experimentation rhymes with question: which buffer for the biggest volume boost?

[artsinbloodshed]

Hey guys!
I have experimented and got a pretty cool sounding overdrive with several switchable clipping stages etc.
As usual (and as planned) I had a volume drop . wired a jfet buffer but the volume wasn't unity yet...
wired another one, still no unity...so,long story short, I've ended up with 2 j-fet buffers and 2 "sho" in series to reach the unity gain (both sho set with a 1k resistor at the gate).
problem is, while the sound still remains cool enough, the buffers and/or the shos are providing more drive to the whole stuff which sounds less natural than without...
so, my question is :what would be,according to you, the best buffer (and the cleanest) to provide a sufficient gain without sacrifying the overall tone?
thanks guys!

[Jdansti]

I like the Tillman. It's very clean and I think it improves my tone.

[artsinbloodshed]

yeah the tillman, of course.
Do you know the amount of dB boost if used at the end of a circuit?

[tca]

Do you know the amount of dB boost if used at the end of a circuit?

Tillman's pre has -RD/RS gain (inverts the signal), that is, x3.1, and roughly 5dB.

Cheers.

[CynicalMan]

I'm going to say a non-inverting op amp stage. That would as clean as possible, the gain would be configurable, and it could make a very good buffer (high input impedance, low output impedance). JFET boosters are nice for their simplicity, but in terms of specs and flexibility, op amps are still better.

[artsinbloodshed]

yes I was thinking of some opamp stuff.thanks for the tip!
It's always tricky when it comes to "respect" the tone and "rectify" the volume drop.
any hint on the kind of opamp/schematics to use?

[Gurner]

oops....not sure what happened looks like my post spontaneously combusted.

Basically I suggested that 'question' doesn't rhyme with 'experimentation' (and therefore any rhyming must be down to dodgy pronounciation!), then I posted this bipolar opamp circuit...



explained how to calculate the gain & mentioned that if the circuit isn't bipolar, that it would need a cap between R1 & gnd (and also would need the +ve biased to 1/2 VCC)....I then had a cup of tea & a Jammy Dodger.

There...I have excocised the demons...this post is *cleeeeeaaaan*.

[artsinbloodshed]

Gurner...How dare you make fun of my pronounciation?! 
Obviously I'm not a native so...haha. At least, I tried!
Thank you for the tip
I'm a little confused though. you speak about a cap value between R1 and ground...there's no on the schem...

[Gurner]

That's becuase I linked you to a bipolar type oamp arrangement & that's why I put this line above the schem...

Re a schem ....if you're running bipolar, then something like this

are you on a single supply then? If so, like I say, you need to put a cap between R1 & 0V (there isn't one on the schem , because that's not a schem for a single supply opamp, but a bipolar supply!)

here's a single supply arrangement (which will be fine if you putting this at the end of your chain, else it needs far higher value resistors that those 2 x 10K ones if it takes a raw guitar pickup as its input), the +5V in this pic could be 9V if your opamp is happy with 9V supply...



(taken from here - http://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/FinalProjects/s2012/ctp33_sa488/sa488_ctp33/virtual_saxophone.html  .....which was the first appropriate google image result I saw)