Here's a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard guitar and bass effect layouts that we have put together covering many classic and popular effects in growing numbers. Many of these have been posted on freestompboxes.org, so check that site out for great discussions on building your own effect pedals. Enjoy the builds and please also visit us on Facebook and Twitter
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Tuesday, 9 August 2016
VFE Pedals Pale Horse
Here is a layout for their latest version.
You can find schematic and info on their website here.
Unfortunately, all of these were custom ordered pots, to make dialing in each control as smooth as possible.
The D taper is a 10% logarithmic pot. Use can use an A taper, which is a 15% logarithmic pot, but it will be harder to fine tune low gain settings.
The workaround I recommend for W tapers is to use a switch to change between clipping configurations, and then add a pot in series to provide series resistance. I recommend antilog C100K, where the series resistance goes down as you turn CW - this adds distortion & compression as you turn CW - but the pot's value & taper can be whatever you want.
Thanks for the info Peter, I'm going to have to try this. Really nice overdrive thanks for publishing the schematic. And thanks Alex for making a layout.
Done. I used b's for w's and just hook the 1&3 reversed for the C's. Boxed this Pale Horse and the Dark Horse in a single 1590bb and they play very well together.
I finally got around to building this. I used a 2n5457 instead of the 5484 and a A1M for the drive. For the comp I tried a switch but I wound up using a A1M because that's what I had around. It sound great, really punchy with the Lows up. I do get a little sputtering when the Drive is really low, not sure why. Wonder if its because I didn't do what Peter suggested with the comp, or because its not a D taper. But all in all, this is looking to replace my OCD clone I have on my pedal board right now. Really nice overdrive, almost distortion territory when the drive is up high.
I just built one and with a 2N5457 it was quite sputtery too. Changed it for a J201 and it was just absolutely perfect. What an AMAZING overdrive, boost, distortion, everything.
So I just built one using a A1M for drive, C10k for Hi and Low and W20K for tone. I used a clipping switched on-off-on, with hardwired red leds (so center off is led clipping) and two positions: one is symmetrical 1N4148 and the other is just a 2N7000 with a 100pf in parallel.
Instead of the 2N5484 I used a J201. It sounds perfect, much better than the 2N5457 I tried first. 2N5457 don't work in this position, the sound becomes sputtery, the decay fizzy, and almost like there's a noise gate. J201 works fine in my build.
And it is an AMAZING overdrive. It can do pretty much everything really. I strongly strongly recommend building one!!
Peter (VFE), THANKS again for all you're giving to the DIY scene. It's truly amazing.
Curious If there are any other people having the sputtering effect? Subbing the 5484 w/ a j201 seemed to help, but the problem came back. It may have been my 7660? When it works, it sounds great.
Do you have other J201 on hand? J201s tend to vary a lot... Also I had bad luck in the past with 7660s, now I used tc1044s or LT1054 (watchout for pin 1&8 if using this one) with much better results.
After testing over a dozen, I finally found a J201 that works! Thanks,Boba7. This is one of my favorite overdrives.
If you like Tube Screamers, but want something capable of getting much louder, cleaner and with full control over the mid hump, you have to give this a try.
What would I have to change to bring the Pale Horse closer to an SD-1? It seems to be an improved variation of the Tube Screamer, but I always liked the asymetrical clipping and the tone shaping of the SD-1 better...
That was crazy fast!
ReplyDeleteAmazing job, cant wait to build one.
And what a great move from VFE.
Wow!! Alex you rock. I'll try to build this as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteWhere do I find W1M pots in U.K , and whats D taper and where do I find one.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, all of these were custom ordered pots, to make dialing in each control as smooth as possible.
DeleteThe D taper is a 10% logarithmic pot. Use can use an A taper, which is a 15% logarithmic pot, but it will be harder to fine tune low gain settings.
The workaround I recommend for W tapers is to use a switch to change between clipping configurations, and then add a pot in series to provide series resistance. I recommend antilog C100K, where the series resistance goes down as you turn CW - this adds distortion & compression as you turn CW - but the pot's value & taper can be whatever you want.
Thanks for the info Peter, I'm going to have to try this. Really nice overdrive thanks for publishing the schematic. And thanks Alex for making a layout.
DeleteDone. I used b's for w's and just hook the 1&3 reversed for the C's.
ReplyDeleteBoxed this Pale Horse and the Dark Horse in a single 1590bb and they play very well together.
Thanks Jeff!
DeleteI finally got around to building this. I used a 2n5457 instead of the 5484 and a A1M for the drive. For the comp I tried a switch but I wound up using a A1M because that's what I had around. It sound great, really punchy with the Lows up. I do get a little sputtering when the Drive is really low, not sure why. Wonder if its because I didn't do what Peter suggested with the comp, or because its not a D taper. But all in all, this is looking to replace my OCD clone I have on my pedal board right now. Really nice overdrive, almost distortion territory when the drive is up high.
ReplyDeleteRalf, try a J201 instead of a 2N5457.
DeleteI just built one and with a 2N5457 it was quite sputtery too. Changed it for a J201 and it was just absolutely perfect. What an AMAZING overdrive, boost, distortion, everything.
Thank you. I used a 2n5485 instead of 5484 and it was sputtery. A J201 fixed that right up.
DeleteSo I just built one using a A1M for drive, C10k for Hi and Low and W20K for tone.
ReplyDeleteI used a clipping switched on-off-on, with hardwired red leds (so center off is led clipping) and two positions: one is symmetrical 1N4148 and the other is just a 2N7000 with a 100pf in parallel.
Instead of the 2N5484 I used a J201. It sounds perfect, much better than the 2N5457 I tried first. 2N5457 don't work in this position, the sound becomes sputtery, the decay fizzy, and almost like there's a noise gate. J201 works fine in my build.
And it is an AMAZING overdrive. It can do pretty much everything really. I strongly strongly recommend building one!!
Peter (VFE), THANKS again for all you're giving to the DIY scene. It's truly amazing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple pics of my build:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=335462PaleHorse.jpg
http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=947360PaleHorsepcb.jpg
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCurious If there are any other people having the sputtering effect? Subbing the 5484 w/ a j201 seemed to help, but the problem came back. It may have been my 7660? When it works, it sounds great.
ReplyDeleteDo you have other J201 on hand? J201s tend to vary a lot...
DeleteAlso I had bad luck in the past with 7660s, now I used tc1044s or LT1054 (watchout for pin 1&8 if using this one) with much better results.
After testing over a dozen, I finally found a J201 that works! Thanks,Boba7. This is one of my favorite overdrives.
ReplyDeleteIf you like Tube Screamers, but want something capable of getting much louder, cleaner and with full control over the mid hump, you have to give this a try.
What would I have to change to bring the Pale Horse closer to an SD-1? It seems to be an improved variation of the Tube Screamer, but I always liked the asymetrical clipping and the tone shaping of the SD-1 better...
ReplyDelete