Anybody build a Small Bear Wild Mouse lately?

[Deaf Eddie]

I was looking for a relatively clean mid boost - looking for that old Vox MRB tone. My internet searches came up with the Wild Mouse as an option. I bought a kit and assembled it, it seemed pretty easy and straight forward.

Unfortunately, the result was not what I had hoped for. Even at its cleanest setting, it has a bit of distortion. The midrange "honk" isn't as pronounced as I had hoped for.

There's also an oscillation that occurs when the regeneration and/or gain controls are turned up above halfway.
IS that a bug, or a feature?

SO FAR:

Triple-check resistor values and locations - check

Capacitor values and locations - check

Polarized caps - don't match the ten-year old instructions, but match the graphics on the board - check

Diodes orientation and location - check

ONE transistor - three legs - check (tough to screw that one up)

IC chip orientation - check

Transformer - I think he's using its coil as an inductor, because only two of the six leads go anywhere on the circuit board - check

WHAT I GET:

The first knob on the left is labeled "muff" - changes the tone of the output, goes from warmer to nasally/throaty, sort of - works through its whole range. It's warmest (counterclockwise) tone still knocks the bottom out of the signal.

The next knob is labeled "regen" - it puts a kind of resonance to the tone, until it's half way up - then it starts to whistle.

The next knob is labeled "gain" - counterclockwise is as clean as it gets, as you turn it up it introduces more and more distortion, until about half way - then it whistles.

When you use the gain and regen together, they whistle at much lower settings.

The level knob (last on the right) is just the output level of the box when it's on - works through its whole range.

The LED works.

This box does a pretty good %^&*ed wah, which is probably what it was shooting for - BUT, not what I wanted. Another example where talking about tone is like dancing about architecture...

[PRR]

Welcome.

http://diy.smallbearelec.com/Projects/WMouse/WMouse.html

I've put values on schematic for easy thinking.

<--click

I see things which may be typos. Stomp switch is S3 in schem but S2 in text. Level control is R11 in schem but text mentions R15. And to _my_ eye, R6 and R15 look wrong, both could be zero (and maybe reduce your whistle).

I hope Steve drops by to guide us.

> a pretty good %^&*ed wah

FYI: Simple way to avoid the cock censor is to spell with a zero: "c0ck".

[smallbearelec]

Hi Paul and Eddie--

I confirm that what Eddie is hearing is the way the pedal works. I did not attempt to get the oscillation out, because some users said that they liked the weirdness that you get when the controls are just at the feedback point. I confirm that R6 and R15 are 100K and 4.7 meg respectively in the pedal that I still have.

SD

[Ben N]

For a broader tuneable mid-boost (also works as a straight clean boost, mid-scoop, treble boost, bass boost), I recommend building a copy of the Catalinbread Varioboost--pedalpcb has a board, but you can also download the schematic from their site in the build doc. Very clean, and massive.

[Deaf Eddie]

Thanks so much for your responses and suggestions.  I guess my MRB quest continues!