Orange Bass Butler  [schematic]

All about modern commercial stompbox circuits from Electro Harmonix over MXR, Boss and Ibanez into the nineties.
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temol
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Post by temol »

Wrong name of the 100n capacitor (IC2). Looks like it's C38, not C33.
OB2.jpg
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Wrong name of the 100R resistor. Should be R111, not R66. Also, according to the schematic: R112 -> P3, R111 -> P2.
OB3.jpg
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temol
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Post by temol »

Missing connection between R77 and C48.
OB4.jpg
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JGND not connected to GND. FSG also floating - should be GND too?
OB5.jpg

Missing connection between R81 and R80
OB6.jpg
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Post by bajaman »

Hi guys
here is the gerber files for the pcb - I noticed that Kicad does not recognize the xln extension for drill files but DOES accept the drl extension, so here it is - hopefully correct now
yes - most jfets have interchangeable drain and source - they are monopolar not bipolar devices like transistors - in fact they really should not be called transistors at all - they are more like a charge controlled variable resistor - a voltage (AC or DC) applied to the control gate, gradually narrows the drain to source, or source to drain channel thereby increasing the resistance of the channel until at a sufficiently high voltage it "pinches" the channel off - unfortunately the tolerance of jfet manufacture is all over the place - this is why most people use a variable trimpot for the drain resistor to set the bias point - which is usually best around 2/3 of the power supply - in this case around 12v DC
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Bass Butler final with corrections.zip
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bassbutler final corrected.zip
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tuck
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Post by tuck »

C7 in wrong direction in the schematic from my initial schematic :-(
c7.PNG
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Post by bajaman »

bassbutler final corrected 2.zip
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Post by bajaman »

ok how about the Orange distortion or the Guitar Butler then
Orange distortion snapshot 2.jpg
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Post by temol »

I have both channels plus output section (IC4) on a breadboard now. Clean channel with compressor, but compressor still not verified. I don't have VTL5C3 so I took random diy ldr, but the only effect of rotating compression knob is higher clean signal. Compressor status led blinks.

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Post by bajaman »

try reducing R74 to 470 - the fact that status light blinks shows that compression is working - maybe RV9 should be 500kA pot ?
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Post by temol »

Compressor works but requires proper optocoupler. I've tested couple different led colors and ldrs. So far - only one is acceptable - red led and GL5549(probably). With other ldrs there's a stutter effect. Compression is not smooth.
Tuck - can you check the compressor with only the clean channel on? Is there a big/medium/no difference in the signal level at the output with the compression knob at zero and maximum when playing softly? For me, the compressor knob works a bit like gain/vol.

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tuck
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Post by tuck »

Yes the compressor needs to be used to get a loud signal. With the Butler in front of my combo the clean channel is just a bit louder that the combo itself with the compressor at minimum.

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Post by peterc »

Awesome stuff guys.....
Thank you

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Post by bajaman »

Temol - the compressor gain is just that - a gain control - try increasing it for more gain and more compression and/or use a higher output active bass guitar ;-)
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Post by tuck »

I'm in the middle of the pcb design for a 1590XX enclosure but now I have the exciting question going through my head:
How should the enclosure be oriented (aligned?):
horizontally --> better access to all knobs, larger knobs possible but xlr jacks on one side, which one?!?!?
vertically --> smaller knobs but xlr jacks on top without moving the knobs to far to the footswitch

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tuck
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Post by tuck »

Might work :-) Verification next year.
butler3d.PNG

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temol
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Post by temol »

Nice work!

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tuck
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Post by tuck »

I may have ignored many layout rules. Bajaman wrote to keep the feedback transistors and caps near th epins. Well I did that with the caps but the transistors are a bit further away. Now the resistors are in consecutive numbers for every row (I edited the schematic). Each row is another part of the preamp. Top clean, bottom dirt and in the middle the XLR stuff.

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Post by bajaman »

Great work Tuck
will watch with anticipation ;-)
Merry Christmas
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Post by bmxguitarsbmx »

tuck wrote: 19 Dec 2022, 15:00 I may have ignored many layout rules. Bajaman wrote to keep the feedback transistors and caps near th epins. Well I did that with the caps but the transistors are a bit further away. Now the resistors are in consecutive numbers for every row (I edited the schematic). Each row is another part of the preamp. Top clean, bottom dirt and in the middle the XLR stuff.
Looks great! You'll notice a lot of boutique pcb designers go for the "symmetrical look" at the expense of all else. Some crazy ass layouts outs there if you really look. But, they do seem to function so I think you are probably safe.`

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tuck
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Post by tuck »

Bajaman, I used your gerber output aand the schematic to recreate the pcb in Kicad and compare it with the pictures. There is a tiny connection error in the schematic:

P2 and P3 need to be switched.
switch_output_schem.PNG
switch_output_pcb.PNG
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Post by tuck »

PS: there is a Guitar Butler available, used for 250€.................... maybe............. then sell it after the tracing frenzy.......... maybe.......... if I had more time....

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