Thursday 3 January 2013

Morley DDB Diamond Distortion Box

While the circuit offers nothing completely new, i still think this is pretty nice distortion pedal. Should fit in B-box without any worries. It has a bypass buffer in it, so you'll need just a 2PDT stomp switch to get LED indication - If you don't want the LED, then omit the LED resistor from the board and use SPDT stomper.

From the manual:
The Diamond Distortion has three controls: DRIVE, TONE & LEVEL. Understanding these controls will help you to get the sound you are looking for. The DRIVE control determines the amount of distortion by driving up the input signal. See diagrams in the sample settings section of this manual. Keep in mind that your overall sound is a product of your guitar, amp, pickups, effects, cables, strings and of course - playing style. The TONE control allows you to adjust the tone of your sound from a subtle bass frequency to a biting treble sound. Again, refer to the sample setting section of this

manual for hints. The LEVEL control adjusts your overall output level when in distortion mode. Adjust this control to equal the level of the distortion to the bypassed signal OR turn it up past halfway  to get a boost when you engage the distortion.





9 comments:

  1. is there any problem if i use non polarized caps for the 1uF and 2.2uF?

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  2. It doesn't make any sound, but i noticed that i missed the cut under the 2.2k resistor. I also notices that,there must be a cut between the 10n and 100n caps in the upper left corner, and that the 22nf cap parallel to the 82k resistor should be a 2.2n cap accoring to the schematic. I'll make those changes and come back with news about it.

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    1. I'll check it soonish. I'm lost in build world at the moment...
      +m

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    2. You were absolutely correct about 2n2 and that cut that wasn't there. I made those changes to the layout, but didn't see anything else horribly wrong in there...

      I'll have another look at some point.
      +m

      Delete
  3. You can tag it, it sounds good, but its a bit too muddy for my sg, i think this would sound really good with a strat or a tele. :)

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    1. Just received an original. Wasn't exactly cheap, but it is with original box and in near mint condition. Sounds very very good. Not a lot noise for the amount of gain. Sadly the tone and level knobs are more or less useless and need to be maxed, but the gain control is great in all its subtlety.

      I'd definitely recommend building this one.
      +m

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  4. There are a couple of cuts (under D3+ and under the 1K resistor) that aren't on the other cuts and links board, so which ones are correct?

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