a pedal called BLACKFIRE

[youngi]

hii.
i've a pedal called BLACKFIRE, it's an overdrive with 5 transistors (2n5089), i couldn't find this transistor so i used 5088, but at the end the pedal really sux, it is so bad that u hate using it.

don't u ever guys try to build this one

[Ed G.]

You have got to be joking me. You build the pedal with the wrong parts and then complain that it sucks? That'd be like me substituting ingredients in a recipe and then complaining that it doesn't taste good.
Lots of people have built the blackfire and report that it sounds fantastic. Doug's Hwy. 89 pedal uses blackfire gain stages, and I've built a pedal that uses it as well and I can tell you the tone is about the best you can get.

[Zero the hero]

Many people before you have built this pedal, and many reperted it as a fantastic overdrive. You should use 5089, then are you sure that eveything is correct in the circuit you did?
Why does it soud bad? Explain us why it sucks.

[Bill_F]

I've built it, sounds great! Definitely try it with the right transistors, OR maybe something else is wrong.

[Chris R]

there's sound clips of a correctly built blackfire here:
http://www.runoffgroove.com/salvo.html

if yours dosn't sound like that then you've got something wrong.

C

[smoguzbenjamin]

I can't find it :?

edit: got it, stupid me.

[Oliver]

hehehe,

that must be a Joke !

for a Vintage Tube Amp it is great to add a High Gain Overdrive Effect!

And it produces a really dirty bluesy crunch at lower Gain Settings.

I used BC549C for it and im satisfied with it...

bye
Oliver

[Marcos - Munky]

Why do you say the Blackfire sucks?

[petemoore]

Not to cut it off at the knees or anything but, 1/2 a Blackfire...I don't know the exact name of the color there, but I like it.
 Ya build yerself this and put it with that, then do it again, [use bypass switches] then you have a 1/2 Blackfire, 1/2 Blackfire with [?], the other 1/2 Blackfire with [?2], OR 1/1 Blackfire, Or a whole Blackfire with something else on it [a Whole Black Fire doesn't really need anything else on it except maybe some echo !!!]
  These BF' stages Wire EZ too, provide alot of output, and have a voicing and distortion characteristic that I think sounds great and is pretty unique unto itself !!!
  High Gain Low Noise...I concur with the author on this matter...I tried a different [less than HGLN] transistor and it sucks...well actually not too bad but the right taransistore makes quite a difference.

[Bill_F]

Have you checked that your transistor pinouts are correct. I've made this mistake before. You still can get some sound but its not good. It certainly creates a lousy distortion effect.

[Mark Hammer]

Using 5088's rather than 5089's should probably not make any sonic difference besides noise.  When you think about how much gain is in this thing though, using lower noise transistors is probably a good idea.

I built one and I like it, although it is NOT what you would call a general-purpose overdrive that you want to leave on all the time.  It is a VERY strong distortion.  

It is possible Youngi wanted a different sound than that and it is also possible that he made some errors in construction.  Both of those are possible reasons for why he doesn't like it. Personally, I find it does a very very good job at what it does, although "what it does" is not something I like to do all the time.

[jimbob]

It could simply be the amp/guitar being used. I know i have some effects that sounded great w my tube amp but sucks with my my solid state and vice versa. This is esp true with my Charlie Strieger Black Dog. If no matter what ya dont like it--Oh well move on to the next one.

[aron]

The 2N5088 should work fine. That's what I used on mine.

It does have a different midrange - but it's a fantastic overdrive.

I suspect something's wrong with yours.

[RDV]

I like it best at lower gain settings, it tends to hum a bit up high, but at lower gain settings it works nicely with SS amps to warm them up a bit.

Regards

RDV

[aron]

I like to crank mine up and saturate it!   :twisted:

[Joe Davisson]

It should at least sound "alright", could be something miswired?

Check transistors 2, 4, 5 with a voltmeter. The collectors (top leads on schematic) should read close to 4.5 volts, anywhere between 4 and 5 volts is fine. Adjust the 10k resistors at those points until it's right.

Most (all?) transistors will work with the BF circuit, but the biasing/gain/noise level will change.

--

Some mods to try (for Mark, etc):
Try a 2.2M/100pf instead of the 470k/470pf after the gain control, and some .001 or .002 caps from Q2/Q4/Q5 collector to the 9v rail. Then "tighten" Q5's bias to 100k/22k. This will reduce the overall gain... and hopefully will reduce the "fizziness".

The schematic is basically a generic demonstration of how to use the gain stages, so tinkering on a breadboard is worthwhile.

-Joe