Build Report: PepperMill

[javacody]

I have to say that the PepperMill is a great low gain pedal. It has a great sound, its easy to build, and really does get a Fendery sound.  

I want to thank B and Gary from RunoffGroove. When they aren't busy fighting crime, they slap together some great effects.

I also wanted to thank Peter Snowberg yet again. He described how to wire up the marshall style jacks in a thread a ways back and I smartly saved the description to a text file in my "My Documents" folder.

I still have to box up the PepperMill, but I have the pots, jacks, and dpdt wired up.

One question, any ideas on how to get about 50% more gain out of it? I'm using the same FET's that B Tremblay used.

[B Tremblay]

It's great to hear that you're enjoying the Peppermill!  Thanks for sharing your experiences with it.

The gain can be increased by using a smaller MOSFET source resistor.  Try 680 ohms first and work your way down if that isn't enough.

http://runoffgroove.com/peppermill.html

[javacody]

B, thanks for the help. That did the trick!  I used 475 ohms, as that is what I had and it sounds awesome. Also, I thought that the low end was a little thin (I think the way you laid it out is best for humbuckers, but maybe not for single coils?) so I upped the value to 0.1 uF. This thing is a tone machine! Anyone want to buy a modded Tubescreamer? I don't need it anymore.   :lol:

This is my 4th or 5th Runoff Groove project. My next one has gotta be the Mayqueen. Can't wait!

[javacody]

After playing around with this, I've noticed the wonderful sparkle that this pedal has. I love to use it for rythm. However, the gain needs to be set quite a bit lower for clean sparkle, and I seem to lose most of it when I simply turn down at the guitar and keep the pedal at high gain. I'm thinking about  wiring up a boost switch that would remove a 470 ohm resistor from the MOSFET to boost the gain from the MOSFET as a lead boost.

[B Tremblay]

I'm glad that the suggestion worked out well for you!  Also, your Boost switch idea sounds like it would work well for your needs.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Jay Doyle]

java,

before using the switch to remove the source resistor entirely, try a 10uF cap across the source resistor to ground. It will do what you want but keep the DC bias of the circuit intact. Plus you can use the cap's value to adjust the gain of the lower frequencies vs. high frequencies.

HTH,

Jay Doyle

[Ge_Whiz]

Mr Java

Oooh, you'll get a LOT of fun from the Mayqueen. I built one into a little 2W low-fi speaker amp (I call it the "Squeaky", if you get the joke) and I can't keep my son's friends off it. Nor my friends, for that matter.  :wink:

[javacody]

Good idea Jay. I knew you could do that with JFET's, I didn't realize you could with MOSFET's though.