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Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:08 pm
by bassdriver
Nate Dort wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 12:30 pm
bassdriver wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 12:25 pm Oh and maybe a master volume right before the output might be a nice feature. Wouldn’t that allow you to drive the tubes into saturation and then reduce the output level accordingly?
Yeah, I have a master volume on my Gyraf G9 clone and being able to drive the tubes hard is where the fun is.
I guess I should try this with my Mila preamp too! Is it as simple as inserting a potentiometer right in front of the output transformer and dropping the signal to ground?

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 6:13 am
by Nate Dort
bassdriver wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:08 pm
Nate Dort wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 12:30 pm
bassdriver wrote: Thu Jul 13, 2023 12:25 pm Oh and maybe a master volume right before the output might be a nice feature. Wouldn’t that allow you to drive the tubes into saturation and then reduce the output level accordingly?
Yeah, I have a master volume on my Gyraf G9 clone and being able to drive the tubes hard is where the fun is.
I guess I should try this with my Mila preamp too! Is it as simple as inserting a potentiometer right in front of the output transformer and dropping the signal to ground?
You'll need some sort of buffer stage to present the correct impedance to the transformer primary, like this:
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Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 6:34 am
by Dr Tony Balls
The input pad i'm using, as suggested here is this:
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Looking at it struck me how similar it was to what Ken Fischer dubbed the "Master Volume Type 3". Basically a post-phase inverter variable resistor that allowed blending of the two phase-inverted signals to cancel each other out. Kinda like a Vox "cut" control but no cap. Like so:

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One wonders if you couldnt do the same sort of approach on the secondaries of the output transformer to achieve a passive output reduction?

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 9:10 am
by bassdriver
Nate Dort wrote: Sat Jul 15, 2023 6:13 am You'll need some sort of buffer stage to present the correct impedance to the transformer primary, like this:
Thanks, I googled the gyraf schematic last night and figured it might be way more complex than I imagined!

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 9:19 am
by bassdriver
Dr Tony Balls wrote: Sat Jul 15, 2023 6:34 am The input pad i'm using, as suggested here is this:
Image


Looking at it struck me how similar it was to what Ken Fischer dubbed the "Master Volume Type 3". Basically a post-phase inverter variable resistor that allowed blending of the two phase-inverted signals to cancel each other out. Kinda like a Vox "cut" control but no cap. Like so:
One wonders if you couldnt do the same sort of approach on the secondaries of the output transformer to achieve a passive output reduction?
The pad on the left looks pretty much like the pad in the Mila design, just with a 3 way switch and slightly different resistors.
I too been wondering if blending the +/- signal post output transformer would work!

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2023 12:59 pm
by Dr Tony Balls
Powerful Booster. Direct clone of the 18V Colorsound Power Booster. A while ago I made a limited run of these for Tommy's Guitar in Everett, WA. The customer had one of those original ones and wanted a second one.

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Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:36 pm
by VaticanShotglass
Dr Tony Balls wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 12:59 pm Powerful Booster. Direct clone of the 18V Colorsound Power Booster. A while ago I made a limited run of these for Tommy's Guitar in Everett, WA. The customer had one of those original ones and wanted a second one.

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Nice. I’ll be honest I don’t much like the master volume mod that other people add to these. The only caveat is that you do get a gnarly fuzz with the gain maxed and master down. But all the in between sounds just don’t do it for me.

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 8:28 am
by llllllllllllllllllll
Dr Tony Balls wrote: Thu Aug 17, 2023 12:59 pm Powerful Booster. Direct clone of the 18V Colorsound Power Booster. A while ago I made a limited run of these for Tommy's Guitar in Everett, WA. The customer had one of those original ones and wanted a second one.

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I bought one of those from the original run, sold it, and had you make me another one too. I still have the second one. Those are killer pedals

Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2023 10:51 am
by Dr Tony Balls
Splitter to serve FM GuyLaCroix's needs per this post: viewtopic.php?p=823904#p823904

3-way buffered split with phase flip and ground lift on two channels.

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Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2023 11:11 am
by bassdriver
Looks great!