The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

Received my Tayda order for a nobelium. The electrolytic capacitors are mostly JB JFB series. I don't have an opinion on those but I've seen them in electronics. Don't remember if I had to replace any due to swelling.

The one non JB brand is a Chongx for C1. Those are the worst caps I've seen. Replaced many swelled one over the years, particularly in the power supply section. And guess what? C1 is in the power section. I prefer a name brand that is low impedance for C1.

Top brands are Rubycon, Kemet, Panasonic, WIMA, and Nichicon. I think I've listed them in correct order by market share. I will use Rubycon simply because that's what I have on hand. For the film capacitors, I have a mix of Kemet and WIMA. I'll probably use a mix of those two.

The resistors came in quantities of 10 and are cut tape. I did test 1.5k ones and found all 10 are within the 1% tolerance rating.

The Noble guy uses Nichicon electrolytic and mostly WIMA film capacitors. I don't have enough gut shots to tell what the few non-WIMA film capacitors are. He also mostly uses carbon film capacitors, not the metal film ones in the Nobelium BOM. I see one metal film in the gut shot. I'm guessing that the equivalent to the 10M R17 in the Nobelium.

This makes sense because carbon film is usually preferred over metal film for tube amp builders. Probably because carbon comp resistors are what's found in sought after Vintage amps. I have both types but probably will use carbon film except for the 10M part.

In the sticky section, there is a demo of various preamps including Noble and Nobelium. I can hear a difference between the two on the low end. The Noble sounds slightly better to my ears. Perhaps this is why guys on the pedalpcb forums are talking about changing the HPF on the Nobelium. I think they were talking about lowering it slightly. Iirc, from 90hz to 70hz or so. The member there that said he designed the Nobelium (can't confirm that and this is the Internet) at the same HPF value as the Noble. No mention of the slope though.

I would like to respectfully request that posts like this be kept to the Conspiracy to Commit Electronics megathread as it is not directly related to a Sushi Box pedal.

hey Nathan,
12dw7, 12bh7(a) and ECC99 -- have you tried these? can they theoretically be used for any pedals, or not?
seems like they're just variants of any other common 12ax,t,y,v,u7/ECC81,2,3,x tube out there.
I use NOS ECC802S tubes in many things, as well as 6189W, and sonically they're great, and rugged.

@Sushi Box FX

All three have the same pinout as the 12A*7 family so they should theoretically be drop-in replacements. 12DW7 is a dual triode with one high gain (mu of 100) and one low gain (mu of 20) triode, like 1/2 12AX7 and 1/2 12AU7. I haven't personally used them, but I've seen them used in preamps. 12BH7 has a mu of 17 which is even lower than 12AU7, but it has a high plate current so I've actually used it as a low-wattage power tube in my headphone amps. ECC99 is similar to 12BH7 with a mu of 22 and a high plate current, but I've never personally used them.

Hey guys
I just wanted to ask a simple question that might not have such a simple answer? I have my new UA hooked up to my board with a couple of pedals in front and a JDI after. I have come to the realize that the output volume is quite dependant on what I hook the JDI up to. I know that it is passive - but I was kind of hoping that the output of the UA would act as a buffer and help drive the signal?
As it turns out putting a buffer between the UA and the JDI makes quite a bit of difference. I just wanted the hear about other people's experiences and recommendations in this regard? I'm a little worried that I will have to keep some sort of buffer between them reducing my options on the board (I run a smallish Nano+ board).

Based on Radial's documentation, the JDI has an input impedance of 140kΩ, so I wouldn't expect that to be an issue with Underground Accelerator's output impedance of 38kΩ. That being said Underground Accelerator does not has a buffered output as it takes the output straight from the gainstage. Typically a buffer is characterized by a high input impedance (≥1MΩ) and a low output impedance (≤1kΩ)., and Underground Accelerator does not qualify on the output side.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Man, I have a dream team of prototype circuit boards all in the same order and they're out for delivery right now, and I'm stuck at work. I won't have much time to play after work today as Mrs. Sushi and I have tickets to see my current favorite band tonight, but hopefully sometime this weekend I'll have some neat pictures to share.

 

[GR7G5TER]

Which band are going to see?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Which band are going to see?

Nothing But Thieves

 

[GR7G5TER]

Nothing But Thieves

Just it them Spotify , i’ve come across hem before!

Enjoy, love a good gig

 

[VegasGutPlucker]

Nothing But Thieves

that venue is less than a mile from me, and I've never seen a show there haha!

 

[GR7G5TER]

that venue is less than a mile from me, and I've never seen a show there haha!

Get yourself over there!

Order a pedal and you can save some money on postage.

 

[wintremute]

Frugality AND a live show!

 

[VegasGutPlucker]

Get yourself over there!

Order a pedal and you can save some money on postage.

unless Nathan's got a prototype for me to mess around with, I'm holding out for something specific.

I've been going thru a gear overhaul, instigated by my upright bass pickup dying on me. After a bunch of auditioning, I like my MORE on upright, and am looking for a potential microphone/preamp situation for some 'classical' recording and live gigs coming up.

For electric, I found the MORE didn't add anything I wasn't already getting from my Arkham Octling. I'm live-scoring Nosferatu next week, and am audition a couple overdrive/dirt/distortion boxes for it. I've got a Woolly Mammoth clone, a custom Germanium boost from Poland, a Shin-Ei clone, and a Devi Ever Hyperion fuzz. I've also got parts on hand to build an Acapulco Gold and a few other things. Haven't decided on starting line up yet, so the pedal board is in flux.

Got any recommendations from the Sushi man?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

For electric, I found the MORE didn't add anything I wasn't already getting from my Arkham Octling. I'm live-scoring Nosferatu next week, and am audition a couple overdrive/dirt/distortion boxes for it. I've got a Woolly Mammoth clone, a custom Germanium boost from Poland, a Shin-Ei clone, and a Devi Ever Hyperion fuzz. I've also got parts on hand to build an Acapulco Gold and a few other things. Haven't decided on starting line up yet, so the pedal board is in flux.

Got any recommendations from the Sushi man?

If Woolly Mammoth is on your radar, I would humbly suggest the Tarantula Fuzz, which will beat up a Woolly Mammoth and take its lunch money without even breaking a sweat.

 

[macmanlou]

If Woolly Mammoth is on your radar, I would humbly suggest the Tarantula Fuzz, which will beat up a Woolly Mammoth and take its lunch money without even breaking a sweat.

And Tarantula is a little bit less money, as well.

 

[SteveBlair]

Hey all! I picked up an Underground Accelerator and have placed it at the end of my chain.

Nash PB-63 (Old TI Flats) > Broughton HPF > Octabvre > Doom 2 > Proton > HX Stomp (IMA Foundation) > Underground Accelerator > Tone Hammer 500

I'm trying to get the warmest P bass tone I can! I'm considering adding a More to this chain. Why? Because more! Has anyone used the More in tandem with the Underground Accelerator? Maybe placing the UA at the beginning of the chain and the More at the end before the Tone Hammer.

 

[LSM07]

Hey all! I picked up an Underground Accelerator and have placed it at the end of my chain.

Nash PB-63 (Old TI Flats) > Broughton HPF > Octabvre > Doom 2 > Proton > HX Stomp (IMA Foundation) > Underground Accelerator > Tone Hammer 500

I'm trying to get the warmest P bass tone I can! I'm considering adding a More to this chain. Why? Because more! Has anyone used the More in tandem with the Underground Accelerator? Maybe placing the UA at the beginning of the chain and the More at the end before the Tone Hammer.

You'll want to experiment a bit, but if you put the MORE before the UA, there will be... more.... harmonic distortion before that boost. I find putting the MORE before distortion pedals helps to "open" them up a bit (and lately I've been using the UA as an OD/dist/boost pedal as opposed to a preamp).

 

[Rev_Slinky]

I like using the UA at the front to warm everything up downstream. I don't have a MORE (yet), but I finish with a Finally, and I like the way that sequence runs. That being said, see what makes your ears happy.

 

[tidbits]

@Rev_Slinky What's your chain like? I've just added a Finally and I'm loving it so far, I'm considering adding a UI or a More myself (after I upgrade my power supply ) but I'm curious about what you've got in between.

 

[Parzival]

Hey all! I picked up an Underground Accelerator and have placed it at the end of my chain.

Nash PB-63 (Old TI Flats) > Broughton HPF > Octabvre > Doom 2 > Proton > HX Stomp (IMA Foundation) > Underground Accelerator > Tone Hammer 500

I'm trying to get the warmest P bass tone I can! I'm considering adding a More to this chain. Why? Because more! Has anyone used the More in tandem with the Underground Accelerator? Maybe placing the UA at the beginning of the chain and the More at the end before the Tone Hammer.

At one time I had a UA, MORE, and Finally. Great super warm tube tone for days. I can’t remember but I’m pretty sure the UA was after the MORE. I’ve run the UA and the Finally and in a live situation, to me it wasn’t missing as much without the MORE. At home though you could hear a difference. Had a TH with the MORE, no UA, for a bit and that sounded really good too.

 

[Dr McBalders]

I run the More at the front of my chain before my UA. Seems to work the best for me. Big tone for days, like the poster above has said.

 

[EastDakota]

If you have the EQ toggled off and you're not turning the gain way up the UA can sit comfortably anywhere in your chain.

 

[jmmyoh]

My more isn't getting much use these days..

 

[Rev_Slinky]

@Rev_Slinky What's your chain like? I've just added a Finally and I'm loving it so far, I'm considering adding a UI or a More myself (after I upgrade my power supply ) but I'm curious about what you've got in between.

Lately, I've been using my smaller board for backlined travel gigs, which doesn't always utilize the Finally. That board goes: Broughton BBA -> tuner -> UA -> envelope filter -> fuzz -> Lightning Boy Fe23+ -> compressor (Walrus Mira) -> Finally (sometimes).

The bigger board is similar, only some of the pedals are bigger (and better), the power supply is far better (Cioks DC7), and it always ends in the Finally. I add a little overdrive to that mix, and sometimes octave and/or reverb.

I'm usually playing an old Fresher Personal Bass with half rounds.