I want to make patch cables myself but the store only have trs angled jacks in stock. Do they work if I leave the ring unused?

I just got an old Ceriatone Centura - from Malaysiaa - I live in Malaysia too, its great. I also got an old 1994 Mesa Boogie V Twin valve OD pedal - have you done a teardown of one of them? BTW Ceriatone is a Malay word for Happy/Joyful tone and is pronounced "Cherry-a-tone" 🙂- you probably know they make amazing affordable amp clones too of all the best amps all by hand in a small workshop

Is there a way to do this without soldering the pots directly to the pcb?

I think it would have made sense to investigate more before you took it apart. If you had checked the sound of the pedal and the battery first, you likely would have known the main problem, but you still would have wanted to investigate those large pots and correct that, so….its all good.

Is a Foxy Tone box in the future for a tear down? I have built a couple of clones of the original circuit that JD Sleep based his kit on and am curious about any differences that may be there.

Super cool info! Thanks again for sharing your experience and the information you have found.

Probably the best and most thorough explanation in terms that most pedal builders and tinkerers can relate with, this clears up a lot of the discrepancies between different articles and information shared about Beta(hFE) choices in fuzz or other circuits that rely heavily on certain values. It definitely explains why my own results have varied or matched with theirs over the past two decades of my electronics exploration of music related circuits, including the fact that I have used so many different types and brands of testing devices and methods!😅 Love the whole channel and content.

Just ordered this pedal and would like to know what does it sound like (through your guys amps)? I bought the Soma because I've already bought the Lightspeed , Burning Goat and the Southlander...these pedal are fantastic so I'm assuming the Soma will be the same. Great teardown bud...

Hi!. Are all the small components included in the kit, or is it just the bare board,? Great video!

One thing to note is R3. It's showing a 4k7 resistor, but I have seen stock D+ pedals with 1k in this slot!! We should understand what that one change does and net effect of lowering it. According to the Wampler Distortion Plus MODS page one can find, Mike says changing the 4.7k to 1k and the 4n7 to .22uF increases gain but does not change the high frequency response! Doing another search for the video "How MXR Distortion + Reinvented Drive Circuits | Gain Appreciation", at 3:16 in, it shows you the formula for Gain = 1+(1M/(gain know resistance+resistor)), which is 1+(1000000/0+4700) = 214 = +46dB. Changing the 4k7 to 1k would result in = 1+(1000000/0+1000) = 1,000! So about a 5x increase in distortion. Not sure what that equates to dB, but > +46dB!!

Good job, it's a cool work. Where can I see the wiring diagram for this work?

Unless I missed it, you kept the output transformer on-axis with the power transformer through pretty much the whole test. Does moving it away from that axis also have an effect? Thanks for the video, anyway. Very interesting.

I have learned a " three times 90 degrees turn" rule. So first transformers are side by side so that coils and iron both are in same direction, and then you turn the OT so that coil turns 90 degrees, and the second 90° turn around another axel so that "iron" turns 90° as well. And third time with different axel again. So after those three turns both coils and irons are fully in 90 ° position, in all 3 dimensions or axels, to each other and the magnetic interaction is minimized. And yes, still after that, using headphones you can find the sweet spot of lowest hum. The problem with this rule is of course that if the construction and mounting holes or brackets are identical in both trannies and only in one position, you cannot mount those transformers on a same surface without an extra 90 corner bracket or something like that.

I just breadboarded my first pedal, a Copper Sound Pedals Silicone Fuzz DIY kit... now I just need to figure out how to adapt it into an old Boss compact pedal enclosure. Maybe next, I will try one of these with Germanium transistors, like Josh, but I want it to be AC powered.

I built a smaller 4 tube 4 watt push pull amp on a Hammond 1444-14 (9 X 5 X 2 inch) chassis about 10 years ago. The amp used cheap (under $1 each) series string radio tubes on a PC board and my power transformer was a Triad N-68X which is considerably smaller than yours. I was concerned that the chassis was a bit weak, but it has stood the test of time and has been dropped onto to a carpet over concrete basement floor twice before I made a cabinet for it with no ill effects other than one broken tube. A longer guitar cord fixed the dropped amp issues.

Im using a considerably smaller chassis, my transformers are very similar to yours so I'm having to mount mine at 45* . I'm doing the 6AF11, but I cheated and bought a used Zeppelin amp for it's circuit board.

wow the most instructing 23 minutes ever for a rookie like me, I am about to buy this pedal, but I thought it was all analog, do you know what's that big microchip? I think you confused the chorus (rich and harmonic) with the more subtle vibrato. Absolutely fantastic video!

Hi. Is the 540V that you measured goes into the center tapped of the OT? I am currently building a guitar amp the marshall silver jubilee. My concern is that my available PT (from old hi fi system) output around 580V DC. In the amp where I took it that is where the CT of OT is connected. The HT winding has a CT which where they take the low voltage for 6l6 grid and for PI and the negative output from the bridge rec goes to ground. Will it nnot gonna destroy the tube? Is my voltage too high? Im also thinking of using lower voltage around 300V by using half bridge rectification. Is it still ok to run that low coz I see in all marshall amp they use around 450V. Thank you.

Outstanding video, I wish I knew what you know. But very informative, and inspirational Joe, I have a couple of wonky pedals on my junk box , ill dig them out and try some simple remedies.

I had the twin 12 thts made after when I was growing up . Pedals were rare bk then .

Curious about seeing a breakdown of their Centavo

Built a custom klon, I wouldn’t sell it for less than 5k.

Hi, just saw your channel. Interesting stuff. I have an Ibanez PDM 1 . When I plug the cable in , it modulates in quick loudness in steps to really loud delay noise. But after about 20 minutes. It’s functional. There’s some white noise there as well. Of course I don’t expect you to troubleshoot , or not even an answer . If It’s capacitors,? cause that’s pretty much all I can change. With my basic knowledge.thanks , from Berlin

Repurposed IBM electrolytes

the heater current on that tube is 1.2a, that's a heavy load.

what are the specs for the led resistor

Im guessing stompboxParts is the charity? They wont help me

On my second try of building this Rat pedal and have soldered everything perfectly, I get a slight hum when turned up all the way, otherwise a super clear bypass so there is no effect. With nowhere to get troubleshooting advice Im forced to come back here with my now $112 investment of a light up paper weight. Anybody have any clues ?????

I built and sold about 10 Zendrive clones when people were waiting months for one from Hermida or paying crazy money for used ones on Ebay. I called them Dao & Zen Overdrives. I used a board made by GuitarPCB. When Lovepedal started making them I bought a used Zendrive and A/Bd it with my clone and aside from minor knob setting variations due to potentiometer tolerances, they were the same. I still have one on my board.

Wait, those read as zener diodes? I remember analogman saying ceriatone pedals had zener diodes, could he have seen them come up as zeners wnd ran with it lol

its crazy you could make an amp with that one tube if its a 1 gain stage to the power stage. id go solid state rec also just so its a 1 tube amp

ive used a push pull output on singled ended you use the center tap and one side and float the other i did it in a single ended princeton build

Check out the 6AD10/6AD10-A. Compactron, usually about $5. Not as spicy as your choice but you might need a flea watt in the future!

Looks like an interesting project.

Great content once again! But I need to ask a question. Tube Screamer and other overdrive pedal enthusiasts obsess over particular opamps. Yet Klon has 4-5 opamps and no one bats an eye about which brand and/or model. Why is this? Are the opamps for different functions in Klons compared to the drive pedal circuits?

Holy crap, PCB's from back then had crazy looking trace marks!

Could just apply some shielding tape to the enclosure instead of rehousing it. If you rehouse it you’ll want to install a full sized momentary switch.

Cool amp, Uncle Doug Rules.. Just a couple things I noticed from looking at the schematic, did you remove the caps going into the grids and add grid stopper resistors as it doesn’t have any on the schematic? 34-68k is typical. Also, the plate resistors are pretty high and the plate voltage is a little low.. 100k is normal. You may have done so without mentioning but I don’t know. Nice job though, and still sounds great as is.

I have a Lovepedal Zendrive Black Magic with that same circuit board and it had a dc jack that wouldn’t work with a battery. It was brand new and I didn’t want to send it back to Lovepedal! The contacts that are supposed to make contact without a dc cable were spread apart so I needed a new jack. I couldn’t get the board out but I found that I could get it out by prying one side with a small flathead to get the jack out and then the other side came up pretty easy. I didn’t need to desolder the jacks. I just took it nice and slow prying between the circuit board and the enclosure. Just replaced the dc jack and it’s good now. I was kind of scratching my head about it but now I know it can be done without breaking anything!

Spice can simulate vacuum tubes, I would start there.

I was wondering if you could use solder lug pots on pcb mount holes, you may have saved me buying some more pots lol

Watched the whole thing. You rock bro. Liked and subscribed!!

My days of buying distortions, overdrives, or fuzzes made with surface mount components are over. I fully understand the "benefits" but don't believe the "benefits" outweigh the disadvantages to the consumer, unless the production reflected the cost to the consumer, which, in most cases of "boutique" pedals these days, they don't. And if the benefits were to the consumer to use SMD, then every pedal maker would be marketing this info to us. And I don't know anyone who does yet.

dude.. I appreciate this vid

Damn thanks for that bit about upside down pnps, i stuck a pnp in an npn fuzz face i made once and it sounded good but i was worried it was going to blow up or something lol

At the price they sell those pedals, they should de built like that...

I realize that you have likely already started building on this amp, but I question the use of tubes you know are rare. Googling didn't find any NOS tubes. I have been tinkering with tubes for 60+ years. I have kept a list of every tube that I have ever encountered and collected all of the data sheets once the PDF was invented in the early 90's. I have never seen the 6HC8, so I added the PDF to my collection. For a one off that you will build one of and nobody will copy, it's a valid choice. The only common tube that shares the same pinout is the 6BM8 which has been seen in guitar amps, though it has a lower plate dissipation rating. I would tend toward a tube with multiple pin compatible substitutes for a wide range of different tonal possibilities. I chose the 6HZ8 when I was experimenting with a single tube amp during the Hundred Buck Amp Challenge on diyAudio many years ago. It shares a common footprint with 22 other different tubes! I would choose a tube from the 9AE / 9DC (6U8, 6BL8) basing for the first tube instead of the 6AN8 for the same reason, there are 19 pin compatible tubes there. As another commentor suggested, run all 4 OPT taps to a switch just for the sonic choices offered. At the 5 watt or so power level seen here a mismatch will not blow anything up and can offer up some unusual tones when overdriven. I did this with the 125CSE OPT in all of the "Turbo Champ" amps (6L6GC or 6550 tube on 400 to 450 volts) that I built in the late 1990s.

Hey man, was curious if you recognize the brand of pots used in these pedals? Have tried to search for it based on logo but had no luck

Fun fun! You can halve the 5k primary output trafo winding if needed and have 8/4/2 secondaries. Also the 6GW8/ECL86 is in on this game, most know it from the Hammond AO-44 reverb amp. It has a shield between the sections, and it is as well pretty spicy output wise. The AO-44 is good reference for the power supply. The 6BM8 has troubles if you use the triode as the s.e. driver stage, it gets too excited. Which I believe is an actual tube amp designer term of art! I can tell you when the ECL86 fails it really does so. Like your amp had that accident with a car trunk full of fireworks. Its the pentode that bites it. The super rare Gibson GA1-RVT (not the GA 1 RT) is a flea watt version of this with verb and trem, uses a 7199 for pentode input. 6AN8 is close and way way cheaper. You could run parallel triode/pentode input stages and use the triode in the 7199 type tube as the driver. 2 sets of hi/lo inputs, 2 volumes, 5E3ish, that would be super cool.

This is going to be really interesting. Looking forward to the series!