Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 Hi guys, Well, I'm working again on the tube pedal idea. It's been on the shelf for a while. Here's what I've come up with so far: - 2 independant channels, each with gain, low, mid, high, and volume- global presence and resonance.- 4 outputs, 'To Preamp', 'To Poweramp', 'To Headphones' and 'To Mixer' So far there are 2 footswitches, bypass, channel select. I can add another 2 footswitches. The question is, which feature would you consider to be most important: 1) A footswitchable volume boost2) A footswitchable gain boost3) A footswitchable series FX loop The one with the least votes is out! My initial thought was 1 and 2, especially for a live situation. You can stick other effects after the pedal anyway, so an FX loop isn't that necessary live. The only advantage of the FX loop is that it would come before the speaker simulator, so you could use your effects DI for late night recording,... but I don't expect this pedal be predominantly a 'recording studio' pedal. That feature is a 'nice to have'. Just my thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fourth Floor Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 I'd go with that instinct. I'd have trouble choosing between volume and gain boosts. so if only one has to go, make it FX loop. sounds like a mighty pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members herbs Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 Volume and gain boosts would be most helpful to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Merkin Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 I like the volume boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIKILOCKEDOUT Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 I voted for the volume boost switch also which from my POV is always preferable to another gain stage. Once I've found my sound I just want that sound louder when it comes to solo's ... usually more gain does nothing but muddy up the signal more. Any chance we could get a built in stubby holder as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 4Kenoath Posted August 9, 2005 Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 Keep gain and volume would be my vote... ...but I'm less of an obssessed fx junky than some others here. I forget the nature of the tone stack in this design. Is it based on a Marshall 800 or Mesa Boogie style? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 9, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 Hey Tiki,... don't you mean the kitchen sink? 4K, the tone stack is a different design. I've been playing around with tone stacks for a while now to try and find something which is interactive and passive, but at the same time giving you a wider range than the regular tone stacks. I've got a pretty funky design for the tone stack which give you about 20db of play in each band, which is about twice as much range as a 'Marhsall' tone stack. But I can configure the tone stack to work in the same frequency range as any of the traditional tone stacks. Another cool thing about this tone stack as well is that I've managed to decouple the midrange from the highs. Usually if you turn up the mids, you also turn up the highs. I found a way around that, which is nice,... The 2 channels at the moment are 'british' and 'US'. The British has very solid mids. It's very articulate. The EQ on that is voiced similar to a traditional Marshall tone stack, but with more 'play'. The US is a bit higher gain, and a bit more 'recto', and has it's mids voiced higher with a big low and top end. Of course, it's also possible to customise the pedal. Maybe 2 US channels? Or 2 british channels with one if them using the US EQ,... lots of options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 9, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2005 Bumpity Bump,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIKILOCKEDOUT Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 Sounds great Mike ... I love the independant mids and highs concept, pretty vital stuff there for allot of people in terms of shaping and contouring tone. I must ask by the way, how did you get around the problem with the Neo Fuzz? I remember you saying it was a matter of going through each chip to get a stable sound for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 4Kenoath Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 I'm getting the impression that these enclosures are like $100 ea.Just a thought, but John up here at BJ Amps gets custom steel, powder coated footswitches made for each of his amp models, and I don't think they're too pricey. He's also planning to make some pedal using the same casing maker I believe...may be you can get a better deal/option up here...instead of gay ol' Sydney.Want me to ask him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members threm Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 Originally posted by michael_ibrahim Of course, it's also possible to customise the pedal. Maybe 2 US channels? Or 2 british channels with one if them using the US EQ,... lots of options. Or a british Vox/Marshall and a US Fender Blackface/Tweed.Many people don`t look for high gain channels, rather a wide sweet spot from boost to OD/dist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 4Kenoath Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 ...but Micahel loves hi gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 Hi TIKI,I test each transistor in the Neo for transconductance and leakage current. Next I place each pair of transistors into a test circuit and test the overall gain and operating points to make sure that each pedal will work within to within a certain tolerance.Then I build!Takes some time to do, but worth it for the consistancy and quality.4K, yeah $100 aint too far off the mark! Thanks for the tip. I'd love to find somewhere more reasonable, but I don't want to hassel John. I fully understand that one's list of suppliers is to be guarded like gold,...Threm,... the pedal is going to be called the 'Gainius Maximus' Besides, for lower gain amps like those you mentioned, a lot of the sound is also a function of the power amp. For higher gain, 'preamp heavy' sounds, they're much more feasible to do as a stand-alone preamp. I don't think that a stand-alone preamp could capture the 'class-A chime' of a vox for example,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 volume boost ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Speeddemon Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 a toggle switch to select gain or volume boost! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BR4D Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 Originally posted by herbs Volume and gain boosts would be most helpful to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members threm Posted August 10, 2005 Members Share Posted August 10, 2005 Originally posted by michael_ibrahim Threm,... the pedal is going to be called the 'Gainius Maximus' Besides, for lower gain amps like those you mentioned, a lot of the sound is also a function of the power amp. For higher gain, 'preamp heavy' sounds, they're much more feasible to do as a stand-alone preamp. I don't think that a stand-alone preamp could capture the 'class-A chime' of a vox for example,... Cool, though regarding possible power-amp saturation in a pedal I have a Stephenson Stage Hog on order (backordered 12 weeks)."The Stage Hog is a 1 watt, all-tube guitar amp that doubles as a distortion pedal and a practice amp. When used as a practice amp, the speaker out jack can be plugged into any type of guitar cabinet, even a 4x12. When used as a distortion pedal, the line out jack can be plugged into any guitar amp input. The Stage Hog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 11, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Hi Threm,... I've seen the Stage Hog before,... looks really cool! For power amp saturation, personally I'd rather see real pentodes used,... that's just a personal preference. That's the only way to capture the real thing methinks,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mickaroony Posted August 11, 2005 Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Are you still going to be releasing an analog delay? Oh and with regards to the options, I would rather have more tone shaping at my disposal rather than boosts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kestral Posted August 11, 2005 Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Why Design when you can BUY my Tube Pedal: Guyatone TO-2 Tube Overdrive:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7342071736 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Merkin Posted August 11, 2005 Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Originally posted by Kestral Why Design when you can BUY my Tube Pedal: Guyatone TO-2 Tube Overdrive: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7342071736 Shameless Because if yours was any good... you wouldn't be selling it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 11, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Because you don't ship to Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 4Kenoath Posted August 11, 2005 Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Hey Michael, if you can describe what enclosures you're after, I might be able to see if they're any metal workers up here who could make them. Would it be under metal workers or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted August 11, 2005 Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Originally posted by michael_ibrahim Hi guys, Well, I'm working again on the tube pedal idea. It's been on the shelf for a while. Here's what I've come up with so far: - 2 independant channels, each with gain, low, mid, high, and volume - global presence and resonance. - 4 outputs, 'To Preamp', 'To Poweramp', 'To Headphones' and 'To Mixer' So far there are 2 footswitches, bypass, channel select. I can add another 2 footswitches. The question is, which feature would you consider to be most important: 1) A footswitchable volume boost 2) A footswitchable gain boost 3) A footswitchable series FX loop The one with the least votes is out! My initial thought was 1 and 2, especially for a live situation. You can stick other effects after the pedal anyway, so an FX loop isn't that necessary live. The only advantage of the FX loop is that it would come before the speaker simulator, so you could use your effects DI for late night recording,... but I don't expect this pedal be predominantly a 'recording studio' pedal. That feature is a 'nice to have'. Just my thoughts! Wow, sounds a lot like a whole preamp! In fact the preamp for my amp is less complicated . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michael_ibrahim Posted August 11, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2005 Hey Mistersuperfly,... that's the plan! Get a lot of preamp for your buck,... but then again, cold hard economics may very well get in the way. Who knows,... I've whipped up a rough enclosure out of galvanised steel (only 0.5mm though, so not good for a production pedal). Hopefully I'll get to build the pedal in a few days in the enclosure, which will be a good indicator of how the final thing will perform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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