DOD FX32 Meatbox

[Alex]

You should play it along an original video to compare it (more or less).
Have you socketed Q1 (on emilpaulsrud's schematic)?
Try removing it and see if the Meat pot improves.

[Sphere80]

Removing Q1 does allow some signal in now, w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶t̶ ̶p̶o̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶f̶t̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶k̶.̶ ̶I̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶b̶u̶i̶l̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶J̶2̶0̶1̶ ̶b̶u̶f̶f̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶ *updated*

Clip of guitar>meatbox>FUZZ>direct.  First is the bypassed signal, then meatbox with meat pot at minimum, then noon, and finally max.  

https://soundcloud.com/user-562468024/alexsez-meatbox-2017-03-25-01a

Compared to emilpaulsrud's rev2.5 schematic, I removed Q1 (also taking R8, R9 out of the signal) and his C5, placing C7 back in. I sent wires off to a breadboard with a J201 (input to GATE, 9v to DRAIN, SOURCE both to ground via a 10k and to Meat#1. Is that right?)

When I play through a spectrum EQ plugin and pluck a note, I do get a louder peak an octave lower when I turn  "Meat" all the way to the right.

[Sphere80]

No more Meatboxes?  

https://www.facebook.com/digitech/videos/1594749400550266/
"Last few hundred have shipped"

According to this older interview there was a limited amount of M51134's and they'll have to redesign it around a different IC for the next version.

19 minutes in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApIUcoehEr8

[Hozy31]

Hey Sphere, would you now say this is verified and is the vero updated? Really want to build this but was waiting for the signal.

[Sphere80]

I can't  get to it for a few days, but Alex's layout is fantastic and  and emilpaulsrud's schems are appreciated.   I still have stuff hacked and off board.  I'll get back to testing and give suggestions on the layout.   In the meantime, look at both  the schem here and the one linked on the original  post.   The good ole Boss flip flip switching may have tripped us up a little , and hopefully someone who knows more can clean that part up.

I was able to get  a boost an octave low and the eq knobs work so things are looking good.

[Alex]

This is the latest one so far:

[Sphere80]

Thanks Alex, you managed to make it a little smaller!  The 100k going to Meat#1 needs to go to Level#1 (ground, and that's the closest place).  

[Alex]

Not again!
I've fixed it.

[Sphere80]

I built Alex's March 29th layout.



Here's a clip of a B-tuned guitar direct and 4 passes of the same riff:
https://soundcloud.com/user-562468024/alexsez-meatbox-clone-build2-2017-04-04-01a
1-bypass
2-meat and eq maxed
3-meat at noon (and lowered volume because of the EQ boost)
4-meat at noon with different EQ settings

There are  three 1.5uf's but I only combined  1uf and 0.47uf monolithics for the one in the "rump" section.  The other two I left as 1uf electros, as that's all I have and wasn't sure if it was important they be directional in this case.

I'd like input from anyone who played an original.  To get a sound like the bypass, I have to set meat at minimum, EQ's at noon, and crank the volume to max.

[Hozy31]

Hey Sphere, Build looks great but can't seem to access the souncloud clip.

[Hozy31]

Ended up building version 2 today. I tried it on bass and guitar. Sounds really good and reasonably close to the YT videos as far as i can tell.

[Hozy31]

Sphere, definitely try the M51134 octaver if you like the meatbox i think you'll like it. In my opinion its better than the meatbox. Chain them together and heavy octave doom .

[Sphere80]

I plan on it. I have a second 51134 on the way.  It seems to be basically the octave section of the meatbox minus the eq.  How smooth is the  octave mix for you? any volume issues?  

The meatbox tracks pretty well, doesn't it?    

[Hozy31]

Yes, very similar to the meatbox but the octave has definitely got a bit more balls to it. The volume does seem a bit low on the meatbox, i presume a simple resistor change might help that but which one?
Seemingly the meatbox reissue tracks slightly better than the original. Wonder what the differences are?

[Alex]

There's a schematic for the reissue on FSB but a lot of caps values are missing.

[Sphere80]

I tested it with my 5-string bass through good headphones and it seems to work as it should. I wish the octave side had more volume before the mix pot. That may be a worthwhile mod to try out.

Thank you, Alex, for your layout. This has been on many people's wish list for years. I don't want to turn it off - my bass sounds massive!

[Emil]

Nice!

What were the final changes to the schematic compared to the latest (rev. 2.5) one I posted? Just thought I'd draw up the final working schematic for reference.

[Alex]

Glad it works! If you compare the Meatbox (emilpaulsrud's second schematic) to the other m51134 schematic C17 is a 15nF cap and C19 is a 10p cap. May change something. For the volume issue, maybe adding a little boost with trimmer before Meat 3?

[Hozy31]

I presumed you meant changing the 47nf and the 470p next to each other top right of the M51134 chip. I changed them to 15nf and 10p and it increased the fuzz a bit and made it sound slightly better. Didn't increase volume any.

[BetterOffShred]

Are you guys getting the Hong Kong chips for like 11$?  I want to build one of these.