New Tubenit designed effects pedal completed

[Geezer]

(will move to effects section later.....wanted as many as possible to see this design by our own Tubenit )

Tubenit sent me this OD pedal design of his to try out.
I built it into a large 1590DD enclosure....actually, I built 3x of them!
Fantastic transparent tone....goes from clean-boost to sweet OD with very nice harmonics and sustain. Whatever your amp tone is, this pedal gives more of it!
So far (just completed it today) I have been running it "stacked", turning on either 1, 2, or all 3x units and adjusting them to get progressively more overdriven as they are added.

I have built a bunch of OD pedals, including the ZenDrive, Klon, Wampler Paisley Drive.....this is by far the best for my style, amps and guitars.

This is the absolute best pedal I've ever played thru (for what I want, transparent overdrive)
The Bass control adds some overtones and harmonics as it's turned up, very useful.
All of the controls are very responsive and perfectly proportioned and useable thru the whole range of rotation.

The "Voice" switch on mine is an on/off/on (see the diagram on the vero layout) that gives either standard symetrical, asymetrical, or compressed clipping options...subtle, but useful.

I used "Vero" stripboard to build mine (Tubenit will chime in later to describe how he did the original)
The vero is very inexpensive on ebay, around $1 a board shipped. I actually could get 2x of these boards out of one larger piece.

Tubenit used "detent" pots for the gain/drive and volume pots....I used standard pots....either works fine.

Will try to do a good demo as soon as I can....Schematic and vero layout attached

G

[HotBluePlates]

Do I need another way to distort my guitars?





Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! I probably do! 

[Bluemeany]

Ha TimZee - a Timmy and a zendrive. What opamp did you use? I like the opa2134 or lf353. The original zendrive opamp is (/believed to be) the ad712 and the Timmy is jrc4558. The opamp will make a difference, it's worth playing with a few to find your favourite.

[tubenit]

You can try a CA3260E if you want you the pedal to simply make "more" of the best tone of your amp.  It's hi-fi-ish with almost no tone coloration at all. Super quiet at idle also.

The OPA 2604 is very nice sounding with very very smooth overdrive and almost zero floor noise.

& I have used a 4558D and found more harmonics using it but the OD is perhaps not quiet as smooth as the OPA2604.

The interesting thing is that this pedal will do that "blooming" thing where a note sustains and blossoms with really sweet harmonics.  I think the pedal sounds good with both the clean or the OD on both my TBM and the D'Mars ODS. To get that tone, you dial the bass pot somewhere between 1-2.  Over "3" on the bass pot and the amp cleans up somewhat with less blooming and harmonics.  I found this to be true with my pedal regardless which amp or guitar I used.

IF you look at PCB.com .............. look at their Zenith Drive layout board.  You can modify the Zenith Drive into this pedal very easily.

With respect, Tubenit

[Geezer]

What opamp did you use? I like the opa2134 or lf353. The original zendrive opamp is (/believed to be) the ad712 and the Timmy is jrc4558. The opamp will make a difference, it's worth playing with a few to find your favourite.

I'm getting ready to start opamp rolling now......I have a bunch, including the AD712, so we'll what's what tone wise

G

[Bluemeany]

If you Google search there are lots of various forum posts regarding opamp rolling with the Timmy/Zendrive style circuit. Here's a 14 opamp test by someone from freestompboxes.org; http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=471217&songID=6146398

The ca3260 is a nice opamp, it's single opamp brother, the ca3130, works very nicely in the bjf honey bee and most of his other drive pedals..

[Geezer]

Well, so far the winner is an "oddball"....LM1458N. Great clarity and a bit less lows, which allows me to turn up the Bass control to get thos e great overtones happening!

Next is the old standard JRC4558D

Still have yet to try LM062/072/082, and just noticed LF353 was mentioned. I normally don't like those so much, so I didn't even try them, but I've got bunches, so I'll giv'em a shot tomorrow & update!

This pedal really sounds good pushing the front end of my "Maxim OD", which has a 5879 pentode V1 and 4x6AQ5 power.

G

EDIT: just did a google search and found out the LM1458 is a favorite with LOTS of Timmy players....who'd'a thunk it!?

[macula56]

great looking pedal. where's the best place to source these parts? does Doug carry everything to build this?

[Geezer]

great looking pedal. where's the best place to source these parts? does Doug carry everything to build this?

Doug has some enclosures, but for pedals I get most of my stuff from Mammoth Electronics because of their easy ordering process.
Small Bear is another source that has some cool obscure stuff, but I find his cart hard to use and confusing....have to sort thru EVERY pot, cap or resistor (hundreds) to find what you need.

G

[macula56]

Mammoth Electronics. Thank Geez. I definitely want to build one of these.

[HotBluePlates]

Yeah, for me the most interesting part of this is having 3 pedals in 1 enclosure.

The only downside is gearing up to make pedals; I just got through getting the tools needed for doing competent setups, for my 5120. That pretty much blew the budget for toys for a while.

[smackoj]

very nice seniors T-nit and Geez. I need to learn more about Opamps so I can understand what they do in this type of effects pedal? Is there just an easy way to understand them, or is there a "required reading" list for this class?

thanks so much for posting this page. I have been spending time lately trying to get my head wrapped around how these pedals make the juju for guitar players....it has been a lot of fun except for burning thru the insulation on #24 wire and scalding my fingers! some poet or philosopher stated 'bigger is better'.... that seems to be quite true for pedal boxes.

 

[Bluemeany]

very nice seniors T-nit and Geez. I need to learn more about Opamps so I can understand what they do in this type of effects pedal? Is there just an easy way to understand them, or is there a "required reading" list for this class?

thanks so much for posting this page. I have been spending time lately trying to get my head wrapped around how these pedals make the juju for guitar players....it has been a lot of fun except for burning thru the insulation on #24 wire and scalding my fingers! some poet or philosopher stated 'bigger is better'.... that seems to be quite true for pedal boxes.

 

Search Google for "geofex technology of the tubescreamer" all you need to understand this setup is there..

[jojokeo]

This takes the old Doublemint chewing gum commercial to "11". It's three... three... three ODs in one.    it appears 'nit is going to make one of the collosal all-in-one pedal boards next!? He could call it the "TripleNit". All kidding aside, I like the idea of having multiple cascaded stages but not all set-up the same. Different types in an all in-one pedal similar to the Blackout Effectors Fixed Fuzz. But, even that's just using various gain trannies of the same family w/ different hFE's. This is cascading simple opamp stages. The function is more pracical over the design and just putting three pedals into one. It's still cool though just looking at it with all those knobs and switches. I would maybe consider at least using a different chip in each section for a good mix of flavours to have at your disposal.
Geezer ever try the AD275 or similar? More of a Hi-Fi chip similar to the BB's but sure sound nicer compared to the lame/overused/cheap tl072. These are what give op-amp circuits a bad rap with all the open loop gains, mirror feedback circuits, slew rates & CMMR variances, compensation gain drops, compression, ringing, noise, hash, etc etc etc all contained within those things. All the same reasons in the end, you didn't particularly warm up to them just a short while ago. Has something changed?

[tubenit]

The triple approach is totally Geezer's idea.  He's more creative and smarter than I am. 

My single pedal was more a "happy accident" to my Zenith Drive pedal than anything else. I put in a little of this and that and a dash of ignorance and ended up with a great pedal.
 

With respect, Tubenit

[jojokeo]

Gotta love DIY!!! Great job as always T!!!

[SILVERGUN]

You guys are awesome!!!...and it gave me another idea     

[jojokeo]

Hey SG!!! (still wanting & waiting to hear your amp - don't forget)

You guys are awesome!!!...and it gave me another idea     

It's starting to look like a mixing board now

[SILVERGUN]

Hey SG!!! (still wanting & waiting to hear your amp - don't forget)

Yeah....I know..... .....nobody loves me anymore.... .....and I understand...how many times can you say "this thing sounds incredible", and never back it up

It actually kinda sounds like that picture I just posted,,,, if all of the knobs were turned to 11...
I have been tweaking my tweaks,,,,so I should at least update the thread....
As soon as I get done playing "musical tonestack",,,,,I'll have some news....

I'm sure you guys understand 

BUT,,,this triple OD pedal is right up my alley.......(I always thought I was gonna end up with the Ibanez - Vai Jemini OD pedal)
GREAT WORK T!!!
I especially appreciate the simplicity of the circuit,,,,,,for a guy who hasn't done any pedals yet....

THANKS GEEZER for posting this one out here where we would see it!!!,,,I may have missed it if it went right into the effect catagory 

 I like my OD with OD with OD

Guys,,,Please vote on my OD poll and explain how you see it, when it comes to built in VS. pedal OD:
http://www.el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=15352.0

[thermion]

bump

[tubenit]

If you are wanting to build this pedal as a "kit" check this kit out:

http://www.pedalpartsandkits.com/zenith2/

And the original info on this kit came from here:

http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/forums/topics/show/12828837-zenith-pro

With respect, Tubenit

[Ambugaton]

Hi everyone!

It seems like I have been collecting OD pedals (OCD, couple Joyos, Soulfood)... and still haven't satisfied my needs. The idea of having 2 or 3 in the same enclosure interests me. Only problem is that I have not done any pedal work. I found a PCB that advertises a "TimZee" style mod here: http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/webstore/products/show/3496072

I just wanted to know if this is essentially the same circuit discussed here. I know tubenit referenced guitarpcb.com so I assume it is.

I also do not understand how you cascade the pedals rather than just have them in a single enclosure. I guess I can try and really study the supplied pictures.

Thanks in advance!

[tubenit]

Yes, that is the same pedal! 

 

Let us know how you like it if you build it.

With respect, Tubenit

[Joel]

I've recently built a Timmy and a Zendrive.  And this thread is making me want to complete the family with their lovechild - the TimZee...

[BetterOffShred]

Yeah I love the Timmy, so I'm going to give this build a try.   I'm curious to see what it does compared to the Timmy.    I think my favorite OD currently is the Red Llama, It's super quick build and sounds amazing.   I have a ton of the chips if anyone wants to give it a try.   It's also on the Tagboard blog.   

Thanks for the layout Tubenit.   I'm stoked to try it!
-Brett

[Ambugaton]

Hey so i decided to build just the timmy without mods discussed here. Love it so far! Was curious as to how the zendrive mods change the way its sounding now? I may just build another with those mods to compare. The timmy sounds amazing as is... So impressed with the feel of it as much as the tone. My first pedal so it might just be a residual high of completing it. Haha.

[Tone Junkie]

I think Im going to do a double . With 2 different op amps. . When you guys are rolling different ones do you have a socket you use for quick change or just solder and unsolder as you go. Ive only got a couple pedels under my belt and has anyone changed there minds on the favorites yet
Thanks Bill

[tubenit]

Yes, use sockets for the opamps definitely.  I don't use them anywhere else anymore, but you could IF you think you might change other components.  I find it very difficult to unsolder parts on tese small PCB boards. 

[Tone Junkie]

Anyone have any recommendations on which socket to use for these op amps.
Thanks Bill

[sluckey]

Anyone have any recommendations on which socket to use for these op amps.
Thanks Bill

The chip that geezer used in the original post came in an 8 pin DIP form so you would use an 8 pin DIP socket.

Looks like this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-x-8-pin-DIP-IC-Sockets-Adaptor-Solder-Type-Socket-USA-SELLER-/112324336882?hash=item1a270d5cf2:g:9T8AAOSwWxNYu6SP