Dvm Od2

[marnold]

As DVM alluded to in the other thread, I did place an order for an OD2 with a custom paint job. Not only will it be totally cool, but it with be 946x more Lutheran than the leading overdrive pedal.* The only MOSFET bits I'm going for are in place of the LED clipping option. At that point my TO800 will go to my son. I've wanted an overdrive that was sturdier than my TO800 and a boost pedal. This is two great tastes that taste great together! And it's fostering Fret togetherness (Fretherness?) that just gives me the warm fuzzys. Naturally pics and clips will follow, which will give me the impetus to get off my kiester and record something again.







* All stats verified by Wikipedia and Billy, the gray squirrel in the big Dutch Elm

[sunvalleylaw]

As DVM alluded to in the other thread, I did place an order for an OD2 with a custom paint job. Not only will it be totally cool, but it with be 946x more Lutheran than the leading overdrive pedal.* The only MOSFET bits I'm going for are in place of the LED clipping option. At that point my TO800 will go to my son. I've wanted an overdrive that was sturdier than my TO800 and a boost pedal. This is two great tastes that taste great together! And it's fostering Fret togetherness (Fretherness?) that just gives me the warm fuzzys. Naturally pics and clips will follow, which will give me the impetus to get off my kiester and record something again.







* All stats verified by Wikipedia and Billy, the gray squirrel in the big Dutch Elm


Most Exxxccceellllennntt! :rockon: I for one will look forward to seeing and hearing your version. :AOK: :AOK:

[Algonquin]

will give me the impetus to get off my kiester and record something again.
Sounds like a good enough reason to me :AOK:
Congrats, and looking forward to pics and clips.
Cheers :beer:

[Robert]

Cool, I can feel the Fretherness in us rising! :)

[piebaldpython]

Congrats Marnold and welcome to the DVM OD2 club. :D OD2 is just a great pedal, it does lots of nice things to your tone and having the MOSFET mod where you will have it expands your tonal arsenal.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Marnold why did you choose the Mosfet options that you did?

[marnold]

Marnold why did you choose the Mosfet options that you did?
A couple of reasons. 1) I wanted to keep the stock TS808 thang as much as possible--just with the mods to make it more flexible, 2) I agreed with DVM after listening to the Gearmandude clip that I could not tell much difference between the lift and LED options. DVM said the MOSFET is much more noticeable, 3) I considered going MOSFET for the boost, but DVM said he tried both and liked the silicon boost better. I still hem and haw slightly on that last one. I haven't had the chance to listen to clips showing the difference between the silicon and MOSFET boost.

[duhvoodooman]

Of the 5 places MOSFETs can go into the OD2 (BYOC's $8 MOSFET Conversion Kit allows you to do all 5, if you so choose), there is only one that I recommend without reservation to everyone, and that is the pair in the second clipping position. The reason is exactly the one Marnold stated--the LED clipping under most playing conditions sounds similar to or exactly the same as the middle toggle position, which turns the clipping off. That's because it takes a LARGE signal (2.0V or more) to exceed the LED voltage threshold and initiate signal clipping, and most of us don't get up in that voltage realm routinely in our playing.

For the other four positions:


Input and output buffers - The main point here is to leverage the MOSFETs higher input impedance vs. bipolar silicon trannies to preserve top end response. Personally, I find the advice of effects guru Jack Orman compelling on this point--he suggests using a MOSFET input buffer if you're looking for maximum "sparkle", but sticking with the bipolar tranny output buffer for its stronger drive performance. Even then, if you're not concerned with the "sparkle" factor (and it's a subtle difference, not a big change), this one can easily be skipped.
Opamp - The CA3260 BiMOS opamp included in conversion kit is really just another "flavor" of opamp that can be run in the OD2, along with a wide range of other dual-stage opamps. IMO, changing opamps in this and other TS-based overdrives is among the more subtle changes you can make, tonally. Yeah, it adds more "MOSFET" content, but this one has the least overall impact, to my ear.
MOSFET Boost - Strictly a matter of personal taste on whether you go with the BS170 MOSFET in the boost stage or stick the the kit's stock MPSA18 bipolar tranny. Again, the impact is top-end chime and clarity with the MOSFET. But personally, I find the bipolar tranny boost--essentially the same as the vintage EH Linear Power Booster circuit--to be the better balanced boost. It still has good top-end clarity, and it definitely gives you more authority in the bass and lower mids, hence the "linear" designation. But if it's a "clean" boost you want, the MOSFET option is tops for that.
Damn--see what happens when you guys get me going on the technical mumbo-jumbo! Well, I hope that's helpful to some of you, anyway.

BTW, got my order book out--who's next?? :D

[marnold]

Here's a mock-up of what the pedal is going to look like. Bonus points if you understand the Luther references.

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/224a3054db3039f.gif

[piebaldpython]

Sweet mock-up!!

[mrmudcat]

Yea I also dig that :master:

Mine was modded for chase and is sweet so enjoy it brother:bravo:

[marnold]

DVM just sent me a picture of the enclosure. All it needs is a couple of coats of clear.

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/224a371061df125.jpg

[Kazz]

that is sweeeet Matt.

[duhvoodooman]

...All it needs is a couple of coats of clear.
Well, I was kinda planning on installing the electronics and hardware in it, too.... :poke: ;) :D

[marnold]

Well, I was kinda planning on installing the electronics and hardware in it, too.... :poke: ;) :D
True dat. It'd be hard to go "meedley meedley meeeeee!" without them.

[marnold]

Now fully assembled!
http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/224a39a43858e7a.jpg

Insert maniacal (yet extraordinarily Lutheran) giggling here.

[Monkus]

sweeeeeet !!!! :AOK:

[sunvalleylaw]

Looking good Matt! I would love to hear some tones from it sometime.

[SharkUSMC]

Heh, Thesis 96, as in, "But this one goes to 11!" I love it. (So sayeth he that works for the LCMS headquarters.")

[pes_laul]

Sweet looking pedal, can't wait to hear it:dude:

[marnold]

The pedal is here! I only had a quick chance to run it through its paces this morning to make sure nothing was damaged in shipping. I was concerned that given the size of the pedal and the two switches that stomping on one could cause the pedal to flip. Having used it a bit I suppose that would be technically possible, but it's not very likely--even for someone as uncoordinated as I. More details will follow as I have opportunity. This is my first day back from vacation which means that I've got a ton of stuff piled up.

[marnold]

Some further quick observations in lieu of a full-blown review:
1) The boost is exactly what I hoped it would be. Much better than using my OD with the level boosted because it doesn't color the tone as much. There's just more of what you need, when you need it. Worth the price of admission right there.

2) The OD is going to take more time, not that it sounds bad, but just because there's so many options! Do I want stock TS clipping, lift those clippy bits, or go MOSFET? Do I want the mid-range honk or a fuller EQ? I kept playing with the switches and saying, "That sounds cool. Hey, that sounds cool too. What about this? Yep, cool." DVM did tweak the tone control so it is much more flexible, but it takes some getting used to because what the knob reads is not the same as a TS-808 would be at the same position. There's also quite a bit more gain on tap, which requires some rethinking.

Guess I'll just have to spend more time playing. Sigh.

[sunvalleylaw]

Darn, I really feel bad for you . . . . . :rolleyes: :D .

I felt the same way with the Rodent, I had great tones right away, but there were/are so many options, it took me a while to acclimate. Not a bad thing, just tons of options in one little box. Have fun with your experimenting!

[marnold]

Here's a couple of pictures taken in my very own dining room:

First, the outside of the pedal to show off the custom (and painfully Lutheran) finish:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OT7l0dXu4To/Sk6ximULzdI/AAAAAAAAAiw/zRJrFTV66yc/s800/img_2312.jpg

Next, a gutshot, including DVM's hand-written note. It is superabundantly clear that DVM's soldering skillz far outstrip my own. Not that I expected anything else.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OT7l0dXu4To/Sk6xiVVQ6dI/AAAAAAAAAis/2_6JFGPUnZc/s800/img_2311.jpg

I'm still messing with settings, trying to come up with the best way to demonstrate the power of this pedal.

[Kazz]

Where is the...this thread is useless without clips smilie?

[marnold]

Where is the...this thread is useless without clips smilie?
Working on it. Patience, grasshopper.

[ibanezjunkie]

sweet pedal, i assume youve been jamming with it all day?

is it legal to have something that boutique and not jam with it all day?

[marnold]

OK, here are the clips you've all been waiting for. Here's the scoop. All knobs are set at noon for all the clips. In the "lick" clips I play one of Doug Marks' Classic Metal Licks. In the "chord" clips I play "Sweet Jane" again because it's easy :) All clips were played using the Jazz neck pickup on my Jackson DK2M into my AD30VT using my Black 2x12 settings into my SoundBlaster Audigy and then into Audacity. All clips are unedited except a little amplification on the licks.

Clipping Test:
I keep the tone switch at "normal." I play the lick or progression once clean, then I play it with the standard TS-808 silicon diodes, then with the "lift" mode (aka no clipping diodes, opamp only), finally with the MOSFET diodes.
Lick clipping test (http://www.box.net/shared/11t61qppn6)
Chord clipping test (http://www.box.net/shared/umbvsrx5cr)

Tone Test:
I keep the clipping switch in TS-808 mode. I play the lick or progression once clean, then I play it with the "Full" tone setting, then with "Normal," finally with "Fat." Normal = TS-808 mid-hump.
Lick tone test (http://www.box.net/shared/i6gnlua360)
Chord tone test (http://www.box.net/shared/z35c10ormz)

Boost Test:
Finally, I play the lick once in TS-808 mode with the tone switch on "Normal." The second time through I kick in the boost.
Boost test (http://www.box.net/shared/cdbuiykk75)

A couple of notes: the "lift" mode is considerably louder than the two diode clipping modes since less clipping is actually occurring. There are internal trim pots on this to control the amount of gain. I believe DVM set the max gain at towards the top, so it has a lot more gain on tap than a standard TS-808. That can be adjusted to taste. My AD30VT's line out doesn't capture the tone as well as I'd like, but it gives you an idea anyway.

[aeolian]

The sound clips really show off the different tones. Great job!

I know the pedal has some customizing options (or did I just get confused) with chips and stuff. Is yours a 'straight forward' OD2?

[marnold]

I know the pedal has some customizing options (or did I just get confused) with chips and stuff. Is yours a 'straight forward' OD2?
There are some difference between this one and a stock OD2. The main one is that I've got MOSFET diodes instead of LEDs for the third clipping option. Here's some other bits that DVM changed (copied from an email he sent me):
1) The max pedal gain is set for 2x the TS stock value, so that you can get more drive. I also changed the capacitor ratings accordingly in the 3-position "Fat" toggle so that the bass response stays equivalent to the stock build (otherwise, you lose bass).
2) I installed sockets on the four PCB eyelets where the two stock clipping diodes attach. That allows you to change the clipping mode for that "TS" position. I've installed the stock silicon diodes, but have also fitted up a pair of red LED's that can be installed, if you want to try that clipping mode.
3) 5K pot for the tone control to give a more useful sweep range. The stock 25K puts all of the useful range up between about 2 to 5 o'clock.

I'll let DVM chime in if there were any other modifications I missed. He had originally changed a couple of other bits, but he went back to stock when he didn't like how it turned out.

I may do another clip today just to show the range of the gain.

[marnold]

Here's that gain test. Same setup as before. All knobs at noon except for the gain. Switches set on "Normal" and "TS". I play the same lick as above first without the pedal, next with the pedal with the gain turned all the way down, finally with the gain turned all the way up.

Lick gain test (http://www.box.net/shared/8ka7blpvr1)

By the by, I realize that these clips are relatively low volume. I didn't want to tweak them too much in Audacity, for fear of adding unwanted gain or otherwise coloring the tone.

[sunvalleylaw]

Really nice review and set of clips. That looks like a very useful OD swiss army knife! Thanks for taking the time to record and post your clips. :AOK: :AOK:

[duhvoodooman]

Good job demoing the various features of the pedal, Rev!

My personal favorite settings on the overdrive side:


MOSFET clipping mode
"Full" EQ toggle setting
Tone and OD Gain both set around 1 - 2 o'clock
Level set as high as possible without the wife getting mad.... :D
You covered the modifications pretty thoroughly. The pedal will do higher gain, but at some point with a TS-type pedal, too much gain turns it into something it really wasn't mean to be. It is, after all, an overdrive, not a high-gain distro-box. (I have some other pedals available for that use though!) The 2x max. gain setting seems just about right to me--plenty of crunch without getting too raspy and loose sounding.

[sunvalleylaw]

DVM, I was thinking about that with the gain after Marnold mentioned how it was higher than the TS 808 gain settings. I like to use my OD in combination with my other distro box (of course the Rodent), and I would think I might keep the gain down a bit if I did so, to keep it more in the TS area, and use the Rodent for more gain. I did that originally with my DS-1 and Bad Monkey, and do so now with my Rodent and Bad Monkey. On these recordings, I was enjoying the TS mode and Lift mode the best. I also notice that Robert had his clipping set low in his ZYS demo he just posted, and I really enjoyed that sound. But there sure seem to be a lot of good sounds in that thang!

[duhvoodooman]

Keep in mind that though the maximum gain available on Rev's pedal is twice that of a stock TS808 or TS9, all those lower gain settings are still there on the gain knob--they just come up a bit farther to the left side.

[sunvalleylaw]

Ok, I get it. So setting the internal trim pots to allow for more gain just gives you more if you want it, but does not overall make the pedal "gainier", just the settings are not in the same place as on a TS 808 or TS 9 tube screamer.

[duhvoodooman]

Ok, I get it. So setting the internal trim pots to allow for more gain just gives you more if you want it, but does not overall make the pedal "gainier", just the settings are not in the same place as on a TS 808 or TS 9 tube screamer.
Exactly. The way a TS circuit works, the resistors that determine the minimum and maximum gain and the capacitor(s) that determines where the bass response rolls off are interactive. So when I dial up the MAX trimpot to double the available gain, I also adjust the MIN trimpot to keep the minimum gain the same as a stock TS pedal. I also change the values of the 3 switchable caps that the EQ toggle switch controls, so that the overall bass response of the pedal stays essentially unchanged. Otherwise, as you dial up the max gain, you'd be scrubbing off bottom end response, too. It's all related to how a resistor and capacitor pair function as an AC frequency filter.

[marnold]

I noticed something interesting when I was trying to record something with the UK70s model and my OD2. I had it in TS mode. The gain was turned all the way down. Tone was at 2:00 and the level was at about 1:00. If I was reading the output of Audacity correctly, the volume didn't actually increase when I kicked in the pedal. What it did do is compress the signal. The audible effect was cool. What I saw in Audacity surprised me though.

I noticed that there's not a ton of headroom on the hi-gain models on my AD30VT. You can only push it so much. I suppose that would be no different with a tube amph. If you've got the preamp on 11, hitting it with more signal won't increase the volume at all. The amount of headroom seems to be inversely proportional to where the Gain knob is set.

This pedal does take a bit of getting used to, not that it's hard or that there are bad settings. If you're used to a typical Tubescreamer, you need to unlearn what you have learned. Setting the knobs in the same place and letting her rip won't give you the results you'd anticipate. The time you spend with it is definitely worth it. I don't think I could go back to my old TO800 now as much as I liked it.

My advice would be that if you want an overdrive pedal, spend a little more than you would for a TS-9 (and a lot less than you would for a TS-808) and get something with more flexibility.

[marnold]

Just to bump my own thread, I was inspired by another thread on here to try this pedal with my Spector bass and Acoustic B20. It seemed to work rather nicely! The pedal is brighter than a typical Screamer, so the bass doesn't turn into mud. It gets a little farty on the low E, but nothing that I'd lose sleep over. The boost works as advertised too.