adding a bit of volume

[lovekraft0]

No, Paul, you were right about bypassing the source resistor to increase gain, but since the clipper section follows the boost, it's always clipped at about 300mV, unless I'm not understanding this setup. The output would be DC-shifted, but the AC portion should still only be around 300mV P-P. No matter how much signal (within reason) you pump into the clipping section, the output should always be <= .3VAC P-P.

[Paul Marossy]

No worries lovecraft0, I think we are on the same page.  :wink:
I just hadn't considered the part about the diodes being before the JFET and being clamped at a certain point.  

[mrfjones]

i'll try taking the diodes off the end of the circuit and putting one before the boost to see what it does, it is still working at about the same volume (with the pot turned all the way up) as the guitar while it is bypassing the circuit.  i will report my findings later.