This is a library of perfboard and single-sided PCB effect layouts for guitar and bass. I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, just a DIY'er who likes drawing layouts. It is meant for the hobbyist (so commercial use of any of these layout is not allowed without permission) and as a way to give back to the online DIY community.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Darkglass Microtubes B3K

Gotten a few requests for this one and I finally got around to doing it. It's a bit of a hodge-podge–3 dual opamps, a hex inverter, and a JFET mu-amp array. Definitely not fitting this in a 1590B, but will fit nicely in a 1590BB with the pots board mounted. Info and schematic here.



79 comments:

  1. On the vero layout (left side) you used two further not defined red leds, on the left side I read 1N4148 diodes. Why? Which is the factory standard?

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    1. You could use either depending on your taste. I think the 'original' is probably 1n4148.

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    2. The original is 1N4148s. I think I mistook them for LEDs on the schematic initially, then when I went back through and double checked I realized they were 4148s, changed them on the pcb side, but forgot to on the perf.

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  2. i love this, finally some did it :D
    will you be doing B7K maybe?

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  3. I built it, I’m having issues with the 4049. On the tagboardeffects layout they used an unbuffered one. But all schematics say other wise. I Don’t have one on hand to test that theory out.

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  4. Hi. Do you think a potentiometer will work instead of the switch for the attack? Thanks

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  5. Verified with the components above. You might vant to socket the J201 and try other FETs, like 2N5457 for more round sound and less distortion. It isn't distorting much, at least for me. Very mild and musical, good for bass. If you want more distortion a BAT46 (in place of the two 1N4148) or another low low forward voltage schottky could be a good mod, but I did not try it. I think I will box this one as it is.

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    1. AD712 in the place of TL072 in the upper left corner makes it sound more hard. Slightly more distortion, more rock.

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    2. Thanks for verifying and for the notes. Good stuff!

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    3. One more thing... are you sure th upper 4148 goes to +9V? Not to blue line next to it coming from the leg 8 of the upper left dual OP-amp? This could explain why is there so little distortion. I compared your layout with this: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.hu/2017/05/darkglass-microtubes-b3k.html

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    4. I am not sure. It sounds good as it is, but I really don't understand why is it going to +9V.

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    5. The schematic on FSB says it goes to +9V

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    6. In the end I have tried this circuit with the above mentioned BAT46 mods. As predicted, there is more distortion on tap, but can be tamed. I have found it more useful like that. Another note: C100K is really useful in this circuit. If you can not find reverse log pot, put a 240K res between the pins 1 and 3 of a linear 250K pot. It makes it a reverse log ~130k pot. Fits nice here.

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  6. Quick advice for those who etch their own boards with the toner transfer method: the extra through hole of the 220nf capacitor on the attack 3 switch is very close to the attack 2 rail so... watch out.

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  7. Has anyone else found the tl072 on the drive pot side is oscillating? Either that or it’s super noisy and being amplified by subsequent stages. I have tried isolating the output from the attack switch (grunt switch on the schematic) capacitors to no avail. I am hoping someone can suggest a solution as I am striking out.

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    1. Did you sort this mine appears to be doing this now? replace TL072?

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    3. Check your 100uF Capacitors if its oscillating as described above. I Just changed mine and it's now working normally.No oscillation and No hiss!! Pots and switches still not quite working properly though. all acting like volumes (have i got my pot leg orientation wrong?). BUT Mine is somewhat usable now. :D

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    4. Did you solve that issue??. I have something like that. The circuit works wrong. The pot does not work, only in the Middle position. I changed the electrolitic caps, but it does not work.

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    5. I used LM358 instead of tl072 in the drive knob section (upper left corner of PCB and it fixed the issue for me

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    6. Also using shielded wire on the attack switch central lug (labeled grunt 2 on this vero) helps with this problem a lot. Whis this thing applied, no oscillations at all even using tl072

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  8. Just wondering what are the values and tapers for all of the pots?

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  9. Hi! in which folder from the transfer image library is the pcb? thanx in advance, Max

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  10. Greetings group, someone can provide me pdf layout of Fender Bassman FET Preamp DeadAstronaut, MXR M81, MXR M80 or similar. Nice sound !!!!!
    Thanks and success👍.

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  11. Greetings from new group, kual bass preamp recommend me of effectslayouts ???, thanks and success.

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  12. I can Verify it toally works :D. I just finished the wiring and plugged it in, Boom! Thats the sound i've been looking for. Thanks man! Awesome addition to my pedal board :D

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    1. Good morning, I am a beginner and I also want this pedal, could you pass me the drawing of the wiring ???, I will be grateful !!!, motivates me and gladdens your achievement, thanks and success. andresguevara111@hotmail.com

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    2. There's not a more detailed drawing for off board wiring for this specific effect. A drawing of general off board wiring can be found in the General Layout Notes tab along with info that should help you figure out how to connect the toggle switches to the board.

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  13. Is is possible that you make a layout for any other Darkglass pedal or any bass preamp?

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. or.... this schematic not correct

    https://www.google.pt/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiFhuC_md7cAhXNuFkKHcJgD9sQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpeperspedals.blogspot.com%2F2017%2F02%2Fa-brief-guide-into-tracing-out-pcb-to.html&psig=AOvVaw07csjMkfAnXIbQkiZ9zWMs&ust=1533843140361215

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    1. The schematic I used is linked above, and the layout's been verified... That other schematic looks right tho. What error are you finding?

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  16. In schematic... IN > (1M) > .1 > 10k > (1M) > IC+
    In your PCB.... IN > (1M) > .1 > (1M)> >IC+

    Toggle switch Attack and Grunt named where changed !?

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    1. The 10k resistor is definitely there... Toggles are the same names as what I've seen online...

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  17. Position of R5(1M) is diferent... between C4(.1) and R4(10k) in your Layout..
    and R5(1M) between R4(10k) and IC+ in schematic above

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  18. guys the drive pot (C) is reversed logarithmic ?

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  19. Works fine! Thanks! At first i cannot find j201 so i tried BF245B and it works, but it was vary noisy. Finaly i ordered j201 from china and it works so much better with j201.

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  20. Hi there, I can't find the PDF ready to transfer, do you have it at hand to share? Because the PNG has a bigger size when I open it into Photoshop... there's some trick to make it the right size? Thank you very much in advance!

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  21. Hi guys, someone could help me, I made this layout, but I get no response, no distortion or changes, only with the pot blend, I only get a small change of tone, and probe with different pots, change the tl072, but I do not have another 4049 to test, I have a pair of J201 and 2n5457, but I do not get any distortion signal, could it be 4049? is the only component that I have not changed, could someone pass me the 4049 measurements? Thanks and regards

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    1. In regards to the 4049 Hex Buffer I have 2 builds of this pedal and one is not working i only just realized the Code on the IC which is working is 4049 UBE <----- and the other not working 4049 BE <----

      Does this mean i have the wrong one?? as far as i can see even on the packet it says there all the same inverted hex buffer (4049UBE, 4049BE, 4049) but im not having any luck

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    2. The BE version is buffered. I believe the circuit needs the UBE (unbuffered version) to work correctly, just like with most 4049-based guitar effects.

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    3. awesome, you just saved my day bro.. UnBuffered ones now ordered :D thank you for the super quick reply dude

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  22. The components side layout seems missing .Can you upload it again? Thanks

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  23. is it possible to have the gerber file for edit the pcb? thanks a lot for your job. Franck

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  24. Hi, I have a issue, my built dont have the overdrive sound, only clean sound and the blend pot works too. I'm using the CD4049UBE.Any knows whats happening ? sorry about my english

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  25. My pedal doesn't work... I see that i should have used a NP 1 uF capacitor. Can a normal electrolytic capacitor effect the operation?

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  26. Hi! i have an issue. Pedal sounds like farting. And there is a tons of clipping when drive is on maximum. i`ve inspected FET section by soldering output straight to 1 leg of attack switch and it sounded clean. Then i`ve inspected DRIVE section and there is clipping. Dont know what to do( Sounds like a fuzz not an overdrive

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  27. I have some sugestions that worked for me:

    - Increase the 220pF of the grunt switch to 470pF
    - Reduce the 4049 feedback resistor from 470k to 330k
    - Increase the 100R 4049 supply resistor to 1k
    - Also make a boot's trap before the 9V input of the board, it means, put a 100R in series, like the rat, that gonna improve the noise performance

    Yet, all these mods didn't worked well to me, and the pedal was more like a gate distortion, the oscilations stopped, but it could be more, I espected it.

    So, my final solution was to replace all the 4049 section, to a mosfet muff distortion block, and gess what? Sounded lika a charm! ahahah No oscilations, giant sustain, all the switches did they role super well, I'm super gratful to all the mates that inputed so much information about this thread, that's my 2 cents.

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    2. in the case This mosfet would be the 2n7000? will it replace any other transistor? please man help me i'm new at this and my english sucks kkkkk

      I followed all the steps you put above (placing the 100r on the 9v, the 330k replacing the 470k and the 470pf replacing the 220pf) then it got much better the hissing decreased a lot but it got a little sustainer with the gate cutting very fast distortion, then I understood more or less what you said below about the mosfet there was the only question I had

      Which transistor to use
      and where to put it

      please man help me !!!!!!!

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  28. This works perfect using a CD4049UBE.
    Thank you!!

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    1. hi would you post voltages of the ICs please?

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  29. Podría decirme de qué material son los condensadores 1uf , soy novato perdonad y gracias!

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    1. Son no polarizados, busca de poliéster o cerámicos multicapas

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  30. thanks a lot! do you think I'd have any problem if I use 2.2k or 4.7k resistors instead of the 3.3's on the layout?

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    1. I would probably try doing a pair of resistors either in parallel or series to create 3.3k. Google parallel and series resistance.

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    2. aptalfunkJanuary 15, 2020 at 6:43 AM

      I checked it and applied. It works amazing! Great tone variability... Thank you sou much!!

      Btw I'm getting too much deep noise. Do you think it'd be solved when I put eveything inside the enclosure?

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  32. Hi, I want to put an eq control for the obsidian, I am thinking in putting it right before de volume stage. Do I must put it before R25 (on diagram) or before IC 4.A?

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  33. Just finished this, TI 4049UBE, 2n5458 jfets, 1n914 diodes, all else as specified, ran legs on perfboard. Works perfectly, sounds great. Thanks so much for this!!!

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  34. hello I would like to send a request for the darkglass vmt

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  35. Hello
    I finished it but the CD4049UBE gets too hot, which I don't think is normal, can somebody confirm it?

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    1. Try increasing the value of the 100Ω resistor just above the 4049 (goes from voltage to pin 1) up to 470Ω or even up to 1k.

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    2. Thanks!!!! i put a 1k and now its stay cold
      you are great!

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  37. I can confirm the board and parts are good and working.
    Just finished with all the stock components. (Except 2).
    1. I don't have 330nf, i used 220nf
    Doest it make a big difference? (I do have a 470nf)
    2. I don't have a C100k, I used a B100k for gain. The Gain is not evenly spread out in full rotation. Hi gain is only on position 8 to Max. Any suggestion to make a C100k or Mod? Thanks in advance.

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    1. Btw.. Gain is farting at Max. Thats fine with just wanted the gain spread evenly.

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