Sqweeker Mods

[DougCFL]

Hi all, Just built a sqweeker and am looking for advice on changes.  It is a bit too fuzzy.  I'm looking to clean up the dry and octave as much as possible; more like a Johnny Octave.  It also has this weird volume gap in the mid-volume level of my playing.  It is either too quite, or jumps to full volume.  If I lighten my pick attack, it jumps too quiet ... almost like a gate.  I plan to better match the resistors/caps around the diodes and try different diodes.  Any other suggestions?

BTW, mine also picked up radio stations on the test board, but is nice and quiet in the 1590a.

Thanks!

[madbean]

Sounds like a transistor problem. What did you use?

[jkokura]

Just a note, if it is picking up a radio station when boxed up, you have problems. Before it's boxed up, it's likely because it isn't shielded.

jacob

[DougCFL]

I used 2 2n5058s and a 2n3906.

[DougCFL]

Here's a quick update for anyone who reads this thread.  I was looking for a smooth, clean octave up.  My squeeker was too gritty and did not decay very well.  I experimented with several options and here are my thoughts.

Matched components - the following components need to match, measure them before you install. R6&R7, R8&R9, R10&R11, C2&C3, D1&D2.  Otherwise, it won't sound "right."

Fuzz mod - I added a 10uf cap in parallel with R4.  This produced a great fuzz octave with a large increase in gain/volume.  You can add a series pot with the cap to control gain, and/or a volume on the output of Q3 to control volume.  I took all this out since I wanted a cleaner octave, but it did have a nice sound.

I swapped the transistors with others, but that had minimal affects.

Diodes - I tried all the diodes I had.  Turns out I like a matched set of old 5mm red LEDs.  The break-up and decay was smoother than all the others.

So for me, matching the rectifying section and changing the diodes made the difference between the pedal sitting on my shelf, or my pedal board.  It's on my pedal board.  Yay!

[Roctopus]

Hey Doug,

Thanks so much for your grunt work! A clean octave up is exactly what I'm looking for. Do you happen to have any pics of your build especially the guts? Also, did you happen to add the Null mod? If so how did it work out for ya? I was thinking of putting both the Sqweeker and Slambox in one enclosure for a bass player friend of mine who wants a clean boost pedal and octave pedal but not necessarily the fuzz.

One last thing
Where there any particular ranges for your matched components? Where did you find your "old" 5mm LED's and do you have to use the Red ones?

Blessings,
Roctopus

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Great follow up! I have an already populated sqweeker waiting for a box. Did you do your fuzz mod with a switch? Something like a SPST?
I think its kinda wild if took matching some components to get the right sound for you. Thanks for the heads up!

[das234]

Hey Doug,

Thanks so much for your grunt work! A clean octave up is exactly what I'm looking for. Do you happen to have any pics of your build especially the guts? Also, did you happen to add the Null mod? If so how did it work out for ya? I was thinking of putting both the Sqweeker and Slambox in one enclosure for a bass player friend of mine who wants a clean boost pedal and octave pedal but not necessarily the fuzz.

One last thing
Where there any particular ranges for your matched components? Where did you find your "old" 5mm LED's and do you have to use the Red ones?

Blessings,
Roctopus

I know this is an old thread but did you ever get answers to these questions?