Just built a Brian May style treble boost....love it!!!

[Michael Inglis]

This is a brian may TB veroboard project, if you wanna build one the veroboard diagram is all over online. It sounds great. Still waiting on my control knobs. The switch is the tone control. The middle position is stock(treble) the top position is mids and the bottom is bass. The volume control isn't part of the normal build but I think it's a great upgrade. That way I can run the gain all the way up without blowing out my ear drums. Instead of the 2n5088 or 2n4401 transistor(I tried both, 5088 was too noisey and 4401 was too full) i used a low noise MPSA18. It sounds just like the 5088 but much less noise. But it still gets insanely off the rails treble boosted even with a low noise transistor so I recommend it. Anyways here's a few pics, i wanted to say more but it's "late" and I gotta get some sleep.

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Nice ! I just built a ROG May Queen (didn't box it though), but it's super harsh, not sure I like it. I'll definitely try a Tonebender with MPSA18...
(on a different note, I also built -and boxed- a JerseyGirl Fulltender, which is a derivative of the OD-1, that sounds very good in front of the Marshalls)

 

[Michael Inglis]

Nice ! I just built a ROG May Queen (didn't box it though), but it's super harsh, not sure I like it. I'll definitely try a Tonebender with MPSA18...
(on a different note, I also built -and boxed- a JerseyGirl Fulltender, which is a derivative of the OD-1, that sounds very good in front of the Marshalls)

Some people look past this important step with the TB's and you saying it sounded harsh made me think of it. Are you using the Rog may queen first in your signal chain? Buffers will completely screw it up and make it bright as hell and harsh. And if your using a wireless system it should be in between the guitar and the wireless system. Im sure you already knew that its just something that would surely make it harsh sounding lol. That and a lot of times my pedals are noisey as hell until i box them and get the pots grounded to the enclosure. And onto the Jersey girl fulltender. Ive heard really great things about them, supposed to be ala Stevie Ray if im not mistaken lol? Ill certainly have to look more into it. Shamefully ive never owned an played through an OD1....yes yes i know..... Ive always used a TS9 for as long as i can remember but everything ive heard online of people using an OD1 has sounded like a more capable TS9 or i guess an extended range TS9. And if thats the case id be crazy not to check one out, always meant to just never had the chance strangely. Ive talked to lots of guys who say they prefer the OD1's over the Ts9's, if im not mistaken they cited it as being more modern sounding. Going to look into the fulltender and the od1 now. I have a couple projects lined up first but one can NEVER EVER have enough overdrives lol.

 

[Michael Inglis]

Nice ! I just built a ROG May Queen (didn't box it though), but it's super harsh, not sure I like it. I'll definitely try a Tonebender with MPSA18...
(on a different note, I also built -and boxed- a JerseyGirl Fulltender, which is a derivative of the OD-1, that sounds very good in front of the Marshalls)

Oh and yes the MPSA18 is excellent. I just realized the picture i took of my BMTB has it after my TS9. I wanted to put it in my chain to take a pic and that was the easiest spot. I should probably update that so i dont confuse anyone lololol!!!

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

The ROG is kind of a different animal, as it isn't just a TB, but is supposed to emulate the whole chain (it has 3 gain stages and is more of a full-fledged overdrive). The whole voicing is kinda bright and agressive, I'll try to play around with tone caps to soften it a bit. Plus as my main amp is a SV20H that I run pretty crunchy (both volumes at 7), I built the ROG more out of curiosity than for using it with the mini Plexi anyway...
As for the OD-1, historically it is the first soft-clipper, in many ways the TS-808 is a derivative of it. It doesn't have a tone circuit though, hence the mod on the Jersey Girl that adds bottom and edge switches. Sounds very good, kinda more "full-range" than the TS-9 (which is my favorite boost btw, been using a Maxon OD9 for 20 years).

And yeah, you can't have enough overdrives, I have a drawer full of them, plus 2 bags of unboxed completed circuits, I basically built every classic and boutique boosts, OD and distortion circuit under the sun Just yesterday, I completed a clone of the the TC integrated Preamp (which is the basis for the Fortin boosts if I'm not mistaken) that from my preliminary tests sounds very good ! Also made a clone of the Way Huge Tone Leper last week (I socketed filtering caps so I can play around with them and fine-tune it), it's a mid boost that sounds very nice and should pair up nicely with the Marshalls. I definitely need to box this one !
Pedal building is so much fun...