Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I was around, and I have a question I've been trying to search the board to find the answer to...

Is there a list of which BYOC kits and mods that work with 18V power?

I know that a few of the ones I've built do, but as I just picked up a CAE MC403 I now have lots of 18V power options. Before I go plugging stuff in tonight, I was trying to find a list of which kits handle 18V power.

CE Winterland

Which pedals are you wanting to use at 18v?

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Well, my pedal board currently has:

(I have to try to remember the actual names as opposed to the ones I gave them hehehe)

Large Beaver (Pickle Mod)
Octave Fuzz
2-knob compressor
Phase Royal
Overdrive 2 (with Germanium Mod)
Tremelo
Envelope Filter (currently with 18V)
Vibe

I know the OD2 with Germanium I need to be careful.

I don't have the gumption to disconnect it to look to see if I put the Germanium Op Amp in just now, but I will soon.

Looking at the instructions, it looks like the Compressor, the Envelope Filter and the OD2 can be run on 18V. Just wondering if any of the others can or not...

Re: the OD2, I believe you are referring to the MOSFET mod, not germanium. To quote the instructions on the subject of 18V power:

"18 volt operation? - This can be a little tricky. Because the standard spec overdrive circuit can run just fine at 18v. But the standard silicon boost circuit cannot. 18v will not hurt it, but it will be distorted. The MOSFET boost can run at 18v. But the MOSFET overdrive circuit cannot. Anymore than 9v will fry the MOSFET op amp. So if you want to run the pedal at 18v, you'd need to build the overdrive portion of the circuit to standard specs and build the boost to MOSFET specs."

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Yes, you are right... mosfet.

Large Beaver (Pickle Mod) - Check the datasheet for the array you chose, but it's probably alright.
Octave Fuzz - Yes
2-knob compressor - No
Phase Royal - Yes, but will need rebiasing, I'm sure.
Overdrive 2 (with Germanium Mod) - Already touched on above
Tremolo - Yes
Envelope Filter (currently with 18V) - Yes
Vibe - No

A good way to determine is to look at the schematic, if there are any 'non-standard' opamps or transistors, check the datasheet for the max supply voltage, and that will give you a good idea of what can be used safely.

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Large Beaver (Pickle Mod) - Check the datasheet for the array you chose, but it's probably alright.
Octave Fuzz - Yes
2-knob compressor - Yes *edited because I was mistaken*
Phase Royal - Yes, but will need rebiasing, I'm sure.
Overdrive 2 (with Germanium Mod) - Already touched on above
Tremolo - Yes
Envelope Filter (currently with 18V) - Yes
Vibe - No

A good way to determine is to look at the schematic, if there are any 'non-standard' opamps or transistors, check the datasheet for the max supply voltage, and that will give you a good idea of what can be used safely.

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

You can run any pedal at 18v except for the following:

Anything that has a charge pump
Anything that uses the CA3260 MOSFET chip
Anything that uses MN320x series chips (unless it has a separate voltage regulator for the power supply to the MN320x chips).

Also, some effects that have an LFO, like phasers, tremolos, chorus, vibrato, flanger, etc. can safely be run at 18V, however, the LFO might not work correctly.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

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

You can run the compressor at 18v, but you will most likely need to rebias it. Actually, 18v requires a more precise biasing, so if you bias it to 18v once, you should be good to go back and forth between 18v and 9v without needing to rebias.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

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

Yeah, I went back and checked the CA3080 datasheet, must have been morning eyes reading wrong numbers, updated the original post to reflect it.

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Right on. Thank you for the info!