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brad347 said:
I once build a TS-808 clone and added an extra diode in series with one of the other diodes to produce asymmetrical clipping. It's now my main distortion device.

That's one of the mods I plan to do on the BYOC kit.
 
its a good mod, increases the output a bit, sounds good. Experiment with different types of diodes (including LEDs) to find the one that sounds the best to you. For a slightly more subtle effect, just use two different types of diodes (and no third one). I have three identical diodes in mine and it's pretty pronounced, in fact you can almost detect a faint octave effect when playing up high on the neck.
 
Well, I built the 808 and I've since built a fuzzface as well.

The 808 is the real standout in terms of sound, useability and ease of construction. Fantastic pedal. I think my FF looks best though. 8)

Here's a pic of my clone army (fuzzface, 808, rangemaster):

Paladin2019-byoc_clones.jpg
 
Paladin2019 they look cool 8)

I've just been given the BYOC Tuber Screamer clone as a Christmas present and I'm a bit daunted :cry:

There are so many tiny pieces !!!!!!

I may need to ask for some advise from you, if you don't mind
 
chrisheyes said:
I may need to ask for some advise from you, if you don't mind

No worries. I was pretty intimidated at first, but you have to realise that if you can solder one component you can solder them all - they're all really easy on the PCB, there's just a lot of them! The 808 has an additional advantage in that it has a really big enclosure so there's lots of room to work with and less chance of something interfering with something else.

The best advice I can give is PLAN AHEAD. Avoid tangles and shorts. Keep your wires short but give them some slack, take your time and follow the insructions. Try not to "burn your bridges" - you may have to go back to something later so keep things as accessible as possible until the last possible moment. Oh, and give big components long enough leads to fold them over later.

With the 808, check which direction the pots are facing. My enclosure and the instructions showed them in opposite directions and my knobs worked backwards for a bit because I didn't spot it!

Oh, and if you're feeling flash, I recommend you make the clipping diode and input cap switcheable. 8)
 
those are some sweet looking home-made pedals Paladin!!

i wish i had the patience to be able to solder tiny components onto circuit boards...

i would really like to buy some of those kits, but i know i would never be able to stick everything together and make it work!!!!!!!!!
 
Paladin2019 I've just finished making the 808 Clone :D

It worked first time too - really pleased with it. I took your advise and took care to plan ahead.

I've made it totally satandard, without the mods.

What does the clipping diode and input cap mods do to the sound ? :oops:

Thanks

Chris
 
adding an extra diode for asymmetrical clipping increases the output a little bit and also gives the distortion a more tube-like character.

i don't know what you mean by 'input cap' but I modded the .047 cap attached to the tone control to a .1 to increase bass response a little/make the pedal less midrangey and muddy.
 
Word of warning - the extra diode included in the kit doesn't fit in its holes. It took me half an hour of filing to get the leads down to their bare copper before the **** thing would fit and that was without any solder gumming up the hole.

It's probably the best mod you can do, so my recommendation would be to have some wire coming out of the holes and solder the diode to that. Either that or, as I said above, make the whole thing switcheable :wink: (you don't even need to do any drilling, just leave the switch inside the enclosure and open it up to flip it if you feel like it)
 
PS... go to the local electronics shop and buy four or five RANDOM diodes. Zener diodes, silicons, germaniums... EVEN LED's! Anything!

Then try those diodes in the holes... they will all do basically the same thing but have different characters to the sound... often the more mismatched the diodes are, the more tube-like the sound. LEDs actually sound quite good in there!

Using a diode identical to the other two will give the most extreme effect... in fact, very high up on the neck around the 12th fret and above, you will almost start to barely hear an almost audible octave up effect! Just like a ghost of one...

Identical diode also makes the notes up there have more 'weight' to them... it seems like they punch harder but a little later... you'd have to experience it yourself to know what i'm talking about.
 
Paladin - you were right about that diode for the Mod !!

The wires were a hell of a lot thicker. Changing the Capacitor wasn't too bad.

The pedal is very impressive, I'd like to go head to head with a real 808 tube screamer to hear the difference now.

I have a Tokai Z-II overdrive pedal which just doesn't compare to this now.

I have a Jap SRV Fender Strat with Bare Knuckle Irish Tour pickups in it. Playing this guitar and the pedal through the Line 6 Guitar port give a sweet tone now. With SRV playing on the CD drive I can match to the #1 tone - :p If only I could match his playing tho :wink:

Thanks for all the help guys. I feel another Build your own Pedal project coming soon - hhhhmmmmmmm what next ???
 
I hope for your own sakes your using chemical and hepper airfilters when your soldering.

Solder fumes are deadly. Hello Nasal Cancer!:)

And you don't want to know what happens to your ears when they go into Toxic Shock! Mr & Mrs Tinitus bring the kids round for the weekend and deside to stick around, followed by a slow and lingering period of slowly going deff!

You can forget about playing the electric guitar, maybe get a ukulele or some hand puppets:)

Remember to Sue them at least!
 
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