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Saturday 10 March 2012

Dr Boogie

ElectricTabs emulation of a Mesa Boogie Dual Recitifer Solo Head.  I haven't even attempted to keep this one down in size (width) because with 6 pots no one is going to be putting this in anything smaller than a 1590BB, so you should have plenty of room in there with this being a relatively shallow layout (in height):




And V2 of the layout based on gaussmarkov's improvements:





Video of Geiri's build:



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91 comments:

  1. Milkit10 March 2012 at 22:47

    I couldn't access this a couple of hours ago mate, has there been a few tweaks?

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    1. IvIark10 March 2012 at 23:31

      Hi mate. I noticed I had a resistor near the input in the wrong position so made the post draft while I checked through it. Should be good now, it was just the 1M resistor near the input that I altered, no link or cut changes or anything.

      Delete
  2. Vasil24 April 2012 at 20:58

    What kind of caps are the 1u? In general do you recommend building with metal, mylar or plastic box caps for the Xn values? I've built about 5 pedals from your layouts with plastic box caps and they all sound like the originals as far as I can tell. Even put ceramics in some places and they work fine.

    Now if only I could get my hands on a bunch of j201s sooner.

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    1. IvIark24 April 2012 at 21:22

      I've got some 1u tantalum axial caps that are exactly that size, so I'd use them here because the layout is more suited to axial caps. I have a good stash of box caps which I do use and I also use Panasonic ECQ-B polyester film. These are all good quality, easily available and cheap enough and so I'd recommend using them for those reasons alone. I'd always prefer to use a film cap than an electrolytic in any situation, even if someone can't hear any audible differences I'd still prefer to use film because they will be working for a very long time, whereas electrolytics have a much shorter life expectancy.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous26 June 2012 at 10:34

    This is verified to an extent but I just can't get it to sound right. I've been tweaking the Jfets for ages and I just can't find a sweet spot.. just when you think you have it, you increase the gain and noise enters. So it seems you have to constantly keep tweaking them to compensate. Shame really as this had the potential for being brilliant :(

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    1. Anonymous26 June 2012 at 11:30

      Right ok think I have it now ;o) with the help of this video it seem to be pretty close to the demo... very nice fat distortion.


      Biasing the Jfets;
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-UUDoSCPg

      Delete
    2. IvIark26 June 2012 at 12:03

      Nice one mate. I think I'll do a post about biasing at some point and include that vid.

      Delete
    3. mirosol26 June 2012 at 13:01

      "FAQs and Guides" page next to the "Requests and Suggestions" :)
      +m

      Delete
    4. Anonymous26 June 2012 at 13:35

      I think I had 'trouble' with because there are so many demos that seem to sound different and with a little tweak with the Fets you can get a wide range of sound so It's difficult to find the 'correct' bias but then I suppose it's all down to ear anyway.

      But it does mimic a Dual rectifier pretty well!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous27 June 2012 at 14:41

    My 'Dr Boogie'..... or 'Surgical Rectifier' ;o)

    http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6062/dsc00303yt.jpg

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    1. IvIark27 June 2012 at 15:31

      Awesome. How do you like it then after playing it for a while?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous27 June 2012 at 15:44

      I like it, It sounds a lot bigger than all the distortions I've tried.. on lower gain settings it stay quite tight but as the gain is increased it gets very mushy but I quite like that. A huge wall of thick distortion. the middle and treble help it stop getting too mushy. I tried a Boss ds-1 in front of it and that tightened it right up for razor sharp riffing.. I suppose is like an amp in a box. I've never played a real dual rectifier but this pedal sounds like all the 'simulation' settings on POD's a etc so it' must be doing something right.

      I really don't see the need for any switches on this one!!
      Or maybe a stompable 'tight' boost?? hmmmm ;o)

      Delete
  5. Unknown14 August 2012 at 02:39

    Is it possible to sub 2n7000's for the j201's? j201's are hard to find here in aus...

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    1. IvIark14 August 2012 at 02:48

      2N7000 is a mosfet, J201 is a JFET. Have a look at dpi4parts on eBay, he sells J201s at very good prices and they're all authentic Fairchilds

      Delete
  6. JaviCAP9 October 2012 at 18:38

    Hi,

    Have built this pedal. All fine, no problems, it worked at first try. Biased from q1 to q4 with no problem at 4,5v, but q5 is impsible to bias, it's always at 7,45v.

    The effect works heavenly with this bias, but not sure if the q4 trimmer should bias the q5 too.

    Hope to hear from any of you :P

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    1. IvIark9 October 2012 at 19:03

      Q5's drain is sat directly on the supply row so that doesn't need biasing. 7.45V seems low though, are you using an old battery?

      Delete
    2. JaviCAP9 October 2012 at 21:21

      Yes, it was an old battery. Well, tomorrow or on Friday, when I have the box ready, i'll do a final bias with the Spot 1 switched to get the voltage I'll use nearly always.

      Best regards and thank you once more!

      Delete
  7. JaviCAP11 October 2012 at 01:26

    Hi again,

    Finally here you have another one for your collection:

    http://guitarrasimportacion.foroactivo.com/t502-capinc-effects-11-beast-inside-dr-boogie-emulador-mesa-boogie-dual-rectifier-solo-head#7021

    Next stop: Klon Centaur in a week or so.

    Best regards!

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    Replies
    1. IvIark11 October 2012 at 01:37

      Excellent, glad you're liking it!

      Delete
    2. JaviCAP11 October 2012 at 01:46

      You're welcome :) Just add that the final bias has been 5,2 volts on every Jfet. The Spot 1 power supply gives 9,25, so q5 shows this voltage too.

      Sweet and powerful point between 5-5,5volts to my ear at the expense of a little more noise tan at 4.5v.

      Delete
    3. johnk26 October 2012 at 02:19

      i just built this one today. man it has a TON of gain! it sounds just like a boogie amp to me, as in too much mids! ;-)

      i may mod it for a bit less gain and try and scoop some of the upper mids in the tone circuit. either that or make the bass lower and more active.

      Delete
    4. johnk26 October 2012 at 02:41

      BTW, mine sounds best with all of the transistors biased at 4.5V. at 5V or more, there's a slightly gated (and fizzy) decay on the sustained notes, but it's perfect at 4.5.

      Delete
    5. johnk31 October 2012 at 06:30

      since i use miy pedals for bass, i revoiced the coupling caps and tone stack and this pedal rocks with a bass now. it can go from dark to scooped, and from middy to bright all the way from a low overdrive, to a ridiculous amount of distortion. here's a couple of pics of my build:

      http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/DrBoogie/DrBoogie-01.jpg

      http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/DrBoogie/DrBoogie-02.jpg

      thanks again Mark!

      Delete
    6. IvIark31 October 2012 at 08:55

      Great looking build John

      Delete
  8. Unknown2 November 2012 at 08:43

    Hi guys, can you please indicate what are exactly the 4 yellow rounded signs n the top of the board layout, marked as 100K?
    Thanks in advance and congrats for amazing layouts!

    Best regards,
    Pier

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  9. Unknown2 November 2012 at 11:07

    Thanks for the quick answer!

    Best regards,
    Pier

    ReplyDelete
  10. Zoidberg28 January 2013 at 19:09

    I have a stupider question: what are the values of the trimmers? Thanks, Greetz M

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    1. IvIark28 January 2013 at 19:27

      It shows the value above them in the layout, they're all 100K

      Delete
  11. johnk28 January 2013 at 19:27

    they're listed above the vero. all of them are 100K.

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  12. Zoidberg29 January 2013 at 14:17

    Yes sorry I asked it the wrong way. I meant what should be the voltage value of them? Or that's not defined? Sorry I'm very unexperienced.

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    1. mirosol29 January 2013 at 14:19

      You should get all the JFET Drains at ~4.5V.
      +m

      Delete
  13. RAD3 February 2013 at 13:31

    Hi Mark,
    I am preparing to attempt this build and have been studying the schematics readily available on the internet (guassmarkov & chunk chunk - which are both very similar) on which I presume your layout was based. I notice that in the schematics there are two 100u electrolytic caps in the power section of the circuit, yet you only laid out one. As I am sure this is not a mistake, I was hoping you could share your reasoning as to why the second 100u cap is not required. Thank you.

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    1. IvIark3 February 2013 at 13:43

      One of the schematics I used had just a 100u cap, one had 2, one on either side of the 100R. As far a filter caps are concerned I often don't use what has been suggested in the scheme because often it simple isn't necessary, and so with this one I just put a single 100u in both layouts which has been ample for me in any of my builds. If you're not getting unwanted noise then adding an additional cap is unnecessary, but if you are then you could add an additional 100u cap to the left hand side of the 100R resistor on the top row of the V2 layout. I left it out because I didn't think it was worth the additional columns that would be required.

      Delete
    2. RAD3 February 2013 at 13:47

      Thanks a lot for the explanation - it definitely helps in my understanding.

      Delete
  14. Geiri27 March 2013 at 08:44

    Here's my observation when I built it yesterday. Biasing is a piece of cake. Use 47k trimmers instead of 100k. You will get much greater accuracy and it will be easy to bias.

    I used a 2k pot for mids and it works fine, any higher will offer too much mids (in my opinion) and when you max out the mids knob, the other EQ knobs don't do very much. When you scoop the mids, the rest of the EQ comes alive. Just keep that in mind because I was trying to figure out for a while why only the mid knob was working. I was always tweaking the others when I had the mids all the way up (or at least past 12 o'clock.

    It's a really good circuit and I like it! Recommended for anyone wanting a serious distortion tone.

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  15. RAD29 March 2013 at 00:09

    I'm currently building this circuit, and have questions about the JFETs. I've read a lot in different places about how using "matched JFET pairs" is beneficial. Usually one reads about these matched pairs in phaser circuits where the JFETs are working together. But in the Dr Boogie circuit, where there are discreet gain stages in series, would using matched pairs make any sense? I bought and measured the Vgs of 80 J201s. They vary quite a bit. Should I use similarly rated ones, or is it possible to use ones that are quite dissimilar from each other in each separate stage. So that is question one.

    Second question -
    There are some distortion circuits, like the BSIAB2 and the Wampler Pinnacle, in which a mu-amp configuration is used - i.e., two JFETs together in a block configuration. Would using matched pairs make sense here within each block? If so, would value differences matter from matched pair to matched pair? I believe those circuits use different types of Jfets, i.e., a pair of J201s, then a pair of 2N5457s. So if I used a matched pair of J201s, their values might be very different than the matched pairs of the 2N5457s which have a different spec. I guess that's unavoidable. Comments?

    Hope these questions are clearly stated. It seems to me if someone could offer some insights into how/when matched pairs are used, it might help lots of us build better sounding circuits. (BTW - the Jfet tester I used was one I made from a schematic on this site, so thanks for that!)

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  16. Alter Ego11 July 2013 at 00:24

    Hello! I knew Dr. Boogie can be powered with 9V, 12V and 18V. Will it need some modification in the circuit for this?

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    1. HGE Contraptions21 July 2013 at 12:18

      Basically, you need the 100uf electrolytic to be at say 35V rating

      Then, you bias the transistors with half the input voltage

      With 9V, 4.4-4.6V each, with 12v, 5.8-6.2V each , with 18V, 8.9-9.2V each

      Delete
    2. Alter Ego2 August 2013 at 12:01

      Thank you for the clarification! I noticed a better sound with higher power.

      Delete
  17. HGE Contraptions28 July 2013 at 10:21

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. HGE Contraptions28 July 2013 at 10:39

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. HGE Contraptions28 July 2013 at 10:52

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. Zach6 August 2013 at 04:12

    I was thinking about putting this together and have a dpdt switch to change the bass response I was looking online and mods for this and people say which cap to change to allow more bass through, which also changes the treble response and such, but I'm not sure where on the layout that cap is.

    http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3632.15

    "
    I just finished my chunk chunk, and with the stock build I felt that I also wanted a bit more low end. I noticed that when engaged, my build seemed to really strip out alot of lows that had to be put back in with the amp because my bass pot didnt give me quite enough... I also noticed that my treble knob seemed to get aggressively bright once past 3 oclock... I have my fets biased more towards 5v rather than 4.5 because it seems to tighten up my sound a bit and does away with a bit of fizz... probably also could be making it a bit thinner also which could be contributing to my low end issue.

    anyway...

    I saw this thread and decided to socket my C12... i replaced the stock value with a 47n. and it really made a nice difference...

    I now have a full range of lows which adds all the versatility that i want..

    However, this swap also made my treble knob become usuable all the way to max with no harsh unusable sound... i dont know if this is even possible from the swap or its just my mind tricking me.. but my treble is much more usable now all the way around."

    I was looking on the schematic here, http://gaussmarkov.net/layouts/drboo/drboo-schem.png, but I dont see that cap and size. Any is this the wrong schematic, or am I missing something.

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  21. Sonicguitars6 August 2013 at 15:51

    It sound really good but I don't know why the volume is lower than the amp volume also if set at maximum. I need help

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    1. emmepi17 May 2014 at 16:07

      I have the same issue...did you fix it?

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    2. Enzo Danger22 November 2014 at 01:09

      Same here, any ideas? Full pedal volume lower than no pedal volume.

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    3. Dude Incredible2 August 2021 at 06:21

      I have this same problem. In demo videos people keep the volume around 12oclock. Mine barely goes above unity when max. Anyone know why?

      Delete
  22. Sonicguitars6 August 2013 at 16:54

    Ok, it works!!!! how can I increase bass!

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  23. Sonicguitars6 August 2013 at 17:48

    Another question: It's an amazing pedal its really an hi gain tube distortion but it seems that there are too many high, and too gain, its very hissy

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  24. Jysus22 May 2014 at 00:47

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. strat6825 July 2014 at 15:30

    I built the Gauss Markov version. Etched the board. The tone controls don't make a lot of difference but I think I need to play with the amp settings. I'm running it into the distortion channel of a Carvin V3.

    I like it but I think I need to also play with the J201 biasing. Set them to about 4.5. I'll see what happens.

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  26. HGE Contraptions29 October 2014 at 12:53

    Took some samples back when I did it, although i couldn't get rid of the squeal/oscillation that appeared at a high gain setting (but the gain was NOT usable in that position anyway)

    http://forums.rgc.ro/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=165260

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  27. Unknown11 January 2015 at 02:17

    Hello, I am wondering about the grey boxes marked 1u I. I am thinking they are axial 1uf caps, and that the I is for the tolerance. Can someone please confirm, or correct?

    Much appreciated!

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    1. Unknown11 January 2015 at 04:10

      The dash after "1u" denotes the negative end of the electrolytic cap. Tolerance for caps should be at least 10V, though they're usually 16 or 25V.

      Delete
  28. Unknown11 January 2015 at 05:52

    Perfect, thank you for the response, so electrolytic is what I am after then.

    Another thought just occurred. Are the variable resistors log or linear?

    Again, than

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  29. Unknown9 May 2015 at 14:26

    First off - Great work. Secondly - I found the gain control a little un-usable after 8 or 9 o'clock (after spending 2,000,000 hours biasing to my preferences) so I started messing around with an additional resistor on the gain pot between the wiper and ground. 10k gave me a very "Carry On My Wayward Son"-ish type of sound. I'm thinking about adding a switch that toggles between a few different resistor values, similar to the Vintage, Raw, and Modern settings on some of the current Rec's. Thoughts?

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  30. Carole7 January 2016 at 00:30

    Before build this pedal take a look at the mods that i've done.
    Link on topic - TechniGuitare
    http://techniguitare.com/forum/post248752.html?hilit=Miss%20woogey#p248752
    Link on Schematic
    http://www.bo-blues.fr/depot/miss_woogey.pdf

    Mods Are:
    -Correct bug on source resistor of 3rd stage (R12) > 39k
    -Two caps, C15 C16, on tone stack for great palm mute
    -An output bass boost stage for 7 and 8 strings
    -A charge pump for 18v on board

    About R20(120k), a strap will be better!

    A new name "Miss Woogey"


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    Replies
    1. Anonymous3 May 2019 at 07:06

      Can you print a Vero layout for this?

      Delete
  31. Lefteris13 October 2016 at 00:07

    May I have a stupid question. Where are the bias points to configure the JFETs?

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    1. G!12 December 2016 at 08:29

      Drain leg... there's a video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-UUDoSCPg

      Delete
  32. G!12 December 2016 at 08:39

    V2 - Insane amount of gain... Mentally, it's almost like a Fuzz Factory. Don't expect that it will have much "usable" range. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried to switch out a couple of the gain stages...?

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    1. Servant078 January 2017 at 21:06

      Yes. The 3.9K resistor at the source of Q3 should be changed to 39K. Makes all the difference in the world. My build was squealing with the gain half way, the resistor change tamed the issue and now has a usable full gain sweep.

      Delete
    2. Carole16 February 2017 at 21:53

      Most of 'High gain" Amp. (99%) are based on the Soldano '100 Super Lead Overdrive'.
      The third stage is not a gain stage, but a saturation stage.

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/8um0kvqt352p1t8/soldano-SLO-schematic.jpg?dl=0

      It's the same for the MESA 'Dual'
      https://www.dropbox.com/s/sthkooolr7kdhyu/mesaboogiedualrectifier1.jpg?dl=0

      Delete
    3. Unknown13 February 2018 at 16:44

      Hi! I replaced the 3k9 for a 39k as suggested, but now I can't get below 7.71V at the drain. Is this normal or should it be around 4,5v?

      Delete
    4. Carole11 March 2018 at 12:18

      It's a control of the amont of distortion
      Tune it as you want.

      Delete
    5. AlexS10 February 2021 at 18:00

      Raising that 3k9 is just what I needed to get rid of the squeal. I used a 50k trim so I can't say it's 39k now, I just adjusted it till it sounded best.

      Otherwise it sounds the same as before, just quieter, and testing it against my REAL Dual Recto, it's not bad!

      Run it at about 24v if you can. It made a big difference in volume and sensitivity.

      Delete
  33. pakkee6629 January 2017 at 16:06

    I'm very satisfied to this little moster,
    I only change C12/68n to get more bass,
    and can't stop to riff with this..
    thanks again for the layout.
    here some shots: https://goo.gl/photos/fSeps3rf1JhfVCgY7

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pudas66622 April 2017 at 13:49

      Which capacitor is the "C12/68n"? I am building the V2 right now and want the more bass-mod...

      Delete
    2. pakkee6623 April 2017 at 13:33

      the 220n cap that links to mid-pot2, get the schem here: http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/circuits/dr-boogey/

      Delete
    3. Carole3 May 2017 at 12:16

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Carole3 May 2017 at 13:20

      The stripboard added just before "Volume Pot" for bass boost in "Miss Woogey".

      http://techniguitare.com/forum/realisation-montage/boogey-gaussmarkov-t10727-59.html

      Delete
    5. pakkee664 May 2017 at 14:25

      very nice mod, and thanks for the link, dude~

      Delete
  34. alexbergsland31 May 2018 at 19:12

    I'm having trouble finding two of the caps:
    20p
    5n

    None of my normal suppliers had 20p but I found it on eBay.
    But then its the 5n, what is that and where do I find it? The closest I've gotten is 4,7nF or a 502 ceramic from eBay.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Riza Perdana7 August 2019 at 12:27

    Built the v2 working nice gain is high, humm high too, and get so many oscillation, i need to turn fully off the tone knob on my guitar to reduce oscillation.
    Any suggestion?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Carole20 September 2019 at 14:55

    Changes the 3k9 resistor to a 39k (see here http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/03/dr-boogie.html?showComment=1452126622857#c7316957225466889122)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Khart19 July 2020 at 02:27

    Sounds great very low volume how can I fix this?

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  38. Khart19 July 2020 at 02:42

    Eq doesnt seem to do anything as well

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  39. Kiem25 November 2020 at 20:37

    I build the gaussmarkov and it sounds great when I run it as a preamp.

    However I would love if I can make it sound a little bit tighter. I keep the gain at 1o'clock, any higher and it turns into a fuzz.

    I read somewhere (can't recall where) that changing C1 from 1uf to something lower (I think 220nf was mentioned) will tighten this thing up.

    Can someone verify that? Or perhaps a different way to tighten the sound up a bit.

    How do I identify C1? If I follow the input signal the first cap I encounter is a 100nf cap, not a 1u cap.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Elijah-Baley26 November 2020 at 08:55

    Well, C1... it depends from the schematic. It's true that often C1 is the first cap, the input cap, but is not a rule.
    About this 1uF cap, it could be the one in the first stage, right the 1uF at left. Reducing it you will reduce the bass. Use two socket pins and try some value.

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    Replies
    1. Kiem8 December 2020 at 12:36

      It seems I made a mistake in my previous post, the mod was NOT for C1.
      The mod was for the first stage bypass capacitor. I think that is the same Capacitor you are referring to, unfortunately I have not been able to test this yet.

      Also, I build mine with the 3k9 resistor.
      I also want to test the difference with the 39k resistor instead of the 3k9 resistor.

      Delete
  41. Андрей5 December 2020 at 14:30

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Андрей5 December 2020 at 15:10

    what are the parameters of Vgs off?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Elijah-Baley12 March 2021 at 11:20

    This is a very old high gain circuit, but I built it anyway.
    It works as it should and I like very much the thick and huge distortion it has. I don't like how the eq works, I knew it, but that's not my problem.

    My problem is the oscillation. I changed the 3.9k with a 39k, and set the voltage drain (as for the others) around 4.7v. Now the problem is partially solved. I still got oscillation at high setting of gain/treble/presence.
    I'm testing the circuit out of the box, with short NOT shielded wires.
    I hope to solve this issue before to try to put it into the box, because if it will now solve the problem I'll know I sadly failed.
    I'm going to try to use shieleded wires from input and output, and... other wires?

    ReplyDelete
  44. JOÃO18 September 2021 at 16:04

    BOM DIA.COMO POSSO AUMENTAR OS GRAVES?

    ReplyDelete
  45. Unknown11 January 2022 at 16:19

    Hi, I only can set a voltage from 8.97V to 8.82V using the 100k trimmers. Has someone any hints?

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    Replies
    1. Unknown12 January 2022 at 17:01

      I could solve the problem. I changed all JFET and now it works as it should. Great layout, thanks.

      Delete
    2. Mike31 May 2022 at 23:55

      Changed with the new one or?

      Delete