Zvex - Box of Rock  [traced]

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

Well I got the tone wired like the diagram- I used the main layout in this thread.

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Beedoola
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Post by Beedoola »

I switched the 1 & 3 on the Tone control - the layout has them backwards.

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sliberty
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Post by sliberty »

There is no "main" layout in this thread. There are about 10 different layouts. Which one did you use?

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Beedoola
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Post by Beedoola »

The first one on page 1, Igloo's

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sliberty
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Post by sliberty »

OK, well since that's not the layout i used, I guess I can't use your experience as a guide for my own. Mine is based on torchy's layout on page 10.

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Dinosaur Sr.
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Post by Dinosaur Sr. »

Hey guys, I just recently came upon this Box of Rock schematic, and I'm very interested in building it, mostly because of its simplicity (and of how much I want one).

https://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z93 ... 1207686345

All the parts seem to be pretty standard, except for one diode (1n5187) that I can't find anywhere. I am just wondering if anyone else knows whether this is an accurate schematic, or is it a typo? It it is correct, any ideas on where to find them? I've checked the usual places, but nothing seems to show. Sorry if this is a common thread or a stupid problem, I'm very new both to this forum and to building in general. Thanks for any help!

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analogguru
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Post by analogguru »

...I'm very new both to this forum and to building in general. Thanks for any help!
Since you are very new to this forum here is my advice:

On the upper right corner of your screen you can find a search button. If you press that button you will come to a menu. If you type in there: "Box of Rock" you will get this result.
https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... ox+of+rock

since we try to keep only one thread per pedal in this forum, the next time please use this button before you start a "new" topic.

analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

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Dinosaur Sr.
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Post by Dinosaur Sr. »

Hey analogguru, sorry about posting a new topic for no apparent reason, this thread completely answered my questions (i think). Won't happen again. Its awkward to see one thread for all questions on a pedal on most other forums, so I apologize. I'm definitely going to take a stab at this, hopefully I won't embarrass myself. This will be my first build that isn't from a kit, but, especially after seeing how simple the circuit is, I can't see myself paying $200 for this pedal when it looks like it'll cost ME $20 in circuit parts.

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klingo
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Post by klingo »

Hi all!

Great Forum!

my first post here, i built this box (without boost), i used 1N4148, 1N4001 and 10nf in the BM tone stack(after trying 100nf and playing with Duncan's TSC).
I'm not happy with the sound and assume i've done something wrong :hmmm:
I have too much gain and this thing doesn't clean up well by rolling down guitar vol pot.
it sound a bit like a fuzz (or like a preamp valve reaching grid conduction/blocking distortion).
i used torchy's vero layout, which seem to match perfectly the 1st page schematic.

i have no idea about the G/D/S voltages these trannies like :oops:
so this is what i got:
-battery:8.7v
-Q1(hi gain setting): S/0.17 G/2.27 D/4.58
-Q1(lower gain setting): S/0.3 G/2.40 D/4.85
-Q2: S/0.13 G/2.25 D/4.53
-Q3: S/0.26 G/2.14 D/4.31

i tried swapping BS170 as i have a dozen of cheap one and a Zetex one(Q3 here) without substantial improvement.

I will really appreciate if somebody could check my voltages.

the others musicians in our band will love you if you help me to get a good rock sound without crancking my 18watter at rehearsal :applause: :thumbsup

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klingo
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Post by klingo »

OK!

I will give power scaling a try...

this way i hope my 18w will sound like a Marshall...kinda...you know...pretty close :lol: :lol: :lol:

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paperhouse
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Post by paperhouse »

Torchy wrote:Ok, my contribution - a bit smaller ... change boost section values and you got a mini sized SHO.

Image
I used this layout and it's not working :cry:

Just to confirm, "k" on a diode is the negative end, right? I used 33nF instead of 22nF becase that's all that I had lying around. I also used 4.7k resistors because I was out of 5.1k's.

I was hoping that at least I'd get some sounds out of it (granted they wouldn't be "correct"), but I'm getting nothing. The boost section gives a signal and changes the tone but it doesn't boost the volume at all.

I've got the correct parts in the mail but it bugs me that it's sitting here and not working.

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hotguit
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Post by hotguit »

Hi can this be of help?
bye
Hot
Attachments
LAYOUT.jpg
PCB.jpg

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aloupos
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Post by aloupos »

I think that same layout is posted earlier in the thread.

Has anyone looked at the guts of BOR that have been floating around? It looks like he's using three different kinds of caps, some mylar (greenies), some ceramic, and maybe a tantalum, can't really tell ...

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hotguit
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Post by hotguit »

Sorry man! :oops:
Bye
Hot

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ringleader
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Post by ringleader »

Any advice on picking the right BS170's?
Does one of them influence the overall sound or are all 3 of them important when it comes to a nice distortion. :hmmm:

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Dinosaur Sr.
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Post by Dinosaur Sr. »

Hey guys, took me a few weeks, but i think I finally finished this pedal. The is my first pedal build ever, so i just had some questions. I plugged it in and first thing i noticed is that the drive knob operates in reverse from usual, is this normal. It works fine, just with max gain at the lowest setting. Also, I noticed that even at the lowest gain setting, there is still a decent amount of distortion. Just wanted to check and see if this is normal for this pedal, I know zvex pedals can be unorthodox sometimes. Thanks for any help here.

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ubersam
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Post by ubersam »

Dinosaur Sr. wrote:...The is my first pedal build ever, so i just had some questions. I plugged it in and first thing i noticed is that the drive knob operates in reverse from usual, is this normal. It works fine, just with max gain at the lowest setting...
Sounds like you just switched the wires around. Just unsolder the wire from the outer lug of the gain pot and solder it to the opposite outer lug.

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aloupos
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Post by aloupos »

I've built this using Mad Bean's layout, with the following part subs:

bs170 = NTE490
9.1v zener = 10v Z

Using a probe, the input signal stops at Q1. Can someone tell me if it's my part subs, or if I've got something else going on?

TIA !

Anthony

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Post by popstudioguitar »

I've just build that project with Torchy's layout (is he still alive ?!) and I have to thank you all for the work and sharing here. It sounds great. Thicker and more focused than the BSIABII.

I had to trouble shoot mine and one of my mistake was that I swap the tone and drive pot :oops:

But guess what ?! It was interesting: The tone circuit was nearly none effective but darker (less fizz and crackles) and the drive was on the anemic side for most of the pot curve but.....near the end was a really nice 'crunch box meet BSIABII meet box of rock' kind of over the top amp drive with really good note definition.

Any thaughts/explanation on my goofy soldering result ?!

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Torchy
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Post by Torchy »

Layouts reorganised.
BOR vero here

Fits 1590BB easily.

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