Monday 25 June 2012

Fulltone Plimsoul

Now stop moaning! :o)

Info from Fulltone about the original:

For many, many years you've basically had 2 choices for your Overdrive/Distortion pedals: You could either get "Soft-clipped" Bluesy, slightly compressed, (Toob Screemer, FD2, etc.) type Overdrive pedals... or you could get "Hard-Clipped" (OCD, Distortion+, Boss DS-1, etc.) type Distortion pedals.

What if there was a pedal that offered both? There is now... the Patent Pending Fulltone PlimSoul.

PlimSoul has those Softer Bluesey, Compressed capabilities but also has a Second Stage that you can roll in with the turn of a little dial to add that firmer, crunchier, British output tube style Distortion! What's more is you not only hear and feel it... you can SEE the pedal reacting to your every mood via a firey LED that glows brighter and dimmer depending on how distorted it is and how hard you're hitting it.

Touch sensitive? Doesn't get any better.

Clean up with the guitar's volume control? More than any, yes, even more than the OCD.
Speaking of OCD, people ask "What's the comparison?" Easy answer: OCD has an honest flat EQ, won't change your amp's tone. PlimSoul has a gorgeous enhanced Midrange and Lower midrange... excellent to transform a combo into a Marshall-like lead machine, not so necessary if you already have a Marshall-like amp. I use PlimSoul on any combo, I use my OCD on both combos and larger Marshall-style amps/cabinets.

Good with Humbuckers as well as Single coils? Yep.

Does it play nice with other pedals? Yes, it has an Ideal 500K Input Impedance, ideal super low 10K output impedance.

Can I blend the 2 types of Distortion? Yes, and you can have ONLY Soft clipped or ONLY Hard Clipped :)

In a Nutshell? Extremely good Sustain/Feedback qualities, just the right amount of Mids, bottom, Great touch sensitivity, dynamics, and all those in-between shades available when you know how to use your guitar's volume control. I guess I should be flattered, I'm already starting to see pedal builders taking notice and "getting inspired" by the PlimSoul's unique design, which combines independently adjustable soft & hard clipping and successfully emulates the "sag" and other behaviors associated with a tube amp's output section and tube rectifier. With the OCD, I gooped the pcb for 5 years or so to slow them down, but you're now seeing a handful of "OCD inspired" pedals being sold under various names. Now I'm seeing Photoshop renderings popping up from other makers claiming to be developing "emulates output tube distortion" pedals ala Plimsoul. I didn't bother gooping the PlimSoul, but we are well into the Patent process. :)


Not sure exactly how they're hoping to get one seeing as this is basically a Rat and Tubescreamer hybrid (with the two high pass filters at the inverting input of the first opamp - exactly like a Rat) and the pot to control the hard clipping was done by Jack Orman years ago (AMZ saturation control), not to mention dual pot gain control used by Maxon and Klon.  But if they do it will be interesting to see details of the first court case where Fuller tries to defend the technologies he's taken from other very well documented sources.






95 comments:

  1. Any reason for that red outline on left side 1K?
    +m

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Radioactive resistors. Much better than carbon or metal film!






      Really I forgot to deselect it before exporting the image :o)

      Delete
  2. Ha, the info from Fulltone sounds even more stupid/fun when you read your info about why they should not, and I agree with you here, get a patent on this thing! Thanks for the layout though, keep em comin'!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Haha I'd build this just to sell it for a fiver! (about all it's worth) The guy apparently threatened a builder with lawyers to take his parents house and ruin his life.... Slang for female genitalia is how I'd describe him. ;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Along with the fact that the first Fat Boost was an AMZ mini-booster shows that Mike may not be exactly behind the door when it comes to "getting inspired" by other designs. Not to mention that the OCD is a Voodoo Lab Overdrive!

      Delete
    2. Yeah Mr. Fuller threatened me on eBay when he noticed an OCD clone that I was selling. He was very unprofessional about it and was just a big asshole about it. If he'd just been polite and told me to take it off (which eBay did automatically anyways), I would've done it right away. I listed the pedal again but worded it differently and it was fine.

      I don't like Fulltone at all. This pedal does sound good in the video though!

      Delete
    3. Lovepedal is the same way. I was selling a very loose clone of one of theirs through a friend, and he got a scathing email from the guy freaking out.

      Delete
    4. You should have asked him how the sales of the Lovepedal Timmy are going.

      Delete
    5. :D

      Do these people really think they have created something completely new? As the transistor/FET/OpAmp is, there is not many ways to do something really new. It's still only basic, analog electronics and most designs have between 10 and 70 components. It's like writing a song with no parts or chord changes from any other song. You'll just need to use the same chords (transistor/fet/opamp) as the rest of the world. If you do something completely profound with it, it's certainly going to sound like shit. If i went around telling people that they can't use A|C|F|G for their choruses, because that's mine, i would find myself in a loony bin.

      If they think they are just doing business, they should just register and protect their brands, rather than trying to control designs that someone else has created already, let's say for the sake of argument, 50 years ago...

      I've been studying electronics quite hard once i started to build circuits, and really. There is no way anyone is going to come up with something completely new anytime soon. All there is left to do is tweak, combine, simplify or make current designs more complex - add something to them. Sometimes that may pay off. But not often. Altogether, i've spent something like 25 hours with the breadboard. That's after all the calculating and drawing. And even though something may look good on paper, it usually doesn't sound good. Why i haven't come up with anything profound and awesome? There are two possible reasons. First, i may be incompetent, and sencond, it may be next to impossible.

      If _insertyourboohteekmanufacturernamehere_ takes TS-9 and The Rat, and modifies them, it's still just a modified tube screamer and a rat. If you steal something, you really can't go around telling people that they shouldn't "steal" from you. There is a word for that - hypocrisy.

      I think i'm not going to build this or any other Fulltone design. Not because that "would make me a thief", but because they are boring, modded clones of good, honest designs. You want OCD? Build Voodoo Labs OD. You want Plimsoul? Put TS9 and a Rat in a same BB box...

      Argh. Too many things on my mind right now (and too little blood in my coffee), so sorry about the rant.. :)
      +m

      Delete
    6. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. See that's where it gets tricky with this stuff. I mean generally I'll only build for myself just to satisfy my own tone desires but occasionally I'll have some guys come up to me at a gig and ask me what I use and they obviously notice they're clones so they ask me to build them one. What I do is send them links to a bunch of videos of different overdrives or whatever effect they were interested in and ask them which sound they like the most and tell them I'll build something that will sound like that and just give it it's own serial number for my reference in case they run into someone that likes it and wants one. As always I charge for the service, not the product. In that way I can't really get into any trouble. Best way is to just keep the names out of it. But honestly, how many people do what we do. If someone was purposely making clones of a pedal and producing them as such I can see someone being upset, but I don't see the harm in making one for yourself, maybe not fallin in love with it, and looking to sell it to fund your next project. All fulltone is doing is putting a bad taste in people's mouths about the company which often will be more than enough reason for me to not be interested in their products. I would think they would be flattered people like mark and us put the time in to actually make one of their products from scratch.

    Alright that's enough ranting for one day. :) if I didn't already love my model h as my main drive pedal I'd probably build this, but I know if I did I'd probably just sell it and then get sued or something :P

    ReplyDelete
  6. THANKS A TON MARK!
    You know i've been waiting on this one, just been going through the layout and realised i didnt have all the parts at home but already ordered what i've missed so im making this during the weekend! Can't wait!
    Regarding sales of "clones" yeah, sold a few as well to friends but never had any problems with it. i tell them i want money for my time and the actual value of the parts. Couse really, time is money, i've come to realise that during the last couple of years. Working 8-5 is a real pain for your hobbys :p

    Btw, i just finished the Timmy layout, dunno if i've done something wrong with it, it just clips very hard, also two of the pots are reveresed, i should have read the comments first i guess :p
    I stacked it with the OCD layout, really gives the OCD more tone and growl. But alone it sounds almost like a fuzz kinda distortion, as i said, it clips quite hard. I should try the clipping addon i guess :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something must be wrong with the Timmy build if it's clipping in a harsh way, it definitely shouldn't sound like a fuzzy distortion. And the Bass and Treble pots are supposed to be backwards. They both cut as you turn clockwise, with the idea being that when you turn the gain up, you turn the bass and treble controls to a similar sort of position to compensate for the additional gain by tighten up the bass and cutting some top end.

      Delete
    2. using a clear led shouldnt impact the sound right? I mean the load LED. Other then that i dont see whats wrong with it. I had to use a 33nf + 4.7nf instead of the 39nf cap and i measured them to be 39.1nf, can it be that?

      Delete
    3. No the LED type or colour won't matter and 39.1n would be almost perfect so no problem with that. Measure the voltages of the IC pins and check your soldering and particularly for unwanted bridges. The layout is definitely good so it's either a build or component problem.

      Delete
  7. I have just been reading this thread with interest. I am a law student of the mature variety. I have only touched on intellectual property law, yet i am sure that you can't copy right a electronic circuit. 2 reasons spring to mind....You are (the inventor) inventing nothing....you are just arranging pre designed products...then.... all copy rights have to be tangible.... The end product is intangible, its sound.

    I could be wrong as I say its not one of my chosen subjects.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd be amazed if he got a patent for this, for the reasons you and others have mentioned. This isn't anything new, it's a number of standard and well used blocks put together in a pedal. If he did get a patent he could potentially sue someone cloning a Rat beacause of the circuit similarities to his "protected circuit". And I bet BJF would be a bit gutted if they couldn't use feedback loop and diode shunt clipping in the same pedal any more, like they have been doing for years before the Plimsoul was even thought about.

      Out of interest I did a search of USPTO for patents and applications relating to this and could find nothing whatsoever under the product name, description, manufacturer or owners name. The only thing I could find was 3 active trademarks which are related to company and product names. So I think this is likely to be hot air and will treat it as such until I see the patent.

      Delete
  8. ""Out of interest I did a search of USPTO for patents and applications relating to this and could find nothing whatsoever under the product name, description, manufacturer or owners name""

    Declaring a patent when not even an application has been made is very naughty under UK law.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would be so funny to see that "There is now... the Patent Pending Fulltone PlimSoul." disappear from the description :)
      +m

      Delete
  9. I think when I have my SHO sorted I will try to build a plimsoul just to make me feel naughty... HAHAHAHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  10. Im a bit worried about me buying the wrong stuff for this build.
    The dual pot, is that supposed to be a dual as in stereo pot or a dual concentric pot which if i am right is the same as stacked pots in push/pull pots? And if its a stereo pot is the upper part A and lower B or vice versa?
    Also the LED's on the board, is any of them the "loading" LED that shows the attack or whatever you call it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so i've built this tonight with the "stereo" dual pot and it works like a charm right off!
      "loading" led is ofc the ones on the board, fogive my stupidity.
      one question tho, would it matter for the sound if normal diffuse leds are used or can i use red clear ones as well?
      thanks for this awesome layout! you're my hero mark <3

      Delete
    2. Sorry I missed your original post, but looks like you didn't need my help anyway, thanks for verifying!

      You could use any LED in there, diffuse, clear, superbrite, whatever. The way it clips the signal is mostly, or perhaps entirely related to the forward voltage of the LEDs. In things like this I'd always recommend socketing the position and trying a few to see which you like best because you will find that you get more distortion and compression out of red LEDs with a lower forward voltage, than you would out of green or blue with a higher forward voltage. What sounds best then is a matter of personal preference.

      Delete
    3. im still learning you know, still need to learn HOW a pedal works really, clipping etc. i have no idea what the leds does for the sound apart from that it is cool when it lights to the attack haha.
      will put sockets in there instead to try out a few. i'll post a picture of the thing boxed tomorrow, already made a designed and drilled the box. gonna try stacking it with the OCD and see how that works. anyway, it's verified :)

      Delete
    4. This looks quite useful for the basics. It's related to amps here but the theory remains the same.

      http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Diode-Clipping-Distortion-to-your-Guitar-Amp/?ALLSTEPS

      You just need to remember that the LED is just a diode at the end of the day, so where LEDs are used here, you could equally use silicon diodes like the 1N4148 or 1N4001, or germanium diodes like the 1N34A, and you will get a different affect on the signal out of all of them. Some clip more causing more distortion and compression, some less. Probably the best bet is to get a selection and mess around with a socketed circuit. There's no better way to find out what a diode type does to an effect than to hear it and the alternatives with your own ears.

      Delete
  11. things getting clearer! i really need to read up on how a pedal really works and what effect all the parts has in it. 6 months ago i didnt know more then basic electrics, when i started building ive learned alot more about what components there is out there. im posting some pics and maybe a vid of this tomorrow, on the board as well, had to use caps in paralell for the 20nf values but turned out good, measured them to nearly exact 20nf, like 20.1.
    you won't be dissapointed by the boxing and design ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. done a few of these now and they do work really great, one issue tho is that every biuld iv'e done squeels if you turn the sustain more then 12 a'clock.
    maybe it's supposed to, idk really. at the end of the day there's not much useful after 12 anyway, just more noise. think im gonna play with pot values for that one. any other who's having the same issue?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Rudeez, might be worth reading the bottom of the purple plexi thread about squeels and running a resistor in series to the offending pot to limit the amount going into it. Check the bottom of the thread, you may be able to do something similar with the plimsoul maybe

    http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/lovepedal-purple-plexi-800.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. So, after alot of testing tonight to see where the squeels was coming from on my two builds of this i finally have a conclusion. Both of them started to squeel with the sustain set about 12 a clock. Tried swapping the 33pf and 220nf. Squeel was gone when using a 33nf but it gets more bassy and kinda muddy, went on with 3.3nf and alot clearer and no squeel, problem was that the sustain knob had it's sweet spot only from like 7-9 a clock. Tried a 50k lin pot and it got better but not enough. Tried a 10k lin and bang there we have it, good response all the way. So i tried swapping the 33pf back to it's original value of 33pf and bang, no squeel with the 10k lin pot and still you have plenty of overdrive to play with but a better sweep of it. Although i noticed it's supposed to be log pots so i tried a 20k log and yeah the curve is better but 20k is to big, i think the original should be a 10K LOG pot for sustain and that's the issue. The sweep is really good with 10K so, a linear will do but the sweep is smoother with a LOG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So conclusion is: sustain should be replaced by 10K LOG couse when using a 100k the sound wont change anything from about 11 a clock, if it changes it just adds more mudd.

      Delete
  15. Hi everybody!
    At first, thanks a loto for this layout!
    Thank you Mark!

    I've seen that there are no information about the installing of the second LED...the "Stage 2" LED...

    Is there anybody that can help me?

    Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's one of the clipping diodes on the board. If you want to have it as an externally visible LED like the original, just omit one of the red LEDs from the board and instead mount it on the front of the pedal, then take wires from the connections it should have made to the board and solder those wires to the LED.

      Delete
    2. I built this pedal and it seems to be working well and sounds great. The issue i am having is that the LED's on the board being used as diodes are not lighting up. I am using white 5mm LED's. Any ideas?

      Delete
    3. I'm havibg the same issue with red diffused 3mm LED's. They should light up, right? If I'm right they are controlled by the stage 2 potmeter? (I'm using a stereo pot, guess that's the same as dual...?)

      Except from that, it sounds like the plimsoul, last time I tried it... A LOT of gain!!

      Delete
    4. I used a 47nf as input cap, but think I'll replace it with a smaller value... It's kind of bassy. Will a 20nf (as in the layout) make a difference?

      Delete
    5. I am having the same problem with stage two the dual pot seems to do almost nothing. The sustain and hi cut Lund great but no stage 2. Maybe this is someone telling me to get away from the bench and start practicing.

      Delete
    6. Not sure how spellcheck got Lund it is work.

      Delete
    7. Double checked this schematic http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/2012/03/fulltone-plimsoul.html. And it looks consistent.

      Delete
    8. The layout is definitely right mate, unfortunately you're going to have to go through all the usual debugging. Are you sure the pot is ok? At least if that's the thing that isn't working properly, you have a good idea where to start looking.

      Delete
    9. Not having good luck lately. Thanks Mark! Guess I will give it a fresh look tm.

      Delete
    10. Take a couple of high res pics front and back, and something could be spotted with more than one pair of eyes looking it over. We all have problems with these things sometimes, and 99% of the time it's something really simple

      Delete
    11. Thanks. If I cannot find anything obvious I will take some pics. Thanks for trying to make me feel better too, I do not think I will ever reach the level you and Miro have reached. If you guys are ever over in the US shoot me a message. I owe you a nice dinner and drinks. I like steak, the wife prefers seafood but you can get just about anything in CT.

      Delete
    12. [Best Homer voice] mmmmm steak :o)

      Delete
    13. Ok... I obviously needed rest. Missed the 22uf cap. All is well. (Best homer voice). Doh!

      Delete
  16. Built this up and everything appears to be in order but the volume is significantly reduced. The stage 2 knob appears to work in reverse as well. I'm using a 9mm dual pot like this one - http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=1276 - is the top row of pins considered A and the row beneath B? That's how I wired it and not sure if it's right or if that might be the cause of my volume drop.
    Checked component placement and checked for solder bridges and everything looks okay. Going to double check.

    ReplyDelete
  17. HI,

    Are D4 and D5 the external LED's? Or are they both for 'stage 2'? As on the original, one is for 'on/off' one is reactive..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. D4 and D5 are the clipping diodes, one of which you can mount on your enclosure as the stage 2 indicator - they both light up when stage 2 is engaged. I socketed both and soldered leads onto my D5 LED and have it mounted below my main ON/OFF indicator LED. Hope that helps.

      Delete
  18. I don't have any 20n caps on hand. Will a 22n work in place of the two different 20n's? If so, how would it change the sound? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've built and emits many beeps.
    To remove them, reduced the value of the potentiometer to sustain a 10 K.
    It also reduced the value of the potentiometer 10 K tone that did not sound so hard at high frequencies.
    Did anyone have the same problems?.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Just finished building this one and wow, she's a keeper! It may have a shady patient and the company may not be popular but damn this sounds great. Joy joy. Thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete
  21. One question, reducing the input cap to 10n or 15n will also reduce the bass?I used a 22n and I think that is the reason I always have the tone full. Does anyone knows?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I will answer it. I've used 22n for the two 20n in the first place, so now I replaced them (and I also recommend these) with 15n in parallel with 3.9n. In my opinion if anyone does not have 20n, don't use 22n
      Cheers

      Delete
  22. Anyone know what the actual opamp in the original is?

    Does it matter between 3mm and 5mm LED's? - i've built it with 3mm (red) ones and they glow really bright when the stage2 is turned up - is that normal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently the Op-Amps had the marking sanded off so your guess is as good as mine, whatever sounds best to you is the right one in my book. With diodes is usually the forward voltage that determines the style of clipping and seeing as 3mm and 5mm red LEDs are in roughly the same ballpark (1.8-2.2v) there shouldn't be a huge difference. Not sure about the LEDs lighting up, I've never built one of these.

      Delete
    2. the LED lights up for me as well. I used 5mm defused leds

      Delete
  23. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Second message deleted due to spam content too. Mr. Hren seems to have his google account in use by someone else. +m

      Delete
  24. Built it and trying to debug... It keeps on squealing. Reduced sustain pot to 10k as Rudeez suggested, no go. The squeal passes through even when effect disengaged (at vol-sust past 12 o'clock). When the effect is engaged it squeals so loud if there's no input cable, but when the guitar is connected it sounds great and no squeal at all.... I've tryed swapping Q1 to a 2n7000 and the IC to NE5532, nothing changed. It works flawlessy only if guitar is connected and the effect engaged, when bypassed starts to whistle.... it seems the only way I can kill the squeal is putting a 22nF cap in place of 33pF but it gets way too dark.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I've been looking over this site for about a week now. I couldn't help but join in. I use to own this bad boy. I wish I would have never gotten rid of it. I guess its time to build. Btw, this site is the best thing on earth.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I'm assuming that the pots are grounded by the wires coming straight from the board. What is the purpose of the two ground ends? Are they connected together from the start of the chain, or does one circle back to the other?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both of those points will need to connect directly or indirectly to your DC ground connection. I'm just going to wire the top left ground to and open hole on the bottom strip (which is also ground with no cuts) so I only have 1 ground coming off the board.

      Delete
  27. Hi,

    I'be build the pedal and so far It sounds amazing, but recently I started to have a problem with It. Sometimes there is a huge volume drop, out of nowhere. When I turn the volume completely off, I hear a strange popping sound and when I turn the knob clockwise again, the volume comes back to It's Original state. Any solutions to This?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great pedal. I just wonder why the controls react differently compared to the original. On the original it seems you can set sustain to zero and dial in stage 2 distortion only. Does not work on mine. I can only add it to stage 1 distortion. Is that a bug or is it the way this circuit works?

    ReplyDelete
  29. I don't have a 100K dualgang pot,can I use 2x 100k singles?or can I use a 500k dual?I have a truck load of 100K singles.I'm new at this, hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you could use 2 x 100K single pots. That may actually end up better because controlling both sides independently will give you a broader range of gain, allowing you to dime the TS type feedback loop gain and the shunt diode clipping simultaneously. You'll probably also want to swap the Stage 2 B1 & 2 with the Stage 2 B3 wires so that the higher gain settings are in the conventional clockwise position. And remember that you'll only get authentic Plimsoul sounds when both the pots are in the same position.

      You could also use the 500K pot but you'll get a lot more gain from the feedback loop gain setting and so it would be a bit further removed from the Plimsoul.

      Delete
  30. Sorry to ask a stupid question, but LEDs D4 and D5 seem to have lighter dots on them (bottom on D4, top on D5). Are these denoting positive or negative?

    I've had problems with other builds, namely that my indicator LEDs don't turn on when the pedal is engaged. I'm guessing it's because I've installed them backwards, and burned them out. LEDs are apparently a mystery to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. correct. the LEDs are acting as clipping diodes, all you need to do is make sure that they are running anti-parallel and you're good to go. so just have one with the positive facing the top of the board, and the other with the positive facing the bottom of the board.

      Delete
    2. Cool, thanks johns. Does it matter which LED faces which way? Are the dots on the layout (guess I didn't make it clear to what I was referring) indicating the (-) end, much like the stripe on a diode indicates the (-) end?

      Delete
    3. Correct the little white lines represent the negative end of the LED, if you look at them closely you would see that they're little negative signs. To be honest since they're clipping diodes, it really shouldn't matter as long as one has the negative end towards the top of the board and one towards the end bottom of the board. What you could do if you're worried is to take and put sockets in and you can try them in different directions.

      Delete
    4. Thanks johns! I guess they are negative signs, seems pretty obvious now. Really excited to build this one, and I love the community here. Thanks again, johns!

      Delete
  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Here's the patent that was pending: http://www.google.com/patents/US8471136

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I was having a laugh about that with Miro a while ago. Absolutely ridiculous patent which will no doubt be overruled the first time Fuller tries to apply it. Like he invented anything in there! Haha

      Delete
  33. So, how do you guys do this then? Let's say you make some pedals and adviously your not going to keep them all. Or maybe you do, but I know that I don't want or need 50 pedals. Do you sell them to pay for other pedals? Or, maybe make a run of two,or three and keep one and sell the others. This is definetely trippy. I mean I'm no expert but like has been said above it seems to
    me after reviewing schematics and layouts for a little time there starts to be a pattern of things going on here with all of these pedal designs. Well anyways, I guess everyone has there journey with things but that paragraph was definetely a bummer to read. Don't we all got to kind build these clones to start to understand what is going on. So, I guess the real q's I have for everyone is are you selling pedals? Anyways, this is a great site and want to thnk everyone who is contributing. Maybe one day I will be able to give back...thnx!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really build for other people, I've done it less than 10 times in total and will always avoid it if possible because I don't like working to a timetable, it takes the fun out of it for me. But I have sold other pedals I've built for myself and got bored of or decided I don't want.

      This pedal is about as new and original as a pyramid in Vegas and I'd have no problem building it for someone who wanted one. Same for any Fulltone pedals because I really don't like the man at all, he's someone who has built a business on selling clones and then has the gall to viciously criticise anyone else who does it.

      I'd have no problems building a Fulltone anything for anyone. A lot of builders deserve some considerations, but Fulltone and companies like Vemuram are open season as far as I'm concerned.

      Delete
  34. I just took a gander at my girlfriend's Plimsoul and it appears to have a charge pump that bumps voltage up to 18v. Would this be a worthwhile addition? How does it run at 9v? Hers sounds amazing and has oodles of headroom, but she also has an power conditioned, power bricked, super clean Fender tube setup that makes everything sound pristine/precise.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hey Im done doing 2 of these. They sound amazing except for when I raise the sustain after 2 - 3 a clock there is a unwanted odd oscillation coming up, I can filter some of it out using the Hi-Cut pot when I turn it to Cut.. CCW.
    Would anyone of you can suggest me a better modding or some tips to get rid of this oscillation? It defiantly doesn't sound like its a normal feedback from amp, but a sharp high tone beep.
    thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Is there anyone that might be able to help me understand a few things. I usually etch boards and have built a few off veto but i was testing this before boxing and am getting such a faint noise from it that i barely hear when I strum loudly. Everything on the layout matches but I'm trying to understand if I NEED to connect a ground to both ground strips and if I can just connect the the wires for multiple holes together on the pots. Like connecting pin 2 and 3 on hi cut with one wire to pin 1 of volume. Sorry for the noob questions just trying to understand things I normally don't see. Thanks in advace

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hey man. yes, both grounds on the layout need to be connected to ground since they are not connected on the board. most layouts have only a single ground connected, but there are a few, like this one that has 2. you are correct in thinking that you can use 1 wired to connect 2 lugs of a pot together when on the layout it shows one wire with 2 pot lugs. if you see on a layout that 2 different pot lugs are connected by one wire on the board, just run one wire to one of the pots, then run a second wire from that pots lug to the other.

      no worries asking questions, we're here to help and asking questions is how we learn.

      Delete
    2. Thanks so much Zach! I guess there's more debugging for me to do then, damn. It could also be my effects tester too, I guess. I swore I did the layout 100% and kept the soldering pretty neat and skimmed over for accidental stray jumps. I was hoping maybe I just screwed up the lug soldering or whatever. Damn. But again thanks so much!

      Delete
    3. no worries man, glad to help. vero takes a but of getting use to at first, but once you get the hang of it you'll be doing it with your eyes closed.

      the funny thing is don't be afraid of debugging. its going to help you learn more about how these types of circuits work and what to look for to ensure they work on first fire up.

      Delete
    4. did any one you noticed the comment of Mamabonassau concerning the original plimsoul that has a 18 voltage pump ? ...
      if that is true, this whole builds done so far by all of us might have just been failures from the start :)
      I got mine working.. with the annoying oscillation.. still not throwing this in the trash - any ideas ?!

      Delete
  37. Hi guys. Thank you for that layout - great work!
    I've just finished one with problems (of course), but all working great now. I used 50K Log pot for sustain, it works much better for me and 2N2222, because I have those (reversed pinout). Question: (somebody asked before, but was not answered) the second stage should work on its own with sustain all way down. It doesn't. Is there a simple way to "fix" it?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Quick fix for those experiencing squealing/oscillations... Replace the 150 ohm resistor with 1K and the 2.2uF capacitor with 330nF.

    The second stage is very subtle with Sustain all the way down, even in the stock pedal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He! Thank you for the tip! I'm having the oscillations problem and I'm going to try that.

      By the way, my Level and Hi-Cut pots won't work... any idea why?

      Delete
  39. Successfully made one but it seems its volume is quite low
    Any insight about it?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hey I have a question about this project! I've put the board together but when I plug in my power supply the volume knob burned out.. What does anybody think I might have done wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've probably missed a cut - I had the same thing with a Bassball. I missed a cut and sent 9v straight to the pot.

      Delete
  41. The circuit works but it is making allowed hum all the connections look good and it seems to ramp up when you connect the power any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  42. The oscillation fix worked

    ReplyDelete
  43. Where can i lower (scoop) the mids a little ?

    ReplyDelete