Build Your Own Clone Message Board

After building a couple of compressors I decided to compare the different chip and tranny combos. Of course, keep in mind that this is just my opinion. Your ear is probably different than mine. By the way, I tried the blend knob at full compressionand 12 o'clock and tried the attack and sustain knobs in multiple positions to test the range of the components.

I started with the traditional CA3080 and 2SC1849 trannies. Any compressor that I had ever found before I got this kit that sounded this good for this price or beyond it, I would already own.

Next, I switched the 2SC1849s for the 2N5088s, leaving the CA3080 chip. As impressed as I was with the sound of the 2SC1849s, I was even more impressed with the 2N5088s. It isn't a real change in the sound by any means, it is just a lower noise level. I thought the 1849s were clean sounding but the 5088s were even cleaner.

Next, I switched the CA3080 chip for the BA6110 (9pin) chip, leaving the 2N5088s. Once again I prefered this combo to the last. It seemed a little more transparent than the CA3080. I switched these back and forth several times and end the end I prefered the BA6110 chip.

Last, I swapped out the 2N5088s for the 2SC1849s leaving the BA6110. It seems as though the sound was a little less clean with the 1849s. I ended up putting the 2N5088s back in and leaving them.

Overall Impressions:

CA3080 and 2SC1849s: Great Original Ross Compressor Clone with the extra knobs, great squish and sustain. It should be cleaner and more transparent than the original because of the higher quality components. Also, the original wasn't true bypass.

CA3080 and 2N5088s: A little less distortion, cleaner sounding.

BA6110 and 2N5088s: Really squishy, more transparent, slightly longer sustain (favorite)

BA6110 and 2SC1849s: Much like above but a little less clean sounding

So my preference was the BA6110 and the 2N5088s. The great thing about this kit is that you can experiment with it and find the one that you like the best. One thing I should add is that none of these combos were bad. Some were just better than others.

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Math illiteracy affects seven out of every five people.

I can't get enough minimalism.

Thanks man, I've been building this thing up this week, and totally fretting all the combos, now at least I know where to start

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Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important - C.S. Lewis

No problem sugarbear, but do yourself a favor and try them all. I should have added that the BA6110 and 2N5088s was my favorite combo my buddy favored the CA3080 and 2N5088s. He thought that it sounded the most like his old modded Ross Comp that he had in the 80's.

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Math illiteracy affects seven out of every five people.

I can't get enough minimalism.

Here's my take on it:

Some people complain that the new Ross clone offerings out there are too hi-fi and sterile and they are actually willing to accept a little extra noise floor for that rougher sound. The CA3080/2SC1849's are for these people.

Some people want their Ross clone to still behave like the old Ross, but want a cleaner "studio" compressor tone. The BA6110/2N5088's are for these people.

If you want something kinda in the middle, go with the BA6110/2SC1849's or the CA3080/2N5088's.

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*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Also, my fav is the BA6110/2N5088's. Definitely more sustain.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

My ears are not the best but I have to agree with Coolhand. I think I'm going to stick with the BA6110 and the 2N5088 combination. It seems a little clearer and adds some more sustain.

You also have to consider the relativity of the tonal differences. To someone who doesn't care too much about compression, there probably isn't any difference at all. But to someone who's obsessed with compression, the differences are HUGE.

It's like overdrive mods. My wife can't tell the difference between a big muff and a tubescreamer. So to her, TS mods are just snake oil. But to some people it's the best extra $100 they ever spent.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

what about 2n5089? Aren't they higher gain/lower noise?

They have the same characteristics as the 5088 but with slightly higher gain. So they should give you slightly more sustain and output with just a touch more noise.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

bump

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Math illiteracy affects seven out of every five people.

I can't get enough minimalism.

You should probably sticky this Coolhand. Your info is that worthy

I have a bunch of 2N5089 laying around and would like to try them out in my compressor. I assume that i can just swap the 5088 with the 5089 without changing any resistors or caps. Is this correct?

Thanks

You can swap those no problem.

Amen to that. I finally finished the 5-Knob last night. I read the BYOC kit page for the 5-Knob and decided to go with the BA6110 right out of the gate. Outside of digital emulations in multi-FX over the last decade and a half, I've never owned an actual compressor, so I'm definitely not a compressor guru. The little blurb on the BYOC page seemed enough. Cleaner seemed better.

For transistors, I had no clue. I seperated the 14 trannies into two little piles of seven each. I couldn't decide. I almost hoped one would be missing so that I would be forced one way or another. I randomly chose 2SC1849 over 2N5088. (Well, I think I did. I picked the ones with the far easier to read label text and the colorful little dots on the back. Pretty sure that was the 2SC1849. IIRC, the 2N5088 has tiny little engraved text.)

I fired it up with a humbucker loaded Tele last night (splittable Duncans). It sounded really good through my Old Flame and my Marshall. At extreme settings, the thing easily does that classic country squish thing. The sustain is off the charts. Adjusting it back a bit yields some nice sustain without too much squish). I did notice some noise on extreme settings, but nothing off the charts.

As I take it based on BYOC's post above( "Some people want their Ross clone to still behave like the old Ross, but want a cleaner "studio" compressor tone. The BA6110/2N5088's are for these people." ), I randomly chose a sort of itermediate combination. I'm thinking that in the next day or two I owe it to myself to try out the other trannies to see just how much cleaner and sweeter the thing could be. Last night's version was nice, but even cleaner couldn't hurt, particularly with the Marshall.

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Go Buckeyes!

BA6110 and the 2N5088 seemed to be the most used combination for the old layout. If you notice the new layout for the 5-knob the CA3080 option has been taken off the board and the 2SC1849s aren't included in the kit.

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Math illiteracy affects seven out of every five people.

I can't get enough minimalism.

Wow, didn't know that. I bought my kit months ago as part of the last Buy 3, Get 1 (or was it Buy 2, Get 1?) sale. I didn't know the new ones were different.

I'll give the current trannies a few days just to get used to them before going with the others. (Or, maybe I'm just being lazy! )

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Go Buckeyes!

Installed the other trannies a few days back. Just as advertised, the pedal is noticably quieter. Nice!

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Go Buckeyes!

How far down into the socket are the wedge pins of the 6110 supposed to go?
It seems as though I ought to be able to push them down a little more, but I thought I'd stop before applying really excessive force.

Don't force them in too much. If all the pins are seated in the socket you should be ready to go.

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Math illiteracy affects seven out of every five people.

I can't get enough minimalism.

If a transistor has higher gain, it will have LOWER noise, that is just how
The math works out, also you need to look at the noise section of the data sheet.
Max noise on the 2n5089 a dB lower than the 2n5088, and has higher gain, that will lower noise even more...
Not trying to bust anyone’s bubble, but what was said is backwards.
In a few ways...just saying.
My current favorite high gain low noise is the mpsa18, huge hfe, and low noise.