Ross Black Distortion w/ Tan mod

[PhiloB]

A buddy gave me this black distortion which gets mediocre reviews on the net and from me as well.  I'm not a distortion buff but I did like how well it cleans up.  After discussing the 500K reverse audio pot on another thread I think this is a real plus for this pedal.  You can really dial in some good OD type sounds with some subtle hair to it.
Most reviewers compared it to the earlier Tan version from the 70's stating the Tan was far superior.  So I thought, hey, I wonder if I can mod it to tan specs?  Turns out the pedals are exactly the same except for the clipping diodes.
Black=1N4148 (si)
Tan=1N270 (ge)
So I put diodes on a toggle switch.  Added true bypass and LED.  Replaced the DC jack with the standard Boss type.  Put new pots in and did my best to match up the knobs which were missing.
Like the germanium setting much better but think silicon has it's place to (more metal/less fuzzstortion).
This project was more about 'can I do this' than trying to produce a desire able product.
BTW, I almost lost my mind trying to locate the proper pcb mounting pots on mouser before saying screw it and order from SmallBear.  The combo of pcb mount, long shaft and knurled tip was too much;)

[micromegas]

I dig that enclosure: bad guys wear black.

I think this deserves a demo.

[PhiloB]

Hmmm, a demo might be fun.  It's be a few days but I'll give it a shot.

[micromegas]

By the way, wouldn't it be awesome if someone sold this kind of enclosures? It is similar to the ones Moog uses now in their Minifoogers.

[PhiloB]

It's a cool enclosure but hard to remove the knobs;)

[LaceSensor]

Ive got one of those and actually rate it.
i thought it was an MXR dist+ clone, but could be wrong

[PhiloB]

Recorded a demo with my phone.  Not the best recording method but all I have currently.  Playing a Squier '51 with the bridge pickup (Duncan Buckshot Humbucker) through an Ampeg Gvt-52.
Clean>Ross Distortion Ge>Ross Distortion Si> and then giggles Turbo Rat clone.
All have gain maxed which probably was a mistake.  May have been able to hear more subtle differences as lower gains.  Also, the Rat sounds like it has had a blanket thrown over it IMHO.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oyeqf9o3w5cy21g/GevsSivsTurbo.m4a

[sirbergersworth]

Looks great. Haven't listened to the vid but I love both my Ross tan distortions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PhiloB]

Thanks.  It was fun.
Ended up selling it to a guy that loved it.  I never quite 'loved it' myself;)

[GrindCustoms]

That's a cool project, that circuit is really similar to a DOD250 or MXR Dist+, it can easily be tweaked to those specs.

With the Ge in it, with volume fully CW and gain too, was is sitting above unity gain?

[PhiloB]

Yes.  It did loose quite a bit of volume but unity was at about 2 or 3 o'clock

[GrindCustoms]

Yes.  It did loose quite a bit of volume but unity was at about 2 or 3 o'clock

That ain't bad at all!

Correction over my previous post, Dist+ or DOD250 circuit can easily be modded to Ross Specs... i remember going thru all the schems at one point and there was just couple differences in values.

[PhiloB]

No, there was plenty of gain on tap still for my needs.  I felt the pedal got a little fuzzy at the extreme settings.