Saturday, 16 November 2019

SoloDallas Storm

"This all-analog unit is a reproduction of the tone enhancing circuitry contained within the most widely used wireless system throughout the 1970's to mid 1980's, the Schaffer Vega Diversity System (SVDS). Emphatic users of the SVDS included Angus Young, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton, Peter Green, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Elliot Randall, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir... and an endless list of legends who are responsible for some of the best guitar parts ever recorded."
Schematic available here.




Posted by at 19:12
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39 comments:

  1. Hozy3117 November 2019 at 12:21

    Nice layout. Is the FTSW label for the LED going to the Footswitch?

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  2. Alex17 November 2019 at 16:14

    It does

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    1. mercury819 November 2019 at 02:10

      anyway we could possibly get a nady td-1/ guyatone TO-2/ Westbury w-20 someday? I thought the real tube works would sound very similar but it dosent nor either does the fuchs tube pedal.

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    2. ithop21 November 2019 at 00:45

      Hi Alex, I think you can tag this verified. I used a diy LDR/LED for the Vactrol and BAT46 was the closest I had on hand. I get some breakup with the limiter pot past 1 o'clock, assuming it must be due to the LDR/LED combo. Or maybe it is supposed to do that? Thank you for the layout!
      Aloha! Mitch

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    3. ithop21 November 2019 at 03:44

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. ithop21 November 2019 at 21:30

      I resolved my breakup issue, error in my build. I settled on a Yellow LED/LDR combo. Thanks again for the layout.

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  3. Unknown17 November 2019 at 19:47

    I assume output is at level 2 on the pot (I didn't see it in the notes).

    And where would sumthing like this be best placed is a signal chain? Where you would put an eq?

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  4. Unknown17 November 2019 at 19:50

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Unknown17 November 2019 at 19:51

    Also I know a sonic Maximiser divides and deleys part of a signal so its not like this unit, but would you still say its in the same family?

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  6. strassercaster19 November 2019 at 03:21

    THANKS BROTHER!
    THis very similar to the preamp compandor in the shaffer wireless that every single rock star used in the mid seventies through the 80's. Its the only thing Angus used for his tone , I am waiting for the nsl 32. I ordered fron china today its gonna take a while i didnt realize it was 30 to 60 day shipping ha ha . i will verify asap

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  7. Dutcheffects26 November 2019 at 23:08

    Hi everyone, could you explain to me how to connect the NSL 32 to the led? The NSL has 4 'legs', of which two go to the circuit, but what should I do with the other two? Can't make it up from the layout. Would be a great help thnx.

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    1. ithop27 November 2019 at 18:28

      Hi, What is shown on the layout in the shaded area is basically what is inside of the NSL-32. The two "legs" that you mention that goes to the circuit is depicted as the LDR and the other two "legs" are the LED. There should be a colored mark or dot on the body of the NSL-32, that is the Cathode (-) leg of the internal LED. So these two legs go where the LED on the layout is depicted. Hope this helps.

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  8. Dutcheffects27 November 2019 at 22:03

    Wow, mind is blown haha

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  9. Gregory29 December 2019 at 23:44

    Definitely verified. Very picky with the ldr led combo. I used a clear green led. With a smaller resistance ldr. Sounds Great. It's a keeper

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    1. sylvain31 December 2019 at 22:31

      Thanks Gregory
      What do you mean by "resistance" for the LDR please ?
      How can you choose the led color ?
      greetings and happy new year !

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  10. Gregory4 January 2020 at 21:45

    Hey sylvain. The larger resistance ldr's are physically larger in size. You need a smaller one. I just had a mix pack lying around. The smaller sized ones worked. The big ones didn't. I use these clear green leds. No clue what type they are. Got them at a local shop that sells nte stuff. There like the led in a computer mouse but green. They work great for every optical effect I've ever made

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    1. sylvain4 January 2020 at 22:21

      @Gregory : BIG thank you !!! If I made this one, I will buy a NSL-32 like the schematic ;-) Not a LDR and a resitor sepatatly ;-)
      Thank you very much !

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  11. sylvain6 January 2020 at 20:38

    Hi everybody !

    In the musikding german store, there is 2 different NSL-32 ref ... with different specs ...
    I suppose the good is the first (because 500 kOmhs is more likely than 25 MOhms for Roff I think ?!!!)

    But can you confirm me please ?

    1) https://www.musikding.de/Silonex-NSL-32_1
    Silonex NSL-32, photocoupler with 4 leads. If of the LED is 40mA, der at If=20mA Ron=500 Ohm, Roff=500kOhm.

    2) https://www.musikding.de/Silonex-NSL-32_2
    Silonex NSL-32R3 photocoupler with 4 leads. If of the LED is 40mA, at If=20mA is Ron=60 - 150 Ohm, Roff=25MOhm.

    Thanks a lot ! Greetings !

    Sylvain

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  12. lawrencetovarjr24 January 2020 at 03:27

    I'd get them both, and with the one you don't use you can build a circuit to spy on your refrigerator and see if it's your roommate or your dog that's been drinking your last beer.

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  13. cjonesplay24 January 2020 at 22:17

    I’m not sure if others are having this problem but I used 1n60 diodes and an NSL-32 and getting no squish out of the limiter section. There is no voltage change on the LED, it’s just bright all the time. Are people sure their limiter section is working? I’ve been debugging this for over a month with no progress.

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  14. Sidney3 April 2020 at 08:18

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. Sidney3 April 2020 at 08:35

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Sidney3 April 2020 at 08:35

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. sylvain5 April 2020 at 14:22

    Hi ! it's not a distortion, but a kind of "booster"
    Mine doesn't create distortion, but give a colour to my tone ;-)
    If your amp is near crunch, the pedal give it a coloured boost to have a little bit more gain, but no disto, it gives this "particular back-in-black tone" ;-)
    (I've used a NSL-32 from musikding Germany, not separatly LED & LDR)
    I think you don't have a pb with yours ;-)

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  17. Sidney7 April 2020 at 09:18

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. Slowpoke10127 April 2020 at 08:53

    Built it. Love it. The limiter is very smooth and the boost into my simple valve amp achieves the "Instant Angus" tone....Pity that my playing doesn't.

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  19. B0B11 May 2020 at 16:58

    Are the 120pf caps ceramics? Thanks

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  20. B0B11 May 2020 at 19:56

    Great thank you! I still have to double check some stuff at the moment...

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  21. pierre13 December 2020 at 19:21

    Hi!
    i'm building that pedal :)
    why is the JK-21 100n capacitor drawned differently than the others ? thanks !

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  22. pierre13 December 2020 at 19:22

    Hi, i'm building this pedal, i have one question : why is the 100n cap at the far right drawned differently thatn the others ?Wich type is it ?

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    1. Don28 December 2020 at 20:27

      I think the brown caps are ceramics,the yellow are box type film. perhaps he used a ceramic there because of the smaller lead spacing. I think a film would work also.

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  23. zosotone14 March 2021 at 12:13

    I’ve done also the storm, sounds nice but I have a very loud background noise like white noise. It’s in a box and with shielding wire for in/out jacks. Does this happen to anyone too?

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    1. andrewsrea6 October 2021 at 20:08

      Yes. See my response below. LM386N chips are inherently hissy. Supposedly, Angus' is also hissy and he uses a Hush noise reduction unit after the Storm.

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  24. andrewsrea6 October 2021 at 20:06

    So I just built one for me and one for a friend. I substituted 1N5818 diodes for BAT-42 and it worked fine.

    I also reduced the indicator LED resistor to 2K2 as it was too dim and I sent the cathode directly to the switch.

    The LM386N has enough internal hiss that if I attempt this again, I will mod the design for a single op-amp such as a TL072. I tried a negative feeedback (10K + 0.01uF) between pin #1 & #5 which muted some hiss, but also muted the highs. So I removed it.

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  25. HGE Contraptions22 December 2023 at 09:24

    Very cool, a little noisy but as expected from an LM386(whatever variant, I tried many). Here is my build:

    https://hgecontraptions.blogspot.com/2023/05/solodallas-storm-booster-v1-clone-143rd.html

    Thanks!

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    1. cringe23 April 2024 at 13:49

      I think you may have answered my question on you blog. Thank you.

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  26. cringe21 April 2024 at 08:49

    I'm still unsure of where the footswitch connection on the vero actually goes. Can someone explain please? I assume the LED connections just go to the LED itself. Please help. :-)

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  27. cringe23 April 2024 at 13:44

    I don't seem to get any effect change from the limiter pot. The only things I different are the 120p caps (I used 100p) and the BAT42 diodes (I used BAT46) would either of these affect it that much?

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