Has anyone tried this Jose MV mod? Update

[Vrad]

I use it on a push pull as well, AKA Smooth Switch.

experiment with diodes. I found a value that gives you a killer tone and it drops the over all volume down so you can get a great overdrive at whisper levels.

Thanks Jerry!
I'm going to play around with different values to see which I like best.

 

[FortinAmps]

Yes Vlad, try it also without the diodes.
Its a very cool Master IMO.

+1, that's why on my Cali mod the saturation switch in the center position is just that

So it switches the diodes in and out?

Yes

 

[Vrad]

Yes Vlad, try it also without the diodes.
Its a very cool Master IMO.

+1, that's why on my Cali mod the saturation switch in the center position is just that

So it switches the diodes in and out?

Yes

Nice!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit...

Steve

Oh man! I'm getting really psyched to try it out! LOL!
How hard is it to switch it out? Can I use a 1 Meg push-pull? or something?

Here is how I switch it. It is called the "Zen Master" on my layout. You can ignore the relays on the board and just concentrate on the physical switch.

Steve

Thanks Steve!
That's the diode behind the relay, correct?

No problem. The Zener diodes are actually on the Zen Master in the layout diagram. The diode in front of the relay is the flyback suppression diode for the relay. I'm using these tiny Schottky signal diodes. They begin conducting earlier, meaning less flyback voltage can begin to form and there's less chance of a pop being induced via the relay coil into high gain parts of the circuit.


Steve

 

[tonmazz]

can anybody explain how deferent values of Zeners will sound compared to the 20 volt?


i've read where Mark C explained some before, but don't remember anymore.

When I tinkered with this, I added a bunch of different Zener Configurations from 20V on down to 5 and everything in the middle with a 7 position switch. I even used single zeners which create a unique and different sound. THe lower the value, the bigger the drop in volume and the greater the transistor sound and compression from what I saw. The 5 Volt was heavy Metal but not very useable. Had to turn the amp almost to 3/4 to get a decent volume but it was saturated as hell but really roughens up the tone, but it was fun. 20V seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[Vrad]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit...

Steve

Oh man! I'm getting really psyched to try it out! LOL!
How hard is it to switch it out? Can I use a 1 Meg push-pull? or something?

Here is how I switch it. It is called the "Zen Master" on my layout. You can ignore the relays on the board and just concentrate on the physical switch.

Steve

Thanks Steve!
That's the diode behind the relay, correct?

No problem. The Zener diodes are actually on the Zen Master in the layout diagram. The diode in front of the relay is the flyback suppression diode for the relay. I'm using these tiny Schottky signal diodes. They begin conducting earlier, meaning less flyback voltage can begin to form and there's less chance of a pop being induced via the relay coil into high gain parts of the circuit.


Steve

Ahh ok.. I see it I didn't scroll to the right far enough.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit...

Steve

Oh man! I'm getting really psyched to try it out! LOL!
How hard is it to switch it out? Can I use a 1 Meg push-pull? or something?

Here is how I switch it. It is called the "Zen Master" on my layout. You can ignore the relays on the board and just concentrate on the physical switch.

Steve

Thanks Steve!
That's the diode behind the relay, correct?

No problem. The Zener diodes are actually on the Zen Master in the layout diagram. The diode in front of the relay is the flyback suppression diode for the relay. I'm using these tiny Schottky signal diodes. They begin conducting earlier, meaning less flyback voltage can begin to form and there's less chance of a pop being induced via the relay coil into high gain parts of the circuit.


Steve

Ahh ok.. I see it I didn't scroll to the right far enough.

Yeah, sorry about the massive image, but it is barely readable as it is with all the wires for the switching. I actually put everything in layers in my CAD program so I can print out subsets of the wires so you can really see what's going on. I'll publish those as soon as I clean up a little more of the lead dress...

Steve

 

[Vrad]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit...

Steve

Oh man! I'm getting really psyched to try it out! LOL!
How hard is it to switch it out? Can I use a 1 Meg push-pull? or something?

Here is how I switch it. It is called the "Zen Master" on my layout. You can ignore the relays on the board and just concentrate on the physical switch.

Steve

Thanks Steve!
That's the diode behind the relay, correct?

No problem. The Zener diodes are actually on the Zen Master in the layout diagram. The diode in front of the relay is the flyback suppression diode for the relay. I'm using these tiny Schottky signal diodes. They begin conducting earlier, meaning less flyback voltage can begin to form and there's less chance of a pop being induced via the relay coil into high gain parts of the circuit.


Steve

Ahh ok.. I see it I didn't scroll to the right far enough.

Yeah, sorry about the massive image, but it is barely readable as it is with all the wires for the switching. I actually put everything in layers in my CAD program so I can print out subsets of the wires so you can really see what's going on. I'll publish those as soon as I clean up a little more of the lead dress...

Steve

No biggie, just had to scroll over. I was focusing too much on the switch! LOL!

 

[jerrydyer]

hey Steve gimme the low down on the input configuration there? 22uf / small cap to ground 4.7k grid ? looks interesting.

 

[jasonP]

Wow what a sweet thread!!

 

[scottosan]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit... The original had 2 20V Zeners as Mike says and that is what I'm using as well...

Steve

Steve,

It looks like yours is slightly different with a 1M also going to ground from the junction of the .22u and the 10k. Have you tried it with and without the 1M resistor?

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

can anybody explain how deferent values of Zeners will sound compared to the 20 volt?


i've read where Mark C explained some before, but don't remember anymore.

When I tinkered with this, I added a bunch of different Zener Configurations from 20V on down to 5 and everything in the middle with a 7 position switch. I even used single zeners which create a unique and different sound. THe lower the value, the bigger the drop in volume and the greater the transistor sound and compression from what I saw. The 5 Volt was heavy Metal but not very useable. Had to turn the amp almost to 3/4 to get a decent volume but it was saturated as hell but really roughens up the tone, but it was fun. 20V seems to be the sweet spot.

cool, that's some good info.!

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit... The original had 2 20V Zeners as Mike says and that is what I'm using as well...

Steve

Steve,

It looks like yours is slightly different with a 1M also going to ground from the junction of the .22u and the 10k. Have you tried it with and without the 1M resistor?

In my circuit, you have to have that 1M to reduce popping when switching...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone? Steve (SAH5150), Dave?

I had that master in both of my Jose Arredondo modded Marshalls and it sounds great. The placement of the master and the diode clipping give a great, higher gain tone.... Give it a try, it sounds cool... It'll be in my amp - footswitchable in and out of the circuit... The original had 2 20V Zeners as Mike says and that is what I'm using as well...

Steve

How much extra gain?

A pretty good amount more.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

hey Steve gimme the low down on the input configuration there? 22uf / small cap to ground 4.7k grid ? looks interesting.

Sure - the 22nF fattens things up a bit and protects you from DC (in case the tube should have a short between plate and grid you wouldn't get electrocuted). The 470pF to ground protects against RF interference. The 4K7 reduces the annoying hiss you get with the 68K on a Marshall.

Steve

 

[Vrad]

Steve, did you use the .22uf cap and the 10k for the resistor Jose MV in your amp?

 

[duesentrieb]

Steve, did you use the .22uf cap and the 10k for the resistor Jose MV in your amp?

You should use a cap there, otherwise you have 180-200V on the pot.

 

[Vrad]

Steve, did you use the .22uf cap and the 10k for the resistor Jose MV in your amp?

You should use a cap there, otherwise you have 180-200V on the pot.

I see... Ok. Thanks Olaf. I ordered all the parts described in the MV schematic along with a couple different zener diodes. Figure I'd experiment a bit. Hope the parts come in time for tinkering over Thanksgiving! LOL!

 

[Dallas Marlow]

Ok... someone help educate the idiot here

I always associated "diode clipping" with being a bad thing in a tube amp... help clarify this for me if I'm in the right train of thought.

Doesn't diode clipping no longer make the amp an all tube circuit it's adding for lack of a better term solid state distortion? Obviously if you use an OD pedal your getting this anyway, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just thought it was something that people were always trying to avoid in tube amps at the high end, keeping out solid state distortion and diode clipping.

I THINK the JSX has some as well as the Silver Jubille right?

Someone please help explain this to me and correct me because I'm sure I'm confused about some of these terms!

Thanks,

Dallas

 

[Vrad]

Ok... someone help educate the idiot here

I always associated "diode clipping" with being a bad thing in a tube amp... help clarify this for me if I'm in the right train of thought.

Doesn't diode clipping no longer make the amp an all tube circuit it's adding for lack of a better term solid state distortion? Obviously if you use an OD pedal your getting this anyway, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just thought it was something that people were always trying to avoid in tube amps at the high end, keeping out solid state distortion and diode clipping.

I THINK the JSX has some as well as the Silver Jubille right?

Someone please help explain this to me and correct me because I'm sure I'm confused about some of these terms!

Thanks,

Dallas

All diode clipping does is add more drive... It's very similar to slapping an OD pedal in front of an amp. It doesn't turn a tube amp into a solid state amp or anything like that. It all comes down to how its implemented. If it sounds good, its good, that's how I look at it. Alot of amps use it. The Silver Jubilee, the 2205/2210.