Thursday, 4 October 2012

Emma TransMORGrifier

Info about the original pedal:

A compressor pedal incorporating the best attributes of classic pedals while simultaneously eliminating the shortcomings common to such vintage designs.

Included are controls for the adjustment of Attack, Release, and Ratio that allow the user precise and continuous variation to their sound. These controls offer the ability to custom tailor the effect to match the job at hand. No matter what style or instrument, the perfect amount of compression is easily dialed in with minimal coloration to the original signal.







Note:
The CA3080 is a discontinued IC, and although it is still available from a number of sources it will get more difficult to obtain as time goes by.   After the discussions below, the circuit was tested by G5120fx with an LM13700 replacing the discontinued IC and it worked fine.  Unfortunately this IC is 16 pin instead of 8 because it is 2 channel and includes buffers, but if you find that you can get the LM13700 cheaper or more readily then you can use the following daughterboard to allow you to use that IC.   Just solder the wires to where the CA3080 pins would be on the main board.




This daughterboard can be used with any of the effects in this blog which use the CA3080, including the MXR DynaComp, Ross Compressor and Keeley Compressor.
Posted by at 13:44
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45 comments:

  1. G5120fx4 October 2012 at 15:16

    Wow Mark, you´re on fire! Very busy at the moment!

    Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. mirosol4 October 2012 at 21:04

    Damn those 3080s are expensive. I know.. Like in this case, the price is always subjective. I've read around, and seems that last manufacturer stopped making these OTAs (operational transconductance amplifiers) in 2005. There seems to be plenty around, but as they have been obsolete for 7 years the price is high. And it's not hard to understand why.

    If people are interested in sourcing those, check Polida and goodbuy711 on ebay. Just grabbed me a bunch of these and i hope they will be all i need for cloning compressors for the rest of my life. One thing's for sure. Obsolete components aren't getting cheaper by time - unless some company starts to make modern equilevant.. And that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

    Anyway. There seems to be no equilevant available or in sight. (ok, there is NTE996, but those cost around 5-8 times what you need to pay for original CA3080) Most forums i've read, state that using half of LM13700 could be viable alternative. So this brings me to my question :) Mark.. Have you though about creating layout for Ross/Dyna/Keeley 4Knob or this one with half LM13700? That would be sick circuit :)
    +m

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    Replies
    1. IvIark4 October 2012 at 21:12

      Yes you could use an LM13700, it's basically just two CA3080 type OTA's and also includes buffers on separate pins, but you could just ignore the extras. The only reason I haven't bothered is there's not a lot of difference in price if you buy from Polida, and I'd need to accomodate a 16pin IC instead of 8 which would make the layout bigger.

      Delete
  3. giudis5 October 2012 at 10:32

    if i would use it for a bass guitar, have I to change any components?

    ReplyDelete
  4. G5120fx5 October 2012 at 17:24

    I have to check if I have all the parts at home, maybe I can try to verify
    your vero ext week. I have definately no ca3080 at home, so I´ll try it with a LM13700.

    This should work, maybe I make some kind of adapter for it, lets see...
    http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/emmaht.png/

    I let you know when I tried it!

    Cheers,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark5 October 2012 at 17:27

      Yes that looks spot on to me. It'll be interesting to see if it works just as well with the LM13700, I suspect it will.

      Delete
    2. mirosol5 October 2012 at 18:09

      That's super cool idea to make it as a daughterboard for LM13700! Now all we need is that Mark re-draws that and links it to all four CA3080 posts!

      I'm excited, even though i have lifetime supply of CA3080s on the way here :D
      +m

      Delete
    3. rudeez5 October 2012 at 22:20

      how many did you get miro? Oo
      i must build this one, have a few 3080 laying around, was meant to be used for the keeley compressor, this looks more interesting for some reason! and thanks mark, you're the man as always!

      Delete
    4. mirosol6 October 2012 at 06:25

      Just a few 10 packs and i still have a few from my previous orders. I just figured that i won't be doing mods to dyna/ross and sell it as my own, so 22 should be enough for cloning the existing ones :)
      +m

      Delete
  5. mirosol7 October 2012 at 15:02

    Yup. Tag.

    I made this verbatim to the layout with no subs. Works. Controls feel weird, because i'm used to seeing attack and release on synth amp envelopes and obviously those controls aren't working here as they do on synths :) Is release really 500K? That control puzzles me the most, as it is very subtle when compared to attack. Attack and Ratio maxed this one goes really wobbly. That's not a bad thing. Very usable thing this here.

    Pretty versatile compressor. With it's nearly massive output capabilities, it could be used just as a clean boost too.
    +m

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    Replies
    1. IvIark7 October 2012 at 16:02

      Brilliant. And yes it is a 500K in the scheme. That replaces a 150K resistor that was between Q3 and Q4 collectors and supply in the Dyna Comp, so it may have been selected so it's middle value (ish) reflected that. Maybe a 250K would be more suitable.

      Delete
    2. mirosol7 October 2012 at 16:43

      Might even work great with 200K then. Release being subtle was the only issue, so it's not bad at all...
      +m

      Delete
  6. G5120fx7 October 2012 at 15:23

    damn you were faster.... I´ve already cut the traces, placed jumper and resistors. Good that its verfied! I will finish it tomorrow!

    Thanks mirosol,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  7. G5120fx10 October 2012 at 11:18

    Sorry for the late reply, I´ve been kinda busy the last days.....

    Just wanted to say it works fine with the LM13700, so second verification :)

    Thanks Mark

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark10 October 2012 at 11:50

      Excellent, I'll add a daughterboard layout.

      Delete
  8. hangingmonkey21 October 2012 at 13:03

    Hi, Ive just built this and after connecting the power, all the trannies started smoking, I used BC549C NPNs.

    Im going to go back and check everything but what would the common reasons be for smoking trannies?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark21 October 2012 at 15:01

      Not too sure, even if you'd put them in the wrong way I wouldn't expect anything as drastic as that, it just wouldn't work. I suspect you'll have a short or thesupply connected somewhere that it shouldn't

      Delete
    2. mirosol21 October 2012 at 15:08

      Well. There is no common reason, as i've never got any transistors to go up in smoke. But in general, a short would probably do that. So check your strip gaps and all the trace cuts first.
      +m

      Delete
  9. hangingmonkey21 October 2012 at 21:04

    Thanks guy, I wasnt expecting a response so soon (wasnt sure how often the comments get read)

    I'll cut through the strips with a blade and try again although one of the trannies will probably need replacing, its flat surface looks fractured.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jimijam26 October 2012 at 14:15

    How does this compare to a Keeley 4 knob compressor? I am contemplating a compressor build and this one looks interesting.

    Hey IVIark, have you seen any ReezaFRATzitz schema's lying around? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. johnk17 November 2012 at 04:14

      i'll be able to answer that pretty soon. i just finished the Keeley 4 knobber today and it's great. i also built the Rothwell Love Squeeze and the Armstrong Orange squeezer and all of them have been really nice sounding comps, with the Keeley being the most flexible.

      Delete
    2. johnk17 November 2012 at 07:51

      i just finished building and testing it (it worked perfect straight away-YAY!) and IMO, it's an awesome compressor. IMO, it's a bit more 'hi-fi' sounding than the Keeley. in a way, it kinda reminds me of a dbx 160, only in pedal form.

      Delete
    3. johnk17 November 2012 at 08:09

      ......and BTW, my attack and release knobs work perfectly throughout their entire range.

      Delete
  11. johnk19 November 2012 at 03:29

    here's a pic of mine, and i'm lovin' this one!

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Compressors/TransMORGrifier-01.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark19 November 2012 at 12:43

      Nice one John

      Delete
    2. Zach22 November 2013 at 03:45

      Looks amazing like all your builds I've seen. Got a question since as a bassist I know you've modified a lot of pedals to keep the low end, did you just change the input and output caps?

      Delete
  12. mirosol7 December 2012 at 21:28

    Friday build:
    http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/toner.JPG
    TransMORGrifier -> slightly modded Xotic AC Booster (clear red LEDs and more volume with 100R instead of 1K). Beutiful and versatile. Don't know if the clipping LEDs were perfect choice though. But it's still nice.
    +m

    ReplyDelete
  13. hako4 February 2013 at 20:19

    This circuit has *tons* of output, a 500K audio volume pot might be a good choice;-)... Sounds relly great, thanks again Mark for all those wonderful layouts!

    ReplyDelete
  14. hako4 February 2013 at 20:20

    "really";-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. WAHYU17 November 2013 at 07:29

    cara ini sudah saya lakukan dan hasilnya tidak bekerja dengan baik

    ReplyDelete
  16. Unknown2 March 2014 at 12:05

    yes is not work,,, dam lm13700 ,sound like fuzz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown16 October 2016 at 07:46

      mnurutmu .untuk compressor yg pling bagus yg mana bro..sya pngin buat tpi blum tau mna yg trbaik...thanks

      Delete
  17. Unknown29 March 2014 at 20:12

    Hi all.
    I have no BC549C's. I have bc109,bc184Lc,bc327, bc337, bc546b,and last but not least...bc550's anybody got a goob for the 549charlies? I have a lot of 1n'..s, 2n..'s mps.., bs.., j......NO 549C..UGH!!! Any help would be kindly appreciated.
    jeff

    ReplyDelete
  18. Rui Fernandes8 June 2015 at 19:30

    Anyone have a schematic for this? That would be great. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zach9 June 2015 at 00:02

      here you go:

      http://s853.photobucket.com/user/bernardduur/media/Schematics/Emma2.jpg.html

      just do a google search and you can find more schematics, or check DIYSB or FSB too.

      Delete
  19. Unknown20 September 2015 at 19:33

    Hello,

    When I have the output of a circuit in the Lug 2 of the Volume (or another potentiometer), what should be the "output" capacitor?

    I'd like to increase the capacitor value to use in the bass!

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zach21 September 2015 at 04:19

      hey bro. you actually don't have to do much to make this work on bass. all i did was change the 10nF input to 100nF and you're good to go. no low end loss. so far my favorite compressor. can be clean or get a sorta SVT with a hint of breakup.

      Delete
    2. Unknown13 November 2016 at 10:52

      Zach,

      I plan to use it with my bass also. Do you mean we only need to change the 10nf that is linked to the input ? We leave the 3 oher 10nf unchanged ?
      Thanks !

      Delete
  20. Unknown11 June 2016 at 10:21

    Hello. does this LM13700 daughterboard apply to the Dyna Comp? with these exact connections? thx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will Kenworthy24 August 2016 at 11:59

      Look up on top. Says it will work with any ...

      Delete
  21. Anonymous18 February 2019 at 21:24

    Hello,

    Mine works but.....
    When dialing the attack pot to a rather slow response, something starts to clip.
    When probing it seemed to start at the IC-output.

    Is this normal? If not, what could be the cure?

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mercury811 October 2019 at 16:53

      I had the same exact isusue with the keely 4knob pcb that I got from fuzzdog. but it had nothing to do with the pcb of course. maybe try shielded wire?? 1%metal resistors. a little extra capacitance.

      Delete
    2. mercury829 October 2019 at 02:02

      I also have the same issue with this build and im thinking its normal. both the keely and the transmorgifier do clip with pot at that setting

      Delete
  22. KG19 April 2021 at 20:16

    Hello,
    Built using the LM13700 adapter Daughterboard : thank you for the clever layout!

    ReplyDelete

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