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The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

#5,401
Who's got two thumbs and a shipping notice?

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#5,402
Sushi Box FX said:
So I may end up discontinuing Westinghouse. I'm getting the impression that every single EF86 in the world is microphonic, some just more than others. So I finished wiring up all the Westinghouses for the April batch, and I wanted to use as many of my soviet 6J32P (EF86 equivalent) tubes as possible, so I plugged in each one that I have (total of 18) and cranked up my amp, then tapped on the tube. Every single one is microphonic. Some are just a slight ringing, while others sound like the bells of the Sistine Chapel. But every single one.

So I reluctantly reached for my box of new Tube Amp Doctor EF86 ($25 each compared to $3 for the 6J32P). Plugged one into the first pedal then just for fun, cranked the amp and tapped the tube. MICROPHONIC. I tested 5 more TAD EF86, all of them also microphonic. The TAD are all definitely in the minor microphonic category, but there were a handful of 6J32P that were just as quiet as the TAD, which means they're just as usable as the TAD?

When I say I cranked my amp, I mean the Master of my 300W head was at 3:00 through a 2x10 cab, and my ear was right up against the cab. Is this a realistic setting for live performance? I have no idea, I've never gigged with this amp. Is it possible the "mildly microphonic" tubes are good enough to not be noticeable in a live setting? Maybe, really depends on the setting and what the user feels is "good enough." I really love the tone of this thing, especially around 235V (the "sweet spot" to my ears and what I will be setting the maximum at unless told otherwise) it really opens up and has a special character I don't have in anything else, but I really don't feel good about sending a bunch of pedals into the world when I know for a fact that every single one will be some level of microphonic. Am I also tired and frustrated and maybe not thinking completely analytically? Sure.

So I apologize for not keeping my promise, the pedals are technically finished and just waiting for tubes, so no Westinghouses have been shipped yet. I'll think it over more in the morning, in the meantime please let me know what you think. As a one-man company I don't have a panel of subject-matter experts to bounce ideas off of, so I rely a lot on public opinion here.
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Google Image Result for https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/WIIAAOSwAVBdgR~5/s-l400.jpg
 
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#5,403
Sushi Box FX said:
It's possible, obviously the microphonics are amplified by the pedal, so if the level is down you'll hear less of it, and higher voltage through the tube means a lot more output. You'll notice (especially on the April batch with the switch) that the high voltage setting is MUCH louder. So keeping the volume down will hide the microphonics a little bit.
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I've tested the ones I've sent you in a 400 watt amp with 6 kt150s..........zero noise in the amp. Man, they sound good though.
 
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#5,409
Quick SBVT update: now that April batch is all shipped I'm finally digging into this, and I've managed to trace the problem to the Ultra-Lo switch. I'm thinking about substituting the Slampegg-style ultra-lo if I can't get this one figured out, because SVT does it completely different than B-25.

EDIT: looking at a couple different schematics it looks like the vintage SVT ultra-lo was done differently than the SVT-CL, and the vintage SVT switch makes more sense to me, I may try that out.
 
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#5,410
Well this is awful. I found the problem with the ultra lo switch, and it isn't anything inherent in the circuit itself, it was 100% a software error. When I was routing the circuit board I carelessly had two tracks overlap each other, and the software didn't flag it as wrong so I didn't notice to fix it. I'm going to see if I can hack apart the circuit board so I can verify that this is the only problem, but I will need to do another revision of boards for SBVT.
 
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#5,411
Sushi Box FX said:
Well this is awful. I found the problem with the ultra lo switch, and it isn't anything inherent in the circuit itself, it was 100% a software error. When I was routing the circuit board I carelessly had two tracks overlap each other, and the software didn't flag it as wrong so I didn't notice to fix it. I'm going to see if I can hack apart the circuit board so I can verify that this is the only problem, but I will need to do another revision of boards for SBVT.
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Ooph thats a bummer man hopefully its something that isnt uber spendy to fix.
 
#5,412
Ethereal Thorn said:
Ooph thats a bummer man hopefully its something that isnt uber spendy to fix.
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Circuit boards themselves don't cost that much, especially when I need to order a whole bunch and can share shipping costs. I'm really hoping I can keep the general layout the same and just fix the routing so I can keep the stencil, as soldering stencils usually cost more than the boards themselves.
 
#5,415
So I think the SBVT is working now? I'm going to have to record some clips tomorrow so you guys can listen and tell me if it sounds right, because I haven't played an SVT in years, and even then I think I just played guitar through it. So my observations:

1) It is SUPER LOUD but at the same time is SUPER CLEAN. Even with the gain cranked it wasn't really driving, but with the gain cranked I had to pull master way back because it was LOUD.

2) The sweep of the bass knob, especially if you factor in the Ultra Lo switch, goes everywhere from absolutely zero low end at full CCW to absolute earth shaking, wake-up-the-neighbors-a-mile-away-with-low-frequencies rumble at full CW. Like I for real didn't know my amp was capable of delivering straight up subwoofer level lows until a minute ago.

3) The tone is sweet. I need to play with the EQ more to see how the mids responds, especially with the frequency selector, but I think I really like the tone so far.

So whether this is what an SVT is supposed to sound like or not I'm not sure, but either way I have a super clean Ampeg flavored preamp sitting on my bench, I'll get some quick clips tomorrow.

The circuit board isn't as pretty as it was when I started, but it's a hell of a lot louder.
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#5,416
Sushi Box FX said:
So I think the SBVT is working now?
View attachment 4260527
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Exciting times! As someone w/one of those May placeholder spots for this...no rush from me. Take your time and let the Ampeg experts weigh in on how close you got. They way you're describing it has me stoked tho - clean warm, sweet (musical?) tone, loud...thanks for the updates!
 
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#5,417
benjobass said:
Exciting times! As someone w/one of those May placeholder spots for this...no rush from me. Take your time and let the Ampeg experts weigh in on how close you got. They way you're describing it has me stoked tho - clean warm, sweet (musical?) tone, loud...thanks for the updates!
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I’m one of the placeholders too, and I’m in no rush either. I haven’t played an SVT in a long time and not many times either so I really don’t have a clear idea what it should sound like but when I played it, and a numerous emulation, it had a bit of break up at least. That’s what I’m hoping for.
 
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#5,420
NKBassman said:
Hey everyone. Just a heads up I have my mini-tube London Underground listed for sale in the classifieds. I love it, but need to raise some funds for a bass purchase. I'm already planning to replace it with a LU/PA-X in the future :)
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The one in the classifieds with the silver knobs sounds much more betterer, so buy that one! ;) (I posted mine for sale last night because I just received the LU-X version).
 
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