Mike's Pedal Thread

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:12 pm

what's the deal with klon? the guys at offset go nuts for those things.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:17 pm

It's a unique circuit in that it's not a tubescreamer derivative. Most of the boutique overdrives you see people wanking off over on the internet are just Tubescreamers with Active EQs, or just subtle modifications. The Klon is overpriced, completely hyped by some big name guitarists using them (both guys in Aerosmith) and the fact that the circuit is gooped to fuckery so you can't see it.

It is a two op-amp and charge pump orientated circuit with a supposedly lovely buffer and a very clever use of a dual gang pot which alters the equalization of the pedal and the gain at the same time. I'm looking forward to building one myself, but like many of the circuits I've built that are super hyped, I am realistic about it's qualities. It's a unique position to appraise the true quality of these designs, to just prototype them in a matter of hours and see whether I really like them enough to build them permanently.

It is fairly complex so coming up with a stripboard layout for it would be some task.

Some people here expressed interest in it, so I'm following through with my promise to investigate it for them.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:37 pm

Whew! Busy night at Livesley Manor.

Russian Green Big Muff. Breadboarded.

Sounds fucking fabulous.

Did LOTS of building.

from left to right - Box Of Mike
Box Of Rock and Booster section
Astro's Bass Fuzz

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:38 pm

Also painted lots of cases I'll take pictures of tomorrow.

Astro's Bass Fuzz - Orange
Box Of Mike - Red
Box Of Rock - Metallic Green
Booster - Yellow

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:31 pm

what kind of transistors did you put in the big muff? i put 2n5089s in mine 'cause i'd heard it was supposed to sound good, but it sounded like crap. i tried putting the old ones back in and now it doesn't work. i think i fried them, but they aren't labeled with anything other than white and green dots, so i don't know what to replace them with.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:34 pm

bubbles_horwitz wrote:what kind of transistors did you put in the big muff? i put 2n5089s in mine 'cause i'd heard it was supposed to sound good, but it sounded like crap. i tried putting the old ones back in and now it doesn't work. i think i fried them, but they aren't labeled with anything other than white and green dots, so i don't know what to replace them with.

My "go to" npn Bipolar is the 2n5088 which sounds great in this circuit. I also have BC107s and 2n2222's which are both lower gain npn's that are reputed to sound nice in fuzzes. I always socket my transistors in my stripboard builds as I like to have the option to switch types and hfe's to get the nicest sounds. Very quickly I have accumulated a lot of transistors to play with. Off the top of my head I have 2n5088s, 2n2222's, BC107s, 2n3904s, 2n3906s, BS170s, MPF102s, J201s... A bunch of diodes also, and plenty of opamps.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:00 pm

i was gonna use sockets, but they're like $2 a piece at fry's and they won't drop in to the pc board. i'm definitely gonna use 'em now. i've never had transistors burn up on me that easily before.
somewhere i read that russian muffs use bc184s, but i've yet to verify that. i'll probably head over to all-electronics this weekend and see what they've got.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:01 pm

bubbles_horwitz wrote:i was gonna use sockets, but they're like $2 a piece at fry's and they won't drop in to the pc board. i'm definitely gonna use 'em now. i've never had transistors burn up on me that easily before.
somewhere i read that russian muffs use bc184s, but i've yet to verify that. i'll probably head over to all-electronics this weekend and see what they've got.

Don't buy transistor sockets. Buy strips of inline pin sockets and snip them into threes.

See the bottom left compartment.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:04 pm

i feel so stupid for not thinking of that. i think i might even have some of those sitting neglected in a box somewhere.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:05 pm

Careful when you snip them, like. I almost lost an eye the first time I did it.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:08 pm

i wear glasses. so i should be good to go.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:09 pm

Snip away, Champ.

I completely need another eye test. Either I'm suffering from Psychosis or I need Specs.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:11 pm

i didn't get glasses until i was 19. before that i had perfect vision.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:15 pm

I had Astigmatism when I was younger, like 13-14. I wore my glasses like a good boy.

Then one day I got the shit beaten out of me at school and my glasses got fucked up. I told my Mum and Dad I didn't need them anymore rather than tell them the truth. When I had my next eye test I was OK. They still don't know the truth.

I had my eyes tested 2 years ago and they were slipping but not bad enough for glasses at that stage. Need retest.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:01 pm

i'm at some strage internet cafe filled with tons of people that speak a language I don't quite understand.
since i'm hooked up with super high speed, i thought i would stop buy this thread. it's pretty cool.
all this pedal business is very bonerworthy. aweomse A+++

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:52 pm

Cheers Sloan.

Did yet more work today. The Box Of Mike, Box Of Rock and Booster Circuit are all tested and working. Then I build a Russian Green Big Muff circuit using a design I drew up.

Transistors and Diodes are socketed for experimenting. I'll make a case for this and bring it down to Doogfest if noone is interested in buying it beforehand.

Also. Gizmo in a bag:

Post by **Hurb** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:38 pm

mike woulf br ptpof when he seeis whay I has done! I am like mike but less with mu pefdal buildings skills!

chrck it some time!

rrrob9 · Post by **rrrob9** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:16 am

hi, boring i know but how much Â£Â£ would it take to make replacing the switches in my wah and handmade trem worth your while?
i'm a soldering iron spazz and just want the things to work

otherwise, any ideas on where i could get them repaired in central-ish london?

thanks

aen · Post by **aen** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:36 am

Mike wrote:
My "go to" npn Bipolar is the 2n5088

I think it might become mine too, I just did a single transistor fuzz ( just a hot rodded LPB, actually) for my duosonic today and it sounds fucking immense.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:46 am

rrrob9 wrote:hi, boring i know but how much Â£Â£ would it take to make replacing the switches in my wah and handmade trem worth your while?
i'm a soldering iron spazz and just want the things to work

otherwise, any ideas on where i could get them repaired in central-ish london?

thanks

The switches would be about a Â£5 a pop for parts, I would do both for a Â£5 labour on top of the Â£10 parts. If you wander down Denmark St you could probably get someone to fix it for you also.