Here's the most strange thing, I have built op amp diy breadboard projects and transistor based ones, the op amps ones never work, never get any distortion period, I've followed your three part series exactly but the transistor ones always work. Any ideas?
Thanks for watching! It sounds like you are familiar with using a breadboard, and if the transistor circuits all worked fine, the only thing I can suggest is double checking the pinouts of the op amp that you are using. Also, unlike the pinout of transistor datasheets where you're looking at it from "underneath," op amp pinouts are drawn for when looking at it from "above." (the side that has the print on it) Hope this helps!
Hi! My comment may not apply to your problem(s), so keep that in mind. I've also had MAJOR difficulties even getting opamps to work. But now I've overcome those obstacles with a vengeance 😎 My recommendation to you is to start with the absolute basics. What I mean is for instance to control (with a multimeter) that you get the expected output voltage on the output pin. Stuff like that. And don't over-complicate anything before you've gone through the previous steps. Start without the opamp and see to that you have plus and GND or minus (depending on if you run on dual or single supply) on the correct pins of you use that kind of mounting thing for opamps. Then proceed to place the opamp in the circuit and see if you indeed get the mid-point of the supply voltage if you don't feed the opamp with a signal(s). And so on. Also, many opamps are susceptible to ESD (static electricity). So, if you touch the pins without having for instance a ESD bracelet on your wrist, you can permanently damage it. The same goes for if you force it to output a too high current. That will fry the circuit. When the opamp is within a circuit, it is often "protected by the circuitry" from ESD. You mainly have to take extra care of it when mounting / in the beginning of the circuit. My recommendation is to start with a single supply of +9V. Then bias the incoming signal with two identical resistors, one connected to + and one to GND. The signal is input in the middle of these two resistors (that form a voltage divider). Place a coupling capacitor going "in" to the midpoint of the biasing voltage divider. This will keep direct current (which can be seen as a superposition of your signal) from coming into the input to the opamp. And it will prevent any DC from going into your signal source (like your guitar). Now, place a potentiometer (e.g., 50k) between the output of the opamp and the negative input of the opamp. Place a 10 uF capacitor connected to ground. Connect the capacitors other leg with a 1k resistor. Connect the other leg of this resistor to the negative input of the opamp. This will form your feedback circuit. If you turn up the potentiometer (increase its resistance), the output will increase. When turning down the pot, the output will decrease. Now, connect +9V to your opamps V+ pin. And connect GND to your opamps V- pin. Connect a coupling capacitor from the opamp output (same reason was for the input). You now have a circuit that will work. Experiment with what happens if you turn the pot up and down, monitor the output voltage until you understand how the opamp actually works. And disregard this comment if you already knew this 😂 Good luck!
You could use a 500kA pot instead of the 470k resistor between base and collector on the first transistor and you could eliminate the 50k pot and associated parts.
Hum it seem's good circuit but i cant find why but it doesnt work for me. I use bc109 transistors. I don't understand how you connect your gain potentiometer with the third cable (its seem between the 470k and the 1k )😅.
Thanks for watching! The gain pot goes between the 0.47u capacitor and the 1k resistor, as you can see in the schematic around 21:00. Hope this helps, and have fun!
Thx for taking time to answer me. I manage to make your overdrive with opamp and a fuzzface from another videomaker. I dont know why but this one doesn't want to work😢 for me. Thx you very mutch for your great work anyway Thomas (France)
@@thomaspomies1640 Great to hear you made the breadboard overdrive! The only thing I can think of is the pinout of the BC109. It's probably not the same as the 2SC2240 that I used in the video. Hope you can get this working!
Absolutely. Capacitors impact audio signal arguably more than any other component in normal audio gear. There is a reason they make capacitors that are hundreds and hundreds of dollars each. But don't let that stop you, it is a distortion pedal after all...
Thanks Patrik! Great to hear you liked the sounds! To answer your question "Will the sound differ much?" I personally don't think it will. I'm sure tons of people will tell me that I'm wrong, but I wouldn't worry about capacitor material when building a circuit like this. As the other viewer has commented, capacitors are a huge deal in hi-fi audio. But, in the guitar/pedal world, I think it's all about whether or not you like the final tone.
![What Makes An Overdrive Become A Tube Screamer? Modding A DIY Breadboard Into A TS10! [Breadboard]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5dOn348lujQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![What Makes An Overdrive Become A Tube Screamer? Modding A DIY Breadboard Into A TS10! [Breadboard]](/img/tr.png)
The schematic explanation is EXCELLENT! Particularly the bit on diodes and how they affect the distortion
Thanks for watching! And thank you so much for the kind words! Great to hear you enjoyed the video and the circuit analysis!
Very nice!
Thank you!
Cool circuit, very nice for a first build ❤
Hi Phil, thanks for watching! Yes, it's a simple and fun circuit for a first build, with lots of potential for mods!
great job. thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for watching! And thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate it!
Here's the most strange thing, I have built op amp diy breadboard projects and transistor based ones, the op amps ones never work, never get any distortion period, I've followed your three part series exactly but the transistor ones always work. Any ideas?
Thanks for watching! It sounds like you are familiar with using a breadboard, and if the transistor circuits all worked fine, the only thing I can suggest is double checking the pinouts of the op amp that you are using. Also, unlike the pinout of transistor datasheets where you're looking at it from "underneath," op amp pinouts are drawn for when looking at it from "above." (the side that has the print on it) Hope this helps!
Hi!
My comment may not apply to your problem(s), so keep that in mind. I've also had MAJOR difficulties even getting opamps to work. But now I've overcome those obstacles with a vengeance 😎
My recommendation to you is to start with the absolute basics. What I mean is for instance to control (with a multimeter) that you get the expected output voltage on the output pin. Stuff like that.
And don't over-complicate anything before you've gone through the previous steps. Start without the opamp and see to that you have plus and GND or minus (depending on if you run on dual or single supply) on the correct pins of you use that kind of mounting thing for opamps.
Then proceed to place the opamp in the circuit and see if you indeed get the mid-point of the supply voltage if you don't feed the opamp with a signal(s). And so on.
Also, many opamps are susceptible to ESD (static electricity). So, if you touch the pins without having for instance a ESD bracelet on your wrist, you can permanently damage it. The same goes for if you force it to output a too high current. That will fry the circuit.
When the opamp is within a circuit, it is often "protected by the circuitry" from ESD. You mainly have to take extra care of it when mounting / in the beginning of the circuit.
My recommendation is to start with a single supply of +9V. Then bias the incoming signal with two identical resistors, one connected to + and one to GND. The signal is input in the middle of these two resistors (that form a voltage divider).
Place a coupling capacitor going "in" to the midpoint of the biasing voltage divider. This will keep direct current (which can be seen as a superposition of your signal) from coming into the input to the opamp. And it will prevent any DC from going into your signal source (like your guitar).
Now, place a potentiometer (e.g., 50k) between the output of the opamp and the negative input of the opamp. Place a 10 uF capacitor connected to ground. Connect the capacitors other leg with a 1k resistor. Connect the other leg of this resistor to the negative input of the opamp. This will form your feedback circuit. If you turn up the potentiometer (increase its resistance), the output will increase. When turning down the pot, the output will decrease.
Now, connect +9V to your opamps V+ pin. And connect GND to your opamps V- pin.
Connect a coupling capacitor from the opamp output (same reason was for the input).
You now have a circuit that will work.
Experiment with what happens if you turn the pot up and down, monitor the output voltage until you understand how the opamp actually works.
And disregard this comment if you already knew this 😂
Good luck!
You could use a 500kA pot instead of the 470k resistor between base and collector on the first transistor and you could eliminate the 50k pot and associated parts.
Thanks for watching! And thank you for sharing your mod ideas! Yes, as I state in the video, there is so much you can do with this circuit!
Hum it seem's good circuit but i cant find why but it doesnt work for me. I use bc109 transistors. I don't understand how you connect your gain potentiometer with the third cable (its seem between the 470k and the 1k )😅.
Thanks for watching! The gain pot goes between the 0.47u capacitor and the 1k resistor, as you can see in the schematic around 21:00. Hope this helps, and have fun!
Thx for taking time to answer me. I manage to make your overdrive with opamp and a fuzzface from another videomaker. I dont know why but this one doesn't want to work😢 for me.
Thx you very mutch for your great work anyway
Thomas (France)
@@thomaspomies1640 Great to hear you made the breadboard overdrive! The only thing I can think of is the pinout of the BC109. It's probably not the same as the 2SC2240 that I used in the video. Hope you can get this working!
Simple an good sounding circuit! What if you use ceramic capacitors instead of polyester, will the sound differ much?
Absolutely. Capacitors impact audio signal arguably more than any other component in normal audio gear. There is a reason they make capacitors that are hundreds and hundreds of dollars each. But don't let that stop you, it is a distortion pedal after all...
Thanks Patrik! Great to hear you liked the sounds! To answer your question "Will the sound differ much?" I personally don't think it will. I'm sure tons of people will tell me that I'm wrong, but I wouldn't worry about capacitor material when building a circuit like this. As the other viewer has commented, capacitors are a huge deal in hi-fi audio. But, in the guitar/pedal world, I think it's all about whether or not you like the final tone.