Zvex - Box of Rock  [traced]

General documentation, gut shot, schematic links, ongoing circuit tracing, deep thoughts ... all about boutique stompboxes.
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playon
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Post by playon »

So do you guys like this pedal? I played one once at a friends and I thought it sounded like ass... I don't get it. Or do you have to be really loud before it sounds good, or something?

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chris_d
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Post by chris_d »

playon wrote:So do you guys like this pedal? I played one once at a friends and I thought it sounded like ass... I don't get it. Or do you have to be really loud before it sounds good, or something?
I like it. It is a pretty good distortion and i find it pretty flexible. It has lots of bass on tap which can allow it to be used almost as a flubby fuzz sound, or you can also use it for lower distortion settings for doing a reasonable approximation of a tube amp's breakup and volume knob cleanup characteristics.

I find the distortion type that it provides to be more "believable" than a lot of other popular distortions(such as the OCD). I also like it boosted with a brighter boost such as the Timmy or Rangemaster for a tighter metal sort of sound.

All in all it is an interesting design, simple and decent sounding. Once the details of the Distortron(which is likely to be based on it with some useful mods) become known i expect that i will like to build one of those as well.

It is definitely one of the more useful effects i have ever built, for my uses and tastes, anyhow.

-chris

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Post by 5thumbs »

chris_d wrote: I like it. It is a pretty good distortion and i find it pretty flexible. It has lots of bass on tap which can allow it to be used almost as a flubby fuzz sound, or you can also use it for lower distortion settings for doing a reasonable approximation of a tube amp's breakup and volume knob cleanup characteristics.

I find the distortion type that it provides to be more "believable" than a lot of other popular distortions(such as the OCD). I also like it boosted with a brighter boost such as the Timmy or Rangemaster for a tighter metal sort of sound.

All in all it is an interesting design, simple and decent sounding. Once the details of the Distortron(which is likely to be based on it with some useful mods) become known i expect that i will like to build one of those as well.

It is definitely one of the more useful effects i have ever built, for my uses and tastes, anyhow.
+1 on Chris' opinion. I built this pedal last week and found it to be pretty useful. The BOR is definitely a fuller-mids/vintage-type distortion, but it's not particularly fizzy or over-the-top.

It's not a metal pedal by any means, but it sounds good for a lot of things. It's a little noiser than I anticipated, but it's not as noisy as a stock MT-2 or DS-1 with the DIST cranked.

If you don't need/want a vintage-type distortion, then steer clear of the BOR. Otherwise, it's not a bad build and has potential to be quite a handy pedal. Zach didn't do too badly on this one. :)
Modding a DS-1? Please read 'Build Your Own DS-1 Distortion'.

"Other than a good first-in-line buffer/booster, using other FX to improve bad clean tone is like gift-wrapping garbage."

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B_of_H
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Post by B_of_H »

I think this pedal is okay. My build isn't noisy (i used the stand alone vero layout posted earlier in this thread, sorry don't remember who posted it).

My gain and treble controls are both backwards but work fine.

The low end can get kind of a fizz/woof boomy sound to the low end that gets more prevalent as you increase the gain. It kinda reminds me of old blues/rock type sounds (hendrix, trower etc...) but not something i'm really into for my own rig.

it can get super bright and has decent sustain. Compared to the OCD v4 I built (torchy's layout i think) its much less defined and articulate string to string and doesn't punch as tightly kinda messy and raw. So I guess that is the more 'vintage sound' that people have mentioned. I like it with the gain all thw way down and the volume at just over unity best personally. It's not going to knock anything off my board but it was a fun and worthwhile build IMO.

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Valoosj
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Post by Valoosj »

This pedal is so amazing that I decided to redo my finished one. It deserves a nice enclosure.

Image
Image
Image
Bazinga!

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madbean
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Post by madbean »

Killer work. Like it better than the real thing. :applause:

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Valoosj
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Post by Valoosj »

Thank you very much Brian!
Bazinga!

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SPeter
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Post by SPeter »

:applause: :D

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Greg
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Post by Greg »

Valoosj wrote:This pedal is so amazing that I decided to redo my finished one. It deserves a nice enclosure.
That looks awesomw Valoosj...

I really should build one of these but I have TOOoo many projects waiting to be done..
The building bench is very messy ATM :mrgreen:
culturejam wrote: We are equal opportunity exposure artists.

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Valoosj
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Post by Valoosj »

Thanks men. And I know the feeling of a fully loaded work bench ...
ATM I have 2 neovibes, a master looper, 2 delays, some mini pedals and some other random stuff waiting for me.
Bazinga!

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Greg
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Post by Greg »

haha..

I've got 3 Aqua Puss boards on the way.. a stack of Madbean's pretty boards and a cool MojoCake board from Soulsonic..
Plus about half a dozen things I want to breadboard and tune and a new oscilloscope I want to get to know.
.. and unbelievably, my wife still expects me to do things around the house and pick my daughter up from school.. it's crazy.
:scratch:

Oh.. and a few de-goop projects as well.. they're the ones that take the time !
culturejam wrote: We are equal opportunity exposure artists.

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pulsar705
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Post by pulsar705 »

madbean wrote:PS looks like I have 10n on the tone control instead of 100n. I'll correct that in a bit.

I find this thread interesting because i have a Rox of Bock (BOR clone) that have the cap of 100n in stock but unfortunately with knob of gain to max. the sound is still muddy especially on the low strings.

Suggestions?

thanks,Jon.

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sliberty
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Post by sliberty »

Jon,

I think that ZVEX was going for a JTM45 type of tone when they designed the BOR. I owned a JTM45 for a while, and found it to be VERY bass heavy, and a little flabby. So, it would seem that ZVEX did a really good job of simulating that tone. But it is not for everyone.

One thing you might try is to reduce the values of various coupling caps to pass more highs and less lows. For example, between the first transistor and the second one, there is a 22n cap (.022uF). you could reduce this to a .01uF or a .0047uF. You can do the same thing between the second and third transistors too. And just after the third transistor, there is a 1uF cap, which you could reduce to a .047uF or a .022uF cap.In fact, I would probably start with that 1uF cap. You also might try a bright cap on the 100K volume pot. It would connect the wiper to the leg that connects to the 10k resistor and 2n capacitor.

I like the BOR as is personnaly. The tone control has plenty of swing for my needs, and allows the overall effect to brighten up and tighten up considerably. But then again, I liked my JTM45 too.

Good luck.
Steve

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cpm
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Post by cpm »

i found BOR is quite muddy and "inert" when user with a strat. It plays nicely with humbuckers though.

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pulsar705
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Post by pulsar705 »

sliberty wrote:Good luck.Steve
I have tried everything but...nothing! I fixed by reducing the gain and putting in front a HBE treble boost.

Too much saturation of BS170 (?)

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Fuzzed
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Post by Fuzzed »

I just build mine using madbean new layout!

Still it doesn't work.
I have some really awkward readings on the bs's
Max gain=
S 0v
G 2,16v
D 4,45v

min gain=
S 1,5v
G 2,79
D 7,27 :shock:

Q2

S 0,17
G 2,14
D 4,58

Q3

S 0v
G 3v
D 0v

:slap: q3 :slap:

Gonna watch the tracks carefully.
I've already seen one bronken.

One thing

C5 has 9 something v on one end (the positive one)
and 0,34v on the other.
Is this normal?!


FIXED ahah, was only that track.
gonna test it now.

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sevinisthenumber
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Post by sevinisthenumber »

I just built madbeans layout and it sounds great. I have a few questions.

1) i didnt have a 9v zener so i used a 3mm superbright led, is that okay?
2) im getting a light bzzzzzz in the background. I know its not enclosed yet but I normaly dont get that noise even when i have an open cirvuit on the bench. Is this normal for this pedal?
3) For c8 i used a 1uf tantulum cap. is this a big deal?
4) Is the gain pot supposed to "crackle okay"?

Thanks guys! Your awesome!
"The man who says he knows everything will never know the truth"
C.S. Lewis

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sliberty
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Post by sliberty »

I can only comment on one of your questions - Crackle OK? Yes, Crackle OK!
The BOR is essentially a bunch of SHO's strung together, so this control will definitely have the same DC leakage as a SHO would, and thus crackle.

I think buzz is normal for any gain oriented pedal, but it really depends upon how much buzz we are talking about. Mine is not at all annoying.

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sevinisthenumber
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Post by sevinisthenumber »

sevinisthenumber wrote:I just built madbeans layout and it sounds great. I have a few questions.

1) i didnt have a 9v zener so i used a 3mm superbright led, is that okay?
2) im getting a light bzzzzzz in the background. I know its not enclosed yet but I normaly dont get that noise even when i have an open cirvuit on the bench. Is this normal for this pedal?
3) For c8 i used a 1uf tantulum cap. is this a big deal?
4) Is the gain pot supposed to "crackle okay"?

Thanks guys! Your awesome!
Anybody on # 1, 3???

Whats the easiest way to get more distortion/gain?
"The man who says he knows everything will never know the truth"
C.S. Lewis

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mrhenry
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Post by mrhenry »

hey sevinisthenumber,

the led for the diode should be fine. the diodes in the BOR are for static protection and polarity protection. as far as the tantalum cap, it depends. certainly there is no problem with the medium (tantalum) but the value has been changed if its the C8 that is part of the double low-pass filter that cuts the highs at the end of the circuit. it calls for a value of 2n, if you change the nature of the filter it will probably change the output frequency... but that isn't a bad thing.

also, as far as getting more gain, i would recommend increasing the gain of the each mosfet stage following the first and then, if you still need more gain, just add clipping diodes at the end. silicone diodes will give you a more metal-ish plexi sound with the tone control cranked.

in any case just a thought.

hope that helps.

-mrhenry

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