The "oh so great" Ruby amp.

[Hupla]

Hey guys. Long time lurker and first time poster.

Im after building the Ruby amp for the first time on a breadboard and I'm just testing it out at the moment and I have a slight problem.

The amp appears to be working fine and I have it connected to the speaker of a practice amp that I have. But here's the problem, when I have the gain turned all the way down I can hear an underlying over driven guitar sound which is very low but under the clean sound so to speak, and when I turn the gain up it just sounds awful. The speaker sounds like it is distorting the signal itself, ie. kind of popping, I can't really describe it any better.

Now I don't have another speaker to try it out on as my gigging amp isnt in my home and I'm just wondering if this sort of problem has been experienced before or is it the speaker?

I'm also wondering if it's the output of the guitar somehow as when I hook the amp up to a headphone output of an mp3 player there is no audible distortion anyway.

Thanks in advance, and I can't wait to contribute a lot to this forum.

[MikeH]

I've found that rubies and smokeys, and the like, are more like devices that can be manipulated to sound kind of like a guitar amp...  Sorry, I'm being sarcastic.  Just saying I've never built one and said "Wow! That really sounds awesome!", it's more like "Well, that sounds like a massively fuzzed-out, mildly intelligible over driven version of my guitar, or a ridiculously thin and watered-down clean version of my guitar... But what fun."  Point is, they're more of a novelty than something you hook up to $300 speaker and put a ribbon mic in front of and record onto 2 inch tape.  If it just sounds kind of bad, it's probably working as it's supposed to.  If it sounds so bad you can't tell what you're playing- you might have something wrong.

Welcome to the forum, btw.

[Hupla]

Thanks for the welcome.

It's not that I expected it to sound amazing or anything, in fact I knew it wouldn't, but this just seems like a problem that shouldn't be happening, nor has it sounded like this on any recordings i've heard. From what I gather it shouldn't be happening. Im just stuck with what's wrong.

Thank's for the reply.

[grolschie]

My Ruby into my Eminence Governor sounds really good. I'm presently having a few issues with the Ruby/LM386 circuit, but mostly it sounds good to my ears.

[Jurassic]

I have also built the ruby amp and when I hooked it up to my practice amp speaker (8' and 4ohm) it sounded terrible.. like the clean guitar sound had been mixed with a quiet high frequency distortion..well, you know, just crappy sound.
But when I tried Ruby with my other speaker (12' and 16ohm) it sounded fantastic and the whole distortion problem was gone.. I don't why this happened, maybe something to do with speaker ohms?!

[Hupla]

I have also built the ruby amp and when I hooked it up to my practice amp speaker (8' and 4ohm) it sounded terrible.. like the clean guitar sound had been mixed with a quiet high frequency distortion..well, you know, just crappy sound.
But when I tried Ruby with my other speaker (12' and 16ohm) it sounded fantastic and the whole distortion problem was gone.. I don't why this happened, maybe something to do with speaker ohms?!

Yeah that's pretty much what I am experiencing. I might try put some resistor's in parallel and see what happens.
Thanks.

[grolschie]

Please let us know if that works. 

[Hupla]

Please let us know if that works. 

Ha no it didn't. Might just try another speaker eventually.

[Hupla]

Right so I fixed the popping sound that the speaker was making and all i did was change my guitar. ha I don't know much about how the input would affect it but if it does im guessing the other guitar had more but I haven't checked it yet. If anyone can shed some light on that it would be great.

The little amp sounds pretty good now and Im happy, all though that distorted underlying guitar sound under the clean setting isn't gone but its not too bad.

[El Heisenberg]

If yer gunna build a tiny 1/2 watt amp, id just go on ebay and order thr chip for thr ms-2 amp. Actually thats just what i did. U can find the schematic in this forum i think. Just google it, it might be somewhere else. Ive built a ton of rubys and little gems and smokeys and noisy crickets. They all suck! The lm386 just sucks! Jrc is better but still sucks for guitar. The ms-2 sounds great with a small speaker, though.


But you could try building a bridged version of the ruby. I settled on a bridged version. You get more power. But cant use a battery. I think this will solve yer problem. Just mess with the input cap. I usually bring it down to .022. But thays me.

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap! I use it for my drum machine and ipod.

[slacker]

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap!

No offense, but that's garbage. Plenty of people have built rubies or other lm386 based amps that sound great with real guitar cabs. I've got what's basically a Ruby without the input buffer and that sounds fine, nice just about clean sound and no weirdness or ugly distortion.

[grolschie]

I am wondering about impedance at the output being a factor in the extra distortion alongside with the guitar signal. Jurassic said that switching to a 16ohm speaker fixed it. I have noticed this extra distortion using a modified Ruby as a distortion pedal with a volume knob on the output. As the notes fade out, the crackly distortion is noticable. I wonder if there is a mod that one could do to allow a lower impedance speaker or using it as a pedal?

[El Heisenberg]

You cant be serious. I didnt said they didnt work. Why use a speaker desiged for guitar frequency range when what the amp puts out it totally different? To me the 386 makes everything dark and muddy. And its distortion sounds like farting. If you're gunna use a whole freakin cab why not just build a design with a few more parts?? The 386 designs are toys. Thats all. They work in the same sense that a childrens cap gun works.

I was obsessed with the 386 IC. The ruby was the first thing i built. I built a buncha 386 amps before i built my first stompbox. I built every design i could find, before settling on a bridged desigb that was sort of a mix of the noisy cricket and the little gem mk2. If its the only thing you play through, sure you wont notice how it sounds like a toy. Theres no high end! Its all bass! Thats why i use the IC for drum machine or other stuff. Ive scraped every single 386 build ive made for guitar because i was seriously disgusted with them after i built the ms-2. You just have to get the IC on ebay. A little harder than going down to radioshack for an lm386 but its worth it. It actually sounds like a guitar.

[El Heisenberg]

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap!

No offense, but that's garbage. Plenty of people have built rubies or other lm386 based amps that sound great with real guitar cabs. I've got what's basically a Ruby without the input buffer and that sounds fine, nice just about clean sound and no weirdness or ugly distortion.

"almost" a clean sound. Sounds "fine". A guitar speaker is too good a thing to use an amp thats just "fine". It uses 9v for christs sake!

[anchovie]

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap!

No offense, but that's garbage. Plenty of people have built rubies or other lm386 based amps that sound great with real guitar cabs. I've got what's basically a Ruby without the input buffer and that sounds fine, nice just about clean sound and no weirdness or ugly distortion.

"almost" a clean sound. Sounds "fine". A guitar speaker is too good a thing to use an amp thats just "fine". It uses 9v for christs sake!

Last time I checked, you could use guitar cabs with different amps. You're ranting as if building a Ruby means you have to superglue the speaker cable into the sockets. When I use my Ruby I run it into a Marshall 4x12. Sounds great. Is the 4x12 being "wasted"? No, because I also use it with my other heads!

[grolschie]

I very occasionally sit the Ruby on my Laney LC50-II, and plug the Laney's speaker, now a Governor, into the Ruby. Sounds pretty good. I really like the distortion when both knobs are nearly on full. Would I build/buy a cab specifically for the Ruby? Most likely not. But I might oneday as an extension for the Laney - and use the Ruby on that.

[Hupla]

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap!

No offense, but that's garbage. Plenty of people have built rubies or other lm386 based amps that sound great with real guitar cabs. I've got what's basically a Ruby without the input buffer and that sounds fine, nice just about clean sound and no weirdness or ugly distortion.

"almost" a clean sound. Sounds "fine". A guitar speaker is too good a thing to use an amp thats just "fine". It uses 9v for christs sake!

I'm not planning on wasting a whole guitar cab on a feckin ruby. lol It's just while Im testing it out. I think that's what most people would do. It's all just a bit of fun at the end of the day.

Also about the whole "bassy" sound, it really just depends on what your tastes are. It's by no means a great amp but its not meant for that. I like a good bit of low end in the tone, but that's just me.

[Barcode80]

If you're using an actual guitar speaker, then build a different amp. Its a serious waste of the speaker to drive it with a lm386. What a peice of crap!

No offense, but that's garbage. Plenty of people have built rubies or other lm386 based amps that sound great with real guitar cabs. I've got what's basically a Ruby without the input buffer and that sounds fine, nice just about clean sound and no weirdness or ugly distortion.

"almost" a clean sound. Sounds "fine". A guitar speaker is too good a thing to use an amp thats just "fine". It uses 9v for christs sake!

yeah, um, you have no idea what you are talking about. ruby amps can sound great, YOU just don't like them. Please do not deride other members for correcting you on your false assumption that you know all when it comes to the 386 chip. Just because your builds of the sounded like crap (to your ears) doesn't mean they all do. Kind of elitist...

I've actually watched 3 VERY talented bands in the last few months, each with a guitar player running a ruby i had built for them into large cabinets with mics on the cabinets. It sounded like butter.

[El Heisenberg]

Oh. I see. I guess i shouldnt have said anything about my experiences at all. After all i was just lying the whole time right?

I just really hate those 386 people. I was trying to get back at them.


Wow the ruby is amazing. It fits in the palm of my hand and is almost as loud as my voice! It works GREAT for church music and surf stuff. Anything where the guitar is the only instrument playing. Wow. Just be careful not to have anyone else play along or all the sudden the ruby sounds dark and muddy compared to the other instruments.

Im thinking about throwing away all my practice amps and just using the ruby. I am SO impressed by it. It sounds great! Musical and clear and sparkly!

I am a millionaire. I own the McDonalds corporation. I can also fly by waving my arms up and down. 

[MikeH]

What? Were there drums? No. You had to mix everything too. You cut the low end and raised the high end didnt you? Why were they using rubys?? Was it in an apartment complex or something?

Im NOT saying they dont work. Im saying there are better designs that use less parts and sound better. The 386 is so easy to get!

Even on sound samples every 386 build is no good.

How many OTHER small IC amps have you tried?? The 386 is a compromise. Its cheap and small. Its not a SERIOUS amp. Its a toy.  Its hard to beleive people who have heard tons of guitar noise think the ruby sounds "great". It plain doesnt. It sounds great for being so small and whimpy. Its a novelty.

Don't like the way you stated it, but I'm inclined to agree.  Never heard one that I liked the sound of.