From the Tone God's site: A simple ten part non-selective frequency tripler. It creates octave-like sounds on lower settings and on higher settings generates a metallic swell effect through out the decay of the note(s). It is particularly noticeable with using bent multiple notes.
The Drive control affects how much signal is going through the tripling portion of the circuit. When used at higher settings initial picked notes will pass unaffected but then go through the decay portion of the tripling. The Sym control affects the symmetry of the tripling which controls what portion of the decay cycle the tripling is occurring. The Level control affects the final output amount.
Any subs for the LM386? I have no idea what this sounds like, but its not a lot of parts wasted if I don't like it..
ReplyDeleteit's quite a specific amplifier chip that you will need in many projects so it's well worth just getting some LM836 in - the cheap china ones are the best
DeleteLM386 is a low voltage power amplifier, so it is not compatible with any of "our" standard single opamps. I'm not sure if there are any substitutions for it...
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Ahh I was thinking maybe an LM308N would work but I just checked and they're pretty different
ReplyDeleteVerified i think. used 5401 instead of 5087. would be pretty decent noise maker if it had more controls
ReplyDeleteCheers. The 5401 should work just fine in there. One thing someone could probably try out is to match the hFE gains of the two transistors just to see if it makes a difference...
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Cool, will give this one a go as well at some point. It's testament to you guys that we now have several options for cross-over distortion!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Dave
It seems this is similar to the Escobedo Tripple fuzz, but Escobedo uses another BJT instead of the 386 chip amp for the input boost. If you want to try a "non selective frequency tripler" but don't have the 386, there's also a layout for the tripple fuzz here at tagboardfx.
ReplyDeleteTrue. But i think the output of 386 will be about 10 times sicker when pushing the tripler transistors, when compared to a single bjt... :)
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working? some demo?
ReplyDeleteVery odd this one. With the Sym control dead central I'm getting percussive distortion, not dissimilar to the Ampeg Scrambler. With the sym controls at 1 or 12 o clock I dont hear a lot happening. Might try a few different LM386. Also are the Sym 1 and 3 transposed? Cheers.
ReplyDeleteIf the the schematic is correct, then the Sym 1 & 3 are correct. He uses reverse numbering on the schem..
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i'd love to hear samples of this!!
ReplyDeletehi all. breadboard this last night. had a similar experience like Otalgia FX. symmety control is no use (almost) for me, just a little difference from 4 to 6 kOm. i think i will be better to make it a trimmer, dial the best and stay with it. gain is the key for this circuit, as i see. 1 uF coupling is overkill for humbackers, i use 22 nF, sounds much more cleaner. and yes, it has scramblerish sound.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a sound demo of this circuit?
ReplyDeleteWill lm386L work?
ReplyDeleteI seem to have got this working really well. Tried to gain match the transistors which isn't a quick job as these guys don't stray far from 530 and 430 Hfe, respectively. As close as i could get from about 50 of each type was 499 and 486. Obviously i have not tried without doing this so i don't know if it really has made a difference. But anyway its quite good with some unusaul tonal qualities. All pots seem to be doing what they are meant to.
ReplyDeleteany video? demo?
ReplyDeleteSymmetry control isnt much use and only works in a small part of the sweep.
ReplyDeleteWhich part? Could another taper remedy it? Or should it be modded in some other way?
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The symetry works only in the center region. Ive tripple checked and built two with exact results. Im using lm386L chip could that be the problem? If I stack it with overdrive it seems to be much more useful. By itself only "scrambler fuzz" can be achieved in the center symetry.
ReplyDeleteThe documentation from Tone God doesn't mention much..
DeleteYou could try smaller value (5k, 2k) for symmetry pot to see if that would yield better control.
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For the benefit of anyone thinking of building one, I spent quite a while getting mine to my liking, and one of the most important things I learned in the process was that there are three different types of LM386. Having bought what is described as an equivalent to an LM386N-4 (the highest output of the three)- an NJM386BD, the pedal works really well and has a good range from the symmetry control.
ReplyDeletei've just builded this too, and encountered the same issue: the simmetry range is very small; i changed LM386n1 for n4, and the range slightly wided, but really not closely enough to something usefull...
ReplyDeletearound "12" position it gets heavily distorted; until 10 and from 14 (2 PM :-) it gets completely clean with no hearing difference from clean uneffected guitar!