Blast from the past.... Brontoboost

[DougH]

Hey Joe, how's it going?

I remember talking to you on the phone one time and you mentioned some issues with people using bright caps on their guitar volume pots. That may be the reason the BB seems so bright to some. I use bright caps too and have noticed it as well.

If you want to try a "full spectrum" boost give a Unidrive a try some time. I built a little custom version of that for myself and it is pretty amazing- cleans up real well too - the kind of thing you can leave on all the time. It has 35db of gain and will basically destroy the input stage of my amp if I turn it up all the way (not really, but the blocking distortion gets so bad it is unusable). I usually run it at about 50% and it sounds pretty cool.

[aron]

In my case, the volume was maxxed, it's the fuzz that's a little to bright for me. I like a little more treble roll-off on the fuzz due to the brighter setup of my amp.

As for the unidrive, is that the univox version? This one?

http://www.univox.org/pics/schematics/unidrive.gif

[joegagan]

doug, good memory. it seems that most new guitars sold these days have treble bleed caps.

i recall looking at the unidrive a long time ago, thinking it was cool design. never built it tho. was that the magic jimmy page box? or am i confusing it with a colorsound box?

aron, what kind of pickups are you using these days? last i recall, you liked kinmans?

[DougH]

As for the unidrive, is that the univox version? This one?

http://www.univox.org/pics/schematics/unidrive.gif

Yeah, that's it. I'll have to find the schematic for the way I did it. I did it as a one knob booster and changed the gain control to adjust the resistance of the NFB loop, so it works more like a "gain" control instead of a "volume" control. Fixed the input impedance too, but I don't remember the value offhand.

[DougH]

i recall looking at the unidrive a long time ago, thinking it was cool design. never built it tho. was that the magic jimmy page box?

It was supposedly the one he used for LZ IV but I don't keep up. I have a jpg of some ad copy with him using it.


Edit: Here's a couple unidrive ads:

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=42108&g2_serialNumber=1

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=42111&g2_serialNumber=1

[aron]

I'm using "fusion" type pickups now. It's a DSV (double screw type vintage humbucker) at neck, V60LP (single coil middle) and an SSH - I think it's a hi-gain humbucker for bridge. It's a strat-like guitar though.

[aron]

Is that a fuzz face type circuit on the front with a buffer on the back end??? Looks like there's a feedback loop too.

[DougH]

Sort of a fuzz face with heavy feedback. But it sounds nothing like a fuzz face. It just sounds like a booster with a lot of gain that slams the front of your amp.

[joegagan]

yeah. i always thought it was designed during the fuzzface heyday, they started with a fuyzzface but toned down the gain and put a buffer on the out. whatever works!

[joegagan]

I'm using "fusion" type pickups now. It's a DSV (double screw type vintage humbucker) at neck, V60LP (single coil middle) and an SSH - I think it's a hi-gain humbucker for bridge. It's a strat-like guitar though.

cool , i sure would like to hear your fusioney shred again, recent example, do you have anything posted?

[aron]

I will find something and let you know.

Aron

[DougH]

I finally got a 9V battery and tried out the Brontoboost last week for the first time in a long time.

I really love this thing, quirky in some ways but very "organic" and "earthy" in a way that's a lot of fun to play. For me, it works much better with single coils than humbuckers. With the PAFs in my Hamer it was a little too heavy and overloaded sounding. But with the single coil bridge pup in my strat it was darn near perfect. I'm not completely sold on the treble boosting properties with the tone control above 12:00. But below that setting, it's just a whole lot of fun. I could squeeze out all kinds of harmonics and feedbacky stuff while controlling the reaction with pick pressure.

As I mentioned earllier in this old thread- I think the bright cap on my guitar volume makes this too bright when turning the guitar volume down. I have noticed a similar, if not as extreme and more manageable, reaction with Gus's NPN Boost. I'm not sure what causes this and wonder if it could be tweaked a little. I originally thought it might be an input impedance issue, but the NPN Boost Zin is in the stratosphere while the Brontoboost is a more typical value, around 300K or so.

Would be fun to try to tweak this a little for my guitar volume w/bright cap setup. I'd use it a whole lot more then. Because a big part of the attraction of this is using the guitar volume to control it and dial up a wide variety of sounds.

[joegagan]

thank you so much doug. your findings echo my own about that pedal. i use almost exclusively single coils, so go figure.

i have the answer for your treble bleed cap. adjustable bleed cap- i have had this setup for 5 years, the studio and stage usage is incredible. like having a passive eq on the guitar ( as long as you don't mind 90% volume or less).

[joegagan]

add- the schem does not show the tone control, which is key to the setup. tone control, std wiring, 250k, .047 to ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPVlV1JfZk

[DougH]

Thanks Joe, I think you posted this a long time ago but I don't remember.

I might give this a try on my squire strat, as I don't mind hacking it up to try things. I've already rewired it once for a master volume, master tone, and series blend (bridge and neck) setup. Sometimes I really like the treble leak and sometimes I don't.

Edit: BTW, I modded the tone control to use a .01u instead of the stock .047u. Have you ever tried this? When you turn the tone all the way down it sounds like a "stuck wah"- very resonant. I find the tone control much more usable now and love turning it down to get that sound. (Nice Roy Buchanon trick in the video BTW...  )

[joegagan]

yes doug, you probably have seen it before. i post it twice a year here, whenever i get half an excuse

i will try the .01 trick as well.

buchanan?  hell-yeah!!! another great one gone...