Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

[King IzzO)))]

I want to be able to run 18V for headroom as it will be used as a boost, and I want the mid hump & low end cut. This will be my first build, so a good PCB is preferred.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

Dont worry too much about 18v. Thats not as important as how the circuit clips and the quality of the componentry.
If you want headroom, change the diodes for LEDs. The squish more slowly and smoothly than regular ts diodes, and they do it at a much higher volume (ie: more headroom, more volume, less buzz, less compression). The other thing you can do is try a few different diodes or even try 4 diodes rather than two.
C3 is the capacitor to swap for fine tuning the low end. .047uf will give you regular tube screamer cut, .1 will give you fulldrive style, and .22 will give plenty of lows without flabbing out lovepedal eternity style. Try soldering sockets so you can swap the caps easily until you find what suits you best. In fact, socketing the clipping diodes is a good idea too.
General guitar gadgets make a nice ts808 style kit that gives you the option of an external switch for different diodes if you want to switch between stock and LED's for example. Some people use it to switch between 2 diodes (ts style symmetrical clipping) to 3 diodes (sd-1 asymmetrical style). I built one, but instead of having a diode switch, i just had LED's and used the switch so i could toggle between .01 uf and .022 uf for c3 so i could trim up or increase the low end of the pedal to suit different amps and purposes.
The other one which is super cool is from mammoth electronics. They call it the AEON drive which is a lovepedal eternity clone. The eternity itself is essentially a stripped back tube screamer circuit. It dispenses with both the input and output buffers of a tubescreamer leaving you with only the eq and clipping parts of the circuit. Because there is only roughly 1/3 of the componentry it is a very harmonically rich and nuanced pedal. Putting an eternity and a ts side by side you can hear the difference. They are in the same ballpark, but the eternity is just more alive and richer. If you do decide to build one of these, you have all the clipping options available the same as a tube screamer (i like LEDs especially if you are after headroom and boost). The capacitor to work with to fine tune your bass response on of of these is C2 rather than the C3 of TS style pedals.
If you do order one from mammoth, the other super cool thing is that you can order it with whatever colour and size enclosure you like and also your choice of knobs, which is kinda cool. Mammoth kits also come with some sockets so you can easily experiment and modify components such as clippers and caps etc.

[Aceman]

Re: Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

So many I'd rather buy - but I get it.

Can he build it? YES HE CAN! Go Izz!!!!

[PFDarkside]

Re: Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

Great post Gibson.

I always liked the BYOC stuff, but at those prices it's more of a labor of love than anything else.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

Sounds better at 9v anyways
Anyways try this one....has pre and post clean boost, and 9-18v select.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21054-ibanez-ts808dx

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Builders, what's a good TS clone to build?

Dont worry too much about 18v. Thats not as important as how the circuit clips and the quality of the componentry.
If you want headroom, change the diodes for LEDs. The squish more slowly and smoothly than regular ts diodes, and they do it at a much higher volume (ie: more headroom, more volume, less buzz, less compression). The other thing you can do is try a few different diodes or even try 4 diodes rather than two.
C3 is the capacitor to swap for fine tuning the low end. .047uf will give you regular tube screamer cut, .1 will give you fulldrive style, and .22 will give plenty of lows without flabbing out lovepedal eternity style. Try soldering sockets so you can swap the caps easily until you find what suits you best. In fact, socketing the clipping diodes is a good idea too.
General guitar gadgets make a nice ts808 style kit that gives you the option of an external switch for different diodes if you want to switch between stock and LED's for example. Some people use it to switch between 2 diodes (ts style symmetrical clipping) to 3 diodes (sd-1 asymmetrical style). I built one, but instead of having a diode switch, i just had LED's and used the switch so i could toggle between .01 uf and .022 uf for c3 so i could trim up or increase the low end of the pedal to suit different amps and purposes.
The other one which is super cool is from mammoth electronics. They call it the AEON drive which is a lovepedal eternity clone. The eternity itself is essentially a stripped back tube screamer circuit. It dispenses with both the input and output buffers of a tubescreamer leaving you with only the eq and clipping parts of the circuit. Because there is only roughly 1/3 of the componentry it is a very harmonically rich and nuanced pedal. Putting an eternity and a ts side by side you can hear the difference. They are in the same ballpark, but the eternity is just more alive and richer. If you do decide to build one of these, you have all the clipping options available the same as a tube screamer (i like LEDs especially if you are after headroom and boost). The capacitor to work with to fine tune your bass response on of of these is C2 rather than the C3 of TS style pedals.
If you do order one from mammoth, the other super cool thing is that you can order it with whatever colour and size enclosure you like and also your choice of knobs, which is kinda cool. Mammoth kits also come with some sockets so you can easily experiment and modify components such as clippers and caps etc.

Exactly the type of info I was hoping for, thanks bruh!