more bottom in a Tube Screamer

[Rodgre]

I'm working with the AMZ Son of Screamer project to make a screamer that sounds good on bass. I like it as it is, and I know that I built one four years ago that I did some mods to for more low end.

Now I forget what those mods were and I wasn't sure what site had mods for more bottom on the internet.  Where might I look? Anyone know off the top of their heads what values to tinker with?

Roger

[R.G.]

Have you read "The Technology of the Tube Screamer" at GEO? There's a pretty much part-by-part explanation of how these work. The son of screamer is a minimal-parts version of the tube screamer.

In general, increasing capacitors that signals flow through from stage to stage, like the input capacitors, will increase bass response. Increasing the value of capacitors to ground in feedback positions, like the capacitor from the inverting (-) input to ground in the TS will increase bass response as well. The TOTTS article explains this for the TS. These are probably the ones you want to mess with. Double them for an octave more bass.

Increasing the bass response of the TS will also increase the amount of muddiness in the distorted sound; that's part of why they cut it. But you can diddle with the balance of mud to bass to get a compromise you like better.

R.G.

[aron]

Along with GEOFEX (must read), see the FAT Screamer on GFR's excellent site.

Plate to Plate/

[brett]

Hi.  More bass is easy.  Increase the size of the 0.047uF cap that couples the feedback loop to ground (schematically, it's near the "drive" pot).  About 0.1uF will give a noticable increase in low-mids and bass (I use 0.069uF standard in my VoodooDrive).  Go for 0.15uF if you want heaps more, but beware clipping of the whole "envelope" if too much bass gets through.  

Have fun!