Beavis Audio Red Llama clone. Really noisy

[Widows]

Hi folks,

I've just knocked up a Red Llama clone on some breadboard using the Beavis Audio Red Llama layout (http://www.beavisaudio.com/bboard/projects/bbp_RedLlama_Rev_1_2.pdf).
It's a great sounding pedal but seems to be waaaay more out of control at full gain than any of the demos I've compared it to on YouTube. Similar to another forum post that mentioned this situation, it spits and snarls like a really angry Big Muff, especially at high gain/volume levels and I can get some really interesting sounds by tuning the voltage sag to the circuit as well.

Can anyone tell me why it's so noisy compared to others?

Cheers

[deadastronaut]

my guess is because its on a breadboard........put it in a box with  ''shielded'' input/output wires...should clear things up...

thats the problem with breading hi gain stuff......RF interference etc....and squeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllll...

[Widows]

aye, makes sense. Just wondered if was kind of the nature of the beast so to speak.

I like all that crazy outta control sound though haha, would just be nice to be able to tame it. Think I'll whack the parts out and try a different project next, I've mainly been trying out light O/D pedals so far as they seem to be the simplest in terms of layout/components, and what I'm really searching for is a good fuzz. If I fail at getting the next few sounding good and/or have similar signal problems to the ones I've been experiencing with this project and some of the others then I'll try putting them on veroboard and see if that clears it up.

Does the metal enclosure provide some level of shielding then, as opposed to say....a plastic one?

Cheers

[midwayfair]

aye, makes sense. Just wondered if was kind of the nature of the beast so to speak.

To some extent, yes, if you're getting noise and buzz. This is the quietest one I've made ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA85cFCrt-E

Note the first comment on the video:
"Lotta noise."
(To be fair most of it's at the end when I put a single coil guitar right in front of the speaker ...)

However, "outta control" from your description sounds like maybe you mean it's ... oscillating, maybe? Making weird gurgly noises at the highest gain settings and choking up? What pickups are you using and are they high output? I can't guarantee that you've built it properly if it's oscillating, but of course, if you're only getting the problem at max gain -- don't turn it all the way up! The best thing this pedal does is edge of breakup/touch sensitivity, where it's clean much of the time and then snarls when you dig in. It's not what I think of as a "linear" overdrive that simply distorts more as you turn up the gain, more like a gating fuzz that doesn't distort until it hits a certain point and then it's all fuzz all the time. Think of the gain knob as more like a control for setting how low the threshold for that breakup will happen.

And a metal enclosure will provide shielding, but only if it's grounded. There are grounding schemes and modulation pedals that will be okay in a plastic enclosure, but I'd never go plastic for a high-gain circuit.

[Widows]

Cool beans, thanks for your help guys. After watching a few demos I decided it's not something I'm interested in investing time to build as a full project with box n all. As lovely as it sounds, the properly built ones don't suit what I play so there's not much point me having it. I've since been working on a Beavis Audio Muff Fuzz layout, have changed the diodes, added a small cap in the clipping circuit and experimented with different combinations of 5088/BC109 transistors and have had some great results! Next step is to box up both designs and have a little shootout with them :-)