First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
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- Shimmer
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First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
I'm in the process of breadboarding my first distortion pedal following the instructions at:
http://tonefiend.com/tonefiend-diy-club ... resources/
(It's the 'bad-ass disortion')
Anyway, I'm up to where the diodes are put in. When I follow the instructions, adding the diodes in opposite orientation indeed cleans up the distortion and makes it more compressed etc. Which is as it should be. But when I put them in the same orientation, the instructions says that that should kill the signal. But in my case it doesn't...? (Not that I want it to, but obviously something is going wrong, right?)
http://tonefiend.com/tonefiend-diy-club ... resources/
(It's the 'bad-ass disortion')
Anyway, I'm up to where the diodes are put in. When I follow the instructions, adding the diodes in opposite orientation indeed cleans up the distortion and makes it more compressed etc. Which is as it should be. But when I put them in the same orientation, the instructions says that that should kill the signal. But in my case it doesn't...? (Not that I want it to, but obviously something is going wrong, right?)
Last edited by Shimmer on Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- TmcB
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Re: First distortion pedal
Instructions are wrong, you wouldn't kill the signal. In this case, when both diodes in the same direction they'd be clipping one side of the waveform, instead of both sides.
When they're in opposite - like in the schem - they clip both the top and the bottom of the waveform.
You'd kill the signal if the diode was round the wrong way but connecting the cap to the out.
When they're in opposite - like in the schem - they clip both the top and the bottom of the waveform.
You'd kill the signal if the diode was round the wrong way but connecting the cap to the out.
Family Music Store - http://familymusic.co.nzGrantB wrote:Tony, your taste is, as always, very refined. Or as HG would say, "bloody awful".
- Shimmer
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Re: First distortion pedal
Ah - thanks for that - that makes sense. I'm a real newbie at this electronics stuff so was worried I'd made a mistake.TmcB wrote:Instructions are wrong, you wouldn't kill the signal. In this case, when both diodes in the same direction they'd be clipping one side of the waveform, instead of both sides.
When they're in opposite - like in the schem - they clip both the top and the bottom of the waveform.
You'd kill the signal if the diode was round the wrong way but connecting the cap to the out.
Now on to adding the gain and volume control.
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Re: First distortion pedal
TLDR throw away the instructions
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.
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Re: First distortion pedal
Hah - but then I'd be stuck with a bunch of nothing.Single coil wrote:TLDR throw away the instructions
Actually the guide is pretty good because it isn't just a rote step-by-step, but encourages you to experiment with different caps/diodes etc to see what effect they have. (Good for me at this stage anyway)
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Re: First distortion pedal
That's the sort of methodology I use, but I think you've guessed that. "Bigger value does [this] and smaller value does [this] instead, hmm".
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.
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Re: First distortion pedal
Finished bread-boarding the thing. Sounds really fat to my ears. I have lowered C1 from 104 to 473 but it didn't seem to change it much. The transistor I used is 2N3904 (I can't yet find the other two that they recommended to try 2N5088 and 2N5089).
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- Olderama
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Re: First distortion pedal
Chewy as mateShimmer wrote:Finished bread-boarding the thing. Sounds really fat to my ears. I have lowered C1 from 104 to 473 but it didn't seem to change it much. The transistor I used is 2N3904 (I can't yet find the other two that they recommended to try 2N5088 and 2N5089).
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
A follow-up question - what is a good substitute for the 2N5088 and 2N5089 transistors (I am having trouble finding them)
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- Snarblinge
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
http://nz.element14.com/search?st=2n5089
5088s are on there too, if y spend enough freight is free, get your enclosures but not stomp switches
5088s are on there too, if y spend enough freight is free, get your enclosures but not stomp switches
b.
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
Thanks heaps for that!Snarblinge wrote:http://nz.element14.com/search?st=2n5089
5088s are on there too, if y spend enough freight is free, get your enclosures but not stomp switches
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip
sounds like a ripped speaker cone ... not my thing at all but hats off for being able to build stuff like this. I tried once and it was a homer/BBQ moment
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