SunDog v2

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NippleWrestler
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SunDog v2

Post by NippleWrestler »

Image

It's a 2 channel drive pedal. The drive pot is a dual gang that is working in the feedback loops of 2 different opamps with different frequency cutoffs and clipping (one has 2 x LEDs, the other is 4148/bat46) simultaneously. There's LED clipping on the higher registers, and more aggressive clipping on the lower so in theory it should give a nice bloom to leads and give some tightness on chugga chugga.

The other 2 opamps left over (2 x TL072) are used for an active 3 band EQ and as a little boost stage at the input.

The boost control is link to the second volume pot. No extra circuitry as this pedal is plenty loud, it's just there for when you want more of the good stuff. I run the main volume about 60% and the boost on about 80% for most things so you've got a nice range because the higher you set the output volume on pedals the fuller the sound (try it on a big muff!).

The LED is a bi-color between red and green (hence the coloured circles by the switches). I thought about 2 LEDs but I thought this looks cleaner with the layout and design.

Speaking of which: this is just UV printed from Tayda. I wanted to see how they handled gradients on their artwork and it came out great. The artwork is a very simplified view from my kitchen window here looking out towards Auckland and the title is in homage to my dog who walks around the house finding little patches of sunlight to fall asleep in. You can see her running below the U and N.

The sag control is a voltage divider, essentially shunting some of the voltage to ground to starve the opamps a little bit. They don't like it too much and it's reasonably subtle but it adds a nicely fuzzy 70s edge to the sound when you dial it up.

That's a 1590BB btw and I made a drilling template for Tayda to drill the holes on the face and top. Better spend $4 than fuck it up myself :) Especially when the pot holes need to correspond to the PCB layout.

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by Slowy »

There ain't 'arf some clever bastards 'ere!
8) 8)
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Re: SunDog v2

Post by olegmcnoleg »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:11 am Image

It's a 2 channel drive pedal. The drive pot is a dual gang that is working in the feedback loops of 2 different opamps with different frequency cutoffs and clipping (one has 2 x LEDs, the other is 4148/bat46) simultaneously. There's LED clipping on the higher registers, and more aggressive clipping on the lower so in theory it should give a nice bloom to leads and give some tightness on chugga chugga.

The other 2 opamps left over (2 x TL072) are used for an active 3 band EQ and as a little boost stage at the input.

The boost control is link to the second volume pot. No extra circuitry as this pedal is plenty loud, it's just there for when you want more of the good stuff. I run the main volume about 60% and the boost on about 80% for most things so you've got a nice range because the higher you set the output volume on pedals the fuller the sound (try it on a big muff!).

The LED is a bi-color between red and green (hence the coloured circles by the switches). I thought about 2 LEDs but I thought this looks cleaner with the layout and design.

Speaking of which: this is just UV printed from Tayda. I wanted to see how they handled gradients on their artwork and it came out great. The artwork is a very simplified view from my kitchen window here looking out towards Auckland and the title is in homage to my dog who walks around the house finding little patches of sunlight to fall asleep in. You can see her running below the U and N.

The sag control is a voltage divider, essentially shunting some of the voltage to ground to starve the opamps a little bit. They don't like it too much and it's reasonably subtle but it adds a nicely fuzzy 70s edge to the sound when you dial it up.

That's a 1590BB btw and I made a drilling template for Tayda to drill the holes on the face and top. Better spend $4 than fuck it up myself :) Especially when the pot holes need to correspond to the PCB layout.
Are you going to be selling these? Looks interesting to me, and very cleverly thought through.

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by Jops »

Looks fantastic. Might have to give this a go!

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by NippleWrestler »

olegmcnoleg wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:15 am

Are you going to be selling these? Looks interesting to me, and very cleverly thought through.
The one pictured is sold. I think there's a single v1 remaining which is a slightly different circuit and doesn't have the boost function so it's a single switch on/off arrangement, but this is the only v2 so far. They're quite labour intensive to produce so I don't have them on hand.

But if you'd like to see what else is going on I launched www.monarchpedals.com a month or so ago :)

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by robthemac »

Interested. Is there a tonal ballpark that you could compare it to? TS, BB, Rat, etc?
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by NippleWrestler »

robthemac wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:52 am Interested. Is there a tonal ballpark that you could compare it to? TS, BB, Rat, etc?
Good question. All those pedals are pretty similar in that they use an op amp to make the gain, followed by a single tone control, then out. But those pedals all have a tone control whose only purpose is to roll off treble, like a tone knob on a guitar.

The Sundog is soft clipping (diodes in the feedback loop) like a TS but that's about the only similarity I can think of but I designed it around the dual gang gain pot and the options that opens up with voicing/clipping etc as I've never seen that before in a pedal.

The sundog has more of everything and I wonder if the qualities inherent to those pedals are generally down to the limitations of the tone stacks and/or amount of gain/volume - if you want a mid hump on a 3 band you just dial in the mids and dial out the bass sorta thing.

The closest thing I have to a TS is probably the Saint Mantis which has the fabled mid hump going on but still quite a different unit.

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Re: SunDog v2

Post by Conway »

I tried the prototype Sundog and have to say it is a great overdrive! Seriously great. I really liked what the Sag control did and the gain magic using the 2 circuits really works well.
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Re: SunDog v2

Post by robthemac »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:59 am
robthemac wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:52 am Interested. Is there a tonal ballpark that you could compare it to? TS, BB, Rat, etc?
Good question. All those pedals are pretty similar in that they use an op amp to make the gain, followed by a single tone control, then out. But those pedals all have a tone control whose only purpose is to roll off treble, like a tone knob on a guitar.

The Sundog is soft clipping (diodes in the feedback loop) like a TS but that's about the only similarity I can think of but I designed it around the dual gang gain pot and the options that opens up with voicing/clipping etc as I've never seen that before in a pedal.

The sundog has more of everything and I wonder if the qualities inherent to those pedals are generally down to the limitations of the tone stacks and/or amount of gain/volume - if you want a mid hump on a 3 band you just dial in the mids and dial out the bass sorta thing.

The closest thing I have to a TS is probably the Saint Mantis which has the fabled mid hump going on but still quite a different unit.
I have the Saint Mantis on my board at the moment! Looking for something double-sided thorough, and preferably 18v-capable.
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

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