Postfontaine Drive

[diablochris6]

Here is what I call the Postfontaine Drive, an original distortion circuit that heavily borrows on the Tube Screamer and Rat. My original post about my idea was lost in the forum crash, but I revived it here...http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=21500.msg212338#msg212338.

It is a soft-clipping distortion with tons of tone options, followed by an optional Rat-style boost. The signal chain goes like this: Buffer -> mid control gyrator -> soft-clipping gain (with bass cut switch) -> bass and treble control gyrator -> (optional) Rat boost. You can get some standard, mid-hump Tube Screamer sounds and some un-TS tones as well. There is also a switch to change the center frequency of the mid control. The boost section is a Rat with no tone controls, and the gain and volume are trim pots for a set and forget boost. You can set for minimum crunch for a more straightforward boost or crank the gain for some wild and wooly stacked distortion. I also added an offboard clipping diode selector for standard symmetric 1N914 diodes, asymmetric 1N914s, symmetric 1N34 (there is a volume drop here), and Zen Drive styled MOSFET clipping.

The build was tight, even with the tiny jacks. If I were to sell these boards, I would definitely do a little tweaking to the layout to make assembly a little easier. I reverse etched the enclosure. I don't care for the Krylon paint I used though; it didn't behave with the sanding and is already flaking off here and there. You can see some flaws around the pedal title. It's hard to see with the light, but the knobs are navy blue.

[diablochris6]

And here is a simple demo video!

[jimilee]

It's a monster!!!

[chuckbuick]

That's a great project, man.  Well done.  I really like the diode selector.