The Rockbox Boiling Point Thread

[Slowy]

ProGuitar Shop Andy once described it as the perfect OD pedal; on the same plane as the Klon Centaur and KOT. History however, hasn't really supported that. I recently got mine out of its box (see what I did there?) to try and find out why.

The reason mine has lived in the cupboard is I couldn't make it work with other pedals. It's actually not an OD pedal, it's a full blown, tonally versatile preamp but the amount of volume it produces is insane.

It requires your amp to be almost asleep; volume on 1 or 2. But switch it on and you suddenly have more headroom, tighter bass and more gain voices than your amp ever demonstrated before.

So first question: What's happening here; how does that work?

One of the common criticisms I've read is it's a bit harsh; absolutely true but there's a simple fix. Run it into a Klone and you will suddenly have tooth marks on the back of your hand.

There's some experience of them here, Conway has one, NZTone.e has me under constant pressure to relieve me of mine. What's your impressions?
I know Conway had one on his board but I always feared that the Boiling Point into a cranked amp would cause detonation..literally.

[NippleWrestler]

Like most things, it's a modified Tube Screamer.

[Slowy]

Like most things, it's a modified Tube Screamer.

It is, but that's like saying Grange Hermitage is modified grape juice.

It really doesn't behave like any Tubescreamer I've met.

[calling card]

High voltage at front end, great for long guitar lead run but yeah that would be ear hurting loud. I've got a clean booster like that but it got retired before complete hearing loss, oh but the tone....

Is it 18v power supply?

[AiRdAd]

ProGuitar Shop Andy once described it as the perfect OD pedal; on the same plane as the Klon Centaur and KOT. History however, hasn't really supported that. I recently got mine out of its box (see what I did there?) to try and find out why.

The reason mine has lived in the cupboard is I couldn't make it work with other pedals. It's actually not an OD pedal, it's a full blown, tonally versatile preamp but the amount of volume it produces is insane.

It requires your amp to be almost asleep; volume on 1 or 2. But switch it on and you suddenly have more headroom, tighter bass and more gain voices than your amp ever demonstrated before.

So first question: What's happening here; how does that work?

One of the common criticisms I've read is it's a bit harsh; absolutely true but there's a simple fix. Run it into a Klone and you will suddenly have tooth marks on the back of your hand.

There's some experience of them here, Conway has one, NZTone.e has me under constant pressure to relieve me of mine. What's your impressions?
I know Conway had one on his board but I always feared that the Boiling Point into a cranked amp would cause detonation..literally.

If you're coming down to taranaki this summer - bring it it down with you, so that I can try it out

[NZTone.e]

Sam Vilo, I think, does a good demo of one, I don’t know how to put the clip here, it’s 19 minutes long of just playing so you really have to be keen to listen, but he shows how touch sensitive the pedal is, uses lots of different gain stages, and is the clip that really makes me want Slowy’s one!

I’m also a one pedal sort of person, well, one drive pedal anyway, so when I borrowed it, I didn’t notice any issues, and didn’t have the volume problem, or rather, I don’t remember it, selective maybe?

[NZTone.e]

If it is a modified tube screamer, then it’s modified to the point of very little common ground…I’ve had a couple 808s and they’re nothing along side the rockbox…

[jeremyb]

I still remember watching that PGS video and thinking this was the greatest sounding drive pedal I've ever heard, do you run it at 18V?

[Conway]

Like most things, it's a modified Tube Screamer.

It is, but that's like saying Grange Hermitage is modified grape juice.

Quite right, Slowy. Just like the Jan Ray is a modified Timmy.

[Conway]

The problem with this type of high headroom pedal is that they're quite hard to integrate into a pedalboard because they operate at their best with a massive volume increase. Who needs a 20 decibel boost when adding some dirt?!

Other similar pedals that spring to mind are the Thorpy Heavy Water and every Josh Smith signature pedal ever made (multiple builders).

[Conway]

I always feared that the Boiling Point into a cranked amp would cause detonation..literally.

I think into a cranked amp, it will just cause further tube compression. Into a cleanish amp will be a problem.

[Reg18]

There are schematics floating around the internet which do seem to point to a modified TS but I think the real benefit to a lot of these type of pedals is the ears of the person tuning them.
By changing a handful of parts or altering the tone control or even changing the clipping diodes to LEDs and calling it Plexi mode can yield excellent results. If the builder has good ears that you trust, I’d say it’s worth the higher price to gain another 15% sonically?
I guess a Telecaster copy is a clone in a way, can be built with the same parts as the original but can be heaps cheaper or way dearer depending on the builder and their reputation.
Reminds me, I’ve had a boiling point schematic sitting on my bench for the last year, this thread might be the motivation I need to finally build it.

[jeremyb]

I always feared that the Boiling Point into a cranked amp would cause detonation..literally.

I think into a cranked amp, it will just cause further tube compression. Into a cleanish amp will be a problem.

This! John Frusciante always ran things like this as the Boss DS-2 would have a huge volume jump when he engaged it but if you run it into another drive pedal or a cranked tube amp bobs your uncle!

[Miza]

Speaking of Jan Ray/Timmy clones, I built the Coda Effects Golden Hour and it has WAY too much volume; unity is with the knob at 9am. I don't remember my original Timmy being like that. Any reason this would be the case? I feel like I need to send it to someone to diagnose for me.

[TmcB]

There are a lot of accusations of things being a modified tubescreamer that really aren’t. A lot of people see someone using a dual op amp in a circuit and say Yet Another Tubescreamer (YATS) and it’s really not true. Often you have a volume + clipping stage and then say, well, I’ve got another half of a chip to use, do I do cool tone things or a buffer or a clean blend etc.

Kinda a bit like saying that if it has 3 preamp tubes and 2 power tubes it’s yet another AC15 when it can be a Plexi, a Princeton, a Vox, a Mig 50, a Bogner…


All that said, the Rockbox IS a modified Tubescreamer it has a switch that changes the cap from Tubescreamer bass cut to no bass cut, a switch that adds more diodes to make it sound less compressed/more loud, swapped out the gain control to give it more gain, and swapped out some caps for more bass.

That means anyone with a boring old Tubescreamer can have a Rockbox pretty easily, but full credit to the builder - the mods are excellent and you wouldn’t know by playing it was the same thing. Bit like the first Mesa Boogies were modified Princetons.