I Need Some Help

[thetrend77]

So I have an idea for a mod I want to do to a circuit to make it my own, but I have absolutely no idea how to make it happen. Would anyone be willing to help me out (I'm totally new to modifying circuits, so I'd need it all to be explained in the simplest way possible haha)?

If anyone would like to offer help, please PM me and I'll give you more of the details. THANKS!!

[midwayfair]

I'll be happy to help. What do you have in mind? Is there a pressing need to make it private? Posting here will get you more ideas. Cause we've all got them.

[thetrend77]

Not really lol. What I'm wanting to do is take a Bluesbreaker circuit and change the tone control to a treb/bass control and add a mid contour switch, something like the Paisley Drive has. How difficult would that be?

I'm just trying to think of some kind of circuit I can make to call my own and have boards made lol

[thetrend77]

And maybe a clipping switch.

[midwayfair]

Not really lol. What I'm wanting to do is take a Bluesbreaker circuit and change the tone control to a treb/bass control and add a mid contour switch, something like the Paisley Drive has. How difficult would that be?

I'm just trying to think of some kind of circuit I can make to call my own and have boards made lol

You want both treble and bass controls, or you want a single control that controls the bass and treble simultaneously?

[thetrend77]

2 controls. One for treble and one for bass. And the mid switch would be something like a 3 way toggle with mid boost, normal, and mid cut or something like that lol. I dunno, I'm just tossing around ideas for now.

[midwayfair]

Can you post the schematic you'll be working from so we can all refer to the same parts numbers?

[thetrend77]

The best one I found was this one: http://www.tonegeek.com/musicgear/pedals/marshall-bluesbreaker-mods.php/attachment/2-2

It's from a page where the explain how to do the King of Tone mods lol

[midwayfair]

The best one I found was this one: http://www.tonegeek.com/musicgear/pedals/marshall-bluesbreaker-mods.php/attachment/2-2

It's from a page where the explain how to do the King of Tone mods lol

Well, some of those mods are ones you want, like the diode switch.

[thetrend77]

Yeah I saw that. I'm mostly trying to figure out the treb/bass and mid switch thing.

[midwayfair]

Yeah I saw that. I'm mostly trying to figure out the treb/bass and mid switch thing.

Well, the tone knob already is a treble control.

For the bass control, take a look at how it's done in the Timmy and see if you can find the equivalent part of the Bluesbreaker.

A mids contour control is going to be harder to implement. These are the simple ones.

Also, you might want to check out Culturejam's Game of Tones. It has some of the mods you're describing already.

[thetrend77]

How would I go about replacing the current tone control and adding something like this? http://www.muzique.com/lab/atone.htm

[thetrend77]

Or if the mid switch is too complicated, what about Treb/Mid/Bass controls?

[jkokura]

Or if the mid switch is too complicated, what about Treb/Mid/Bass controls?

Then you're just looking at different Marshall effects, other than the Bluesbreaker.

I think what you're trying to do is mod a circuit so far, that you're not aware that there are other circuits that would give you the same sort of effect already.

The Bluesbreaker is just a derivative of the Dual Op Amp overdrive. Yes, it uses a peculiar set of diodes for creating clipping, and the tone section is certainly it's own, but you may find the sort of circuit you're looking for in other places, and then find it easier to modify that circuit to more resemble the Bluesbreaker.

I think what I would suggest is that you spend some time understanding how dual op amps, tone stacks, and clipping diodes work. It's ok to not know how things work and build them, but in this case it really sounds like you need to learn how these things work in order to design the thing you're looking for.

Jacob

[midwayfair]

Unfortunately, Jacob's somewhat right in this case, though I wouldn't discourage someone from experimenting ever. What you are looking to do goes way beyond just modifying a bluesbreaker circuitboard and I'm afraid that just implementing all the mods will lead to disappointment.

Do you have a breadboard? Your best way to tackle this is to build the bluesbreaker from the schematic on a breadboard. Get the basic circuit working FIRST. Learn its consituent components. Performing all the mods you're looking at may change the function of the circuit so much that you'll end up needing to change other things -- for instance you need to be aware that tone stacks can eat up a LOT of output.

So, again, build the basic circuit on a breadboard, and then one at a time implement mods that might change the tone stack. Going through systematically will also help you understand the circuit, and limit the time you have to spend on forums asking for step-by-step implementation of any given mod.

Plus, the breadboard is your friend and you need to get to learn it and love it.