FrankenWashie's TS-808

[jugglindan]

The stock TS tone filters on the feedback loop roll off the open 6th string by around 20%. The different cap values all sounded good with guitar, just different from stock. Going too high on the cap starts to get woolly and muddy though. So you are right, this is why most dirt pedals filter extreme highs and lows in the gain stages (to avoid mud and/or grating upper harmonics and fizz). It is nice to have different sonic options on tap at the flick of a switch though.

[jugglindan]

People do use bass drive pedals, but it tend to be on the more aggressive styles. One of those situations where you really want to bypass the low frequencies around the overdrive part of the circuit and just drive the higher frequencies.

I reread that this morning. I see, so that's very different to what the ts does. It rolls off the low end but doesn't mix it back in. You're describing something more like the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, that let's you mix the clean and distorted signals.

Thanks, that makes sense.

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[Simon Barden]

Well, keep the low end clean but drive the mids and upper frequencies. Some bass chorus and phaser units do a similar thing, and some bass compressors split the frequency range and have separate compressors for lows and highs.

You could also look at different combinations of LPF/HPF frequency adjustment and clean/drive mix circuits to tune things even further, but sometimes you can overdo the adjustment thing to no real benefit. However, it is something you could quickly set up in a DAW to test things, where you've got easy access to filters and overdrive pedal emulations etc. You can then easily set up parallel paths and see what frequency splits and mixing clean/and dirty levels does to the sound without having to solder anything at all.

[jugglindan]

Fortunately I am neither building or designing a bass drive pedal

But my order of 1N34 Ge diodes arrived today, so I have even more options to experiment with for TS clipping diodes. Can't wait to try them out tonight.

[jugglindan]

OK, so I got the LED swapped for a green one, and applied a decal to the enclosure. I am not happy with the new decal paper. The stuff from Dr Decal and Mr Hyde was great. I could apply a large decal and it would adhere well and wasn't prone to wrinkles or bubbles. Unfortunately I have used it all up, and this was the first use of a different brand. I thought it would all be sort of the same, like printer paper. But this stuff doesn't seem to adhere quite so well, and wrinkles every time I even look sideways at it.

I think I got it sorted in the end, and some of the issues in the photo are from the poor nighttime lighting, but I won't really know until the morning when it has dried. It also appears to be positioned slightly high, but the stuff is so fragile and hard to get flat that I couldn't move it any further. And this was the second attempt!

Best case it will be fine. Worst case it will fail to adhere or just look terrible. In that case I will have to soak it off and come up with a new plan, probably one involving ordering more decal paper from Dr Decal and Mr Hyde.

[Bakersdozen]

Looking very sweet! I've had mixed results with waterslide decal paper too from different suppliers. The first batch I got, I didn't know standard practice was to add some clear over the top before applying it, and it worked really well without having to do that. And no winkles and easy to work with. Then I learnt very quickly not all paper is created equal. I really struggled today with the MXR pedal decal. Took me a few goes, usually I get it in one. Maybe the colder weather plays a part?? I didn't use warm water either.

[jugglindan]

This is the first time I have needed to use one of the spare decals too (I usually fill the page with repeats just in case). I didn't know about clear on first. Did that on the tele because I didn't want water going into the wood, but with acrylic lacquer I thought that any lacquer would provide much the same surface.

Anyway, I will see how it looks in the morning when I use an exacto knife to cut the holes.

It's times like this that I think learning to screen print would be a good idea.

[Bakersdozen]

Sorry, yes definately a couple clear coats on wood prior to applying decal. No need to clear coat the pedal tho, as it's already a shiny solid painted colour.

But what I meant was that this particular batch of paper I have, the ink disintegrates in the water unless it's been cleared and dried first. It needs to lock the ink in. Whereas the previous batch I had didn't need to be clear coated prior to application. It just went straight on happily after printing. Sorry for confusion...

[jugglindan]

Gotcha, thanks.

I am using laser printer paper with, well, with a laser printer. Fortunately the toner seemed to adhere well. If I wasn't stuck working from home I would have access to the work colour laser printer which would allow more options design-wise. But for now, it's all monochrome baby

[Bakersdozen]

Screen printing would be super sweet. But for pedals, you'd need a plotter to cut the stencil