Thursday 7 March 2013

Vemuram Jan Ray

Info about the "original" modified Timmy:

A firm natural overdrive with a pleasant silky sustain. An easy to handle overdrive with great sustain without any unnatural compression. It keeps the characteristics of the tones that the guitars naturally produce. The Jan Ray reproduces that great sustaining punchy clear tones of the blackface Fender amps from the 60's. The tone is crispy yet the low is warm and mellow.

And it only costs £300 here in the UK for a blatant rip off!  Bargain!  And so I strongly suggest anyone considering buying one gets themselves a Timmy instead or makes their own.




[Update 17th July 2014]
I like the compressed setting on the Timmy and so have added an updated layout which includes an additional switch to choose between compressed and uncompressed symmetrical clipping.







BUY A KIT

150 comments:

  1. I wonder how some people sleep at night sometimes....Rip something off... ok.... but charge £300!?....

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    1. Sign 'o the times, I'm afraid... :(

      That's exactly why I got into DIY pedals. The prices for what's basically the same old thing are sometimes exorbitant and there's no way I'm paying that kind of cheddar for something I can slap together in one evening pretty much dirt cheap.

      So that's big ups for your efforts, Mark. And Miro's, of course... :)

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    2. The info keeps trickling down, until morons like me have a decent chance on making an excellent array of dirt pedals to play with for about the cost of buying a used Behringer each. Some people seem to think capitalizing on that is good business sense, but it's getting really hard to be the wizard behind the screen now. Devi Ever has launched some real attacks on JHS for ripping off some ROG circuits, most recently the Supro for their Thunderbolt pedal, and I don't blame her one bit.
      I like her policy of keeping her circuits on her blog page. She's pretty transparent in...err, everything. Companies who tweak a Maestro fuzz, then goop it in to cover their tracks should be shown for their scandalous actions.
      Having said that, I had a conversation with a 3/4 pro musician friend about my newfound hobby, and he said "that sounds hard" and "ugh, that's a lot of work" about stuff like Fuzz Faces. He would much rather lay down 10x the cost for someone else to do it, and I'm thinking he's the popular opinion.
      Regardless of the logic, I guess people are always going to want to have an expensive toy on their board. Whoever bought that belittling Klon for $700 is probably proud as hell about it.

      eh. leave it to em. I have my Godin Radiator instead of an SG with P90s + thinline Tele and I'm happy about it, but I'm a buffoon for liking it in the popular opinion.

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    3. Made even worse when they try to hide it behind goop. When they do that in these cases there can be no excuse that it is to protect their designs. It's solely to hide the fact that they're liars.

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    4. Ar eyou happy with the P90/Radiator combination? I was looking at my Radiator the other day and it sorta crossed my mind...

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  2. Is the trimmer one of these? - http://www.taydaelectronics.com/10k-ohm-trimmer-potentiometer-cermet-25-turns-3296w.html

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    1. According to this, it is (3296w):
      http://www.bourns.com/pdfs/3296.pdf

      It has pin spacing of 2.54mm (.100 mil) which is exactly the spacing of vero stripes.

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    2. You can also add a column between col 1 and 2 and use this one http://www.taydaelectronics.com/potentiometer-variable-resistors/trimmers/6mm-top-adjustment/10k-ohm-trimpot-variable-resistor-6mm.html

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    3. The 3296 is not the part used in the original. It's a multi-turn (25) trimmer and would be an absolute pain in the ass to use. The original uses a 3386H.

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  3. You can hear the guitar slowly detune throughout the video..

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    1. Bang on observation.

      I love your videos so much, Geiri!

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    2. Thank you! Honestly, I just put my iphone down on the edge of a drawer, place the pedal underneath, hit record and start playing hah!

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  4. This kind of things reminds me of the shop near my old house selling the .79p ikea watering cans for £3!

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  5. I found a seller on ebay a few years back, selling singular packets of Sainbury's own value range of baby wipes for £1.50 a packet plus P&P. At the time they were 17p to buy from the supermarket. Cnuts the lot of em'!

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  6. The vbias to ground resistor value has been corrected by Matt and the layout has been altered (1K5 should be 7K5). That now makes it exactly the same ratio as in the Timmy. Quelle surprise!

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    1. Ha but opposite sides, just like the Amp 11, and the other values fit too. So basically this is a rip off of the Lovepedal rip off of a Timmy!

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    2. i'm glad that you caught that now! I just finished building up the board and am about to wire it up for testing.

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  7. On thing I think simplifies the whole layout without changing a thing is get rid of the 9k1, 680R and trimmer running to the 39n and replace it all with a 3k3. Same as in the Timmy...hmm interesting :)

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    1. I agree, I just don't see the point in having a trimmer and then putting a resistor in parallel with it. Why not just use a lower value trimmer?

      And what is the 680 ohm resistor about? A minimum resistor for a trimmer? Why would you? It's a trimmer, a set and forget!

      They're just incidentals trying to camouflage the truth (which I'm sure will be used to mitigate in the future), but in the end it's meaningless nonsense. This is a Timmy clone (or a clone of a Timmy clone) and he's made 400+ of these based on the pedal numbering, at £300 a throw saying it's a 3 year R&D design.

      I'm dying to get all his other pedals under the microscope to see what other designs he claimed to be 3 years R&D.

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    2. Yes I can't wait! I breadboarded this today...just swapping the 47n with a 10n, and a 1M pot for the 500K and it's a Timmy. Last time I checked 47n caps and 1M pots didn't cost $270! Yeah that whole resistance in parallel thing is very strange and seems to not do anything...except squeal if you turn it all the way.

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    3. If I'm reading the schematic correctly, that would mean 3k3 from B(horizontal)8(vertical) to B4, not B3, right?

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    6. Much like Thomas I'm curious about the placement of the 3k3 resistor, so I can use fewer parts.

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  8. Can someone make me one??? Im very interested in testing against my timmy...

    Email me at matt.newman11@gmail.com

    cheers

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  9. Wow, it gets better, apparently you can buy an official 'modded' version for $600 that adds an expression pedal socket which then controls, wait for it, the volume!!! Why would you even go to the bother of creating that when someone could just buy a volume pedal to stick after it?

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  10. VERIFIED! it sounds frickin' great! ( it should, since it sounds just about exactly like a Timmy). IMO, the bass pot works ALOT better if it's a 50K reverse audio (instead of a 50K linear one), and the gain pot works better with a 500K audio instead of a 500 linear. you'd think that they'd have done that for the money that they're asking for these things. I guess those brass enclosures cost a fortune! ;-)

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  11. got it mounted in its enclosure. here's a pic of it:

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

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    1. Awesome, thanks for verifying and for the pic mate. If you limit the Gain pot rotation to half, and Treble pot rotation to a quarter, is it pretty much matching a Timmy exactly? It should do.

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    2. Hi Mark. yes, it sounds and FEELS just like a Timmy to me.

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    3. gut shot:
      http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/Vemuram/Vemuram-02.jpg

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  12. Another cool mod (for this or the Timmy) is a switch for the 10n/47n in the LPF from pin 5 to ground. It pretty much turns one into the other. It's the only 47n on this layout :)

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    1. I also didn't realize a new timmy is only $129! I am definitely going to buy one after all this. Great pedal and worth supporting the creator.

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    2. Definitely worth it, after conversion I paid more buying mass produced pedals like Boss in the UK. Definitely the best £65 I spent on a pedal.

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  13. But wait, wasn't the MKI a tweaked Fuzz Tone with a gooped board?

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  14. Hi mark just starting to build this one for a friend is there any replacment for the ic lm1458

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    Replies
    1. Any dual op-amp will work (4558, LM833, TL072, etc)

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    2. Thanks mark, that was my guess but ibwasent sure

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  15. Hey..so I've been reading through the posts on this thread,and was wondering (maybe this isn't the right forum to put this up on, but anyway) if it is at all possible to objectively classify a design/circuit as completely original or completely ripped off...from the little knowledge I have of audio electronics it seems that many popular 'vintage' circuits have their roots in electronics textbook examples and the like...so, in view of this, how original are the original designs to start with?
    Just a thought...

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    1. Few effects are 100% original, and many ones are "based on....". But what many of us find indignant / unacceptable is that a "designer" claims to spend 3 years in r&d to build "the pedal", goops in shit the pcb in order to "protect" "his" long time investigation design... and what you get is a 100% copy of an existing effect.

      Is something like he claims to have "invented" after 3 years a great and incrdible fuxx, and you take a look at the guts and find a Fuzz face.

      Don't know exactly how "original" are the originals in many case, but I bet the former ones ara a bit more "original".

      BR

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    2. There are only so many ways to use the semiconductors, so nothing can be really original (except maybe for stuff like Death By Audio, who are using the components "wrong").

      But the question should maybe be with how you are marketing and/or claiming your designs.

      Some of the circuits are marketed as completely original and something new, while they are in reality Big Muffs or Tubescreamers with swapped cap values. And then there's the goop issue.. (only two reasons to use goop: a)cover up really bad workmanship and b)cover up that the circuit is "stolen" - Being open about the designs can't be bad for you - take Devi for example...)

      Briggs has a very good article about this behaviour:
      http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.fi/2012/02/tone-monk-seed-of-life.html
      Ok. That's a bit harsh example...

      So for me, the issue is more with claiming to have created an original than with having created an original, if you get what i mean.. If this particular box was selling for 150£ without goop and the spiel said something like "reviving the vintage overdrive tones, based loosely on the classic Tubescreamer". That would be something that i might even buy. That way the creator wouldn't be lying.
      +m

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  16. So supposing we take an existing topology, lets say the standard fuzz face...and change all the values of biasing, transistors etc...till the sound changes significantly (enough to be a 'new' effect)...will that be an original design? What determines the originality factor? is it the circuit type and topology, the specific parts and values used, the control parameters/potentiometers, the user interface (eg - taking a fuzz and replacing most of the resistors with 'bias' or 'level' etc etc pots...making the resultant unit a highly tweakable one, from a users point of view...but undeniably a fuzz)... which of these would be called originality and which would amount to plagiarism, or is that too naive a question :)

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    1. I believe i just wrote about all this above... :)
      +m

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  17. Sorry, Mirosol, I think I was typing out my comment at the same time so didn't see yours :)

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    1. No worries. I'll have another example for you:
      http://fyaelectronics.com/creations/apiformis/

      I don't feel bad about the design at all.

      So i think that the originality factor is determined by you only and you are only accountable to your conciousness.
      +m

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  18. I think I get it now...it has less to do with whether the circuit is 100% original or not and more a matter of how someones trying to market it. Hmm...
    I've actually been thinking about this for a while, ever since I read about one of the Fulltone pedals that claimed to be patent pending, and circuit inspection revealed that the 'patent pending' bit was just a dual gang pot. Somehow I find it hard to swallow that as a significant design innovation.

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  19. As the guys have already said, nothing is original. There isn't a pedal that's ever been released that didn't appear in a standard electronics text book beforehand (other than, as Miro mentioned, some DBA, Devi and similar designs which use the amplifying components in unconventional ways). What makes an effect (or anything else for that matter) original is the way the classic blocks are put together.

    The Fuzz Face is a simple cascading amplifier and the components it uses are classic electronics. Biasing and feedback resistors (and pots replacing biasing resistors), coupling caps etc. If you change every value then you have certainly come up with something new based on a classic design.

    If however you take a Timmy, or even more closely matched a Lovepedal Amp 11 (which is well established to be a Timmy clone) and change the value of just 2 components and then claim you came up with a new design through listening to a Blackface amp and researching it for 3 years, then not only are you profiting from someone elses research and values (which bothers me less), but you're also being dishonest to every customer who has spent $375 with you (which bothers me more).

    Vemuram has disputed this but that is really all he could do otherwise he would have at least 408 unhappy customers on his doorstep. But there is absolutely no doubt about it in my opinion, having studied thousands of effect schematics closely over the last few years. The two differences between the Jan Ray and the Amp 11 are the trimmer and parallel resistor instead of the 3K3 resistor (which still gives him an approximate mid setting on the trimmer of 3K3), and the Tone pot which he made 10K when the Amp 11 is 5K which shifts the frequency response of that pot. That's it, every single other component is the same (or in the case of a couple of components close enough that they are no different to usual component tolerances).

    After doing so many layouts you can see immediately what certain pedals or even small features within those pedal are based on, and I can tell immediately that a builder has used bits of a Tubescreamer, a Rat, with a Muff tone stack etc. That's expected and not a problem, as I said it's classic electronics. For something like the Jan Ray to have been developed as is from the ground up as was suggested, and yet still have exactly the same layout and core values (same shelving filter, same mis biased reference voltage, same tone control configuration, same main diode arrangement, same values in filters etc etc) as the Timmy and Amp 11, it would be, I expect, a longer shot than winning the lottery. And the fact that the official response to this by the builder talked about the difference in sound and no longer about his development after long hours with a Blackface, speaks volumes.

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    1. Totally agree.

      Lying to yourself and all your customers is a bad thing. If i was to "rip off" something, i would still expect to get away with it by just mentioning where it came from.

      It's not even the price that bothers me. It's more than ok to ask for 300 for a pedal that is very well built.

      Rat with a BMP tone stack... hmmmmm....
      +m

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    2. Hands off! I already invented that one and did 3 years R&D on it! :o)

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    3. AAAAAaaahahahaha!

      You should sell those made-to-order in swirl painted boxes for 490£ a pop.
      :D
      +m

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    4. And with 28 months wait :D
      +m

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  20. Okay, another question...but, then, purely from a legal point of view, shouldn't it be ridiculously easy for Paul C. to file lawsuits against guys like Lovepedal and this one? What is the laws take on this...are the plagiarism regulations not stringent enough or is there enough room for such ambiguities to remain unresolved?

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    1. Paul C isn't suing for exactly the same reason why Boss, Tech21, MXR an ten others aren't suing Joyo.

      Majority of all the circuits are not patented. Patenting Fuzz Face would be very similar to patenting boiling water over the stove. Patenting Rat or TS would be very similar to patenting cooking pasta on that boiling water.

      It's all about basic electronics. The world where basic audio amplifier could be patented and that patent enforced by the law - i wouldn't want to live in that world.

      Plagiarism applies to product names and/or trademarks... From legal point of view, ripping design off is basically ok. It's just very bad and ugly practice.
      +m

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  21. I agree with what Mark and Miro are saying. There's some guys who claim to have designed stuff they didn't and that's not cool.

    I'm building pedals like crazy. I make 2-3 every day and I've developed (ooohhh, bad choice of words?) a way of making them efficiently. I'm not skipping any steps or anything. I'm quick and I make every pedal with the same steps and methods so I get quicker with practice.

    I sell the pedals I make and I honestly am trying to make a profit to live on. So far I've made enough to be very well stocked on components and stuff, which is awesome because then I can make more stuff!

    I've never claimed to own anything in the circuits I build. Most people realise that I'm cloning and they're fine with it. I'm also fine with it myself because it's not like the big companies are losing customers to me, oh no.

    I love following builders for example on Instagram and see what they're doing. I've seen a few guys building stuff from the layouts here and it's great!

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    1. Geiri, maybe you could share your pedal building tips and tricks sometime so the rest of us can get up to speed :)
      Cheers,
      J.

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    2. Hah! Yeah I'll list a few points here that may be obvious to some.

      Once I've got my veroboard to the size I need, I look at the layout and use a sharpie (black permanent marker) to mark the cuts. What probably saves me some time here is experience. I'm very quick at making those markers. Then I use my vero cutting tool (basically a drillbit with a handel) and make the cuts. Again, I do this very quickly because I've done it loads of times. I just quickly glance on the other side and then make a few cuts.

      I bought the little handy tool that Mark posted here a while ago. It's a little tool used for fixing cell phones or something. It's brilliant!

      I put ALL of the resistors and diodes in one go. Again, practice, because I bend the components to size from memory so I usually get it right. Then on the other side I bend the wires so they stay in place.

      After resistors and diodes come IC sockets and transistors. Then all capacitors and whatever might be left. From the layout view, I do everything from right to left. No idea why but that's what I do hah!

      When the circuit is ready I usually have an enclosure ready to drill so I go and quickly drill it with a drill-press and use step drills (which saves time!)

      Once that's done I put all the pots, jacks, switches and LEDs in their place and start off by wiring the LED before anything else. I want to get it out of the way. I wire the - of the LED to the switch and use Marks offboard wiring. I've also memorised it so I never need to look at it. Then I wire a resistor from the 9v power input to the + of the LED. If the LED is in an awkard place needing long wires and stuff, I put tape on the enclosure so that it's underneath all the wiring (preventing it touching the enclosure) and wire it however I need to. Then I put tape on top so that it's secure from anthing.

      Then I do all the grounding, input and output. If there's any wiring from or between the pots that doesn't go to the board itself, I take care of it. I basicallty take care of ALL wiring that doesn't go to the board first. Then I put all the wires from pots, switches, ground, power in their approximate length in their place. I've already stripped both ends.

      Last thing is the circuit and I always do it in order from the layout, top left to bottom right. Usually it works out fine right away but sometimes I do mess up and put a wire in the wrong place and I usually see it fairly quickly.

      This turned out longer than I expected hah!

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    3. It's really all about practice. I think I'm at my 350th build now or I might have passed it. When I lived in London I got to about 150 or slightly more. I did lose count at one point and estimated a lower number. When I moved back to Iceland a few months ago I reset the counter and I'm up to #091.

      Make sure that if you find a convenient way (for you) of doing something, memorize it and keep doing it. When wiring stuff, see if you can come up with a quicker way of doing it. Believe me, if you'd see how I did it almost 2 years ago, you'd laugh. I had no idea what I was doing!

      ps. It also helps to be handy and a swift learner. I always learn everything so quickly (as long as it's not some school class or something.)

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    4. Geiri, can you maybe tell us more about your pedal finishing (paint, artwork)? Maybe in the forum?
      Thanks

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    5. Amazing, Geiri...hopefully with enough years of practice I'll get where you are :)
      Could you tell me a bit about enclosures you use? Are they standard Hammond boxes or do you experiment?

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    6. Hey cheers! I used to buy enclosures from Gapco.co.uk because they have free shipping within UK and I used to live in London but now I'm back again in Iceland so I buy enclosures from Bitcheslovemyswitches.com and I buy a lot each time so it's worth it for me. He's also willing to put a very low value on the package. Last time I payed about £15 customs for 52x enclosures and 50x knobs.

      I did buy a few weirdo shaped Hammond enclosures from Das Musikding the other day, just for fun!

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  22. A question if a may :) buildt it and everything works fine but the gain pot dosent add more gain just sorta volym. Bass treble volym sounds great. But as a said no gain is added with the pot. Would it sound even if the diods were broken or what, help pleas? Im realy starting to dubt my skills iv buildt around 40 or so pedals but the lastest 2 i just have problem with

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    1. The diodes dictate how it clips but the gain is set by the value of the pot in the feedback loop, so if it isn't changing anything then something must be wrong somewhere with the build.

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    2. Could it be that the 10k trimpot is broken or is it after the trimpot you think?

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    3. Even if the trimpot was broken, you still have the 9K1 in parallel with it and wouldn't stop the gain pot working entirely. You need to carefully double check every connection around there, look for bad joints or unwanted bridges, and if else is good, then you're going to have to start swapping in case you have a faulty component. If the drive pot isn't working but everything else seems ok, then the drive pot itself is a real suspect.

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    4. Ok thanks im gonna check everything and get back to you

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    5. Im such an ass i switched the volym pot with the gain pot. And there for no gain. Sometimes you just need someone to point you in a new direction. Thanks allot mark. Just today me and the guitar teatcher at the school i work at compared the real with my clone. It was very simiular a bit moore bass in the clone.

      Thanks again.
      I posted a question in on the suhr riot fixed that i would realy appriciate if you could look att that.

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  23. I just finished this one, sounds very nice
    Replacement parts I used are :
    - 9k1 --> 8k2
    - 3k3 --> 3k6
    - 47pf --> 50pf
    - 22pf -->2x10pf in //
    - LM1458 --> JRC4558

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  24. Hi mark i have a question regarding the two layouts. On the first one you have a link between pin 2 and 3 on the trimpot. and on the later theres no link at all. What is the reason for that? On the schematics iv found, the trimpot seems to be connected like in the first layout. But mabey it dosent make a diffrence?
    The reason im asking is on my build when the trimpot is maxed to the right you get a background static nosie when hitting the guitar and when turning the trimpot down it disapears. Iv cecked all other components and the seem fine. I have compared my pedal to the real one cause a friend got one. And the trimpot makes the sound open up and get more transparent. But when i open up my it gets over transparent and you get a hizz och behind the guitar sound. Well thanks for the best site ever
    have a good day
    Jens

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    1. When a trimmer is used like that it's a simple variable resistor and so only 2 lugs need to be used. Some people do favour connecting the middle and unused lug but it really isn't necessary. But I included the link in the first layout because I didn't have room on the middle lug row to connect the 680R resistor and so by including the link it meant I could connect that one row up and not have to increase the width of the layout by one column or have to move the trimmer to the far left hand column which I prefer to avoid. With the second layout, and the round trimmer mounted vertically, I didn't need the link because the type of trimmer and orientation means that the middle wiper lug is already on the third row.

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  25. Mark,
    Is there any reason you omitted two 200n caps?
    It's in the schematic, but I don't see that in the vero layout.
    I guess something not affects the sound of the pedal?

    Regards,

    JC

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    1. sorry, not 200 n, it is 100n caps.

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    2. These two caps are placed in the +V path, not even in the signal one, so their influence in sound would be no great anyway.

      But besides this, every 100nf cap is set in parallel with a 47uf one (noise filtering caps) so it gives a 47,1uf total value..... something a bit stupid in my opinion :P, surely your 47uf is not by any means exactly 47uf... so... why add a 100nf?

      BR

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    3. Yes, as Javi said. I omitted because pointless IMO and not worth wasting a 100n over and you will hear zero difference.

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  26. First of all, thanks to all involved for running this site!
    After building this i swapped the GAIN and VOLUME pots to log and the BASS pot to rev log.
    Sounds very very good and I'm happy with how the knobs feel after the pot swap.

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  27. Today i finished this one, but when i try it, it doesn't work. The led doesn't light when the output jack is add and there is a lot of noise. I can't hear the sound of the guitar from the amplification. I believe to have wrong in the 3pdt wiring. Someone can help me?
    A lot of photos:
    https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115121899404878534090/albums/5907920737156781057?partnerid=gplp0
    2 short videos:
    https://plus.google.com/u/0/115121899404878534090/posts?partnerid=gplp0
    https://plus.google.com/u/0/115121899404878534090/posts?partnerid=gplp0

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    1. Is there a true bypass signal? You should use Mark's wiring:

      http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.nl/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html

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  28. Here's my J.Raunch built (Jan Ray): http://instagram.com/p/d189MqQBcA/

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    1. Great job and that for the other pics too

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  29. Hi !
    I finished this a couple days ago and it sounds great except that high frequency oscillation that occur when the treble pot is set to max and no guitar plugged in.
    No pb when the guitar is plugged in.
    If anyome knows how to fix that pb .......
    Thanks

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    1. Why would you ever use it without a plugged in guitar? Seems like a non-problem to me

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  30. If I wanted to use electro caps for the two 1uf values, which direction would I put the negative side of the cap? Thanks in advance!

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    1. Am I correctly reading the schematic when I'm saying: both facing up on this vero plan?

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  31. I like the mids and lows better on this than my Timmy clone but the highs are too smooth for me. How would I go about increasing the high end brilliance on it? Thanks

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  32. Hi - am about to begin building this and just have one quick question. If I wanted to get more gain could I do that simply by using a bigger value gain-pot? Say 1M instead of 500K?

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  33. Hey Mark, I'm a bit confused. Where are Treble 1&2 going? Aren't there supposed to be 4 diodes instead of 3?

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    1. Sorry I missed it from the notes. Gain 2 & 3 to Treble 1 & 2. And there are 4 diodes, 2 on the board and 2 on the switch, it gives you the option of the Timmy's compressed mode by lifting the two diodes on the switch although the standard Vemuram config with with all 4 in circuit. The third diode on the board is for reverse polarity protection for the supply.

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  34. Is there a layout without the switch?

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    1. yes man, give me your mail and I'll send you!

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  35. Hello, i'm looking for the previous schematics with the 4 diodes on the board and the trimpot.
    Is it available somewhere?
    Thanks

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    1. yes man, give me your mail and I'll send you!

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  37. Hey! Do you think its enough to make the 47n capacitor switchable to 10n to switch between Timmy and Jan Ray sound? Don't you think, the trimmer has influence on the Bass-circuit? I guess those small ceramics don't have big influence on sound, right? And what about the input-resistor (T: 510k ; JR: 1M)?
    Maybe somebody already tried to make a Timmy/JanRay-switch and can give me some advise :-)
    Thanks a lot!

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  38. What would it take to reduce a bit the output of the pedal ?
    Thanks

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    1. Reduce the value of 3K3 resistor.
      +m

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    2. Thanks man I'll try that with a log vol pot

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  39. I noticed an additional 100n cap on this updated schematic at Vol 1, what does this add (or subtract).
    Many thanks for all you do!

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    1. The original had a 100n supply filter cap in parallel with the main 47u filter cap. I usually think things like this are fairly pointless in these effects, but there was a convenient space so I included it anyway. Include it or omit it, it won't make too much difference

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  40. Hi. I just finished to build this pedal. It works great except one point. The volume pot is not really easy to use. It seems it gets very quickly from no sound to maximum volume. Am I the only one to notice this ? Should I replace the volume with another value, try a log one ? Thanks for your answers.

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    1. That's normal.
      On my last build i tried a log vol pot and it's perfect, unity is at half way and you still have a huge amount of output in the final half

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    2. That's exactly what i'm looking for. I'm gonna try a 10K Log pot.
      Thank you very much Alltrax !

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  41. Hi :) If I want to omit the switch, all I need to do is add two rows and put the diodes to where Sw2 and Sw5 would go, right?

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  42. Hi, I build one. It sounds great. But when I play long chords or notes, the sound crackles at thing.
    Any thoughts what it could be?

    Grtz

    R

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    Replies
    1. crackles at the end. Damn you autocorrect !! :D

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  44. I've got two quesitons.

    1. Whats the trimpot for? And where should it be set to?
    2. Is there a layout without the compression switch?

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    1. The cynic in me believes the trimpot was only included to make it appear further removed from the Timmy. It reality it, along with the 680R in series with it and the 9K1 in parallel give a resistance range of between 630R and 4K9 in the trimmer instead of the fixed 3K3 in the Timmy. This will alter minimally the lowest frequency in the Bass pot but as the trimmer seems to be factory set around half way, the value from it will be very close to the 3K3 value anyway.

      It's just a smokescreen to me.

      If you don't want the compression switch, just add two diodes in series in each direction on the board instead of one and omit the switch. That will then be as per the stock Jan Ray.

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    2. Oh and I forgot another important step, make a link between the Sw2 and Sw5 points on the board to complete the diode connections

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    3. Hey thanks! I actually build this using your previous layout that is found a FSB.

      Put it in a box with a Marvel Drive. Sounds fantastic!

      http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T1ZIHVn_dFI/UTkwkMZWACI/AAAAAAAAFO8/FCOl2R560d4/s1600/Vemuram+Jan+Ray.png

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  45. I made this from the original schematic (no switch) and it's a lovely pedal. A bit more gain would be nice though. Any way to achieve this?

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  46. Built this twice with no joy, you have to hit the strings hard to get a crackle. Has anything changed from this (rev3) from the old ones?

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  49. Hello, many thanks for the info and layouts on here. i'm new to building pedals and have just completed this. I did have a bit of bother with wiring the pots, down to my inexperience, but now have the pedal working fine. I have to say it sounds excellent with my Tele, I'ts great for mild loud od and turning up the gain just past half way gives a great raunchy sound. Backing off the gain and guitar vol cleans it nicely for good Fender tone. I also built an E.P booster, between the two pedals i've got a good range of quality tones…I'm Going to start on the WTF kit next, and look forward to building many more.
    Cheers, Rik.

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  50. want to build a timmy kit, and make a few mods to circuit, could you please send me the schematic for the jan ray ? James

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  51. So I just bought a kit. And I have a joyo octave fuzz. This one has two foot switches, 3 pots and one switch. I was thinking to use this enclosure for the kit.

    So either, have the 4 knobs on top, and the switch as a DPDT I an step on, Or, have the gain knob (big one) where one of the foot switches is on the joyo so I can adjust the gain with my foot.

    What do you guys think?

    /Edson

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  52. I bought the kit and started to build it, realized that the drawing and the kit are not 1:1. Can someone send me the drawing of the kit please. please, please :)

    /edson

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  53. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Post voltages, and good pics of your build.

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  54. So if I want to build it without the "clipping-switch" I just put the 2 diodes from the switch on opposite direction to each other and connect them to Sw2 and Sw5, right?

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  55. What is the white/blue dot? I get that the blue dot is where the jumpers land. Are there two jumpers landing in the white/blue dot hole?

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  56. yes, that's where two jumpers connect to each other.

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    1. John. Can you pls tell me which is which are connected to that white/blue dot? Im really confused about it and my build didnt work.

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  59. Any idea why mine dont have sound? Ive followed everything and all i get is a louder clean sound and a lower one.

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  60. Hi Guys,
    Newbe question on the layout I can see the output connection on this board. I.E. where it says Volume 2 to output where do I connect it. Thanks. I think this is a common thing with all layout diagrams? Thanks

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    1. Not with all layouts, but often happens... :)

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  61. What is the purpose of the 10K trimmer?
    Can I replace it with a fixed resistor, and if so, what value?

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    1. I read somewhere that trimmer should set the amount of the bass (maybe the gain, too?). The trimmer is in series with a 680R, and both in parallel with a 9.1k resistor. If you set the trimmer at 4.7k or use a fixed resistor you should get the same value in the Paul Cochrane's Timmy, even if it has a 1M gain pot.

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    2. In the Vemuram website this is called Saturation trimmer... http://www.vemuram.com/jan-ray.html

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  62. hey guys, i got a problem with the 2nd i made.

    I have a problem with the bass potentiometer. When it's not fully open, I have no gain. it is clear that the grain comes at once at the end of the opening.

    Bass does not change

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  63. Built one some time ago, and another one soon
    Thanks as usual guys!

    Pics here:

    https://hgecontraptions.blogspot.com/2018/02/vemuram-ray-jan-clone-118th-pedal-built.html

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  64. The other one and there is a video sample there also:

    https://hgecontraptions.blogspot.com/2020/01/vemuram-jan-ray-clone-2nd-one-built.html

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  65. Sounds really great this one, but would it be possible in future to have a version just like the original without the switch?

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    1. The original just had 2 series diode pairs in each direction so if you want it exactly as per the original just make up two series pairs and then solder them where D1 and D2 are shown on the board. Then you can ignore the switch and the SW2 and SW5 wires.

      http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/file/n12983/Timmy_Jan_Ray_small.gif

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    2. That’s great.
      Many thanks
      Ben

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  66. Thanks for your work, do you have the schematic of this exact design ? Also what is the "original" position for the switch ? Center ?

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  68. Thank you for this great layout.
    I really enjoy the pedal but there is only one consideration.
    It feels like there is no noticeable tone difference from the switch position and i wonder whether it is normal or I have to go back to the bench?

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  69. Only the effect sound is in a low volume state. What are the possible causes?

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  70. Only the effect sound is quiet. What are the possible causes?

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  71. So is that Gain 2 to treble 1 and Gain 3 to treble 2?

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