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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Sonic Distortion

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7/12/2000 5:53 PM
TPD	Sonic Distortion How can I increase the output level of the Sonic Distortion. Which resistor has to be changed?

7/12/2000 6:12 PM

TPD,

Unfortunately increasing the output level of any diode clipping device is rarely as easy as just changing one resistor.

In that circuit the op amp has a gain variable from 67 to 567 which is plenty of boost, but the diodes to ground limit the voltage of the signal to 2x the forward conduction voltage of one of the diodes (This would be a 1.2Vpeak-peak signal for Si diodes).

To get more output level you need to add more diodes in series with the current ones to get a larger voltage swing. This will give you more level but reduce the amount of distortion available (this is arguable however as the circuit is set up to have so much gain that even with the drive pot at minimum the op amp itself is probably clipping the signal, the diodes are just "rounding out" the resultant signal).

Someone will/should probably jump in with a better explination.

Jay Doyle

7/14/2000 2:15 AM
Mitch	Jay, I used to use a sonic distortion with a 1972 50 watt marshall and the sonic distortion was ok till I got a ibanez distortion charger it sounds kinda like a sonic and a TS-9 but more bass and more distortion that is much smoother and a singing lead tone. Cheers...

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