Here's a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard guitar and bass effect layouts that we have put together covering many classic and popular effects in growing numbers. Many of these have been posted on freestompboxes.org, so check that site out for great discussions on building your own effect pedals. Enjoy the builds and please also visit us on Facebook and Twitter
It's the high pass filters you want to be looking for, they're the ones that will cut bass. The first high pass filter is the 470R and 3u3 which starts cutting bass at 150hz. If you increase the cap to 10u it drops to 34hz so that should make it more bass friendly. Maybe also increase the input cap to let in more low frequencies in the first place.
You may want to mess with the components off Spike 2 as well, so that 100R and 22n is part of the tone control and you may be able to tweak those for a better response. And thanks for all the pics! :o)
No problem. I'm a bit confused if i have photos of them all.. For example, Hyperion 2 got away from my hands before i had a chance to snap it. There's only 38 photos in that folder, so that's not all..
Anyway. 47R for 100R and 47nF for 22nF.. That should let much more low frequecies pass it.
I already have two pieces of vero and pots ready at the table. One is going to have stock values and other i'm making a bass slam punk. But maybe i'll just crawl back to the sofa, eat some greasy pizza and watch some south park episodes.. I hope that i don't have to drink again for a long time. :) +m
:) My problem is that i always drink way too much. Thankfully that's not as often as it was ten years ago. Who said that good things don't come with age :)
Now if i just solder the links and sockets before i go to bed... +m
No it's not. Like most soundtanks, it's ugly and plastic, with low quality buffers and electronic soft touch switching. It's those elements that seem to make it overly compressed and sucking.
Nicholas: If you're selling, i could buy that off from you :)
Can't wait to hear this as the layout is. It's basically a cross between TS9 and a Rat, and once all the negative crap is removed.. I soldered resistors on both circuits last night and i'll finish them once i get off work. +m
I built two different boards. One with stock values and another with: -100nF input cap (instead of 68n) -10µF for high pass filter (instead of 3µ3) -47nF for tone control (instead of 22n)
Both work great. Those bass friendly mods.. I could recommend to try them as an improvement to the original. I'm considering about swapping 22n from my stock board for 47, since that gives much wider sweep for spike. And another thing i'm comtemplating.. Switch for clipping. LEDs could give it more spunk.
Now. Think about this.. If this was built by some small bootik "company", stuffed in a B box with cool graphics? Nobody would call it bad. Building it like this makes it better? Well i think it does. It's not the greatest distortion box i've had, but it's still a reasonably good. Only thing missing is the sustain. With more of that.. this would rock.
My ears tell me that i was right about the buffers and switching. It's not that overly compressed when built like this.
I might try on a few different opamps and transistors though :)
Nice one! And yes I agree that there are plenty of effects that would be considerably more popular if they had a more fashionable name on the front, cool paint job and a 3PDT switch. But that's why I love things like this, and the Pastrami that I posted earlier. They're perfect examples of base designs that are then ripe for modding and improving upon. Why should we all do what some boutique builders often do and just mod a Tubescreamer or Big Muff? As I start running out of boutique boxes to do layouts for I'll start doing more and more of these to give the tweakers something to play with.
That's great! Slam Punk is perfect example of design not being bad, but the case, switching and everything else that men in suits touched, are just plain bad.
I'll tell you if i can do something more with this one. And i'll have a crack at pastrami too. But now i need to cook some dinner :) +m
Actually.. To tell the truth, Slam Punk with those three caps replaced, it's one of the best distortions for a bass guitar i've tried (haven't tried more than 7 or so). I don't have bass amp at home, but playing my cheapo chinese squier precision bass throught that to 15W Laney is just great. With bass there not that much need for a long sustain.. +m
So did i, but i had to try them. It lights up much more violently and does not miss that much of the sustain. Still, it doesn't make it mushy, which was my prediction before trying those. A bit more fuzz-like, but not too much. Ends up in the same ball park with Pastrami on the sustain - not even close to BMP, but good.
For those who do not have experience with MPSA14s, they are NPN Darlingtons with hfe around 20000...
I usually go for lower gain transistors, since they have proved to be better sounding, but. This time i learned something new again :) +m
I have a powerlead soundtank kicking around somewhere that I would love to clone onto Vero. These were fun little plastic things. Would love to see more layouts for These and the danelectro minis.
I still use my Soundtank Echomachine EM5. Really nice analog sounding delay. Would love to build my own vero version of it....
Not to mention my Dano Chicken Salad - 30 bucks and sounds as good, if not better than my LP Pickle Vibe. I've owned several vibe units and settled on the Pickle until I bought the Chicken Salad on a whim since it was so cheap - blown away by it!
I can't come up anything major i want to change on this. The bassmod version with three caps upped and MPSA14s for transistors is about it. Oh. I did replace 4558 with TL082, which cleared it up a bit, but still left the sustain where it should be - high. Changes between 4558 and TL082 are subtle, but i can hear the difference - so i guess it's good enough :D
These bass mods work on guitar too. So from overly compressed and severely underrated bug came this - fuzz-like distortion that suits bass as well as guitar.
If i could change something more, it would probably be the base compression on the circuit. Maybe i need to go through some resistor values to see if i can get a bit more volume out of it.
But even like this (with bass mods + TL082), it nice and kicks the living daylights out of the original. Anyway. I'm calling it:
"FYAElectronics Ripoff series - Drunk Punk Distortion
The latest in the line-up from FYA, it's the Drunk Punk Distortion! Nearly 15 minutes of R&D from the same development team that brought you the Moldy Meat Drive! (and someone from the outside dev team told what cap values to change)
Drunk Punk Distortion is slightly compressed fuzz-like distortion that kicks you in the nuts. It distorts as greatly with guitar and bass alike. It doesn't really respond to your guitar's volume pot, so don't even try it." :) +m
Independence day build. And tested at crust rehearsal today. It is MXR Dyna 1:1 to "Drunk Punk" with slight mods, like 120n input cap, clear green 3mm LEDs for clipping, MPSA14s and so on. Went straight to our bassist. This came out really great. And it's versatile too. +m
I built this one and IT ROCKS! I'm a bass player… Thanks for the layout (and the adjustments for making this bass-friendly). I wasn't expecting much but what a beautiful surprise! The sustain is awesome. Can't wait to record on 2" tape next month with this pedal and my '77 P :)
Great! I was sooo wasted last night that this will be built tomorrow :) Today it's just sofa and tv for me. Or...
ReplyDeleteDiodes on the original seemed like 1N4148s, but i think any modern silicon will work just fine. Plus the IC on the original definitely is JRC4558D.
Anyone see how to make this more bass friendly? I can't seem to find the main low pass filter... :)
Huge thank you!
+m
It's the high pass filters you want to be looking for, they're the ones that will cut bass. The first high pass filter is the 470R and 3u3 which starts cutting bass at 150hz. If you increase the cap to 10u it drops to 34hz so that should make it more bass friendly. Maybe also increase the input cap to let in more low frequencies in the first place.
DeleteSo to mod it for bass, 100nF instead of 68nF and 10µF instead of 3µ3. Perfect. Thank you again!
Delete+m
You may want to mess with the components off Spike 2 as well, so that 100R and 22n is part of the tone control and you may be able to tweak those for a better response. And thanks for all the pics! :o)
DeleteNo problem. I'm a bit confused if i have photos of them all.. For example, Hyperion 2 got away from my hands before i had a chance to snap it. There's only 38 photos in that folder, so that's not all..
DeleteAnyway. 47R for 100R and 47nF for 22nF.. That should let much more low frequecies pass it.
I already have two pieces of vero and pots ready at the table. One is going to have stock values and other i'm making a bass slam punk. But maybe i'll just crawl back to the sofa, eat some greasy pizza and watch some south park episodes.. I hope that i don't have to drink again for a long time. :)
+m
I've got to drink again in about 15 minutes. Sunday night is pub night! :o)
Delete:) My problem is that i always drink way too much. Thankfully that's not as often as it was ten years ago. Who said that good things don't come with age :)
DeleteNow if i just solder the links and sockets before i go to bed...
+m
haha i have one of these, it is so bad.
ReplyDeleteNo it's not. Like most soundtanks, it's ugly and plastic, with low quality buffers and electronic soft touch switching. It's those elements that seem to make it overly compressed and sucking.
DeleteNicholas: If you're selling, i could buy that off from you :)
Can't wait to hear this as the layout is. It's basically a cross between TS9 and a Rat, and once all the negative crap is removed.. I soldered resistors on both circuits last night and i'll finish them once i get off work.
+m
Verified.
ReplyDeleteI built two different boards. One with stock values and another with:
-100nF input cap (instead of 68n)
-10µF for high pass filter (instead of 3µ3)
-47nF for tone control (instead of 22n)
Both work great. Those bass friendly mods.. I could recommend to try them as an improvement to the original. I'm considering about swapping 22n from my stock board for 47, since that gives much wider sweep for spike. And another thing i'm comtemplating.. Switch for clipping. LEDs could give it more spunk.
Now. Think about this.. If this was built by some small bootik "company", stuffed in a B box with cool graphics? Nobody would call it bad. Building it like this makes it better? Well i think it does. It's not the greatest distortion box i've had, but it's still a reasonably good. Only thing missing is the sustain. With more of that.. this would rock.
My ears tell me that i was right about the buffers and switching. It's not that overly compressed when built like this.
I might try on a few different opamps and transistors though :)
Thank you Mark!
+m
Nice one! And yes I agree that there are plenty of effects that would be considerably more popular if they had a more fashionable name on the front, cool paint job and a 3PDT switch. But that's why I love things like this, and the Pastrami that I posted earlier. They're perfect examples of base designs that are then ripe for modding and improving upon. Why should we all do what some boutique builders often do and just mod a Tubescreamer or Big Muff? As I start running out of boutique boxes to do layouts for I'll start doing more and more of these to give the tweakers something to play with.
DeleteThat's great! Slam Punk is perfect example of design not being bad, but the case, switching and everything else that men in suits touched, are just plain bad.
DeleteI'll tell you if i can do something more with this one. And i'll have a crack at pastrami too. But now i need to cook some dinner :)
+m
Actually.. To tell the truth, Slam Punk with those three caps replaced, it's one of the best distortions for a bass guitar i've tried (haven't tried more than 7 or so). I don't have bass amp at home, but playing my cheapo chinese squier precision bass throught that to 15W Laney is just great. With bass there not that much need for a long sustain..
Delete+m
And if anyone is building this, they might want to try MPSA14s for Q1 and Q2... :D
Delete+m
What's the difference like? I thought that would be a bit too much
DeleteSo did i, but i had to try them. It lights up much more violently and does not miss that much of the sustain. Still, it doesn't make it mushy, which was my prediction before trying those. A bit more fuzz-like, but not too much. Ends up in the same ball park with Pastrami on the sustain - not even close to BMP, but good.
DeleteFor those who do not have experience with MPSA14s, they are NPN Darlingtons with hfe around 20000...
I usually go for lower gain transistors, since they have proved to be better sounding, but. This time i learned something new again :)
+m
I have a powerlead soundtank kicking around somewhere that I would love to clone onto Vero. These were fun little plastic things. Would love to see more layouts for These and the danelectro minis.
ReplyDeleteSecond that!
Delete+m
I still use my Soundtank Echomachine EM5. Really nice analog sounding delay. Would love to build my own vero version of it....
ReplyDeleteNot to mention my Dano Chicken Salad - 30 bucks and sounds as good, if not better than my LP Pickle Vibe. I've owned several vibe units and settled on the Pickle until I bought the Chicken Salad on a whim since it was so cheap - blown away by it!
I can't come up anything major i want to change on this. The bassmod version with three caps upped and MPSA14s for transistors is about it. Oh. I did replace 4558 with TL082, which cleared it up a bit, but still left the sustain where it should be - high. Changes between 4558 and TL082 are subtle, but i can hear the difference - so i guess it's good enough :D
ReplyDeleteThese bass mods work on guitar too. So from overly compressed and severely underrated bug came this - fuzz-like distortion that suits bass as well as guitar.
If i could change something more, it would probably be the base compression on the circuit. Maybe i need to go through some resistor values to see if i can get a bit more volume out of it.
But even like this (with bass mods + TL082), it nice and kicks the living daylights out of the original. Anyway. I'm calling it:
"FYAElectronics Ripoff series - Drunk Punk Distortion
The latest in the line-up from FYA, it's the Drunk Punk Distortion! Nearly 15 minutes of R&D from the same development team that brought you the Moldy Meat Drive! (and someone from the outside dev team told what cap values to change)
Drunk Punk Distortion is slightly compressed fuzz-like distortion that kicks you in the nuts. It distorts as greatly with guitar and bass alike. It doesn't really respond to your guitar's volume pot, so don't even try it."
:)
+m
Is the Drunk Punk available at Thomann yet? 🍻
Deletehttp://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/rtq.JPG
ReplyDeleteIndependence day build. And tested at crust rehearsal today. It is MXR Dyna 1:1 to "Drunk Punk" with slight mods, like 120n input cap, clear green 3mm LEDs for clipping, MPSA14s and so on. Went straight to our bassist. This came out really great. And it's versatile too.
+m
I built this one and IT ROCKS! I'm a bass player… Thanks for the layout (and the adjustments for making this bass-friendly). I wasn't expecting much but what a beautiful surprise! The sustain is awesome. Can't wait to record on 2" tape next month with this pedal and my '77 P :)
ReplyDeleteMy sp5 build is much better than bn5 based on sound output.they are both unique in terms of circuit diagram.
ReplyDeleteMore power guyz!