The Sucker Punch is a high gain, thick, meaty true distortion pedal. The pedal utilizes it's own preamp and "power amps" in order to achieve distortion. This allows the pedal to achieve distortion reminiscent of the crunch of a vintage Marshall Lead with power tubes on their warm, glowing death bed. The pedal is not limited, however, to just high gain crunch tones. Players will find a wide range of gain settings on tap, from light/medium amp-like breakup all the way to full on distortion.
Verfified :o)
ReplyDeleteGreat pedal!.. Very similar to the Purple plexi or should that be the other way around??. IThis is better though (IMO). A bigger/looser lower end feels more natural and warm, great for saggy blues licks. The tone is great too, from muffled to full on shrap.. Definitely choose this over the Purple plexi.
Damn you! I was planning on doing this today!
Delete:D
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Haha...;o) You still should, Nice little distortion box.
Delete..And i probably will. I liked ghetto stomp a lot, so all Mr. Greer designs are most definitely on my build list.
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Finally finished the board. Really good circuit. Greer is the king!
ReplyDeleteIt's not unlike the Red Llama, but the JFET gives this a lot of character. Plus the trimmer for J201 is perfet :)
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There's a c missing from one word above :)
ReplyDeletehttp://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/SuckerPunch.jpg
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Are you able to shed any insight on what the trim pot is for? Is it something that could damage the transistor if used incorrectly?
ReplyDeletethe trimmer is for adjusting the drain voltage to the j201, a good rule of thumb is to set it so D reads 4.5 volts then fine tune it to your own taste. Incorrect settings wont do any damage but set too high or low and it will sound crap or wont work at all.
DeleteIt's very unlikely that you can kill a JFET with 9V no matter what you do with the trimmer.
DeleteAnyway. The trimpot is for biasing the JFET. You'll hear it when it's off.
Check the pinout and if the J201 is good.
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Blogspot didn't show your comment dexxyy.. Or we could be in different time zones, and that's why...
Delete:)
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Just wanted to add here - I had built this with an LM386-1 and had an ugly note fade issue. Biasing and JFet replacements didn't really help. Read on another pedal comment section about the same issue and to try an LM386-3. I just got a -3 in and put it in the pedal and the note fade issue is gone. Just fwiw.
ReplyDeletein my build of this pedal, on bass, both the LM386N-1 and LM386N-3 have about the same amount of the ugly fade issue. maybe a tiny bit less on the N-3. and on guitar, neither one has it. i thought that it sounded a bit too 'fizzy' overall, so instead of the 22p cap on the chip, i went with a 100p and all is well now. it still has plenty of top end, but the fizz is basically gone.
ReplyDeleteCheers for the info John
DeleteMan, this happens every time. I get a pedal done but then it's too late to fire it up. I need to start earlier, I think. I'm looking forward to hearing this one tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThis circuit sounds great! Its got a TON of low end... a bit too much for me. Which cap/parts should I experiment with to reduce bass?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
you can reduce the value of the 100n cap. if you socket it, you can try a 47n, a 22n, or even a 10n until it gets it where you want it.
ReplyDeleteGreat sound and awesome tone but... I too am having a lot of that ugly note decay. Boosted the 22p to a 47p and it is still present. I am about to order some -3 chips cuz I can here great potential here. Just wish it decayed a little more like the plexidrive.
ReplyDeleteIME, all 386 based pedals have that note decay issue to some extent, but i've found the LM386N-4 to have the least amount of it.
DeleteAny alternates to the 386 that will rid it of the decay issue without changing character?
DeleteJust ordered some -4s that is the end of the rope for this one
DeleteHi to everyone and thanks for the absolutely fabulous blog!
ReplyDeleteFirst time pedal builder here with a question.
I just put this board together, butg cannot get it to sound anything like it is supposed to.
Trying to bias the fet goes from no sound to extremely fuzzy tone with a really short and farty decay that reminds me of commodore 64's SID's
Fet is J201 and IC JRC386BD. Any ideas how could I make this board sound right?
Some folks above have reported that some makes of **386 can be a bit wonky. I built mine with LM386L and didn't have any problems with that. To me it sounds like your build is fine, as the JFET works correctly. Sad thing, but i have to suggest you get either LM386-4 or LM386L. Those seem to be the right chips for this.
DeleteJFET (J201) handles the drive characteristic, so biasing that correctly is important, but that should not contribute to any gating issues - even if biased wrong.
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Working my way through my to do list, so built this last night. Played about with it this morning and i`m finding the tone control is acting as a second volume control. Triple checked pot wiring and all is as per layout. So basically the tone control is taking the output from volume 2 to tone 3, tone 2 becomes the output and tone 1 is basically connecting to ground via a 10n cap?
ReplyDeleteYes mate, like this:
Deletehttp://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j6/IvIark_2006/Layouts/Schematics/NickGreerSuckerPunch.png
the tone pot is wired like most passive tone pots so something else is wrong. the tone control just rolls off the highs, and doesn't change the volume.
ReplyDeleteCan I sobstitute the j201 with 2N5458G?
ReplyDeleteI think so.
DeleteYes! It works and it sound very nice, I only have a problem with the tone that doesn't work
DeleteI dont know why, is the second time that I buil sucker punch, the first sounds very good, the second one I have only a low crap sound. I chenge j201 and lm386 3 times, I change all the condenser and the 100k trim but sound dont change. Someone can help me?
ReplyDeleteSolved, I miss the link under pin 4. I have a problem with the tone, it work like a kind a second vol + tone, I see that dexxyy had the same problem
ReplyDeleteEvery time I try this circuit I have surprises! Now I ceck everything twice but now when I switch it on I have only a dark distorted oscillation, what could be the cause?
ReplyDeletecould be a bad pot?
ReplyDeleteIm going mad! It seem that there is a polarity inversion but I check and rebuild the circuit and the problem is still there
ReplyDeleteI built one of these and love it. It is THE marshall pedal for people who dont like Marshalls. What i mean is, it has that nice saturated marshally sound but it isnt swamped in mids like most other marshall emulators. Very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the layout
Dave
I finally got mine mounted in its enclosure. I love this one, especially after modding mine for use with a bass.
ReplyDeletepic:
http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/Greer/SP-01.jpg
internals:
http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/Greer/SP-02.jpg
Nice build. Just a question, how do you put/lay/fasten the vero on the pot(s) ?
DeleteThank again for your great jobs.
Most people use double sided tape. If you plan ahead, sometimes you can make the vero larger, drill a hole in one of the sides, and mount it with a 'stand-off'.
DeleteNice job, this really is a stunning effect, it's the only distortion I'll use from now on. This is THE dinosaur jr sound on songs like pieces. The string separation is so nice, it just never sounds muddy.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Dave
Very nice Marshall sound
ReplyDeleteTried it with a 2n5457 & is quieter than the J201 but the201 seems to sound slightly better
I also agree with Vince that it sounds better than the purple plexi
Thanks again guys!
PS; I presume it will run at 18 V might box it up with the fatpants instead of the DSL, would be a little less tight in the enclosure
I gave this one a go unfortunately mine has parasitic noise at idle. I forgot to jumper ic pin 4 to ground so I added a jumper accross the tracks. Not sure if this has anything to do with my noise issue or if some component is just faulty.
ReplyDeleteAny problem with using 47uf caps in place of the 22uf caps?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I only have 386-1 ic's, anybody successfully build one with a 386-1?
I'll box it and test it tomorrow
!
Ok, same parasitic oscillation at idle as TG. Looks like I have to order an LM386N-4 ?
ReplyDeleteAlso, am I ok with 47uf caps?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteguys, looking for advice.
ReplyDeleteim new to this but what i done is grounded one jack with a cable and thus grounded the other jack via the metal case. i wire all the pots that needs a ground to a jack.
in bypass mode the guitar works, when i push the switch the led come on but initially no sound, with playing about the most i can get out of it is a quieter clean sound that can manipulated slight by using the pedal volume pot.
all connections seem ok, any ideas?
Hi, I have two schems of this pedal, first with 47uf caps, second without that caps, help? :) Other problem was A1W9 caps (100nF) what kind of caps is it? Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe 47u cap is just a power supply filter cap. It should work fine without it but has more potential to be noisy. For the 100n I'd use polyester caps. Box caps, greenies, Panasonics, it's entirely up to you, they'll all work fine.
DeleteThanks, man! I will try WiMA box caps.
DeleteWOW! I am baffled at this one. My first build was awesome out of the box and now I can't get anything but a clicking noise from the second build.
ReplyDeleteI've been over everything twice and tried 6 different 386-L chips.
I assume the "shared" link is the same as a "double link"?
Right, I'm about 1 step away from hanging up my soldering iron. This is the second build I have attempted recently with a correctly cut and linked board and ALL the right components in the right places only to get NOTHING from it. When the jacks are sharing a ground with the battery and circuit the whole thing goes dead. I get a clean signal through the circuit at low volume even if it is powered or not. I have correctly populated and wired everything. I have checked the tracks and they are all clear with no shorts...this is madness. I have switched chips and transistors and quadruple checked that I have the correct components in the right places. WT bloody F?! I'm going insane!
ReplyDeleteAlso, why does one of the legs of the trimmer go to a totally isolated section of track? Is that correct?
ReplyDeleteTom
DeleteWith one of the legs isolated, the trimmer acts a variable resistor, which is then adjusted to bias the drain on the J201. So it is correct.
Hi Tom.
DeleteTry uploading some hi res pics of the board front, back, switch and general off board wiring to a photo sharing site. Maybe something simple is being overlooked. Happens to us all and a fresh pair of eyes can do wonders.