Liquid Sunshine - very impressed, will post clips tomorrow

[composition4]

I just built a Liquid Sunshine and can't believe that people aren't talking about it on this forum as much as other overdrives/boosters.

I used the layout in MarkM's gallery - http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/MarkMs-Gallery/

Very easy build, I had about 25 2n5457s and chose three that biased to 4.5ish volts with trimpots at around 34k each.  No debugging necessary, although being such a simple circuit if it was needed then it wouldn't be too hard, even for someone with limited electronics knowledge such as myself.

As a standalone mild overdrive it sounds great, very natural sounding and smooth breakup.  Loads and loads of volume (I know it's subjective but to my ears it can boost about 4 times louder than my TS808!)
Quite focused on the high-mids and highs, although with the dual gain controls I can dial the 'mids + highs" gain pot back as much as I need.

Where it really shines for me is as a booster, and strangely nobody else really seems to mention it much as a booster into an already distorting amp.  I have a JCM800 2210 which sounds great at 8 or under on the pre-amp gain knob, but starts sounding slightly fizzy after that. I popped the Liquid Sunshine in front of it to get some extra gain for leads and heavier stuff - normally I boost it with the Tube Screamer.  The Liquid Sunshine makes the TS sound lifeless and loose. The Liquid Sunshine gives it a really tight, gainy sound but without any fizz at all.

As for noise levels, I haven't got it in an enclosure yet,  I will do that tomorrow. But from what I can tell, even without the enclosure it sounds quieter (by a bit, nothing major) than my TS.  But that's great, because my TS is very quiet anyway. I built it with metal-film resistors and all MKT box caps (except for 1 electro and 1 ceramic).

Sorry to rant, but I'm really really impressed and surprised at how great this simple circuit sounds. It's given me the sound I've been after from my amp for ages.

I'll box it up tomorrow and record some samples, so I should be able to give an idea of what it sounds like. I'll try to give a range of bypassed then effect sounds so as to be a useful comparison.  Should be up within 24 hours.

Any questions or suggestions/requests for types and conditions of soundclips?

Anyway I would highly recommend building this if you're either after a mild OD or a booster with loads of volume, but a controllable mid-hump (which I do like in my boosters) and the right amount of bass left present in the signal.  Oh, as a side note I believe the R-C filter of 100k and 2.2n was changed by Brian Marshall to 10k and 10n or something similar in the commercial units?  Many many thanks to Brian for making this circuit public domain, it's left me so impressed that I can end my search for MY perfect booster

Thanks
Jonathan

[John Lyons]

Cool, thanks for the review. I'll have to check this one out.
I know it was mentioned a lot in the past but yeah, haven't seen much mention of it in a while.
Looking forward to the clips.

john

[Ben N]

Is there a schematic around?

[Auke Haarsma]

Thanks for the review.

Seems there is a lot of crap/spam posted in the gallery. Blocks me from finding the layout.

[composition4]

Schematic - http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=47228.msg348137#msg348137

MarkM's Layout - http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/MarkMs-Gallery/album15/album76/Liquid_Sunshine_LAYOUT.gif.html

MarkM's PCB - http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/MarkMs-Gallery/album15/album76/Liquid_Sunshine_PNP_001.gif.html

[Auke Haarsma]

Thanks!

[bipedal]

Cool little circuit -- the flexibility offered by the dual gain controls is pretty intriguing.

Do I really need another booster/OD?  Probably not.
Am I going to check out one of these anyways?  Probably.

Thanks for putting it on the radar screen...

- Jay

[composition4]

Sorry I didn't get time tonight to record samples, but I did managed to finish getting it boxed up nicely. Will post samples in the next 24 hours

Thanks
Jonathan

[composition4]

Sorry guys, work has been crazy-busy. I haven't had a chance to record anything yet (it's too late by the time I get home from work to crank my amp - and it's not worth recording at a low volume unfortunately).

But I will manage to do it on the weekend as I don't work weekends, so will be up by then... finally. Hopefully when I get the samples up it will encourage others to build it because it really IS a great little design

Jonathan

[Just1More]

I threw this together on the breadboard yesterday and have to agree - very impressive.

I built it with 2N5458s and was able to bias it straight off, but I might try some others and a few tweaks to see if any further improvements are possible.  A little more gain would be nice too.  Most of the time I've had the drive pots close to full on, but this will definitely get boxed up and find its way onto my board.

BTW composition4, did you ever get around to recording those clips?

[composition4]

Oh jeez, totally forgot! Was going through a very busy period at that time.  Will manage to get some done in the next few weeks because I have 10 days off over the new year break.  Will also put up some clips of my Sparkledrive, Ross Compressor, Tremulus Lune too.. obviously in a different thread

More to come in a few weeks!

[Caferacernoc]

Wow. That has a pretty low starting point for the low pass at the end. 724hz according to the AMZ calculator.

[aziltz]

i own one, its fairly new.  i got a great deal on EBAY for 2/3rds the price.


but i've now got the schematic and i hope to be using it for a starting point of some original designs.  hopefully complimentary to my original on the pedal board.

[Andi]

I have an actual Subdecay one and love it - it's not left my signal chain since I bought it.

[gutsofgold]

so its like a tighter sounding, less mid range pronounced tube screamer?

[phintze]

I don't think it has much in common with a TS.

[Andi]

Nope - nothing like a TS either circuit-wise or in terms of sound.

[cardinale]

I got a (newbie) problem here maybe someone can help me. I use MarkM's layout but with 2N5458s biased to 4.5v (I use Voodoo Lab Pedal Power supply). But instead I got huge volume drop when its engaged. I can hear the distorted signal.. but it just too quiet I'm sure there's no bad solder joint or misplaced components.

errr.. pls help..