Queen of Bone (QoB)

[rullywowr]

Queen of Bone - "QoB"
Based upon a kingly dual "B00tique" Bluesbreaker with 18v/9v option.












My first try with envirotex.  This stuff is great!  I sealed the face plate using it and it was very nice to work with.  I powdercoated the 1590BB with chrome then translucent red.  I like to use a stepless reamer to clean out the holes  from the envirotex (like $3.00 at Harbor Freight for US diyers).

I used 1S1588 Diodes for channel 1 (thanks Treeslayer!) and some stock 1n4148 for channel two.  I like the delicate breakup of the 1S1588, and they do a very nice medium gain crunch or "in-between" sound.  The trimmers on the 3PDT breakout boards are for LED brightness, helps to dial in the balance easily especially with the blue.  If I get some more "mojo" diodes, I will probably swap out the vanilla 1n4148 for more sounds down the road. 

Dip switches internally add more diodes to the circuit.  I prefer the first channel with of a more clean sound and channel two a bit dirtier but have been leaving the bottom off to flip the switches as I am having fun experimenting.  Each channel sounds great by themselves, and when stacked there is a nice full and fat tone.  The two trimpots on the main PCB are presence controls.

Running at 18v through the internal charge pump really adds more headroom and sparkle.  Pedal is dead quiet unless the gain is up around 90% or higher.  Very versatile, really does a great job of sounds just south of metal territory. 

Demo Video below.  Signal chain is Kramer Pacer -> QoB -> Fender Blues Deluxe.  Recorded with some of my favorite mics: a Sennheiser MD409 and Sennheiser MD421(mk1), into a Presonus Audiobox running Reaper.  No effects except spring reverb from the amp and some microphonic tubes I should swap soon  .

[pryde]

Fantastic from the ground up! Really dig it.

Extra Kudos for the Andy Timmons riffs at the beginning of the demo 

[hylandren]

Wow, its almost painfully clean inside and out! Very nice.
No one would have ever guessed it was your first time with envirotex...
I am just about to throw up my hands and give up on enclosure etching, and your technique comes fairly close to an etched look....
I may have to try that.

[blackedition]

the build looks and sounds awesome.  i really like those 3pdt breakouts!  the trim pot control for the led is sweet.  where did you get those breakouts?

[DutchMF]

This is just.......... WOW!!!!

Paul

[jubal81]

Damn. THat's outstanding all around. I'm kinda 'meh' on the KOT, but I see that pedal and I want it! Great job.

[selfdestroyer]

great use of the Marshall silver knobs. I have yet to see them used on anything and they look great. That face plate also looks amazing. Great job.

[televisiondown]

Really like the sound of the 1S1588s. I've been thinking of building a blues breaker lately. Thanks for posting the demo!

[Cortexturizer]

Every once in a while there comes a build that makes me just mad. I wanna stand up and devastate the bedroom. This month, it's this one.


Incredible work sir.

[midwayfair]

Cute art, and really nice playing overall -- it really helps open up your Blue Jr.

A couple notes:
I heard some squeal at max gain that sounded like some power noise. (If you were using a single coil, ignore what I'm about to say.) You might want to consider a 100R in series with the 9V to add some filtering. I noticed in your build doc that you didn't use the series silicon polarity protection diode from the original schematic. Some diodes have natural internal resistance ... if you omitted it, it could reduce the filtering. I realize that max gain is also max noise, and that YouTube was probably compressing and raising the noise floor, but it was still a distinctive high pitched noise that I associate with power noise.

If you're going to replace the 1N4148, BAS33 are a direct sub on Fv for the MA diodes. They recently went end of life, but mouser has TONS of them still. They measure identically to the MA diodes on my multimeter.

[hoodoo]

Fantastic build mate, and demo, every setting sounded great. I loved the sound of those diodes on channel 1, smooth. Right i'm off to ebay now to look for some 1s1588's 

[billstein]

More I look at this the more impressed I am and after hearing the demo I'm so excited to get my board.

[rullywowr]

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it!

I am pretty happy with this guy...it's a useful tool all in all.  It's very versatile and fun.  Kinda brings me back to when I first started playing many years ago and was totally impressed by stumbling on the concept of stacking one overdrive into another (especially because I only had two).  Tubescreamer into a Turbo Overdrive back then getting some great "toanz" lol.

A couple notes:
I heard some squeal at max gain that sounded like some power noise. (If you were using a single coil, ignore what I'm about to say.) You might want to consider a 100R in series with the 9V to add some filtering. I noticed in your build doc that you didn't use the series silicon polarity protection diode from the original schematic. Some diodes have natural internal resistance ... if you omitted it, it could reduce the filtering. I realize that max gain is also max noise, and that YouTube was probably compressing and raising the noise floor, but it was still a distinctive high pitched noise that I associate with power noise.

If you're going to replace the 1N4148, BAS33 are a direct sub on Fv for the MA diodes. They recently went end of life, but mouser has TONS of them still. They measure identically to the MA diodes on my multimeter.

Thanks Jon.  The squealing is a direct result of having my laptop about 1 foot away from both the pedal and my guitar during recording along with the amp tubes being microphonic.  Without the laptop there at max gain you can hear some normal hiss but it's not that crazy power supply noise like with the laptop.  You have great ears, btw!  Also great tip on the diodes.  I do think that something different than vanilla 1N4148 is worth a try as a sub for the MA856 as the 1S1588 seem to have a certain "charm" about them.  It's not like 1N4148 doesn't work...I think its because myself (and I'm sure most of you) have heard their share of 1N4148 clipping...its pretty "stock."  I'd certainly sacrifice some overall clipping for "more unique" breakup. 

great use of the Marshall silver knobs. I have yet to see them used on anything and they look great. That face plate also looks amazing. Great job.

Thanks sd!  The knobs work pretty nice as they blend in with the copper color and silver switches.  I was originally trying to go for a tinned silver look but there is something wrong with the last of my "Liquid Tin" which leaves watermarks stains on the surface.  So I decided to just try the copper color, with envirotex.  One thing about those knobs, I found out that you have to be careful with them - they scratch easily.

the build looks and sounds awesome.  i really like those 3pdt breakouts!  the trim pot control for the led is sweet.  where did you get those breakouts?

Thanks!  Those breakouts are something I whipped up this summer.  It's an added cost using a trimmer instead of a regular resistor or measuring brightness beforehand, but I do like them.  Makes it easy to dial in LED balance between two different LEDs.  Plus it's more knobs to tweak...

Extra Kudos for the Andy Timmons riffs at the beginning of the demo 

Thanks Pryde, I do dig some AT!  Perhaps why I also dig the BB Preamp/(Glitteratti) and other Xotic boosters.  It sounds pretty convincing with some nice DMM delay after it...AT is more of a delay than a reverb guy.

[billstein]

I am pretty happy with this guy...it's a useful tool all in all.  It's very versatile and fun.  Kinda brings me back to when I first started playing many years ago and was totally impressed by stumbling on the concept of stacking one overdrive into another (especially because I only had two).  Tubescreamer into a Turbo Overdrive back then getting some great "toanz" lol.

I can relate to this. I remember when I discovered the TubeScreamer for rhythm crunch stacked onto a DS-1 for lead. Two pedals into a Tube amp, so simple yet toanz for dayz. After all these pedals I've built and all the choices I have, I think this is still my favorite sound.

[jprizz]

Excellent & awesome! That is all...
-Josh