Saturday 14 July 2012

Wampler Ecstasy

Info about the original:

The Wampler Ecstacy uses a very simple control lay out but produces an incredible vasriety of tones that let your guitar do the talking thanks to transparency and awesome responsive gain that reacts just like a top end tube amp! Use the Ecstacy's two band EQ (high and low), Smooth/Open/Crunch switch, gain and output volume settings to set the basic distortion tone that you're after then use your guitar's volume and tone controls to choose between full on grit (both on full) choppy crunch (volume halfway tone full), singing solos (volume full, tone backed off) or even cleaner tones (volume backed right off tone full) and so on. You can even control the pedals grit with your playing dynamics and pick attack, just like a top end tube amp that costs ten times the price of this magic little pedal from Wampler!

Here's what Wampler say about the Ecstacy overdrive pedal

When Brian created the Ecstasy, he was working on creating a pedal that would go from clean tones to distorted tones while adding a bit of warmth. He wanted something for himself that would be dynamic, have a great sounding "gritty" tone to it yet be able to respond to the volume knob like a tube amp. Everything about Brian is in the dynamics of sound and if a pedal can't work with him dynamically, then he just can't use it. Out of this search, he developed the Ecstasy Drive.

The Ecstasy is his take on that elusive "dumble" tone and feel - smooth creaminess yet crunchy when you need it to be, yet the tonality is much more transparent than other "dumble sounding" pedals. Very responsive tone controls that interact with the pedal - they don't just "color" the sound. The controls actually affect the response and feel of the pedal, just like a great tube amp.

If you love the sound of your clean tone, and just wish you could have more "hair" on the note... a little bit of grit without any change in tonality, the Ecstasy will do that with ease. PLUS it's extremely flexible... with the toggle switch in the down position you'll get a hint of fuzz along with the overdrive, it's reminiscent of the tones that "Eric Johnson" may use. With the toggle in the up position the tonality is super smooth, creamy yet crunchy when you dig into the strings. This is reminiscent to the famous "dumble" tone, though it's really much, much more than that. In the center position, the toggle will give you tons of crunch, or roll the gain back a bit and push the volume up and you have a superior clean boost with a 2 band EQ that's extremely transparent, but variable so you can actually turn it into an awesome treble booster just by cranking up the treble and turning the bass down.






162 comments:

  1. What IC would be in this mate?

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  2. AAARRRGGGHHHH. Layout updated! :o)

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    1. Haha.. I knew that would annoy you ;o)

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    2. what is the correct? jrc4558 or mc1458?

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  3. I always forget something!

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  4. I just built this one today and it's an AWESOME pedal (i use it on electric bass). it worked 100% exactly to spec right when i plugged it in, so you can VERIFY it. many thanks for posting it! here's some pics of it (i used a 1290 box and it just fit in there!):

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/EcstasyClone/01-ecstasy-clone-circuit.jpg

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/EcstasyClone/02-ecstasy-clone-internal.jpg

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/EcstasyClone/03-ecstasy-clone.jpg

    i'm also really digging the Fairfield Barbershop, Catalinbread RAH, Cochrane Timmy, Barber LTD Silver, Dam Ezekiel that i built from vero's on this site. i built an OCD V1 yesyerday, and IMO, it's okay but it's quite a bit brighter than i expected it to be. i'd also like to build wampler's black '65 so if you get a chance and can post that one, i'd really appreciate it.

    best,

    john

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    1. Excellent build John, love the pics (as usual) and thanks for verifying

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    2. what are you using for the graphics? waterslides? and are you clearcoating on top of that? very nice boxing and building man.

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    3. thanks. on that one i used a p-touch PT-2100. the stickers are very durable so they don't require a clearcoat.

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    4. Didn't know labelwriters could print decals like that.
      I'm pretty lucky couse i work with cardecor/wrapping, signs and decals so i can make my graphics at work :) Anyhow, very clean and nice looking build! I guess you would recomend me to build it?
      Although i got tons of pedals that needs to be built once my Tayda order arrives later this week! Don't have the 10k rev log pot either..

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    5. yes, i highly recommend this one. it sounds awesome. and you can use a B10K (linear) until you get a rev audio one. it'll just have a slightly different taper.

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    6. Noob question, John the 1uf capacitor you used on this circuit looks like a tantalum capacitor, is that right? in case of, how do you did with the polarity. cheers

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    7. it's not a tantalum cap. it's one of the new (tiny) mulitlayer 50V ceramics that are not polarized.

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    8. I love ceramic multi layer caps, I've got some in 1u and 2u2 as well which are really great when you're struggling for space.

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    9. Thanks a lot guys i did not that!

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    10. I meant i didn't know that, sorry.

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    11. Hi John, I went to the shop this afternoon but being a complete newbie I was clueless what type of capacitors to get. The shopkeeper shows me caps with different voltage. Can you please guide as to which voltage to get and which caps (i.e. tantalum or ....lyte - i forgot the type of the caps).

      Re the resistors, which wattage should I use? is it 0.5 watt or 1 watt?

      and what do you call the red caps you have in your schematic? (i.e.1u,22n 47n).

      thanks in advance.

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    12. New Player--you can use metal film caps for the red ones. As for cap voltage--just go with ones that won't blow with 9-12v power supply. I always use 65w or 100w caps.
      for resistors--use 1/4 watt.

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  5. ok. noob question. on the layouts, when it says gain 2&3, i know that both lugs 2 and 3 of the gain pot get attached to the same spot on the vero. what i was wondering, what is the best way to go about that? run a jumper between lugs 2 and 3, and have a single wire going to the vero? does it matter what lug i run the single wire from since they are connected? sorry to bring the IQ down here. you have the best layouts i've found so far. i can see this is going to be an addiction.

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    1. i just use a solid wire from a cut resistor to jump the two lugs, then it doesn't matter which lug you connect the vero wire to.

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    2. I think the easiest way is to strip extra insulation off the single wire so you can wrap it round both lugs and then just solder in place. Then you don't have to bother with a separate link.

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    3. thats what i figured. thanks for the confirmation. can't wait to get these boxed up... and photos will be supplied :)

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  6. Any good substitutes for the JRC4580D? I can't seem to find any that aren't in China... I put all the orders in for this pedal (including the order to the Chinese seller), but I don't want to have to wait 15-25 business days to build this. I have JRC4590DD, JRC4558D, and LM1458 ICs. Will any of these do until the proper IC arrive?

    Thanks

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  7. I have some NJM4580D opamps that I got from Mouser. I used them in my Suhr Riot build. I was planning on using those for this build - hopefully they will be ok...

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    1. Tim M, did you build the Riot from the layout on here? just wondering as I had issues with mine.

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    2. the NJM's from mousser actually say JRC on them (since JRC just changed their name to NJM, so you'll be happy with them. the ecstasy that i build from this layout is one of my favorite pedals and i had no issues at all with the build.

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  8. Vince

    No. I built it from Sabro's layout. I hadn't discovered this site yet when I was building the riot. It works fine from the layout that I used. I will say that it is a pretty dark sounding pedal. Seems darker than all the demos that I heard before I built it. And that is coming from a Strat player. It does sound better if the amp is set pretty bright but then when I switch off the pedal, the amp is too bright for my tastes ( I prefer a fairly warm clean sound - kinda the opposite of what a lot of players prefer ). Also, with the gain anywhere below 2 o'clock, it is just unusable - sort of the sound of an overdrive with tone turned almost all the way to the bass end of the pot.

    I don't think I subbed any components and I'm pretty meticulous about testing components as I build. I like testing everything as I go so its easier troubleshooting if anything goes wrong at the end. It's not a bad sounding pedal - plenty of gain on tap. I actually like the distortion from it. Maybe I should compare the two layouts and see if the tone control components on the layout here are different....

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    1. Ok, thanks. It seems like it was similar to when I made it but mine seemed to lack loads of gain but I agree with it being very dark. It just didn't sound as the demos did. Especially when there are plenty of other simpler builds like the MI crunch box, purple plexi etc that get you in the same area... hmm think I'll leave that one

      Thanks for the info Tim.

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    2. Hi, I have teh same experience. I need to get all teh treble I can get from guitar and amp to get a reasonable tone. very unlike the demo's. Suggestions welcome on how to brighten up the pedal.

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    3. Just for those that are having teh same issue. Browsing a bit gave me this solution: 22nF ==> 10nF, 1K ==> .7k (I put a 1.8k in parallel). Makes the tone range more useable.

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  9. The funny thing is, I built the Hyperion recently and for it's few parts, it kicks the Riot's ass ( excuse my language, Mark ), both in tone and insane amounts of gain!!

    That's another reason I'm glad I found this site. I had this thing in my mind about how fuzzes were crap sounding ( I humbly apologize to all you fuzz aficionados - I'm a believer now... ). I've built a half dozen fuzzes now and I'm hooked....

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    1. Haha.. Don't think Mark minds a bit blue language now and then....

      I agree the Hyperion is a great pedal..really good alternative to regular fuzzes.. somewhere between a distortion and a fuzz.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Tone 1 connects to Volume 3, Volume 2 is the output to the switch. It's in the notes.

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  11. Just finished this one ( I'm always behind the rest of you :). It sounds really nice. Just a couple of questions:

    If the switch is wired according to the layout, are the voicings, top to bottom, Smooth>Open>Crunch as on the original?

    And, should there be a volume drop when going to either side of the middle position of the switch? If I go to Smooth or Crunch ( assuming the middle is the Open voicing )I get a bit of a volume drop and have to raise the level a little on either side of the middle. No big deal either way - just wondering if I built it correctly.

    Thanks

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    1. Yes, if you orientated it as per the layout then you're right about the order. Adding clipping diodes will always drop the signal (how much depends on the type of diode and configuration used), so what you describe is expected.

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  12. Cool. You know, as soon as you said "adding clipping diodes", I immediately thought of my Timmy build which includes additional diode clipping switches. It does the same thing with the volume drop if I switch those diodes on - I should have remembered that but I haven't pulled it out in a while.

    Thanks as always

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  13. This has become my new favorite pedal ( for now - ha ). It just sounds great no matter what I throw at it. And it does the "just on the verge of breakup" sound really, really well.

    Now the "but"...

    I have seen demos where the player has the tone knob is around 12 o'clock and the sound is still pretty balanced, tone wise. I really only have the last quarter of the tone pot sweep as usable tone. I didn't sub any components and tested each one before soldering in. Bass knob is fine.

    I usually keep the tone at around 4:30 to 5 o'clock. Anything below that and it sounds very muffled. It's fine - I can work with what I have, but I was wondering which components I could experiment with to make that tone knob a little more usable ( i.e. use more of the entire pot sweep ). I assume the 22n cap between vol 1 and tone 2 would be one of the components to experiment with. Maybe a different pot value or type? I was very encouraged when I was able to adjust my Riot's tone control via JYMaze's mods, so I'm hoping I can do the same here. I already tried comparing the two to extrapolate a cure but they are a little different.

    Thanks in advance!

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  14. Today I took out the 22n cap and installed a socket there. Tried a 10n and a 6.8n in that spot. Both were fine and added more treble and range to the sweep of the pot. I settled on the 10n because the 6.8 got just a bit too brittle for me at the end of the sweep ( May be a good thing for darker humbuckers though ). Very happy with the little bit of added high end option on the tone control. I may try a log pot there on the next build to see if that improves the sweep for me.

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  15. Could you possibly send me the schematic for this? thetrend77@gmail.com :)

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    1. You'll find it here:
      freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13611

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  16. Are there parts lists available for these layouts? have i missed some info? Thanks
    Toby

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    1. all of the part values are labeled on the veros, and the pot values listed in the text below.

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. Thanks to you, my first pedal on a veroboard (after several kits) and it sounds like hell !
    And cheers for the 300 verified vero today, Mark. :)

    François

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    1. by 'hell' do you mean good or bad? if you mean bad, then something is definitely wrong (start by checking your transistor voltages) because it should sound awesome. my build of this vero is one of my favorite OD pedals of all time.

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  19. Oh, sorry,
    I should use a more basic english considering my level.
    That veroboard sound very nice. Awesome tool.

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  20. My version thanks to you. (first vero...do not open or die :p )
    http://imageshack.us/a/img18/188/dumbok.jpg

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  21. Can someone provide the IC pin voltages? I am getting the proper effect, but the output is considerably low (just below unity with maxed out volume on the "open" setting, significantly lower on the other two). I have triple checked layout and wiring, as well as inspected for solder bridges. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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  22. This thing sound freaking amazing!! LOVE IT!!

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  24. So i looked up a gut shot for this baby. and i'm seeing only 1 ceramic 100p capacitor. the rest are the red panasonic film types. i'm not saying the layout is wrong, but why would he use a ceramic for 1 cap and film for the other two?

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    1. If you look to the left hand side of the IC in the gutshot pic, you'll see a red poly with 100p underneath it. I suspect Brian wanted to use poly caps in the feedback loops and the ceramic for the RF cap at the input.

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  25. because the input cap to ground has no effect on tonez while the feedback loop caps could benefit from a higher quality cap?

    cool!

    I only have 20kB pots on hand. For the tone control and the way its setup I feel like I will only miss out (by using a 20k instead of 25k pot) on the counter clockwise position of the tone control (i wont have as much of a range on cutting treble) is that correct? or am i gonna be losing out on brightness? or both?

    I really do need to get more skills in the tone stack department

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    1. Well 22n plus the 25K pot gives you a low pass filter which will start cutting high frequencies at 289hz. If you use a 20K pot that rises to 362hz and so it can't roll off quite as much high end, but then I doubt anyone will want to cut it down anything like as much as either anyway, so I think they're close enough to make it irrelevant.

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  26. i'm losing on both sides of the spectrum arent i?

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  27. I just finished this pedal up tonight and it works perfectly. However when everything is dimed it has as whine to it but that is no big deal and it could just be because I was playing it thru my computer and the gain is too much for guitar rig. Past midnight so I cannot play it into my fender.
    TY TY!
    So far into guitar rig, it is a very transparent pedal and actually gets you nice crisp tones without really doing anything... Tone and Bass is interesting. 3way toggle does what it should. smooth, open and crunch!
    Now I am tempted to build that Brad Paisley pedal LOL

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  28. Anyone build this using something other than the 4580? What is the difference between this and the other billion OP-amps.

    I have the typical tl072s, 4558s and some burrbrown chips, and a 1458

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    1. I haven't built this so can't answer for this circuit (maybe someone else can chip in), but when I've experimented in the past I found the 4580 to be a bit smoother than the 4558. But I similarly found the TL072 and NE5532 smoother too and so (particularly the NE5532) may get you in a similar ballpark. In all honesty I'm never that bothered by what IC was in the original. If I've got one I'll try it, but I'm much more likely to try 5 or 6 (or more) different ones and stick with the one I think sounds best with my gear.

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    2. I'm using an LM1458 in mine. I ordered a JRC4580 from mouser but received the rest of the parts before the IC came in so I slapped in an LM1458 that I had laying around.. I got the 4580 the next day and tried them both. I like the 1458 allot more. It seems to have more gain and more compression than the 4580. The 4580 sounded more open.

      Sounds awesome. This is my new favorite pedal!

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  29. Hi,
    Finished this one,not too bad ,nice with lower gain dialled in and does picking dynamics well (soft /hard picking).Adjusting tone and bass makes some cool changes.The smooth/open/crunch toggle is good too.

    Q...Does it have that Dumble tone ?
    A...Yeah,course it duz,but my DIY pedal is better ! :-)

    Cheers.

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  30. Ive just finished this, best drive pedal in my current setup!

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  31. I just finished building this and have a question... I know it was addressed before, but the smooth/open/crunch switch - are you sure it is in the right order?

    I have read, in descriptions of this pedal that the "crunch" setting is the high gain setting...

    Following the layout, the upright position actives the diode bounding circuit (as sw.5 and sw.6 are connected then), connecting d5 and d6 to a 47k resistor to ground), which is more of a hard clipping setting (and the higher gain setting), which, while rather "smooth" in character, would make me think it should be considered the higher gain function, which I would have thought to be the "crunch" setting... meanwhile, in the downward position, sw 1 & 2 are connected giving us a more typical opamp-diode soft clipping scheme.

    Either way, the pedal sounds quite, I just would be curious about the clipping schemes and their proper names

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  32. I finished this build and it is about the best overdrive pedal I have heard. It just rocks and I can pretty much do anything tonewise I want with just this pedal and my amp

    WOOT!

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  33. Is it normal to have 3 tandems biasing resistors to obten the same 4,5v? I mean the two 100k, another two 100k and two 47k. One of each pair goes to 9v and the other to ground. (???)
    Thanks

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    1. This occurs in a couple of Wampler pedals and I think it's used in a bid to reduce noise. In all honesty I don't think it makes any difference, especially with relatively low gain pedals like this. He has the same setup with the Paisley Drive too, but I only used a single vbias network with that one to keep the board size down, and it works perfectly well with no noise.

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    2. Ok. That's what I was thinking.
      Many thanks and congratulations for your extremely good work.
      Juan Carlos.

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  34. Hi IvIark, I went to the shop this afternoon but being a complete newbie I was clueless what type of capacitors to get. The shopkeeper shows me caps with different voltage. Can you please guide as to which voltage to get and which caps (i.e. tantalum or ....lyte - i forgot the type of the caps).

    Re the resistors, which wattage should I use? is it 0.5 watt or 1 watt?

    and what do you call the red caps you have in your schematic? (i.e.1u,22n 47n).

    thanks in advance.

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    1. Anyone new to the hobby should read Miro's component guide here:

      http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/p/components.html

      But in general, use:

      Picofarad values - ceramic caps
      Nanofarad values - polyester caps
      Microfarad values - electrolytic caps.

      Ceramic and poly caps tend to be rated for at least 50V and so that's ample for these effects, for electrolytics in 9V circuits you can use 16V caps, in 18V circuits go for 25V.

      1//4W resistors are ideal for this, no need to go as big as 1/2W or 1W. In fact you could use 1/8W quite comfortably for pretty much everything on here, but they can be a bit fiddly compared to 1/4W, and the layouts here show 1/4W sizes for most of the resistors.

      The red caps are all polyester. 1u is the largest value I will show a poly cap in these layouts, for anything bigger it would be electrolytic or tantalum if you prefer, either would be fine.

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    2. Thanks for your advice.
      One more thing, I could not find JRC4580D here in Sydney Australia. The shop recommended me to buy OPA2134pa instead. Is that a suitable replacement for JRC4580D? can you also tell me other chips similar to JRC4580D? Thanks and regards

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    3. Any dual opamp should do - like TL062, TL072, TL082, NE5532, AD712, TLC2262, TLC2272 and so on. OPA2134 is really good alternative...

      JRC4580 are good to have though. Check ebay for them:
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-PCS-NJM4580D-DIP-8-JRC4580D-4580D-NJM4580-JRC-4580-DUAL-OPERATIONAL-AMPLIFIER-/290868480948
      +m

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    4. IvIark, can you please clarify the potentiometer values that you recommend for this build? thanks and regards,

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    5. The layout says:
      Gain 1M log, Tone 25K lin, Bass 10K rev. log, Volume 100K log.

      So it's 1 Megaohm logarithmic (A1M) for gain, 25K linear (B25K) for tone, 10K reverse logarithmic (C10K) for bass and 100K (A100K) logarithmic for volume.

      If you're in europe, check musikding or banzaimusic for correct ones. In US, smallbear would be good place to look. Tayda, where i normally get my pots don't have 25K pots in stock at all.
      +m

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  35. This one sounds great with bass guitar, as John Kallas witnessed earlier. Just beautiful.

    https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/316388_10151604552224617_1804658145_n.jpg

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    1. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/8725985402_d5b1be8ffc_b.jpg

      Ecstacy in the lower left corner, OPA1234 inside. Thank you all, once again.

      Wampler Ecstacy-> Creepy Fingers Si FF-> Wiio-> MP DBD

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    2. Ecstacy in the lower _right_ corner, obviously.

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  36. Sounds great with a Les Paul ,mbut with my strat I don't like the way individual notes have sort of distorted "bloom" to them as I describe it . Doesn't sound very musical at all . Not sure if I've done anything wrong but the build works fine . It's just with single coils it doesn't sound right . Any pointers ? Thanks in advance

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    1. IMO, if it doesn't sound awesome with ANY type of guitar (or bass), then something's wrong with your build.

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    2. I have to agree with John, this pedal is the epitome of awesomeness, I use it with single coils, humbuckers & a combination of both and it's always amazing.

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  37. Just built one of these. My new favorite dirt pedal.

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  38. Build mine using a TL072. The small caps got bumped up to 150p(all i had.)

    And in testing I found a 1M gain pot was stupid overkill...

    Maybe the chip being diffrent is throwing everything off... but this thing is NUTS... crazy high gain crunch and growl and tha tis before the diodes...

    It is a somewhat wild beast... I may try and tame it down a bit but I'm liking the sound...

    Need to box it up though as I'm getting really bad RF hiss/buzz/squeals.

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  39. Wow! Love it, works great. Boxing time. Thanks a lot!

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  40. How important is the 25k pot? I could only get a 22k. Do you think it would be better to stick a 3k resistor in series or just use the 22k as it is?

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  41. Parts should arrive tomorrow and I'm looking forward to trying this out.

    Is this the correct way to wire the board up to the jacks & footswitch? I thought I'd use a 3PDT to switch the battery on and off to save power?

    In the offboard wiring page of this site there's a 2k2 resistor and a "D1" (diode?) between the battery and the footswitch: do I need to add this?

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  42. Oops forgot to give the link to the circuit diagram in last post:

    http://www.aperiplus.co.uk/images/off-board.png

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  43. that's the status led and yes, you need a current limiting resistor on it. otherwise the LED will burn out in about a 1/4 of a second.

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  44. Finished one tonight - thanks for the info.

    Unfortunately not working. I can get a clean sound out of it at some settings but mostly it just generates a tone, with the pitch varying as you twiddle the knobs.

    Can I double check that the pot numbering is as described in the "offboard" page (on this site) rather than the numbering used in this link from the "components" page: http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes_other/pots_switches.png.

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  45. Woohoo! Found a short, fixed it and now it's up and running. A fabulous little pedal with a wide range of sounds. Works well with (low-output) humbuckers and my 5F1 champ which sometimes needs a kick in the pants to really start screaming. In some ways the champ was easier to build than the pedal..! You're not working on such a small scale and there might even be fewer components in the old tweed champs.

    Many thanks for the layout :) Maybe I can return the favour with some info on a good quality reactive loadbox: add a line out to any tube amp which captures all the flavour of input tubes, power tubes and output transformer. Very easy to build.

    http://www.gearslutz.com/board/9393087-post14.html

    http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1072793

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  46. So I followed the layout accurately but I have an issue. The switch in the open position and crunch positions seems to be exactly the same (no tone or volume difference). Then in the smooth position it drops volume significantly but doesn't seem to change the voicing at all once I compensate by bringing the volume up from about 11:00 to 3:00 o'clock. Any ideas?

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    1. I have exactly the same problem. Does lvlark or anyone out there know if this is just a feature of the design (i.e. it is the same on the original) or this something that could be ironed out somehow? It's very frustrating - with the switch in the smooth position I have to have the vol at max just to get effectively (to my ear) unity gain. Lovely sound though...

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  47. Perhaps my question be a silly one but i have to ask this to you, because i just arrived from a shop near me where i asked them for a 10K rev log pot and they stay still for a moment and after that they told me that there is not such a thing.
    So i have to ask you what exactly is a rev log pot ( i know the difference between log and lin pots), and if there is a possibility to use a lin pot in place of rev log pot without affect my all building.
    sorry again for my dummy question but ... :)

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    1. If they don't know what reverse log pots are then never ask their advice about anything related to electronics! :o)

      A reverse log pot has the opposite taper to a log pot. So where the resistance curve of a log pot rises slowly at the start of rotation and increases quickly at the end, with a reverse log the resistance goes up quickly at the start of the rotation and then slows down at the end. This diagram should help visualise it:

      http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Pots/tapers.gif

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    2. Oh and you'll get them from Tayda or plenty on eBay if you can't find anyone locally:

      http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=10k+reverse+log&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2

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  48. 10k reverse log pots are easily startled but they will return and in greater numbers.

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    1. Sorry but i didn't really understand what exactly u mean with this?????

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  49. im using a 1uf electrolytic... so which way would the polarity be? negative to IC?

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  50. I figured out how to get rid off the excess volume drop when D5 and D6 are engaged with the toggle switch. I pulled D6 and soldered it to lugs 3 and 6 of the Dpdt switch, the positive band facing lug 6. Before I did this the volume drop was more than the usual clipping volume loss. Now each side of the switch gets the same amount off volume loss, when compared to the center position.

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  52. Hi everyone!
    I'm a big fan of this site and I already made 3 projects,but I've a little problem with 2 of them
    (Timmy and Ecstasy):when I turn up to 3/4 the gain and the tone (in conjuction) the pedals make a loud whistle :-(
    Why they do that??
    Thanks for your help!
    best regards

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  53. Andrea

    My Timmy and Ecstasy didn't do that but my Clay Jones did. Two things I have found:

    Sometimes moving wires around affects this type of thing ( it did on my Pinnacle until I added shielded wire for the input section - before the shielded wire, I could move the wires around and the whistle would stop, but I couldn't keep the wires in that position ).

    On my Clay Jones, I upped the cap between pins 1 and 2 from 51p up to 150p. I actually just kept holding different cap values in parallel across that cap until the whistle stopped. That's how I arrived at the 150p. Didn't really seem to affect the sound to my ears so that is what I use for my Clay Jones builds. More advanced minds here can tell you why that is - I just know it by experimentation ( and reading somewhere about that cap across pins 1 and 2 ).

    Hope that helps a little.

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  54. I used these cap for the ecstasy:
    http://www.musikding.de/Ceramic-Disc-100pF-1kV?lang=eng
    Are they correct ?
    Maybe I've to check the wires..I used recycled wires (from pc's power supplies.some of these has filaments "silver" color and not copper)
    thanks

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    1. The cap type is fine. I am suggesting that you might try gradually increasing the cap value ( maybe 120p - 180p ) until the whistle stops.

      And for the wire, you're fine with what you have used ( assuming you have signal passing - you can check with the continuity setting on a DMM ). Here I was suggesting that you might slightly move the wires around ( slightly reposition them ) and see if shifting wires positionally might make the whistle go away. Some wires just shouldn't be close together ( for example, input and output wires should not be too near each other ). If moving the wires a bit fixes it, you're good. If not, you can try the cap value increases for that cap across pin 1 and 2 of the IC.

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    2. I am also assuming that you mean that the whistle occurs when the pedal is engaged. If it happens in bypass, you might be leaving off the little wire that grounds the input when disengaged...

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    3. Ok thanks, I'll try..
      So the caps are right also if they are 1kV?
      thanks a lot

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    4. For these types of circuits, the caps can be as low as 16 - 25v ( depending on whether you are using 9 or 18v ). So at 1kV ( 1000V ) you have more voltage protection than you will need, but it doesn't hurt for it to be too big.

      And as I mentioned before, caps in parallel are additive in value, so you can just hold different value caps across the one you already have in until the whistle stops. If an 80p held across makes it stop then you would need a180p cap in that spot ( 100p + 80p = 180p ). Remember I am referring to the cap across pins 1 and 2 of the IC.

      Good Luck!

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    5. Hi tinkercreak!
      I put a 221p cap (that I've at home) across pins 1 and 2 of the IC of the Wampler Ecstasy. Bingo!
      I've no whistle and less noise..The sound of the pedal seems the same.
      Am I wrong? could This cap change the pedal's sound?
      Thank you very much!
      Andrea

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    6. Hey Andrea

      Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think as you increase that particular cap, it affects the higher frequencies, attenuating them as you raise the value. Probably the higher frequencies that cause the squeals, whistles, oscillation, etc. I think that cap is used there to tame those frequencies that tend toward oscillation. But I'm just paraphrasing from shit that I've read over the last few years as I've built more pedals. I understand the basics but am lacking in the knowledge most of the builders here have. I only chimed in here because it seems to be a common issue and I've fixed my builds with what I suggested to you. Just trying to give a little back after all the stuff I've picked up here. World class site.

      But in answer to your question ( to the best of my ability ), I think that cap can affect the pedal's sound. I just think you would have to really up the cap value to make a drastic change aurally. It's a frequency, pitch based thing. When I have had it occur, it will only be at the higher gain settings, but only with the bridge pickup alone on my Strats. So I guess you're effectively just chopping some of the higher frequency band that is prone to oscillation. I doubt a 100p increase is going to be that noticeable except in derailing the squeal for you. I tend to start with as small an increase as I have and just up it until I lose the squeal. Doesn't hurt to experiment with different values there ( or in a lot of places in these circuits ).

      So, that's about the best I can do as far as the theory. Sorry for the log-winded answer. Just thinking out loud...

      Glad it worked for you anyway.

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    7. Hi!
      Higher frequencies..yes you're right.
      In fact , with the 100p cap, when I try with the strato with JB I've no whistle..maybe few oscillations.
      Whistle and noises appear when I try the Strat with s.c. bridge (Custom '69) that is more "edgy" than HB.
      Thank you for your patience, I'm not a newbie but, like you, I am lacking in the knowledge :-)
      So..every day I learn something and today I learned something more thanks to you :-)
      Sorry for my english , and thank you very much!
      tagboardeffects rocks!

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    8. Yes tinkercreak is spot on, the cap acts as a low pass filter and so cuts high end and the higher the value of the cap, the lower the frequency is where the cut starts to happen. So if you put too high a value cap in there things will start to get muddy because the starting point gets lower and you can end up with no high end at all. But when you are getting oscillation it can be the perfect remedy because it may be caused by frequencies higher than the useful audible range and so you can tame the noise without affecting anything in a way you would notice.

      It's exactly the same as the 47p and 470p base/collector caps used in the Meathead and other Fuzz Face derivatives. If you want to read more about it do a search for the Miller effect.

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    9. Hi |v|ark!
      Thanks for the tip!
      I saw the details of the Miller effect.Clear!
      Just a (maybe redudant) question..
      There's on the site a document for the concepts of high/low pass and other tips for a beginner DIYer?
      thank you very much!

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    10. This could be use to get rid of excesive fizz? My build is too fizzy, I was thinking that perhaps I have a faulty cap across pin 1 and 2

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  55. Yes, the whistle appears only with the pedal ON and gain and treble/tone at high levels.
    Ok for the cap, I'll look at the schematics and I'll try..but I can't understand why this may happened or not with the same cap.
    Thanks man!

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  57. Does anyone out there know if the volume drop on the "smooth" side of the switch (when compared to the "open" setting) is just a feature of the design (i.e. it is the same on the original) or this something that could be ironed out somehow? It's very frustrating - with the switch in the smooth position I have to have the vol at max just to get effectively (to my ear) unity gain. Lovely sound though...

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    1. One side will always be quieter than the middle position because the diodes are limiting the signal, but I don't think it should only be unity even so. Post your voltages then we can see if something else looks a bit off.

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    2. Ok will pull it off my board and run the DMM on it - get back to you shortly. Is there a way to compensate for the expected signal drop caused by the diodes or would this just be defeating the whole object of putting the diodes into the circuit in the first place?
      Thanks

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    3. There's no way of compensating in a simple way, you'd need the switch to maybe also provide a boost to mitigate for the diodes, but that would be another boards worth of components. It's the nature of the beast I'm afraid. Diodes clip and compress a signal and what you gain in distortion you lose in level. But like I said I don't think it should drop as far as unity so I would assume you have another issue.

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    4. Voltages off the IC as promised:
      Pin 1: 4.48
      Pin 2: 4.48
      Pin 3: 4.26
      Pin 4: 0
      Pin 5: 4.46
      Pin 6: 4.48
      Pin 7: 4.47
      Pin 8: 8.87
      These were measured using a reaonably fresh battery as a power supply. Any thoughts?

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  58. Hi!
    I'm here again :-)
    I've a problem.The pedal works but the tone pot it seems set very dark sounding!
    I've a real Ecstasy and the real one has moooore treble and more open sound when I turn up the tone pot..
    I tried 2 mods: (I've built the 1st rev):
    - 100p cap from 1 to 2 of ic - > 47pf
    - 22n cap from Vol1 to Tone2 (like suggested Tim previously) -> 6,8n .
    Seems little more treble but still far from the original!
    What can I do?
    The pedal doesn't seem a real ecstasy :(
    Thank you very much

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    1. Me too! I'm having the same issue

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    2. Watch brian wamplers video on how to use this pedal on youtube. Its essential. I thought there was something wrong until i watched that. Trust me.

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    3. I've seen it, and I have the bass rolled all the way down. The treble has to be mexed for all the guitar frequencies to come through, even a slight turn CCW and a lot of content drops out. Full CCW is a very large volume cut.

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  59. Oh..another info.
    The clone has twice gain in comparison to the original.
    How is it possible?
    thank you guys!

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  60. I built this pedal from the layout. I really liked it, but found when I played it in a live band setting it was a little too dark to really cut through well. Here's a demo video I made of it:

    http://youtu.be/fH3WGkt0fKc

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  61. Are 3 & 4?on the mini toggle left alone? I don't see anything listed going to them

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  62. Noob question. Where the 4 and 5 switches go?

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    1. they're not used. keep in mind that if something isn't mentioned in the layout then they're not connected, this goes for switch lugs and pot lugs. good luck with the build. this is a fantastic pedal, in fact it's one of my top OD's.

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  63. I built one off the first version and it works fine. I built another one off of the second version and everything works but the tone knob. I used a 1u tantalum. I don't know if that's effecting it or not. All the wiring looks correct. No idea what's going on.

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  64. Built version 2...Works great...very nice pedal:) thnx everyone!!!!!

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  65. Need help.

    I Built one (rev 2), sonds really nice. But my EQ switch does not work. When I change the switch there is no diference at all. No volume dropping or voice change. I've checked and re-checked all the circuit, component values, cuts, jumpers, re-soldered all suspicious joints even the outboard wiring, no "bridges", all diodes and polarized capacitors are oriented right the same of the layout. This is my voltages:

    4,74
    4,74
    3,12
    0
    4,54
    4,74
    4,74
    9,46

    The gain pot, I soldered a wire in the pin 2 and put a jumper to pin 3 to get both connect and soldered the Sw2 in pin 3. Is that right?

    Sorry for the english.

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    1. Damn it! Nevermind. In place of the 33K (3 orange lines) I did put a 3.3k (two orange lines and 1 red). The colors are almost the same and that was my mistake. Now the pedal works 100%. Really great OD.

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  66. I killed my circuit with a bad powering cable. (Maybe inverted)
    Considering I'm building all those nice circuit without understanding anything. Like puzzles ! Could you please tell me what part I should try to replace to make it work again ?
    Thanks !

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  67. Just built this (short the DPDT switch, on order) as my first veroboard build. Works. Fun. Thanks. More to come. (Pinnacle, OKKO Diablo, M'OD, Turnabout)

    Thanks!
    Michael

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  68. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  69. Hi! I have made 2 pedals. Nice sound.
    thanks

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  70. Hi guys!!
    Im really new in this arena.. I have tried several times but I fail to build my own ecstasy.. Could anyone please share their ecstasy's internal photo?pleaseeee!!!

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  71. Hi Mark,
    I built this one and all the controls work as they should, except the tone pot. For some reason it has full treble frequencies at one end of the rotation and it gets very dark very quick when I rotate the tone pot back CCW. How can I fix this?

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  72. Built this and love it. Thanks for the layout!

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  73. I've built a couple of these, and it may be my favorite tagboard pedal. I like it even more than the Zen Drive. I love the simplicity of this pedal. Brian Wampler is the man. I recommend experimenting with different diodes. I tried some BAT41s and really liked it.

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  74. I really really realllllly love this one. It has this 'something' that just works for me. What a wonderful circuit. This is a must build if you want a nice overdrive that can help you get good string definition.

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  75. Hellow I need some help I build two of this pedal, one for me one for my friend. The thing is that mine is really fizzy and a lot brighter than my friend's. I chance the 22n cap of the tone control and now is a little better but still very fizzy should I try replacing all of the caps? . The one for my friend sounds amazing but the tone control only works the last quarter of the turn is this normal? Thanks for the good work

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    1. The time I had the worst fizz on a build it was down to the opamp and only happened on one specific amp. So it seems those things can be very dependent on your rig. Anyway it's worth a try as it'll be an easy thing to swap if you've socketed the opamp. On that particular build it was an LM1458 that was the fizz culprit and a range of opamps worked fine with the NE5532 being the best of the bunch to me.

      Failing that have you used an audio probe before? I would be very tempted to follow the audio path through from the input and see where the fizz is introduced.

      https://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/debug.html

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    2. Thans for the answer, turns out that was the tone pot de problem once I replaced everything works perfect

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  76. Hey there! Thanks for the layout! I would just want to understand and correct me if I'm wrong - the first link from the left; it goes from Row 2 to Row 7 and then another link from Row 7 to Row 12?

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    1. That is correct Jason T double link from row 2 to 7 and from 7 to 12.

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    2. Alright cools! Thanks a lot ithop! Really appreciate it! Super new to making your own pedals. Just waiting for my components to arrive to start digging in!

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  77. Would also like to know if there's an alternative to the 10k Rev log potentiometer? Or should I just get a 10k log pot and reverse the wiring on it? Sorry if it's a noob question

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  78. Is it possible to use LM833 instead of MC1458?

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  79. Made this and love it, although it is extremely dark. I just found a second hand original Ecstasy and was surprised to find a lot of the components were completely different to this version, as was the sound. Were there many versions of this pedal?

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