Road Rage (and some other bits...)

[juansolo]

Called a Philcaster because it was built for Phil, and a Frankencaster exists.

It's essentially a splittable twincaster to allow you to clean it up by running it on a single valve. It also has a bright switch which turned out a little more subtle that we'd have liked. Had we not already drilled the enclosure we'd have probably omitted that.

It's running a Madbean Road Rage charge pump (the only bit of silicon in the pedal), running the plates at 24v, heaters are running 12v. The valves are NOS RFT ECC82. Unlike the ones I've done running 12DW8's, these don't require anywhere near the current and sound a little better too.

[k.rock!]

Wow!! Fantastic job Juan!! It looks amazing!
Could u possibly share the schematic? I've been meaning to do a tube pedal, how does it sound?

-Kaleb

[juansolo]

I'm a big fan of the valve casters and twin casters. There's a massive, massive thread on DIY Stompboxes. The many vero's and schematics are buried in that lot.

Twin casters sound like the overdrive channel of a valve amp, but don't clean up. Valve casters can. This was an attempt to get both in a single pedal and it works nice. I can't claim any of it as my own as it's just a mildly fettled version of a twincaster and I wouldn't want to piss off the guy that came up with it.

Edit: It's this

[Ang3lus]

any chance you'd post some clips ?
that project looks interesting

[juansolo]

I haven't got any recording gear unfortunately. I'll see if Phil can do some with it when he gets it, though it might be a while as he's in the states and the last pedal I sent to him sat in customs for a month...

[madbean]

That is badass. I love those tube protectors.

[jkokura]

I'm seriously impressed. Working with tubes like that is something I haven't tried yet. I'm not sure I'm brave enough yet. I've always wanted one of those frequency central sub mini tube amps, now I want one of those!

Jacob

[juansolo]

I'm seriously impressed. Working with tubes like that is something I haven't tried yet. I'm not sure I'm brave enough yet. I've always wanted one of those frequency central sub mini tube amps, now I want one of those!

Jacob

I've got one of Rick's first Murder Ones (his perf work is just jaw droppingly awesome) and have made a Promicuous Girlfriend (Prom Girl in Mahstompage). The submini stuff is very cool.

[juansolo]

Sorted the bright switch. Just needed to go much further with the cap ratings than I'd expected. Now it works exactly as envisaged. Sweet.

[redbean]

Wow!! The inside looks as cool as the outside!! The tube sockets look like eyeballs with purple veins coming out. 

[madbean]

You know...I wonder if you could DIY tube protectors like that. Some washers drilled out for a couple of screwholes, and these: http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=824

[redbean]

You know...I wonder if you could DIY tube protectors like that. Some washers drilled out for a couple of screwholes, and these: http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=824

Excellent idea! Now, I am glad I spent the extra time last night cannibalizing threaded studs from two old SCSI hard drive cases I am going to throw away. 

[juansolo]

You know...I wonder if you could DIY tube protectors like that. Some washers drilled out for a couple of screwholes, and these: http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=824

That's essentially all they are, but a but over sized.

[night-B]

I looked at your build and don't understand how your power section works...  
I know that the road rage deliver 18v and 24v is needed right?
I'd like to know what is the second DC jack (the bigger one), why and where goes the wire placed instead of a capacitor on the road rage  
Awesome build BTW
Thanks in advance

[juansolo]

It has a power switch on the back, not another power socket. Mainly so if you've got it on your board and you're not using it you can switch it off without having to unplug it all. It's 12v in straight to the RR. I'm taking the 12v pad right next to the in as the 12v out for the heaters. No other reason than for neatness. As 12v is coming in, 24v (actually 23.something) is coming out, that goes to the board on the right, the other board takes its power from this one. The wire that looks like it's connected to the cap is the power wire making its way to the other board. There's a *lot* of wiring in that thing... This later pic after I'd tweaked a few things probably shows it better. It was taken with a crappy camera though which is why I haven't changed it on the site.