why is SHO super hard on your amp?

[Leo_Gnardo]

...ppssshh engineers are stoopid...

.. There are all sorts of engineers in this world...

And lots of them on this board, too!

And that's why I express respect. Then again there are some who ... well you know there are dummies & dopes in every field, also specialists who just can't think outside the box. And even the best can make a misteak.

Just to make sure you know, I always take your posts seriously Martin. You are way on the ball, in my book. Darn glad you're here!

[EtherealWidow]

So, now that we're on the subject, what would your more refined ears prefer in terms of a booster/buffer?

I am partial to this one:

Xotic Effects EP Booster
http://www.xotic.us/effects/ep_booster/

Sweet. Had my eye on that. Seems simple enough, too. And the schematic was really easy to find. http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/ ... b/EPBc.jpg

[martin manning]

MXR micro amp is still a very nice booster.

Thanks Leo, and I really appreciate the contributions of guys like you that have infinitely more real experience in this field than I do! In my mind that is the bottom line regardless of what the theory says... If there is a disagreement, often that means something is being overlooked.

Your comment was right on, there are all kinds of engineers just like there are all kinds of people. There are also many engineering specialties, so in-depth knowledge in any one is not guaranteed by the generic title, and without some special interest in the subject most engineers will not know much, if anything, about vacuum tube technology.

[M Fowler]

I built a EH LPB-1 pedal for my clean booster.

[pdf64]

EP Booster http://s21.photobucket.com/user/reverwe ... c.jpg.html
What FET types are recommended for Q1?

[EtherealWidow]

I don't know actually. Don't know a whole ton about tube designs, even less about SS. Kind of frustrated that it didn't say what type on there. Maybe someone wicked smaht can chime in.

[eniam rognab]

ppssshh engineers are stoopid, scuse me while i crank this shit

Yes, there are some of them on this board. And they are probably thinking you are stoopid for asking whether the SHO will damage your tubes and ignorant for offending a group of people with your head planted firmly in your ass.

But that's not stupid...that's just truthful.

wow...

really??? i offended you with a non-sequiter?

engineers are obviously not stupid. see the way i spelled it that time?
i was talking about my friend, in a jealous way. he has a great education and job and i strive for that as well. no disrespect intended here

did you miss the part where i said that "you guys are wicked smart"?

are you the guy that takes a playful jab, turns around "DONT TOUCH ME" and then decks the guy?

relax bro. i had some conflicting advice given to me and i came here with a simple self effacing question, i have had a joking attitude this entire time

thanks for all the constructive responses. I envy engineers as i hope to be one one day. i am on my way, they dont teach tubes in school anymore ya know...

im sorry if i offended anybody

[EtherealWidow]

As far as I know you're good man. I got the joke. Can't speak for anyone else, but I can say that I didn't take any offense with this thread or your enthusiasm for the mysterious world of tube theory.

[eniam rognab]

As far as I know you're good man. I got the joke. Can't speak for anyone else, but I can say that I didn't take any offense with this thread or your enthusiasm for the mysterious world of tube theory.

thanks bro... i was kinda in a bad mood there...
one thing to do though, CRANK DAT SHIT!!

[eniam rognab]

oh yeah, i asked my trusted professor at school today and here is what he said

he told me that if the booster stage increases the average DC current this, along with the bias voltage will cause the tube to saturate and red plate if there isnt sufficient limiting circuitry, damaging the tube. he also said that my amp would be perfectly fine!

then he told me a bunch of stories about tubes redplating and 1kW audio amps and then i forget.

does this make sense to any of my super smaht internet engineer buddies?

[eniam rognab]

EP Booster http://s21.photobucket.com/user/reverwe ... c.jpg.html
What FET types are recommended for Q1?

maybe try a J201 if you have one handy. also an MPF102 will probably work... might sound shitty though.

i like using 2SK117 fets in stomp boxes. these are silicon n-channel low noise audio amplifiers. NTE might make an equivalent

the EP booster that someone took apart and traced may have had the marking removed or nonexistent in the first place.

when i find some time i plan on breadboarding this up and trying those three fets. got my hands full with school though might be a while

[vibratoking]

wow...

really??? i offended you with a non-sequiter?

engineers are obviously not stupid. see the way i spelled it that time?
...

I don't want to beat this dead horse, but I read what you wrote...nothing more and nothing less. If there was a joke in your original post you hid it well. I missed the memo that stated stoopid and stupid have different meanings.

I could say that I spelled it stoopid too. And that I followed it with And that I didn't mean what I wrote and that you didn't interpret my meaning correctly, but that wouldn't be truthful. Now that you say differently, I'll take you at your word.

It's all good. I'm glad you like the SHO. Enjoy

[Leo_Gnardo]

oh yeah, i asked my trusted professor at school today and here is what he said

he told me that if the booster stage increases the average DC current this, along with the bias voltage will cause the tube to saturate and red plate if there isnt sufficient limiting circuitry, damaging the tube. he also said that my amp would be perfectly fine!

then he told me a bunch of stories about tubes redplating and 1kW audio amps and then i forget.

does this make sense to any of my super smaht internet engineer buddies?

Sure it do. Herr Professor Ingenieur has very little to worry about, you too, because youre pre stage 12AX7 is so current limited that no matter what you send into it, the most that can happen is that it will distort and fuzz buzz like a fly in a bottle. A very small bottle. No worries all around. A tempest in a tea.... no, thimble. Rock on dude & start thinkin' about making your own overdrive & FX boxes. What they charge for a SHO is insane. This sort of thing, they don't teach in a kollij klassroom.

BTW I bailed on engineering after freshman year and changed major to physics, when I found my kooky kollij wouldn't teach me anything about electronics til senior year in engineering but did offer circuits & electronics courses to soph physics students. Also lucky my jolly physics advisor allowed me to take all the EE courses I wanted. Thank you Dr. Eppenstein! So I got what I wanted & life is good. Sort of. And I understand today's physics is tomorrows engineering. Respect all around, for the good ones. And understand, we all have our "blind spots."

"Wicked smaht", my uncle Ernie would have loved to hear you say that. His accent was way Down East, and with a vocational school education, he ran circles around many engineers & scientists & even MD's.

[eniam rognab]

wow...

really??? i offended you with a non-sequiter?

engineers are obviously not stupid. see the way i spelled it that time?
...

I don't want to beat this dead horse, but I read what you wrote...nothing more and nothing less. If there was a joke in your original post you hid it well. I missed the memo that stated stoopid and stupid have different meanings.

I could say that I spelled it stoopid too. And that I followed it with And that I didn't mean what I wrote and that you didn't interpret my meaning correctly, but that wouldn't be truthful. Now that you say differently, I'll take you at your word.

It's all good. I'm glad you like the SHO. Enjoy

"i dont WANT to beat this dead horse" but i will...

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Q1 in the EP booster is drawn as a JFET. I see the J201 are getting hard to find these days (at least from the mainstream suppliers). I've been using the J113 with good success, and it's a tiny bit quieter than the J 201. You may need to adjust the value of the 6K8 resistor in the drain. Ideally, you want to bias the JFET such that you've about 1/2 Vcc on the drain pin at idle.