Friday 2 August 2013

Boss OD-3 SubClone

Found this floating around the interweb some time ago. It is OD-3, with tone control, buffering and switching components removed. The original design would be crazy big and undoable (at least for me) on vero. So this WGTP's simplification of schematic supplied by J. Luja more than 10 years ago should suffice. According to DIYSB thread, it should sound very close to the original. Like the name suggests, it's not a clone, but a SubClone. Offering what makes up the OD-3 sound but in a lot smaller circuit footprint.

Here's a Boss Soundcheck clip of the original:


27 comments:

  1. i love this pedal.... this version without buffer... would sounds with less output??? thanks!!!

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    1. Not quite sure if i understand.. If you mean will this be quieter than the original? Don't really know, but i'd expect it to be loud enough.
      +m

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    2. me too.... i would like to make it!! i hope that sounds great than the original...

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  2. One of my favourites, definitely on the todo list... Where would I put the tone control? As I see in the original it's a simple lowpass filter (http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schemview.php?id=2299) right before the level control, so I assume I could use the level connections and connect the level pot to the tone pot, right?

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    1. I think in the original that is formed with a dual opamp, 8 caps and 7 resistors. That whole section is the tone control, making it active notch filter with a pot at the end to cut it. Of course you could try SWTC2, but that'll probably eat up some of the output.
      +m

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  3. Hmmm, two hours before I have to start getting ready for work. Game on.

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    1. I'm having a couple of issues with this, first off there was barely any signal, I noticed that the 10uf cap wasn't connected to anything on one side so after a look at the schem I moved the cut 3 holes over between the 1k resistor and 47nf cap and bridged the previous cut, I'm pretty sure that's now correct. Now there's plenty of signal but no dirt, only clean signal with the faintest hint of drive in the background, almost like the signal's bypassing the clipping sections. I can't see any other problems with the layout vs the schem but unfortunately I'm going to have to go to work so I'll have to leave it until later to take another look.

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    2. Good call. I fixed the cut. Did you use sockets? I'm thinking the JFET biasing may be the cause of low gain. So you could swap them around and see if that does it.
      +m

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    3. Yeah I socketed them, just about to leave for work though :( I'm back just after midnight though so I'll have a pop at it them. J201's should be the best bet though gain-wise right? I've got a bunch of other JFETs so I'll try a few.

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    4. Thanks by the way, help's always much appreciated :D

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  4. I have the same problem as the madferret. Something aint right.

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    1. I do believe that the differential pair/discrete opamp needs to be matched to work correctly.

      If you spot something wrong against the schematic, let me know.
      +m

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    2. Hmm, I've still not had much luck with this. I've not had too much time to experiment though as I've been in work all weekend. I'll try to get a matched pair out of what I've got here and see if it helps.

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  5. silly question... What is a double link?

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    1. Two links sharing one hole on the board.

      There may be an issue with the schematic on this one, so don't get your hopes up just yet... (maybe i should tag it as on-hold...)
      +m

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  6. Thanks for the heads up Miro! I feel like a bonehead but I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the whole double link idea? Does that mean that 2 components or 2 jumpers are going into the same hole? I see that a jumper is going over that spot, but I'm not sure what is "double linking"? I apologize if this is something that is gone over somewhere else on the site? I was having trouble finding anything in other comments or in other forums. I'm sure it is a user error on my part! Thanks for the help regardless!!

    upthepunxxx!!!
    -Los Angeles, CA

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    1. Two link leads in a single hole. On this particular layout, the link goes from top row to JFET Drain and the second link from that Drain to the lower resistor's collector. Both links have the other lead in the single hole at the JFET Drain. This method is being used quite a lot on our layouts. Try it with leftover resistor leads and you'll get a hang of it.

      By the way - we just had our first 7'' ep out. You might be interested. http://d-beatles.bandcamp.com/
      +m

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    2. Ahhhh I think I got it now, Thanks a bunch! Your band is rad! up-ing the punxx for sure. Where you guys based out of? You got a good scene going? If you ever come to LA, we should set up some shows!!

      upthepunxxx!

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    3. is this you guys?

      http://youtu.be/SaoSBU7Dbo0

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  7. Did anyone find a fix to the layout?

    I'm having the same problem as the others- volume is around unity with the level and gain controls maxed, and the tone is brittle.

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  8. I run a wire from Gain 1 to G of Q4, that fixed the issue. Looking at the schematic Gain1 should go to Q4 but it doesn't.

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    1. Amazing! And what about the sound?

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    2. Thank you Er cinese ... I confirm that this was the missing bit and that it solves the issue mentioned above. As regards to this pedal's sound, I'm not that keen on it myself but that will vary with taste, as long as this simple update is implemented.

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