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Dunwich Amplification General Discussion

#4,022
Volt Thrower folk:

Can someone explain to me, in layman terms, what the difference between using the pedal at 9V vs. 18V does precisely?

To paraphrase Nick Dunwich and Magic - it has "more headroom" and "it opens up the EQ." But what does that mean practically? The biggest thing I noticed was a larger difference between diode modes, but that's about it.

I moved it to a pedalboard that doesn't have an 18V option, and it sounds great, but I can't help but feel that I'm not using the pedal to its fullest potential. I also don't want to get another Strymon R30 and use what I have, so...

ALSO: I'm currently using this in a home studio rig, DI, virtual amps, etc. Maybe the difference would be more noticeable on my live rig.

Not slagging the pedal in the slightest, just trying to have a better understanding of what it's capable of.
 
#4,024
helenforsdale said:
Volt Thrower folk:

Can someone explain to me, in layman terms, what the difference between using the pedal at 9V vs. 18V does precisely?

To paraphrase Nick Dunwich and Magic - it has "more headroom" and "it opens up the EQ." But what does that mean practically? The biggest thing I noticed was a larger difference between diode modes, but that's about it.

I moved it to a pedalboard that doesn't have an 18V option, and it sounds great, but I can't help but feel that I'm not using the pedal to its fullest potential. I also don't want to get another Strymon R30 and use what I have, so...

ALSO: I'm currently using this in a home studio rig, DI, virtual amps, etc. Maybe the difference would be more noticeable on my live rig.

Not slagging the pedal in the slightest, just trying to have a better understanding of what it's capable of.
Click to expand...
In general, headroom refers to how much volume you can push into the pedal before it distorts and how much gain you can dial in without distorting. The result tends to be a clearer signal in high gain situations. Most of all I suggest you use your ears to determine what's good for you. That's what matters in the end.

Personally I'm fine with with 9V on the Volt Thrower because I don't push it that hard and kinda use it as a very dirty boost for my DA120 most of the time. In contrast I do use a higher voltage for my Ground FX Burning Sunn as I usually push it with a maxed HM-3.

If I'm not mistaken, the VT has an internal voltage pump meaning that 9V input is doubled to 18V internally and 18V is doubled to 36V internally. I'm guessing Nick found 18V internally to be a baseline for getting the pedal to sound good and opted to design it around doubling the standard 9V for compatibility.
 
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#4,026
kranahan said:
Witchfinder on Reverb. No affiliation.
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748aa507aeceab148e93b8cf44f3c92e1627e5f247fa1eb91023a042b968ca86.jpg
 
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#4,027
Fuzzonaut said:
Sooo .... I've made an Apostle. Had to troubleshoot this one, as I ran into some grounding issues, but it's up and running now and sounds like this. (biased @ 4.5V)

Same old boring test loop. Volume (3/10), treble and bass (around noon) don't move. I just bring up/down boost, then gain, while having a bit of both .... then switch the tone stack (at 0:40) and do the same thing again.
This thing is LOUD!!! I dig it.



One question though @dunwichamps : what's up with that 10u (film) cap (C2)? The only one I found where I buy components was so big, that I had to wire it off board. No problem there, just wondering ...
And of course: thanks for sharing that design.
Click to expand...


For 10uF use a MLCC. To be fair, that design is from Dunn Effects but that would have been my choice either way.
 
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#4,036
Saw the SVT pre pop up! Looks really neat, hope it serves you well. I've never been huge on the SVT sound personally, and I'd probably avoid getting a prototype if it's to the point of having switches just direct you which way they are to be set. But maybe that's part of the fun :)

The Magic teaser looks cool! Guess I will get a Life Pedal-style pedal after all, at some point at least. Been looking at a good few octave fuzzes lately and all things said and done, I still want the Witchfinder. So an octave distortion could probably scratch a lot of that urge.
 
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