Kurt's Quad Boost - Who's interested?
Mar 4, 2021 19:41:19 GMT
admin, bearheadwood, and 3 more like this
Post by keurslagerkurt on Mar 4, 2021 19:41:19 GMT
Hey all!
Lately I've often been using an Electroharmonix LPB-1 guitar pedal clone. It's one of the earliest boost circuits that is dead simple but very effective. I love the sound of it on synth notes, it gives some fatness and some non-linearities that really thicken the tone. That's why I decided to have a go at making a proper AE Modular adaption! So I present to you... A first sound demo of the prototype:
In both videos I use it on the unfiltered triangle output (the lowest output in volume) of the VCO module. In the first video I control it with a VCA, in the second, its just a plain sweep. But a sweep of what, I hear you ask correctly, as there are no filters in this patch. Well: in this simple boost circuit, the amount of gain is fixed. However, as you control the input volume, eg with a simple attenuator or VCA, the tone of the boost drastically changes, giving you a quite wide range of sounds and flexibility considering the rather crude circuit. You could call it an abuse of simple electronics
Oh, and of course, the signal gets boosted to, so those triangle waves can happily sit next to your droning squares.
Right now, I have a first prototype PCB on the way, with 4 of these circuits in 1U space, making it officially Kurt's Quad Boost.
(and making it a perfect pair for the qVCA ) I made a PCB mainly because I really love the sound of this circuit, and I want to have a compact version in my own rack. However, if there is interest in this circuit, I would love to make it available as a DIY kit, including pcb, components & frontpanel. 
All components are through-hole, meaning it will be a straightforward build.
Let me know what you think!
Some more sound demos:
Different waveforms:
soundcloud.com/zzzvm/sweeps/s-A1nG74ULGgr
Different transistors:
soundcloud.com/zzzvm/kurts-quad-booster-short-demo-of-three-transistors/s-e6UXJTIgb6g
For the breadboard DIY-ers: I will post my full schematic & thought process behind the design on the DIY board soon! It is really an easy, all standard parts circuit if you want to try it out.
Lately I've often been using an Electroharmonix LPB-1 guitar pedal clone. It's one of the earliest boost circuits that is dead simple but very effective. I love the sound of it on synth notes, it gives some fatness and some non-linearities that really thicken the tone. That's why I decided to have a go at making a proper AE Modular adaption! So I present to you... A first sound demo of the prototype:
http://instagr.am/p/CMAjs2JhtLq
In both videos I use it on the unfiltered triangle output (the lowest output in volume) of the VCO module. In the first video I control it with a VCA, in the second, its just a plain sweep. But a sweep of what, I hear you ask correctly, as there are no filters in this patch. Well: in this simple boost circuit, the amount of gain is fixed. However, as you control the input volume, eg with a simple attenuator or VCA, the tone of the boost drastically changes, giving you a quite wide range of sounds and flexibility considering the rather crude circuit. You could call it an abuse of simple electronics
Oh, and of course, the signal gets boosted to, so those triangle waves can happily sit next to your droning squares.Right now, I have a first prototype PCB on the way, with 4 of these circuits in 1U space, making it officially Kurt's Quad Boost.
(and making it a perfect pair for the qVCA ) I made a PCB mainly because I really love the sound of this circuit, and I want to have a compact version in my own rack. However, if there is interest in this circuit, I would love to make it available as a DIY kit, including pcb, components & frontpanel. 
All components are through-hole, meaning it will be a straightforward build.Let me know what you think!
Some more sound demos:
Different waveforms:
soundcloud.com/zzzvm/sweeps/s-A1nG74ULGgr
Different transistors:
soundcloud.com/zzzvm/kurts-quad-booster-short-demo-of-three-transistors/s-e6UXJTIgb6g
For the breadboard DIY-ers: I will post my full schematic & thought process behind the design on the DIY board soon! It is really an easy, all standard parts circuit if you want to try it out.
