Anyone ever built the Valve Caster?

[M Fowler]

I saw this and was thinking I should try this.

Mark

[M Fowler]

I started BOM without source info.
Would not load as attachment.

VALVE CASTER



Resistors


R1 1M
R2 220k
R3 100k
R4 470k

VR1 50k-B linear Gain
VR2 100k-A Tone
VR3 100k-A Volume

CAPACITORS


C1 0.01uf
C2 0.047uf
C3 0.47uf
C4 0.01uf

12AU7
9 pin tube socket
Jacks 2
9v power jack
Enclosure

[Zippy]

In what application would you use it?

What is the predicted battery life?

[Structo]

Is it simply a booster or an overdrive?

[Deric]

There is a HUGE thread over at diystompboxes.com about it. I built one for fun - haven't used it much but it sure looks cool...

[IMG:160:120]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e243/stumper1/th_Stomps064.jpg[/img]
[IMG:160:120]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e243/stumper1/th_Stomps063.jpg[/img]
[IMG:160:120]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e243/stumper1/th_Stomps061.jpg[/img]

[Deric]

In what application would you use it?

What is the predicted battery life?

It's a booster/mild overdrive. I wouldn't bother with a battery.

[frequencycentral]

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[ChrisM]

I built one and experimented a lot with similar designs.

It needs a 12V regulated supply. Without being regulated the unit is noisy and hums alot.

It is pretty dark, I like increasing the grid leak resistor to around 820K - 1M. Also lowering the input cap.

I dont like the adjustable bias gain control. I would prefer a set resistance value with a volume (gain) control between the triodes. I played with adding bypass caps but fount the increase in gain was too much for me.

[img:800:600]http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/529/dscf0129bi9.jpg[/img]

[img:640:480]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/ ... CF0264.jpg[/img]

^Valvecaster with footswitch osicalltor, makes it a dist and tremolo pedal. Thanks Rick!

[M Fowler]

Nice job on those builds guys, I knew some one had played round with one of these before. So I have started on mine as well was going to just put the tube inside my old worn out EH Big Muff Pi box instead of having the tube coming out the top, what do you thing? Tube gets hot?

Mark

[frequencycentral]

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[M Fowler]

The schematic shows + to pin 4 & 5 but the layout shows + only to pin 5 and pin 4 is used as a grounding post for R1/R4 then grounded at sleeve of jack.

I assume I should apply + power to both 4 & 5. Why doesn't pin 9 get + as well since both sides of the 12AU7 are being used?

Mark

[Deric]

Unless the schem has been updated since your post it appears to show pin 5 to + and pin 4 to ground just like the layout.

There is no connection to pin 9 because the heaters are wired in series instead of the usual parallel wiring seen in most amps. Series wiring halves the voltage to each filament - in this case, 4.5v if you use a 9v supply or 6v if you use a 12v supply.

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/heater.html

[frequencycentral]

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[M Fowler]

Thanks guys I will try to figure out why I get no sound from my build and I rechecked this wiring four times. Oh well I suspect it has to due with pins 4 and 5. I get 9v on pin 5, 0v on 4 and I think 9v on pin 9 which empty.

Mark

[frequencycentral]

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