinker..

[WGTP]

This would replace the existing tone control.  You could add the 2 resistors and caps on the end if you wanted to.  Unfortunately most of the change is at the end of the pot.  I'm not sure if an audio taper pot would help or make it worse. 

[Ronan]

The PCB's arrived. Will try to get one built this weekend to verify.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/61170900/SpitPCB1.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/61170900/SpitPCB2.JPG

I was thinking of a Tonemender for another pedal, but it might might work well for this too. It has bass treb mid and gain controls. Maybe put both in the same box and see what happens
Switchable frequency for the midrange dip. Details here:
http://www.runoffgroove.com/tonemender.html

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/61170900/Spit%20TonemenderPCBs1.JPG

[Seljer]

Heres a moveable notch in the big muff tone control done with a dual gang log pot



There is however some interactivity between the two controls, however it has a pretty good range

[J0K3RX]

Here is version 5 with onboard pots... The layout is pretty much the same as Rob's but there are 2 added jumper wires on the Vol and Gain... No parts diag so you will have to flex your brain muscle

[deadastronaut]

wow you guys have been busy!...

@wgtp:  gotcha, i got it to sound nice last night, but yeah it still bunches up at the end. more tinkering i guess.

@ian: very nice indeed. very pro. as f.../  i might lift that stack and try it passively tacked on the end.....hmmmmm...i think after all we are going to need/demand good tonal tweakability..

@simon: thats an interesting one...i 'll give that a go with 2 pots...(havent got a dual)

@jokerx: another cool layout!.. let us know if those mods work ok..

@rob: stop drinking tea and get the @#$% on with it...

cheers guys appreciate all your input... .........looks likely that this is going to end up 1590bb.

[Perrow]

No d'astro, the Enclosure is called 1590A.