Vox ValveTone Tweaks And Board Photos

[STRATDELUXER97]

I messed around today with my own Vox ValveTone 810..It's a great pedal overall but I wanted a bit more low end and more gain from it...The red caps are all the upgrades that were made and 1 blue metal film resistor..

The changes I Made...
R1 was lowered to 3.3k from 4.7k (Gives you more gain)
C2 was increased from .047 mfd up to .1 (More lows)
C8 was increased to .047 from .022 (This is the input cap)More lows..
The other caps were left as the same values but I used better CDE caps...The stock TI RC4558 P was left in this pedal because I Like it...Keeley really pushes this chip quite a bit if you read about his mods..I normally put an 8 pin gold chip holder in all of my pedals but this one didn't need it...

I also changed the non-viewable yellow LED to a brighter red 5mm LED...

John

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Vox ValveTone Tweaks And Board Photos

I messed around today with my own Vox ValveTone 810..It's a great pedal overall but I wanted a bit more low end and more gain from it...The red caps are all the upgrades that were made and 1 blue metal film resistor..

The changes I Made...
R1 was lowered to 3.3k from 4.7k (Gives you more gain)
C2 was increased from .047 mfd up to .1
C8 was increased to .047 from .022 (This is the input cap)More lows..
The other caps were left as the same values but I used better CDE caps...The stock TI RC4558 P was left in this pedal because I Like it...Keeley really pushes this chip quite a bit if you read about his mods..I normally put an 8 pin gold chip holder in all of my pedals but this one didn't need it...

John

Here's the upgraded board photo of the ValveTone 810...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Link to bigger photos..Hopefully these photos are better than what posted to the forums?

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stratdeluxer602003/album?.dir=/4b44

John

 

[lastwinj]

john, go to mouser.com or get out your catalog. look for the vishay CMF series metal films. stick some of those in one of your pedals. complete. i think you will be mildly surprised. also, maye try FILM foil polypropylene versus the metallized polyester CDE.

germ

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

john, go to mouser.com or get out your catalog. look for the vishay CMF series metal films. stick some of those in one of your pedals. complete. i think you will be mildly surprised. also, maye try FILM foil polypropylene versus the metallized polyester CDE.

germ

Thanks for the tip buddy..I actually get my stuff from Mouser..I gotta say that I've found the component value differences make more difference in what I hear than the make up of the cap materials itself...Basically it's finding small enough caps to fit within the small confines of the circuit boards...I really like these Cornel Dublier caps though and I continue to use em...I just don't totally buy into the tonal differences of caps as long as the caps are very good quality...I've done alot of A/B cap comparisons over the years...Don't want to sound like a know it all but I Myself have been modding old vintage tube amps,effects,guitars, pickups,and anything related to audio..Including vintage Pioneer,Marantz,and old direct drive turntables...And alot of things I've left out...Thanks for posting though...I do appreciate it...

John

 

[korinastratkyle]

Cool! Nice job! Hey, I remember you saying that you just put the solder iron on the circuit board and push through with a toothpick? At Raido Shack for $3 you can buy some solder wick (copper wire with resin on it) and for $10 you can buy a desoldering gun which melts and sucks the solder off the joint with a turkey baster type thing. I prefer the desolder gun but both I'd say are easier to use with less risk of damaging the board than what you're doing. Just a piece of friendly advice!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Cool! Nice job! Hey, I remember you saying that you just put the solder iron on the circuit board and push through with a toothpick? At Raido Shack for $3 you can buy some solder wick (copper wire with resin on it) and for $10 you can buy a desoldering gun which melts and sucks the solder off the joint with a turkey baster type thing. I prefer the desolder gun but both I'd say are easier to use with less risk of damaging the board than what you're doing. Just a piece of friendly advice!

I have all that sought of stuff also buddy...I've found for me,the best way to do this is to heat up the solder and quickly push something through the hole..First you cut the old component flush with the top of the board...I use a round ignition wire type feeler gauge but a toothpick works just as well...I don't like using the desoldering tool or the braiding because your on the board too long...Once I get the component holes back I melt new solder with a bit of the old left over on the connection...I've tryed many ways to do this,but for me this is the best way I've found and I don't screw up the small tracings with too much heat...I will use the braid around the old opamp,but I prefer to snip the old chip off the board and use the same method to get my holes open for the new part...I use a smaller wattage soldering iron and this method for me is quick and easy... Whatever works is cool though.

John