ledvedder":ogjkdh3f said:
fusedbrain":ogjkdh3f said:
psychodave":ogjkdh3f said:
I find it interesting that the mpsa06 do not clip as much as the 5 volt zeners I use.
For the question, why not use a rotary switch and use a bunch of different values? They make tons of different voltage zeners.
Yeah, I was fooling around with some clipping circuits last week, and I thought that the mpsa06's were kinda' in the same ballpark as 12v zeners for saturation, but sounded way better tone-wise, so that's why I went with the 20v zener / mpsa06 dual clipper setup on a switch for an amp I'm working on. But the various clippers on a rotary switch is a cool idea.
I was doing my tests with alligator clips, but now I think I'm gonna make up a rotary switch jig for testing purposes.
So you used 1 20v zener and 1 mpsa06 transistor back to back, instead of 2 zeners?
No, sorry for the lousy description. I did a type of "era switch, where in one position I used 2 x 20v Zeners for moderate clipping, and in the other position, I used 2 MPSa06's for a more saturated sound. The MPSa06's are def more saturated than the 20v zeners, but it doesn't seem like it's "too much" to me, and I like the tone. It doesn't seem as over the top to me as the lower voltage zeners in my amp. Could be a different story in a Yeti for sure.
All these different diodes are cheap to buy, so you can afford to get a bunch and see what you like. For example, the little electronics place near me sells the zeners in a bag of 5 for $1.00. I think the MPSa06's are 4 for $1.00.