EP+ Boost (pre-2012 Fat Pants in a 1590a)

[mgwhit]

Spring Break fun continues with another old board finally boxed up!  This time it's an old Fat Pants crammed into a 1590a.



I had a bear of a time cramming this all in, and then, when I finally finished, I realized I had wired the Boost pot backwards.      I didn't want to pull everything out again, so I managed to desolder and resolder the wires working entirely from the surface of the board.  I'm sure the joints aren't exactly up to NASA standards, but they work just fine.



Sounds good by itself, but does anyone have opinions on where to put this in your chain?

I'd like to say that this is the last 1590a project I'll ever do, but I've got a completed Thunderpuss board just sitting on my desk and staring at me.  At least the new Baby Board build guide has that nice 1590a drill template.

[nzCdog]

Looks cool man!  Never played thru one of thee guys so I can't offer an opinion on where they sound best.  Experiment I say 

[gtr2]

Yeah 1590a's are uh...fun... 

I've got 4 baby builds on the agenda.  I was going to do a one enclosure deal but I felt like a good challenge for four 1590a's. 

Josh

[mgwhit]

Looks cool man!  Never played thru one of thee guys so I can't offer an opinion on where they sound best.  Experiment I say

Thanks!  I think I'm gonna try it at the end of my chain today.  I was trying to use it to push my Aristocrat yesterday, but it was just making it sound fizzy.  It sounds awesome just by itself, though.  The front end of my 5f2a loves boosters, and this has much more gain than I remember.

[mgwhit]

Yeah 1590a's are uh...fun... 

I've got 4 baby builds on the agenda.  I was going to do a one enclosure deal but I felt like a good challenge for four 1590a's. 

Good luck with those!  There are a few of the baby board projects that look intriguing, but I'm going to wait to see a few build reports before I dive in.  And nothing with more than two knobs.  Besides, I've still got three completed boards waiting to be boxed (1590b's -- using your 3PDT PCB's!), a couple more half-completed ones sitting on my desk and 5 boards (?) waiting to ship.

I look forward to seeing your build threads!

[frankie5fingers]

I have a couple of boards for different purposes and need to move a few things around for different amps. Both boards have an EP-pre clone - not the Xotic circuit.  (Badger, Clinch) anyway... Regarding placement;
I find the most effective placement toward the end of the chain, after dirt and fuzz, before modulation like a vibe and before time.  Beyond the built in buffer's advantage there, there's a "sparkle" that it adds in that position, additional to the boost.  It's effect on the vibe is really pleasing.  I miss it when switched off.  At the front it delivers almost the same tone but doesn't add that sparkle and of course has little effect on the modulation.  As you've found, it doesn't do much to improve dirt either.  YMMV, but that's been my experience.

[mgwhit]

Thanks!  Yeah, I tried it at the end of the chain and found I liked it much better there.  So instead of blasting the op-amps in my other pedals, it's hitting the front end of the amp (which loves it), and it can handle all my other dirt pedals without a sneeze because of its 18-volt operation.  Really love this one.  I unfortunately offered to sell it to a bandmate a few months back (before I boxed it), but I think the price just went way up.