overdrive/fuzz quest

[johnk_10]

here's another one that i recently built. this one has a TON of low end and is great for a clean boost, and mild to moderate overdrive. (i added a switch to go from less (symmetrical) to more (asymmetrical) clipping.

 

[jumbodbassman]

no battery??? is that a dc input on the side?

 

[jumbodbassman]

noticed the wiio on the right. thoughts???

 

[johnk_10]

no battery??? is that a dc input on the side?

i left room for the 9V battery and clip, but i always use a power supply so i often don't install the battery clip.

 

[johnk_10]

noticed the wiio on the right. thoughts???

i love the wiio on bass. it's big, fat and sounds like a cranked hiwatt.

 

[jumbodbassman]

Thanks... I heard one with a guitar but never a bass and the youtube is just too overdriven... maybe its time to get one

 

[8_finger]

Thanks... I heard one with a guitar but never a bass and the youtube is just too overdriven... maybe its time to get one

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/catalinbread-wiio-bass-sound-clips-inside-888487/

bass clips

 

[johnk_10]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/catalinbread-wiio-bass-sound-clips-inside-888487/

bass clips

those clips of the wiio sound really good (i love my wiio on bass!)

i built this one a while ago....a green russian big muff. on this one, i installed sockets for the transistors, the clipping diodes, almost every capacitor (all but three of them), and quite a few resistors so i could make it into a green russian, a civil war, a black russian, a modern one, a vintage one or even the GGG tuned version. i ended up going with the green russian components but also added a mids switch to go from scooped (stock), flat and a slight mid bump. IMO, it's pretty nice for a big muff on bass.

here's a couple of pics of it:

 

[johnk_10]

BB bass preamp. it's pretty darn good, but i like the RC boost a bit more. this one's more of an overdrive and has more mids.

 

[johnk_10]

IMO, another surprisingly good sounding overdrive for bass (with the bass switch engaged=no low end loss) is a Wampler's 'Plexidrive'. it's a three Jfet based overdrive (with no chips).

 

[johnk_10]

BTW, the plexidrive sounds great but i also just tried it at 15 volts and it gets a bit louder, cleaner, tighter and dynamic, which means i might install a charge pump in it so i can select between 9V and 15V.

 

[johnk_10]

Rockbox 'Boiling Point' modded for use with a bass. i installed sockets for the caps that transformed it into an excellent bass overdrive/distortion. it's now capable of a clean, transparent, full range boost (with zero low end loss) all the way to a very heavily saturated fuzz. this is basically a tweaked tubescreamer circuit, but my modded for bass vintage TS9 pales by comparison and sounds like a toy next to this one.

 

[12bass]

Snuck an OPA2134 in there I see....

 

[johnk_10]

Snuck an OPA2134 in there I see....

good eye.
yup. since i have about 30 different dual opamps to try, IMO, the 2134 sounded the best in this pedal. the stock RC4558P sounded good, as did a JRC4558D and even a TL072, but the 2134 won out. i didn't care for an LM833N (which i usually really like), a 5532 (or stacked 5532's), a 2604 or a 2904. and a JRC4562, a JRC4580 and JRC4559 were all okay, but in this particular pedal the 2134 sounded the smoothest and fullest.

 

[johnk_10]

BTW, when it's late at night (like right now), i have time to build another one , so i'm building a Crowther prunes and custard right now.

 

[jcburn]

John if you don't mind me asking where are you coming up with the inspiration for these pedals? Are the schematics etc. accessible somewhere online?
I've been thinking about asking Santa for a soldering iron and maybe having a crack at some DIY pedals after Xmas.

 

[johnk_10]

the info and schematics are all over the web in forums like freestompboxes.com, diystompboxes.com, madbean, & GGG as well as blogs like Mark's tagboardeffects, Fred Brigg's revolutiondeux, Harald's Sabrotone. also, if you google a pedal's name, often a schematic or a vero layout for it will come up.

 

[jumbodbassman]

do you ever sell these things?

 

[johnk_10]

do you ever sell these things?

i just built them for myself, but a few of my local friends that have come by and played thru them have asked me to build them the ones that they really liked so i built some for them.

 

[xander8280]

JohnK. You rule. Very Inspiring. How do you do most of your painting and decals? Where do you buy your parts?