First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

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Shimmer
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First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by Shimmer »

I'm in the process of breadboarding my first distortion pedal following the instructions at:
http://tonefiend.com/tonefiend-diy-club ... resources/
(It's the 'bad-ass disortion')
Anyway, I'm up to where the diodes are put in. When I follow the instructions, adding the diodes in opposite orientation indeed cleans up the distortion and makes it more compressed etc. Which is as it should be. But when I put them in the same orientation, the instructions says that that should kill the signal. But in my case it doesn't...? (Not that I want it to, but obviously something is going wrong, right?)
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by TmcB »

Instructions are wrong, you wouldn't kill the signal. In this case, when both diodes in the same direction they'd be clipping one side of the waveform, instead of both sides.
When they're in opposite - like in the schem - they clip both the top and the bottom of the waveform.

You'd kill the signal if the diode was round the wrong way but connecting the cap to the out.
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Shimmer »

TmcB wrote:Instructions are wrong, you wouldn't kill the signal. In this case, when both diodes in the same direction they'd be clipping one side of the waveform, instead of both sides.
When they're in opposite - like in the schem - they clip both the top and the bottom of the waveform.

You'd kill the signal if the diode was round the wrong way but connecting the cap to the out.
Ah - thanks for that - that makes sense. I'm a real newbie at this electronics stuff so was worried I'd made a mistake.
Now on to adding the gain and volume control. :thumbup:
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Single coil »

TLDR throw away the instructions
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Shimmer »

Single coil wrote:TLDR throw away the instructions
Hah - but then I'd be stuck with a bunch of nothing. :)
Actually the guide is pretty good because it isn't just a rote step-by-step, but encourages you to experiment with different caps/diodes etc to see what effect they have. (Good for me at this stage anyway)
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Single coil »

That's the sort of methodology I use, but I think you've guessed that. "Bigger value does [this] and smaller value does [this] instead, hmm".
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Shimmer »

Finished bread-boarding the thing. Sounds really fat to my ears. I have lowered C1 from 104 to 473 but it didn't seem to change it much. The transistor I used is 2N3904 (I can't yet find the other two that they recommended to try 2N5088 and 2N5089).
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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Olderama »

Shimmer wrote:Finished bread-boarding the thing. Sounds really fat to my ears. I have lowered C1 from 104 to 473 but it didn't seem to change it much. The transistor I used is 2N3904 (I can't yet find the other two that they recommended to try 2N5088 and 2N5089).
Chewy as mate :thumbup:
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by telefiend »

Sounds great!

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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by Mini Forklift »

Call it the 'Fuzztortion' :clap:

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Re: First distortion pedal

Post by Shimmer »

Olderama wrote: Chewy as mate :thumbup:
You've given me a great idea for when I box it up - I just need to find a Chewbacca sticker :)
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by Shimmer »

A follow-up question - what is a good substitute for the 2N5088 and 2N5089 transistors (I am having trouble finding them)
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by Snarblinge »

http://nz.element14.com/search?st=2n5089

5088s are on there too, if y spend enough freight is free, get your enclosures but not stomp switches
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by Shimmer »

Snarblinge wrote:http://nz.element14.com/search?st=2n5089

5088s are on there too, if y spend enough freight is free, get your enclosures but not stomp switches
Thanks heaps for that!
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Re: First distortion pedal: Update - added youtube clip

Post by willow13 »

sounds like a ripped speaker cone :rofl: ... not my thing at all but hats off for being able to build stuff like this. I tried once and it was a homer/BBQ moment :mrgreen:
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