Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Son of Clay Jones Overdrive
Moving on from my last post, here the Clay Jones Overdrive gets the Lovepedal Eternity treatment by Fred Briggs. Fred has essentially done what Jack Orman did with the Tubescreamer when he published the Son of Screamer schematic, which was adopted pretty much verbatim by Lovepedal for their Eternity, and no doubt a good few other boutique builders too. So the ultimate mojo Tubescreamer gets a bit more mojo
Thanks for posting, he has a number of interesting projects. He hasn't posted anything since the summer, hopefully he is ok
ReplyDeleteYes, he's a moderator at FSB as well and he hasn't been there for a while but Fred has done this before, gone missing for several months and then return with avengeance. So hopefully we'll be seeing him back soon.
DeleteThis one's really nice. I think I may have an unfinished one on my bench... this reminded me to finish it. One thing I like to do with all TS-style pedals is double the value of the caps in the feedback loop, in order to take away that mid-hump.
ReplyDeleteDon't do that to this one :)
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Swapped the clipping LEDs for 1N4001s and used 20K pot for tone.
ReplyDeleteDamn this thing is good. Fat and sweet. With 220n caps, you're bound to get at least enough bottom. :)
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Excellent, nice one matey
DeleteNow i'm wondering if i should crack another one tonight or just watch some Buffy.... :)
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God there's got to be something better than Buffy. Watch It's a Wonderful Life and get in the mood! :)
DeleteActually. Buffy's not that bad :) I'm on the fourth season at the moment and it's getting better all the time. First season is crap though. I've heard that the finale of season 5 is just perfect - and everyone should stop watching there. Don't know yet :) I didn't watch it when it was hot, but after watching Firefly i just felt obligated to see it..
DeleteAnd this is coming for a dude who's watched Law & Order (20 seasons) twice, Gilmore girls (7 seasons) three times and every single Star Trek episode and movie ever made.
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My wife loved Buffy in college. I made fun until I actually sat and watched it. It is great because you get to see one of Hollywood's most coveted directors (avengers, cabin in the woods, etc) cut his teeth. Joss is great!
DeleteWould there be an easy way to add a blend pot to this to dial in some clean signal with the distorted signal?
ReplyDeleteWould there be an easy way to add a blend pot to this to dial in some clean signal with the distorted signal?
ReplyDeletePut one of these in the same box:
Deletehttp://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/02/split-n-blend.html
The Send goes to the effect input, return connects to lug 2 of the Level pot. Then the input and output of the blender circuit go to the bypass switch.
Thanks! That was quick!
Delete@lvlark...Is there a simple circuit that can make an LED flash in the same timing with the push of a switch? Like the tap tempo flashers on a delay but without the effect. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTempo LEDs in something like a tremolo is easy because the LED can be supplied by the LFO, but do you mean using one standalone? If so then I'd probably look at using PIC or Arduino, and hopefully find someone familiar with them so I don't have to try to do it myself.
DeleteAlright, was just wondering if a 555 timer and a relay would work.
ReplyDeleteI think you could get away with just a timer.. Don't know how to wire it though.
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Just finished boxing this up. Decided to build on Mirosol's "fat and sweet" plug. I have some lower output vintage single coils on my favorite Strat and they usually just don't drive dirt boxes all that great. Getting plenty of fat OD from this one though, and I think it's nicely voiced - sounds really good on the neck pickup alone. Very nice...
ReplyDeleteJust finished populating my board and tested it. Seems to work well, can't really tell if it sounds good. My Vox VT30 amp is garbage for testing pedals.
ReplyDeleteI am using a DPDT on-off-on to switch between stock leds (center lugs), LED +4148(center and bottom lugs), and 1N4001+4148 (top lugs).
I have one issue, the first 5% of the tone knob kills the output volume, extremely quite. Then the last 5% screech like a madman when not playing anything
Any ideas?
The only value change would be a 50pf Ceramic vs the normal 51pF which I doubt makes a difference.
DeleteThe 50 or 51p changes won't matter, you could put pretty much any low value cap in there and it would sound nice (the higher the cap value the more high end is cut to smooth things out.
DeleteYour tone knob isn't acting like I would expect which points to an issue in the surrounding components or maybe the tone pot itself. What voltages are you getting on the IC pins? That will often give a clue to a problem area if the values are too far removed from what would be expected.
I wondered before about using an LED in the centre position, because then in theory in either of the other two positions the LEDs shouldn't conduct because the other diodes have a lower forward voltage. And so it would effectively just have the outer diodes in the circuit depending on which position it is in. How are you finding the switching? Do the positions all sound different?
I'll get voltages later today.
Deletethe switch works perfectly. you'll only Need 1 4148 to do the led+4148 since it cuts out the other center led.
ahhh the side of the 47uF it's one row down, does that sound like the possible cause,I mean obviously it's wrong and connects to tone 2, so probably
ReplyDeleteok so that fixed the first 5% of the pot. the last 5% still stretches but stopsit when I touch certain alligator clips so I'm going to box it up to see if that fixes it
DeleteI often get squeaks and squeals that disappear when the effect is boxed so hopefully that will sort it out.
DeleteI really like this pedal. I did notice one issue though just yesterday. I generally don't play on my Strat bridge pickup alone ( usually use the middle/bridge combination ) but did so out of boredom. Everything fine until I switched off the effect. Then there was a high pitched squeal that would reduce in pitch as I rolled off the gain until it was gone at about mid gain. This also has happened almost exactly the same on my MO'D and the Pinnacle. It's only when the gain is near or at full and the effect is off.
ReplyDeleteI was able to make it go away on the Pinnacle as I moved wires around. All that to say - apparently wire placement in the enclosure is somewhat critical. I usually keep input and output wires away from each other as per advice in various forums. Are there any other rules pertaining to which wires to keep away from each other in enclosure routing besides input and output?
Thanks for any advice
Shielded input and output wires may help. How did you do your bypass wiring?
DeleteI'll give the shielded wire a go. It typically is not a huge deal for me because I generally don't have the gain dimed when playing out. But, I'm a bit ocd and just want things to work without quirks.
ReplyDeleteI have used this wiring method for as long as I have been building ( couple of years now ). http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/thoughts/wiring-up-a-1590b. Found it it when searching for true bypass wiring schemes a while back. It's no better or worse than others I have seen about. But I like it because I really only have to pass one wire over to the middle lugs from the side for LED ground connection. Plus, the pix really helped me when I was starting out.
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to also get back into the MO'D and the Clay Jones and just try shifting some wires around. If I notice any kind of pattern, I'll ping back with the info.
I also just thought of one more thing as I was looking back at the Gaussmarkov instructions. I always omit the short wire that connects the first (input) pole of the switch to the middle (ground) pole of the switch ( as shown in the gaussmarkov link near the end ).
When the switch is in the by-pass position, this short green wire connects the input of the PCB to ground.
When the switch is in the engaged position, this short green wire does not connect to anything.
Maybe adding that wire will shunt away some of that squeal when the effect is bypassed. I'll give it a whirl as well.
Appreciate all your ( and Miro's! ) hard work here!
That little wire is important, if you don't ground the input during bypass you can get the type of noises you describe. If you do ground the input during bypass then nothing enters the effect circuit.
DeleteThat little wire will be added and included henceforth...
DeleteI encountered the same problem on a BBE Green Screamer (same heritage as other pedals mentioned). This tip helped me out, thanks!
DeleteBack already. I just went and opened up the MO'D and jumpered those two lugs ( as mentioned in last post ) in bypass. Squeal GONE!! I never thought to try that before on the other squeals because I forgot about it until I looked back at those instructions a little while ago. So I guess connecting input of board to ground in bypass is a method to get rid of squeal ( if it is only happening in bypass mode like mine were ).
ReplyDeleteThanks!
And today, #1:
ReplyDeletehttp://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/SoCJ.jpg
+m
Currently my favourite overdrive.
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Cheers for all the pics matey, added to my collection!
DeleteFirst of all, I just want to say you have a great blog here. It pairs really nicely with my morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I built this OD up and everything is working great except for a switching issue. When I switch between effect and bypass it takes a few seconds for the signal to come through. Sounds like a cap being drained or charged. I've tried different 3pdt switches, both with the fx input grounded in bypass, had no luck. I've pulled and replaced the power jack and filter caps and still had no luck.
Any guess on what is going on here?
Anything that gives some sort of delay points to a cap to me too. So you're going to have to check them. Make sure there are no poor joints that may be making a connection intermittent, or of course the usual unwanted bridges. If all else looks ok you need to go through the caps until you find the problem one.
DeleteBuilt this sucker up to do an op-amp shootout, or just as an excuse to try this $10 Burr Brown amp I got from TI (OPA2107). I like this overdrive, but it's not going to push my hotrodded Zendrive off the board.
ReplyDeleteThe results of the op-amp shootout:
The winner by a hair was the LM833. Not as detailed as the two audio grade op-amps I tested, but really nice and even.
Second place was a tie between the OPA2107 and the AD OP275. They're both extremely detailed and clear, with an articulate bottom end. However, on bass, the LM833 tends to push the lows a bit harder, which I like.
Third place was the CA3260. I was expecting miracles with this one, but no luck. I do think this one would be absolutely fantastic on guitar, as the top end was simply sublime. The low end was lacking.
Last place was the LM358. I don't know why I have these lying around, they're terrible.
Not sure what I did wrong but I tried the Mammoth 3PDT wiring board to try and make the switch wiring faster and more efficient but something is wrong with it...I can't even get the LED to light up and I'm getting no sound despite following the plans as closely as I could. I thought about going back to standard offboard wiring from here but don't quite understand how to route the LED with the LED+ coming from the top corner...it should be obvious, but it isn't working. I just run the board LED+ to...well, the LED positive and then ground it to the 3PDT? I think I'm missing something obvious and I feel foolish :(
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ReplyDeleteI''ve just built this, it sounds fantastic! Thanks for the layout!
ReplyDeleteHere it is:
http://i60.tinypic.com/21km1io.jpg
I do have to say one thing: The 25k lin tone control makes no sense at all. It works horribly. The standard tubescreamer 20W pot gives great control over the entire sweep of the pot so I suggest using that instead.
I also put a log on volume because those leds are LOUD :D
DeleteNice job, thanks for the pic and the tip
DeleteI use a 5 k pot, and have used a 1 k pot with success.
DeleteMy circuit was son of screamer.
I'm a newbie and this is my first circuit. I have Three questions,
ReplyDeleteFirst, is the polarity of the LED's. I see there's a marker on the layout indicating one of the legs. Is this the long or the short leg?
Second, The level pot seems to only have wiring for legs 1 and 3. So what happens to the 2nd leg? Is it grounded?
Third, The drive pot leg 2 and 3..are these wired together?
Sorry if these are really basic questions...it's my first pedal build!
Gareth
Hello and welcome.
DeleteFor the LEDs, the mark on the images is also found from actual LEDs. There is a dent on the cathode side, which is the shorter leg.
Level lug 2 is your output. You take a wire from there to your bypass switching.
The drive pot lugs 2 & 3 can be connected with one wire, but you'll get exactly the same results by connecting that wire to lug 2 and leaving lug 3 not connected.
Hope this helps.
+m
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DeleteTa, you are a star! That explains why my IC went up in smoke....LED's around the wrong way and my output wiring all wrong...oh boy...it's a big learning curve, but kind a fun at the same time!
ReplyDeleteLearning's part of the fun :) Solving a problem is always a huge reward.
DeleteI don't think LED orientation here would result in burning the chip. Those are LEDs as clipping diodes, so the could be in there either way as long as they are crossed. Tiny short in there would explain it.
+m
Ok, wired up correctly this time and my 3DPT switch is wired right too. Sapped out the charred IC for a fresh one and it works great. I tried my Les Paul and Telecaster and this pedal sounds great. The level pot could do with being a log as all the action happens in the first 1/4 turn. I tried this on a bass and it's got a hefty bass cut. Is there any advice for cap swaps to improve the bass guitar use?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThe pedal works really great. Nice dynamic response.
Just one little regret : the tone control is effective but not usable on the all range of the pot. I have to set it near to its maximum in order to keep a normal amount of treble.
To compare, the red dirt overdrive from keeley has a better tone control but I can't find the schematics to compare with this one. Anyone has find it ?
The difference is just a 180 nF cap and a w20K pot for the tone control.
DeleteIs it worth trying the difference between the pots for an easier control of tone ?
HI, thank a lot for your great work, this pedal sound really good and versatile with LED and Germanium diode switch and cap switch (47n, 100n, 220n), but i got shrill whistle before full pot setting with LED and 220n cap so i change the 51p cap for 200p, it's better but not enough higher cap cut to much high end. Anyone experienced shrill whistle?
ReplyDeletei just built this and the LED 1 is constantly glowing. the voltages are as follows..
ReplyDeleteic1
1-8.6(way to high isnt it?)
2-6.51
3-7.55
4- -.4
5-8.04
6-7.56
7-8.10
8-8.87
the second board i made seems ok to me voltage wise but still not working. ive checked to see where the voltage stops because i dont have a audio probe ic
1-4.82
2-4.8
3-4.8
4-0
5-4.8
6-4.8
7-4.8
8-9.7
the 220r and 10k resistors are the only part of the circuit where there was no voltage reading
any help is appreciated and thank you
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ReplyDeleteHi, sorry if this seems to be a stupid question. It's about a symbol for a pot - I always understand that the arrow is lug 2 and then facing the same direction as the arrow lug 1 will be to the left and lug 3 to the right, correct? The thing is, from so many schems that I see it written quite randomly(directional wise) when check with the tagboard layout. This circuit for example, I mean, from Fred's schem if the symbol is fixed then the gain pot should be lugs 1 & 2 connected, not 2 & 3. Either it's a mistake or the symbol for pot is not fixed the way that I understand. Am I missing out something?
ReplyDeleteHey guys, i dont know if anyone will see this but. i've just build the son of clay jones, sounds amazing (at least for my taste) but having a small issue. the volume pot doesn't change much the outpour volume until 3/4 of its rotation. at the last 1/4 its seems ok.. it this supposed to work this way?
ReplyDeletei see u :-)
Deletetry 100KA
Sauron? is it you? :D
DeleteThanks a lot Eike!
I went with a 500k instead, that might did the trick. tested on pc with bias fx and its ok. will check it later with my amp to make sure its gone. btw do you have any suggestions for the tone pot? its active only at the very end of its travel, i went with a B25k. maybe replace it with a 10k or 5k? Thanks again :)