runoffgroove english channel

[fritz]

I've build an english channel from runoffgroove and it sounds great, especially combined with a ross compressor. I've also assembled the successor britannia but it does not have that nice low midrange stuff I like so much...

However the only thing is that from time to time and when the gain is set low (around 8-9 o'clock) unfortunately there is some low frequency crackling coming out of the english channel. Furthermore I noticed some microphonic behaviour when tapping on certain trimmers?!

Well I'll hope to find out where it comes from. Maybe it derives from a brocken capacitor?! If you have any suggestions, please drop me a line.

[matmosphere]

Insert brexit joke here. 

[midwayfair]

Start by reflowing your solder joints.

Then take voltages and audio probe to find where the problem (crackling noise) is first introduced (and under what circumstances if it really does change with the gain setting). Once you've done that then we can suggest ways to fix the problem.

Those are the same basic troubleshooting procedures everyone should follow when they first encounter a problem in their build.

[fritz]

hi midwayfair

thanks for your suggestions. I don't know really how to do that, but I'll try after my holidays. I'll tell you what I did and hopefully found.

cheers

[lars]

That is interesting, the differences you've mentioned between the English channel and the Britannia. I have been interested in using either the English channel or Britannia as the preamp in a low-wattage solid state amp build. It sounds like you prefer the English channel? Anyone else can weigh in on their opinions between the two circuits?
By the way, do you have any pics of your build?

[muehring]

I've built both and prefer the britannia.  They both sound great, but the english channel was a little noisy in a band setting.  The britannia has rarely been off my pedal board since building it over 2 years ago.

[fritz]

hi lars

sorry for the late reply. Yes indeed I prefer the English channel. As mentioned earlier especially combined with a Ross compressor. It don't know why but the English channel doesn't trigger the compressor like all the other pedals and that results in a bassier sound?! Maybe I should mention that I'm using a Dallas range master at the beginning of my pedal chain therefore I can use some extra bass.

Furthermore I can change by switch from normal input to brilliant input. The normal has more bass which finally leads to the aforementioned result.

However, I'll try to post some audio files showing the difference.

What kind of pics would you like to see?

[Χωρίς ΟΝΟΜΑ]

I've built both and prefer the britannia.  They both sound great, but the english channel was a little noisy in a band setting.  The britannia has rarely been off my pedal board since building it over 2 years ago.

This is a grossly nonsensical statement! The Britannia is a distortion pedal so it is expected to get noisier as you dial the gain up. But saying it was "a little noisy in a band setting" is ridiculous !!! So what would you prefer it to be? What do you expect from a pedal like that? I mean throwing comments like this all over the place is a good argument why the internet should be limited to people with at least an average IQ. Have mercy on our souls, man!!!

[Govmnt_Lacky]

This is a grossly nonsensical statement! The Britannia is a distortion pedal so it is expected to get noisier as you dial the gain up. But saying it was "a little noisy in a band setting" is ridiculous !!! So what would you prefer it to be? What do you expect from a pedal like that? I mean throwing comments like this all over the place is a good argument why the internet should be limited to people with at least an average IQ. Have mercy on our souls, man!!!

Nice first post bro! 

[micromegas]

I've built both and prefer the britannia.  They both sound great, but the english channel was a little noisy in a band setting.  The britannia has rarely been off my pedal board since building it over 2 years ago.

This is a grossly nonsensical statement! The Britannia is a distortion pedal so it is expected to get noisier as you dial the gain up. But saying it was "a little noisy in a band setting" is ridiculous !!! So what would you prefer it to be? What do you expect from a pedal like that? I mean throwing comments like this all over the place is a good argument why the internet should be limited to people with at least an average IQ. Have mercy on our souls, man!!!

I usually would let this go and ignore a response like this, but I've been away from this forum (on which I used to participate quite actively) for a while and coming back to find that someone creates an account to throw a comment like this just 5 min afterwards makes me sad.

This forum has a lovely atmosphere, please don't ruin it.

On another note, I think muehring was talking about the English Channel, not the Britannia. The English Channel is a preamp recreation using JFETS, but the Britannia uses a different approach and includes a resonant filter to simulate a cabinet response.

From rog: 'Now we present Britannia, a fully redesigned adaptation of the AC-30 for use as a guitar pedal which has been optimized for playing into a clean solid-state amp'

Also, just to get things straight: noise and distortion are completely different things. If you come here trying to enlight others with your rightfulness I would ask you to do two things:
a) try to be as polite as you can, the internet provides some 'anonymity' but there's still a person at the other side of your screen
b) get your facts right

[gordo]

Wow. <Wipes soot and burned eyebrows from face>

I didn't realize I don't belong on the internet.

[stringsthings]

This is a grossly nonsensical statement! The Britannia is a distortion pedal so it is expected to get noisier as you dial the gain up. But saying it was "a little noisy in a band setting" is ridiculous !!! So what would you prefer it to be? What do you expect from a pedal like that? I mean throwing comments like this all over the place is a good argument why the internet should be limited to people with at least an average IQ. Have mercy on our souls, man!!!

Nice first post bro! 

LOL!






( Runoffgroove has some good stuff ... very pleased with my Britannia ... thinking of pairing it
with a simple power amp to make a killer bedroom amp )

[Willybomb]

This is a grossly nonsensical statement! The Britannia is a distortion pedal so it is expected to get noisier as you dial the gain up. But saying it was "a little noisy in a band setting" is ridiculous !!!

There is "noisy", and then there is "this is to noisy at the volume levels I'm playing at with a full band".  Trust me, it's a pain to deal with and has kicked more than a few pedals off my board.

[Χωρίς ΟΝΟΜΑ]

Guys you are all so funny, I just can't stop lmao. I mean come on! You all sound like some good ol' fashioned union thugs who are ready to "deal" with the new kid who just came a little rough on one of your buddies. On one hand I understand, this is what gangs do, I do not consider that a bad thing. On the other this is so ridiculously absurd! Let's examine why: I am in the process of building a Britannia and some parts of the circuit are a bit -say- ambiguous, especially since not all parts are currently available, etc., you know where I am coming from and where I am going with it, right? So I spend a considerable amount of my time in this thread only to realize that like most mediocre forums its just a bunch of -for the sake of the argument- beer drinking guys, just shooting the breeze and just talking ...crap (excuse my french) BUT with no real advise or discussion about the (Britannia) project in general. Yes, I admit, I did take it out on this guy, and I should probably apologize for that, but hey, I still believe he deserved it. I mean, complaining that the English Channel is a bit noisy in a band setting, is indeed a nonsensical statement, you got to admit that. And of course I was referring to the English Channel when I wrote Britannia, I am just too preoccupied with the project and I am not of young age anymore, my brain cells do suffer from a certain ...lag at times. So you are saying I should get my facts straight and be polite. Well the polite is subjective plus I did not say anything obscene or utterly rude. I just pointed out how ridiculous that statement is. I mean, come on, what band setting does this guy play in? Chamber music? It's a rock pedal and it should be used in a rock band setting where -well, hmm- noise is not your first concern. Afterall, you all know he is simply clueless, not knowing what he is talking about, but you will defend a silly statement simply because this is your territory, right? Anyway, the English Channel, IS indeed, according to RoG "JFET-based distortion stompbox" so I was not off with my facts when I said what I said. And distortion pedals, no matter how you slice it, do get noisy as you turn them up, so spare me mr. expert, I do have my facts straight. It just that the English Channel and from all sound clips I have heard online, the Britannia also, are noisy pedals but RoG will simply not comment on that, actually I am not sure if they maintain the website anymore (that's why I ended up here in the first place) . So, what now? Well, despite what you think, I am a nice guy, just too old and too impatient=tired to deal with post teenage-hood know it alls. I admit, I am an undesirable element in your forum and regardless the quality of information you partake with your visitors, who am I to disturb the ...silence. Muehring, just ignore the comment and please accept my apology. I still think what you wrote is kinda of ...silly, but I should have ignored it as well. As far as the rest of you, and especially the admin who just came back from his long hiatus to admonish me, again, my apologies. I do not want to remain in this forum as much as you (all) do not want me to, so how about this: Please remove my two and only comments, and erase my account, or I could just do that myself, if I had the time to do so. Again, be good, and no hard feelings, eh?! Cheers guys!

[stringsthings]

Guys you are all so funny, I just can't stop lmao. I mean come on! You all sound like some good ol' fashioned union thugs who are ready to "deal" with the new kid who just came a little rough on one of your buddies. On one hand I understand, this is what gangs do, I do not consider that a bad thing. On the other this is so ridiculously absurd! Let's examine why: I am in the process of building a Britannia and some parts of the circuit are a bit -say- ambiguous, especially since not all parts are currently available, etc., you know where I am coming from and where I am going with it, right? So I spend a considerable amount of my time in this thread only to realize that like most mediocre forums its just a bunch of -for the sake of the argument- beer drinking guys, just shooting the breeze and just talking ...crap (excuse my french) BUT with no real advise or discussion about the (Britannia) project in general. Yes, I admit, I did take it out on this guy, and I should probably apologize for that, but hey, I still believe he deserved it. I mean, complaining that the English Channel is a bit noisy in a band setting, is indeed a nonsensical statement, you got to admit that. And of course I was referring to the English Channel when I wrote Britannia, I am just too preoccupied with the project and I am not of young age anymore, my brain cells do suffer from a certain ...lag at times. So you are saying I should get my facts straight and be polite. Well the polite is subjective plus I did not say anything obscene or utterly rude. I just pointed out how ridiculous that statement is. I mean, come on, what band setting does this guy play in? Chamber music? It's a rock pedal and it should be used in a rock band setting where -well, hmm- noise is not your first concern. Afterall, you all know he is simply clueless, not knowing what he is talking about, but you will defend a silly statement simply because this is your territory, right? Anyway, the English Channel, IS indeed, according to RoG "JFET-based distortion stompbox" so I was not off with my facts when I said what I said. And distortion pedals, no matter how you slice it, do get noisy as you turn them up, so spare me mr. expert, I do have my facts straight. It just that the English Channel and from all sound clips I have heard online, the Britannia also, are noisy pedals but RoG will simply not comment on that, actually I am not sure if they maintain the website anymore (that's why I ended up here in the first place) . So, what now? Well, despite what you think, I am a nice guy, just too old and too impatient=tired to deal with post teenage-hood know it alls. I admit, I am an undesirable element in your forum and regardless the quality of information you partake with your visitors, who am I to disturb the ...silence. Muehring, just ignore the comment and please accept my apology. I still think what you wrote is kinda of ...silly, but I should have ignored it as well. As far as the rest of you, and especially the admin who just came back from his long hiatus to admonish me, again, my apologies. I do not want to remain in this forum as much as you (all) do not want me to, so how about this: Please remove my two and only comments, and erase my account, or I could just do that myself, if I had the time to do so. Again, be good, and no hard feelings, eh?! Cheers guys!

Nice 2nd post bro!