The Animal is our creating of a 1968 Plexi Sound. The Animal is an extremely open and amp like sound that can get you from a stock plexi to a modified plexi with the flick of the snarl switch. The Animal can get very aggressive but it is by no means a distortion pedal, just think of a cranked plexi and how open and natural it sounds. We love this pedal!
THANK YOU!!! I'll be building this this weekend!!
ReplyDeleteMe too probably :)
Deletegain 3?
ReplyDeleteyou don't always need lug 3 of a pot to use it
DeleteI realize this, just looking for a confirmation that its not being used
DeleteYup. It's not used here. If you want, you can chain lugs 2 & 3 together. Result will be exactly the same.
Delete+m
Thanks! Will start working on this one tomorrow evening once I get back.
DeleteReverse bass1 & 3 and tag it Mark
ReplyDeleteVery nice OD/Distortion. I get some heavy hiss on high treble settings, but i tested it unboxed so...
Excellent. Thanks man, I'll get it corrected and tag it.
DeleteHey Mark, I noticed there were 2 1N4001 diodes in the schematic and in the gut shot as well. Which diodes would those be in your layout? I'm guessing it would be either D1&D3 or D2&D4, or D1&D2 or D3&D4. I'm a noob at reading schematic so I could be totally wrong.
ReplyDeleteI built it with four 1N914's. then I tried it with two 1N914's and two 1N4001's (in the D2 and D4 positions). it didn't make much difference, if at all, so I just left the 4001's in it
DeleteThe schematic shows two additional diodes. One is an indication LED connected to supply via a 33K resistor and the other is a parallel reverse polarity protection diode.
DeleteI have omitted the LED current limiting resistor because I normally only include one if there is an appropriate space on the board where it will fit without having to add an extra column. There wasn't in this case so I left it off. An extra column and appropriate resistor can always be added if the builder prefers to do that. I wouldn't have included a 33K anyway, and doubt most people would want one that big even with a super bright LED. Most people put this resistor offboard in series from the supply to LED anode.
I always omit parallel reverse polarity protection diodes (although there is some in a few of my earlier layouts) because it's a stupid thing for the manufacturer to do IMO. Parallel protection should be used with a fuse also in series with the supply so in the event of reverse polarity, the fuse blows. When the fuse is omitted, the diode will burn up (at best), or explode (at worse), possibly taking some of the board and/or other components with it.
It's just insane including them and yet most builders still do it for some bizarre reason. I do sometimes include a series parallel protection diode instead which won't pass current under reverse polarity and so the pedal simply won't work until you put in a power supply with the correct polarity. But the downside to the series diode is that it reduces the supply voltage by the forward voltage drop of the diodes and so I often don't want to include one, particularly with dirt pedals, because a drop of up to maybe 0.7V could change the response of the pedal, headroom, amount of gain etc. So if I want my layouts to sound as close to the original as possible, I only usually include series diodes when there was one in the original or sometimes when I feel there will be no or negligible audible differences by doing so (often with non dirt pedals for instance).
So don't put a reverse polarity supply in there and everything is good to go! :o)
FWIW, I used a 33k CLR just last night in my MXR Blue Box build. That blue superbright could have been used as a batsignal in Gotham City with anything less... :)
DeleteBut yeah, 33k is a bit much, I usually go with 10k or so for the real blinders.
just built it. it sounds great. as said above, swap leads 1 & 3 on the bass pot and it's good to go.
ReplyDeleteI noticed on FSB that Mark posted a layout of the Rockett Blue Note too. since it and the Animal are so similar, i'm wondering if he's going to post that one here too? (since, besides the gain pot, it does have a few different component values in it). ;-)
ReplyDeleteI posted it a while ago mate:
Deletehttp://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2010/07/rockett-blue-note-od.html
Just having a look and I didn't realise how close they were. Funny how a lot of the components I've laid out in a very similar way despite me doing that 3 years ago. Even down to grounding the non inverting input of the unused channel and linking the inverting and output which I only did as a last second change when doing the layout.
DeleteOh and I included a parallel reverse polarity protection diode. DOH! :o)
thanks for the link! i'll have to build that one too.
DeleteI just built the blue note and it's another really nice one. thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat was quick! :o)
DeleteAny one compared this design with other Plexi designs?
ReplyDeletewell, the basic circuit was initially designed by Brian Wampler (who makes awesome pedals) but then Rockett changed a bunch of the component values to voice it to be their own.
Deletedone:
ReplyDeletehttp://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/Rockett/animal-01.jpg
http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/Rockett/2Rocketts-animal-bluenote.jpg
I think that I'll get to the top of insanity with this build.... someone wants to bet if it fits in a 1590A with 4x16mm pots? :P
ReplyDeleteIf anyone was going to try that, it was always going to be you mate! :o)
Delete16mm pots? Never tried! But I have done many 4x9mm pot 1590a builds. The really tricky part will be fitting the toggle switch with the 4 pots!
DeleteWell, circuit built (works really great, very similar to the Plexi Drive, but more drive),
DeleteEnclosure is drilled. Solder side up and have to locate exactly the DC jack, but all the rest is doable.
Tomorrow I'll paint the enclosure, so this weekend hope to get it finished :P
BR
Can't wait to see it Javi !
DeleteAnd yes, it was possible :) This time really really tight, but here it is:
Deletehttp://imageshack.us/a/img841/9035/taaj.jpg
Nice sounding one, but with the snarl engaged, if you go over 2 o'clock on Treble knob you get a very high pitched whine. Don't know it it's supposed to work this way, but it happened as soon as I tried the board, so, nothing to see witht the enclosure.
Maybe someone that has build it before can tell, as I'm not really in the mood to disasemble it :P
BR
there's no whining on any position on mine. even run full up on the treble control with snarl engaged and full CW on the distortion.
DeleteWhoa! Nicely done!
DeleteHello again,
DeleteNo, I think that is an inpedance problem, not a wiring one. The voltage divider in the schematics is done with 470k resistors, and in Mark's layout is done with 47k ones.
Did you use 47k ones for any reason mark?
Will replace these resistors..... who knows when :P
BR
They were 47K in the original schematic which I've just noticed he's changed in the latest version. Shouldn't make too much difference though
DeleteVery nice one Javi
DeleteI have exactly the same issue with the treble pot...
Thanks guys :) Well, I disasembled the pedal, swapped the 47k rsistors with 470 ones, and the problem persists as Mark supposed.
DeleteThe problem seems related to treble + gain pots. If you set one of them high or very hicg, then you have to lower the other one, so high treble = low gain /high gain = low treble.
Can't find any problem in my board,and Mark's layout is verbatim to the schematics. We're 3 ones with the same problem and 1 with correct bahaviour. Don't know what the fuck can be the problem....
As I'm sure you've found out in the past, sometimes something as simple as the positioning of the wires can cause interference with some builds, and we know your wiring has to be tight in this because of the size of the box. You've not got too much room to manouver, but see if moving the input and output wires slightly affects how much whine you're getting.
DeleteThanks Mark. Yes, this is one of the first issues I did think about, but as I told you, the problem was present even before I boxed the effect.
DeleteWhen i finish a board, i check it with external jacks and battery clip and the whine was there, it was just the same once boxed.
That's why I asked if this happened to anyone more, as in some effects, mainly distortion ones is a normal behaviour to get a whine when all pots are maxed.
It was then when John told that his build has no whines, so it was clear that I did something wrong or that there's a faulty component.
Right now, there are 4 builds reported here: 1 full working with no whine and 3 working with whine, so something is tricky in this build and there's some detail we 3 have failed.
Following John's details, I've swapped two 1N914 with 1n4001's as it seems the only difference between our builds and now the whine just happens if you set all pots maxed and get the volume one over 95%, so it seems that this build is very component value dependant. Will try later today, and swap some of the caps within 1% tolerance omes to see if it affects.
BR
I'll swap the diodes and let you know
DeleteWell, finally working 100%. Thing that i checked / swapped:
Deletea) D1 and D3 -> 1N4001.
(after this step everything was working nearly perfect)
b) 47kx2 resistors of the woltage divider swapped with 2x470k as in the last schematics.
c) Swapped the 470nf multilayer I was using with a 470 polybox measuring 468 nf. The multilayer measured 420nf.
d) Swapped the 22nf multlayer with a polybox measurin 225nf.
after this step, everything was working as desired)
e) I shortened the input wire about 1.5 centimeters, so now is really tight on the build.
Don't know if this is an extremely component's value dependant, or something was wrong with the original diodes and caps. Being three builds with whine problems, I think that the first reason is the right answer, so, be very careful when building this effect.
BR
Thank you very much Javi, will try that step by step probably tomorrow and will report back
DeleteChecked this today and found out, running my build as the first pedal in the chain, it`s dead quiet. No whining or oscillation, nothing with everything maxed.... You might be right, maybe this thing doesn`t like low impedance loads...;-)
DeleteHeiko
Have not tried it as the first on my chain, but yesterday did include my Boss DF-2 (buffered) and all the whines from the Animal and the Plexi Tone at max settings dissapeared completely.
DeleteI know that the Plaxitone includes an input buffer that was removed by Brian to create the Boneyard, don't know about the Animal.
When a pedal is designed with an input and otput buffer is not a good idea to remove them just to get a true bypass effect.
BR
Javi: True. Most of the times that i (or Mark for that matter) omit buffers is to make the board footprint smaller. And if we do, we usually let you know about it in post description. Bypass has nothing to do with it. It's the electronic switching FETs that are always omitted, as those just turn the circuit on and off. Usually after the buffer.
DeleteSome (or most) designs have buffers only because of the electronic switching requires them. In these cases it should be safe to remove them. This may not be true for designs that have buffers and TBP or relay switching.
In this case - the original does not have buffers. May it be that it would greatly benefit from having them. Check the thread at FSB for traced schematic.
+m
I know Miro. That's why I said that I was no sure about the Animal, but that Brian ommited it in the Boneyard, and people had lots of problems, so he had to modify the pots, and some resistors and caps values.
DeleteIn the other hand, it's clear that the Animal has an impedance problem, as the whining gets solved with:
- a buffer before or after this effect
- using pickups with very high output
- using 470k resistors in the voltage divider
- using two 1n14001 (different voltage drop)
- even using the pickup selector in middle position in a Les Paul or 2-4 in a strato with low output pups.
BR
Mine does the same with the gain pot over 2 o`clock. I`m sure this is a wiring issue, so when I have time and when I`m in the mood to disasemble... :D
ReplyDeleteCheers
Heiko
> When a pedal is designed with an input and otput buffer is not a good idea to
ReplyDelete> remove them just to get a true bypass effect.
+1
I sometimes had problems solved by adding/removing buffers, so heads up.....
Yes, it's clear that here we have an impedance issue.
DeleteHave built a Klon buffer, and both effects, and the Proco Rat work like a dream with not the slightest trace of whine. In the Rat you get a high pitch whine when the input wire is not connected to the guitar even with my original one.
BR
Just curious. Built this mostly but haven"t finished it yet. The actual schematic shows a .47uF polarized cap off of the bass pot, but in the layout, it just shows the 470nF cap. Same value but one is eletrolytic. Which one is suggested? I put the poly in there but haven't finished it yet so now's the time to adjust. Mike.
ReplyDeleteI always show poly caps for any values between 1nf and 1uf (unless there is only a 2 row gap where I will show a multilayer ceramic or on some rare occasions electrolytics or tants. Given the choice between using a poly or an electrolytic I'd go with the poly every time. It's up to you if you prefer to use elecros of course, but I prefer to avoid caps wherever possible that have a more limited life expectancy, poor tolerances and prone to other issues such as leakage.
DeleteThat IS a good point. I put the poly's in there on THAT particular spot simply because I didn't have any in stock but the point about degredation of electrolytics is very valid. I was actually surprised to see an e cap in a tone spot going to ground so actually, I thought it was a woops. Some of those gaps ARE a PITA to get some of the bigger caps in there. I usually only stock bigger stuff since I work on mostly tube amps but I have put in a fair share of 1/4,and 1/8 watt resistors for pedals and a LOT of small caps. Bought a crapload of small value resistors in bulk from evilbay for stock. AND Gawd bless Tayda! Mike.
ReplyDeleteBuilt one this week. Even got cheap and built the box! Anyway, sounds right but only test flew it on the scope first and then on the signal tracer. Won't have the chance to hear it for real for a week or so as we are off and I'm too lazy to drag anything out! Brown box, hammered painted finish and bright green knobs. Nobody will want to steal it, that's for sure! Mike.
ReplyDeleteBuilt this tonight. Too late to turn it up loud, but from what I can tell, it sounds nice. No squealing. Built the exact layout but used 1N4001 for D1 and D3 as JaviCAP suggested. Thanks again for a fantastic layout!
ReplyDeleteI'll take a better listen tomorrow...
Yup, everything works nicely. Quiet too. A bit thin on the low-end. Probably gonna up the output cap. That would be the 4u7 cap, right?
DeleteIMO, upping the 4u7 cap won't really do anything for more low end since the 4u7 lets pretty much all of the low thru already. I changed the 470n cap on mine to a 2u2 for more low end on the bass control.
DeleteCool, thanks.
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ReplyDeleteI just built this one. It sounds awesome. Thanks for another great layout.
ReplyDeletehey just built this little puppy, used a ne5532 and is very nice and sweet sounding, i will play with some other opamps when they come in but im pretty happy it sounds awesome stacked with a clark gainster for all out madness, cheers for layout
ReplyDeleteWhat would be a good mod to possible get just a tad more gain out this. It sounds great btw.
ReplyDeletejust change the A500K gain pot to an A1M pot.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI will give that a try tyvm
ReplyDeleteWell swapping the pot out didnt really make a differece at all. Also the treb. is acting really funny. It acts more like a presence and gain know more than just a treb. What I mean by that is when I turn it up it gets more gain and fizzy. Also when the treb is cranked it makes a really loud hiss.
ReplyDeleteBuilt this today exact to the layout. No squeals but yes, it does have a hiss at full gain and with full treble but nothing more than I would expect at that setting. Not a bad pedal, nothing mind blowing though. As for 'plexi' sounding, hmmm.. It sounds good at low/medium gain settings but at high gain it just sounds meh...
ReplyDeleteI make the mistake of comparing drive pedals to my amps drive channel. Nothing ever compares!
i can't get it to light up and I think it has to do with the wiring of the switch. My on/on SPDT has three lugs, is one lug left open? If so, which one?
ReplyDeleteI've triple checked the layout and offboard wiring, but still no gas. Since this is my first build with a switch I figure it has to be there. Any insight would be awesome ... thanks ...
First SPDT switch*
DeleteSwitch lugs are like this:
Delete1
2
3
So 3 isn't used. You could use a SPST switch with just 2 lugs but SPDT seem to be available cheaper and from more sources and so we tend to use switches with the extra throw but just not use it in instances like this.
any recommendations for getting more high presence out of this circuit? the mids and upper mids are great but I'm wanting a brighter sound out of it.
ReplyDeleteReduce the 47n cap attached to Treble 2. That creates a low pass filter based on the resistance of the rotation of the treble pot, and so reducing the cap value with increase the cut off frequency of the filter.
DeleteOk thanks. Will that mod give me more presence/sizzle while leaving the treble response the same? Im just asking bc I don't want anymore treble.. only more presence. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, where can I find schematic?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Brane
Found it :)
ReplyDeleteCan you send me in novosamuka@hotmail.com ? tnx
Deleteone of the best sounding Plexi's out there, Carl Martin and this one is the real deal ;)
ReplyDeletei was glad to be able to change design of my Wampler Plexi Drive and drill 2 new holes
in my 1590BB box :)
Sorry Wampler Plexi Drive but you have to move out of the box now, there is a new kid in town :P
Building a second one for the small pedalboard. It's THAT good. Even going to BUY a REAL box for this one instead of being cheap and welding up one of my own! Mike.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, even if this is a fun hobby for most of us it's still great to support the builders you admire.
DeleteGot the new ROCHE' AMINALLE (you like that!) done. Sounds like the other one. Now I have two! Actually, THIS one's going on the big pedalboard. Mike.
ReplyDeleteHey man, great job, can you or someone else post the schematic please?
ReplyDeletetnx btw
if is not asking mutch , can you post the blue note OD schematic too ? :)
ReplyDeleteAll I have is the schem for the animal. Email me if you want it. Don't think you can attach to these posts.
ReplyDeleteplease send me to novosamuka@hotmail.com pleaseee
DeleteJust wanted to chime in on this one. I finished this up about a week ago and it is by far one of my favorites. I am usually drawn to the extreme side of noise type circuits but this thing is awesome. It's sound beats the pants off the Purple Plexi 800. It has gret range and to my ears sounds and reacts like an amp. It makes me feel like J. Mascis ( if he sucked as a guitarist ;)
ReplyDeleteAnyway if you are looking for the plexi tone, build this ASAP!
I have to agree. It's been a good one. The only thing I screwed up was I had to put the switch too close to the controls and it's a PITA to punch when you're in the battle. Have to relocate circuit board so that I can move the switch down. Stupid mistake but that's what proto'ing is all about. Mike.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI built this yesterday and its amazing, but Im getting that annoying whine with pots maxed besides I used two 4001 diodes from the beggining.
ReplyDeleteNow I should change 470k resistors in the voltage divider. Where are those 2 resistor that I should change¿
Gilberto.
And should I swap 1 and 3 from bass pot as well and why¿
ReplyDeleteLately I´m hearing a pop when switching on/off the pedal. I always bridge the board input cable to ground on the 3dpt On/Off switch just in case, so I was going to try a pulldown resistor. Then I took a look to the circuit and seemed to find one 1M resistor to ground after the input and the 150n cap, (Is that one, right?). Would trying e.g. a 2 M resistor solve the popping?
ReplyDeleteBest regards, Gilberto.
Damn. i have the same pop on mine. Someone knows how to fix this?
Deletemy animal build: http://s22.postimg.org/4yxa0f9lt/IMG_0408.jpg
ReplyDeleteit sounds lovely and i made it a little bit "roadworn" ;)
and by the way... when pedal is on it's a bright yellow LED light and when snarl switch is switched it changes to a bright blue LED light ha ha
Deleteand linemarks on buttons glows in the dark he he ;)
adding a printout and a template for drilling holes, if anyone like to use it?
ReplyDeletei even did this one better than my own, in link above ;)
printout: http://s16.postimg.org/pg86b5psl/animal_printout.png
drilling: http://s15.postimg.org/43px7xtzv/animal.png
so... if anyone likes more of this you will find different templates by looking at these veros;
Echoplex, Animal, Proco Rat, Small Clone, Joe Bonamassa, Tonebender Mk I
cheers
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with a bunch of the comments above, having played with this for the last 6 months thus is the best sounding Plexi type pedal, thanks a lot fir your work on this lvlark. Hoping for some advice, I like the snarl switch but would love to wire it as a stomp for solos etc... no problem on the wiring but I'd like to be able to add a volume pot to the snarl so I could get louder and meaner on the solo stomp. Any direction on where/how to include an addition volume pot?
ReplyDeletea 4pdt switch.
Deletehttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hWtqqQxBsDs/SctnqaT5Y7I/AAAAAAAAAFo/7hmqjpximUE/s400/4PDT_switches.jpg
4PDT on/on
DeleteHey thanks Egon, I'm good with wiring the switch, just need some help with increasing the volume on the snarl......
ReplyDeletea resistor, with a value of choice, that kicks in on output, instead of volume pot. or a small booster circuit, pre set with resistorvalues instead of pots.
ReplyDeleteA new version just came out! hopefully someone takes a peek into it and posts up a new version!
ReplyDelete