stratoblaster + bsiab 2

[rockford]

Hey all, I'm a new member here, and just had a thought. Would it be possible to combine
a stratoblaster and a bsiab 2 in the same box ? I don't know about the impedance of one into the
other, or if it is feasible. Part of the reason I want to try it is I mainly play a strat, , and
I want to get a fuller sound out of the bsiab. Anybody think this might work ?

[petemoore]

Part of the reason I want to try it is I mainly play a strat, , and
I want to get a fuller sound out of the bsiab.
  Have you tried the BSIABII with your strat ?
  and the II has had reports of oscillations from time to time as high gain as it is.
 

[PerroGrande]

the BSIAB2 has large amounts of gain...  I can't imagine sticking a boost in front of it!

I actually tamed mine a little bit.   It wasn't oscillating, I just wanted to explore its sound at the "lower end of the dial" a bit more. 

Sound is always hard to describe with words.      When you say, "fuller sound" -- what is it that you mean, exactly?

[rockford]

Not so treble heavy, fuller midrange, more bass you can hear. The pedal has a fantastic gritty marshall type sound, I just want the strat to sound " bigger " with it.

[petemoore]

Not so treble heavy, fuller midrange, more bass you can hear.
  Gain's plenty-ok then.
  C4: .022uf could be .033uf or .047uf to let more bass in, c1 could be used to roll more treble off at the input, 'clean' treble sound sometimes results when doing most of the HF shunting near the front end, it doesn't get in so much to be distorted, [the first staging capacitor].
  C5: C5?..lift or try a smaller value, bypasses treble around the 470k.
  C6: Does similar job as C5, but the parallel resistance is variable.
  C3: could be 10uf, to supply the 1rst amp with lower frequency AC.
  C12: a later staging capacitor
  R20: Good at 100k, seems outputs high it could be 50k..nahh.
  R6/R7: clipping a wire across one of these will tell you which way they swing the frequency rolloff...lol, parallel a [= value or somewhat larger] resistor parallel to one of these, or use a ~500k pot, find a value you want for that resistor by paralleling, measure chosen sum resistance, replace pot/resistor test pair [measure it] with 1 fixed resistor close to the value. ie..mess with the TC, see AmZ.
  Pretty good place to start though.
  C13/C14: try making one of these HF shunt caps in the two pole filter a little bigger value.
  This isn't a cumulative mods post.
  Being a high gain dirtbox makes it a good candidate for various voicing BSIAB type options I've seen discussed, of which I've tried none.
  Pull the TC, revoice the circuit.
  Different tone control topology.
  Fiddle with the values, end up with a more or less active TC.
  Cutting any frequencies [before amplification>reduction>amplification>reduction>amplification>reduction] early on should produce a more linear signal, the amps will be working with a more limited bandwidth, hence distortion tone will be different.
  Filtering later on can let the circuit anomolies be produced [multiple stages, w/frequency shaping sprinkled along the way], by the amps, 'hashing up' the waveform, to be later shaped/attenuated after the amps have distorted it. This can cause sag and shifting frequency amplification [cool stuff].
  I'd try 'em one at a time, two at a time but 'balanced', three mods at once should be avoided, take notes on what does what when/where...
  You might just want the first staging cap bumped up to let more bass in, depending on how hot your pickups are and how it reacts [or move the frequency range of the TC toward bass] and then some treble rolled off via two pole filter [or the TC [39k R7].
   

[alfafalfa]

What I would first try before adapting this  great circuit is putting an eq  behind it to get a higher cholesterol sound.
Try e.g. a Boss GE-7.
This way you keep all the benefits of the circuit  and fatten up your sound.  at the same time .

Alf

[rockford]

Good ideas all, thanks.

[dzebedaja]

Hey man - I just finished my BSIABII and put a stratoblaster AFTER it and it sounds AWESOME!!!
All in one box - the best overdrive and simple but awesome booster.
Just tried it last night on a gig with my band and I couldn't wipe the smile of my face the entire night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers

[ralley]

Similar to dzebedaja I built a BSIABII with a SHO booster afterwards.  Sounds great and they are individually selectable so I can have none, either one or both effects enabled.

Rob.