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.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Emerson Customs Paramount

This is Emerson's second offering. Essentially it's an Electra Distortion without the clipping diodes and it's pretty similar to the EM Drive. It adds a tone control that pans between 2 capacitors at the input. It's laid out for board mounted pots and will fit nice in a 1590B.


47 comments:

  1. Hi bro, awesome as usual!
    Any suggestion to replace the mpsa13?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Socket and experiment with high gain transistors you have on hand. Also try this:

      https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=mpsa13%20equivalent

      Delete
    2. Two 2n5088 in darlington (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlington_transistor). Mpsa13 is a darlington transistor in one case. I am using two 2n5088 instead of mpsa13 in BazzFuss and it works fine.

      Delete
    3. so you replace an MPSA13 with two 2n5088s?
      I wonder how they are connected to the board...

      Delete
    4. help me, I really want to have this in my pedalboard

      Delete
    5. I project pcbs myself. Please read about Darlington in link that I've paste before.

      Delete
    6. Adding a tip to Milosz advice: if you look at Darlington schematic symbol you may easily notice how the two bipolar are connected.

      Delete
    7. I've seen the link you shared above, honestly I didn't really understand hahaha. I'm noob in this field, and my English is not really good. but surely i'll try to learn about it though.
      thanks for your replies, bros

      Delete
    8. Berkicau, check out this link: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-read-a-schematic

      Delete
    9. thanks everyone, now I understand how to wire that two 5088s in darlington.

      Delete
    10. i followed this diagram to wire my 2n5088s. it still doesn't work.

      http://www.radiomuseum.org/images/tubecharactdiag/small/m/mpsa13_innen.png

      is this what you meant by darlington thing?

      Delete
  2. noob question i want to buy a mylar film caps that 100nf how many volts?thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've built it using MPSA13 and did double check on the layout, it didn't work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Whooppss, I forgot to turn my PS when engaging the effect.
    this one is verified, and awesome as usual!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Halo mas, salam kenal. Tinggal di Jogja ya mas?

      Delete
    2. salam kenal jg mas.
      dari tahun 1999 sampe 2014 di jogja mas, sekarang sudah di kalimantan

      Delete
    3. Oh kirain masih di Jogja mas. Kira2 kalo mau konsul sama mas bisa nggak ya? Hehe

      Delete
    4. Via email aja ya mas. Terima kasih banyak mas.

      Delete
    5. Hi, Berkicau, what process did you do? Thanks

      Delete
  5. if I want to make my tone darker, which cap should I change?
    the 220 or 2.2 one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try upping the 220n to 470n. You could also play with the output cap too (100n cap to Vol 3)

      Delete
    2. thanks bro
      I love the mild drive it produces, but the tone is too bright for me

      Delete
  6. where the switch ar conected? it doesn`t appeard in the board

    ReplyDelete
  7. MPSA13 is the same of KSP13?
    Didn't find any info about that... both are darlington.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not familiar with the KSP13. A lot of high gain transistors will work in this circuit, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did work. Use a socket and experiment.

      Delete
  8. Hi there, I'm quite new to this so firstly I'd like to thank you for such an excellent site, it is very much appreciated!
    Question: would the circuit benefit from clipping diodes and if so, where would they go? From the final output trace to ground?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't built the Paramount, but I have built the EM Drive, which I added clipping to and really liked it. This is pretty similar to the EM Drive and would not be shocked it adding some clipping diodes helped it out some. And they'd go from Volume 3 to ground.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for such a quick response, that is helpful. Sounds like it would be worth experimenting with. Cheers

      Delete
    3. If so, I assume it would be fine if I use an spst toggle. Dont you think?

      Delete
  9. Another newbie question (apologies): where would I connect the on/off led and resistor with this layout?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out the General Layout Notes tab at the top of the page. There's a diagram for off board wiring.

      Delete
  10. Hi, the circuit sounds great! However, when the gain is at minimum there is still a light overdrive. I don't mind this, but I'm just wondering if it is supposed to be completely clean when the gain is rolled off? In which case, what might I have done wrong?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like you built it right to me. Even with the gain all the way down signal is still passing through the circuit, so some overdriven signal is likely.

      Delete
    2. That's good news, thanks for the reply. And thanks again for the great site 😄

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Hi, Joe. What process did you do?

      Delete
  11. I have a a little doubt, maybe a noob one. Why does it have two hole markers on some of the components? Mainly on capacitors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those are so you can use different size film capacitors.

      Delete
    2. Oh, thanks for your fast reply.

      Curious thing: my first comment is shown as Unknown

      Delete
    3. Yeah, I don't understand why that happens sometimes. Google/Blogger has it's quirks.

      Delete
  12. It's verified. Build this circuit using BC517, hard to find MPSA13 at local store. Yes, it's working as charm. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete