741 - Just salvaged some! Any specific build ideas?

[frequencycentral]

Today i salvaged 8 UA741CP and one MC1741 from an old piece of disco gear from 1977 that I was given - they were even in sockets, so no need to desolder them.

I know that there are certain circuits which make use of their particular foibles - such as in the EMS VCS3 (Putney) synth.

Can anyone suggest a specific build I could use them for? Or should I just use them as general purpose opamps?

[SonicVI]

Overdrive/distorions such as the DOD 250 and MXR Distortion + spring to mind.

[drewl]

Agreed, for some reason the 741 sounds better in a Distortion+ than a 4558 IMO.

[Branimir]

Opamp Big Muff?

[bipedal]

. . . from an old piece of disco gear from 1977 . . .

The question must be asked: what was it?

[frequencycentral]

. . . from an old piece of disco gear from 1977 . . .

The question must be asked: what was it?

Hahaha! It was two horrible record decks with a built in mixer - I also saved some cool 70's knobs!

[Electron Tornado]

Ditto the Dist + or OD250. The Dist + and OD250 are almost identical circuits.

Here's a project I have planned for a 741 I have.

Try out several diode combinations in both hard clipping and soft clipping, and see what sounds best. Have the diodes selectable with a swtich and use  DPDT switch to select between soft and hard clipping. I have seen one or two circuits that have both soft and hard clipping going on at the same time, so I will try some combinations with that. While it might sound really terrible, it'll be fun to experiment. I have a tone stack that worked really well in another pedal that I will try in this one as well. Look at where the Dist + and OD250 are different and try different component values there. Lastly, to octave or not to octave, that is the question.

It's going to be a while before I get to this, but let us know what you build and how it sounds.  

[nokaster]

red fuzz
roger mayer mongoose
roger mayer spitfire
hotcake

are all possible i guess...

[Mick Bailey]

The Clip-O-Rama is a design I worked on some time ago as a development of the Blue Clipper. Very versatile and works nicely with a 741 as well as LF351. The .022uf cap across the level pot may be removed or adjusted, depending on taste, but I found it tames some of the excessive highs from some single coil pickups. Pretty responsive overall and a good range of tones. The hard clipping from the diodes is not strictly necessary, but I wanted a pedal that would work in a wide range of situations and be easy and inexpensive to build.

http://www.avwz35.dsl.pipex.com/clip-o-rama.jpg 

[markm]

I've always been a BIG promoter of the OD250. Probably one of the best OD circuits IMO!!

[mnordbye]

The dist+ is one of my must-build-builds.

If you feel like something new, you could also try an overdrive which i designed, but i've never boxed it.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/mnordbye/own_creations/mnordbye_schematics/AWT.png.html
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/mnordbye/own_creations/mnordbye_layouts/AWT+Layout.gif.html

Magnus Nordbye

[AceLuby]

I also have a few of these and am making a DOD 250 clone w/ a pot to control the clipping threshold and a switch between diode types

[cab42]

I like the ROG Tube Reamer v. 1 very much. It uses a 741. The current version (2.0) uses a dual opamp.

Other options are the Guyatone Zoom or Vox 1901.

Regards

Carsten

[petemoore]

  I have a phase90 with SOA sockets all over the board, all 741's, it works great.