Sunday, 16 April 2017

Way Huge Saffron Squeeze MKI

A modified Ross Compressor. Two simple controls sustain and level. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a video for the MKI, but as we all know if it's been modified by Mr. Huge it's going to sound great.




Note: There's a cut under D3 to the left of the 1nF cap that's hard to see.
Posted by at 06:01
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32 comments:

  1. tinkercreak16 April 2017 at 22:27

    Glad to see this. Can't believe I just started a Ross compressor build a couple of days ago. My timing is off.....

    Thanks for the layout

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    1. Zach16 April 2017 at 22:46

      anytime, and it happens sometimes. Hoping someone will have some shots of the MKII cause there's 3 additional controls. I'm pretty certain about 2 of them, but need to confirm before I finalize the layout.

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  2. Boba718 April 2017 at 12:10

    I think the input cap is supposed to be 22nf, not 220nf.

    I don't see how it could sound much different from a standard Ross compressor (except for the 100pf to ground at the input, which will brighten the sound. Keeley puts a 150pf there)

    Thanks for the layout though!! :)

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    1. Zach18 April 2017 at 22:25

      yea, it was a type-o, fixed it and update the layout. i've actually be able to play a ross compressor against this a few years ago and the few component changes do actually make a fairly noticeable difference. as you may come to notice when looking at a lot of pedal circuits many of them share the same topography with a few component changes, which can transform a pedal in a rather noticeable way.

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  3. Unknown18 April 2017 at 20:29

    Sweet! If you ever get the mkii version figured out, could you add a blend control (with any necessary phase correction)? Thanks for putting this up!

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    1. Zach18 April 2017 at 22:25

      i don't see why not. the blend would need to be in phase the compressor to work right.

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    2. mirosol18 April 2017 at 23:55

      Nope. The input and output are out of phase with each other due to how the OTA is used (as an inverting amplifier). Due to this, simple(st) blend methods won't work. To get it working right, one needs to blend the input signal with inverted output. There is quite simple method to do this, described here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=40292.0
      I used this to create my 5-knob Keeley mod Ross posted here:
      http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.fi/2016/01/5-knob-compressor.html

      I'd be interested to see an optical design with added blend.
      +m

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    3. Zach19 April 2017 at 01:04

      I swore I've seen people in the DIY community use a blend on a Ross style compressor. But, I guess I was wrong.

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    4. mirosol19 April 2017 at 08:32

      That's what i was saying. But to simple reverse the phase on basic blend circuit won't do it. Tried that for myself back in the day.
      +m

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    5. Zach23 April 2017 at 17:48

      Ah. I miss understood. Glad to see it actually is possible, even if it's not with a simple blend circuit.

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  4. Unknown8 June 2017 at 17:28

    Is it too bad if i just use a CA3080 instead of a CA3080E?

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  5. Kalimna12 June 2017 at 22:48

    Just finished this, and I would like to ask a question - how should I go about setting the trimpot?
    As far as I can tell, it works, but I haven't used any compressor before so going into testing a little blind. At higher settings (both controls), apart from a significant volume increase, there is a degree of overdrive to the sound - is this to be expected?

    Again, many thanks for your efforts in uploading schematics,

    Adam

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    1. Zach13 June 2017 at 00:34

      hey man. it's the same as in the ross compressor. i found how to set it in the ross, which sets the balance between the positive and negative inputs to the CA3080.

      ADJUSTING THE TRIMPOT:
      Once you have completed your build, you will need to adjust the trimpot before the compressor will actually work. There is no specific voltage that you should try to set it for. Simply use your ears! You are setting it so that the compressor has the least amount of distortion. Start by setting the knobs as follows:
      1. Sustain -full turn clockwise
      2. Tone -full turn counter clockwise
      3. Ratio -full turn clockwise
      4. Attack -noon
      5. Level -to taste

      Plug into your guitar and amp. Make sure you have power to the pedal and the LED comes on. Strum a good hard chord. Slowly turn the trimpot till you find the setting that gives you the cleanest sound. It will usually be right at noon. If you have an 18VDC power supply, this is even better for setting the trimpot even if you don't plan on using an 18VDC power supply when you actually use the pedal. This because 18VDC will make the trimpot more sensitive and you will find the best setting more easily.

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    2. Zach13 June 2017 at 00:35

      quick note, there's only a sustain and level. so i would only worry about those controls in the directions above.

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  6. Kalimna14 June 2017 at 18:08

    Zach - thanks for the advice. Done as you suggested and think the pedal works fine. Havent had a chance to let rip with my amp yet though. It does colour the sound to some extent, but i quite like it.
    Cheers,
    Adam

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    1. Zach14 June 2017 at 23:57

      the normal compressor does color your sound a bit. so cheers on the verification.

      there's actually external controls for the the tone, gain, and highs in the MKII 2. unfortunately, i don't know what the values are to change the layout for the MKII. I have an inclination that the tone and attack are damn near the same as the BYOC 5 knob compressor, but no idea about the gain. if someone grabs one we can see the changes and i'll have modify the layout so we can have both.

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  7. chrishudson91817 July 2017 at 21:39

    Would a 39k resistor be OK in place of the 41.2k? Thanks!!

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    1. Teddeeh18 July 2017 at 04:22

      Should be fine, not much difference. Could always put a 39 and 2k2 in series if you wanted correct value. (You can add resistors in series to get added values. Capacitors you do in parallel to add the values together.)

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    2. chrishudson91818 July 2017 at 14:57

      Thanks for the reply. So to put a 2k2 in series with the 39k would I just extend the board right by one column and put the 2k2 next to the 39k? Making the board 21x18 rather than 20x18?

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    3. chrishudson91818 July 2017 at 15:14

      Never mind. That'd be parallel wouldn't it?

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  8. Matosawitko21 December 2017 at 12:32

    "Note: There's a cut under D3..." That would be an end of the 220k resistor.Was this for a previous revision of the diagram?

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    1. Zach21 December 2017 at 15:09

      Nope still there.

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    2. Matosawitko21 December 2017 at 22:40

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Matosawitko23 December 2017 at 14:23

      I figured it out. You meant D3 as in diode 3, not the address on the board. (The layout is numbered/lettered along the edges, which is what I thought you meant.)

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  9. Greedy_Fly8 July 2018 at 22:13

    Maybe D1 is 1N4001?

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    1. Zach9 July 2018 at 20:59

      It’s in the notes D1-D3: 1N914

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    2. Greedy_Fly9 July 2018 at 22:09

      1N914 for polarity protection??? I always guess it should be 1N4001

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  10. Greedy_Fly9 July 2018 at 22:08

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. cringe22 May 2020 at 14:45

    Getting brutal gated fuzz. Back to fault finding tonight I guess. I'll probably find something, fix it, get it working and then wonder how I got the fuzz.

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    1. cringe6 July 2021 at 10:05

      I should post that I bought some 3080s from a more reputable supplier and it worked instantly. The only compressor that made it onto my pedalboard out of the ones I've built.

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  12. tinkercreak6 July 2021 at 16:25

    cringe

    Can you tell us who you got the good 3080s from?

    Thanks

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