Rockett 45 Caliber

[HamishR]

By request (!) here is a layout for the Rockett 45 Caliber.  It's based on IVIark's Animal layout because the circuits are so similar.  Other circuits in this family are the Blue Note and the Majestic.  They are all great pedals but my favourite is the simplest, the Caliber 45:



The stock pedal uses a 10K for treble but I like a C25K better.  I also like a 100uF filter from pin 8 of the chip because it gives a little more low end thump.  I also like a 100pF treble bleed cap over the 220pF on the input.  Subtle changes but I like them.

[HamishR]

BTW this is definitely verified - I've built this  a few times now.

[Blackboarcult]

AAAAAAND... Done!!

Thanks a million, mate!
It does sound way more open than the Jubilee indeed. Less gain, maybe, but nothing a good overdrive can't remedy ;-)
Definitely gonna box it soon.

I tried several ICs and ended up with the 1458, it's a little bit tamer than the 4558 but I find the mid response to be more amp-like than with the latter.
I tested it with a SS mini-amp I got off ebay a couple weeks ago, and the 2x12 V30's from my Peavey combo. Although it sounds deliciously loud, I definitely find there's something missing between the Rockett and the amp.
For this purpose I was thinking of building something in the ballpark of a bluesbreaker, or maybe the Jetter GS Black, as well as a Tonemender. Any thoughts on this are welcome





Again, thanks a lot, you made my weekend!!!

Cheers

/ZVDW

[HamishR]

Bloody hell - you don't mess around!  Haha!  The obvious way to increase gain is to use a higher value gain pot - you could even try 1M.  But I like it for the low-gain tones.  With a Gibson it can get those wonderfully brutal uncompressed sounds of Free or early ACDC.

To goose it I dunno - I really like the DAM Red Rooster I guess.  FWIW I have tried a few chips and don't hear a huge difference.  The 4558 is fine, and I often use a TL072.

I love how simple yet extremely effective this circuit is.  Amazing.  It makes me laugh when I look at the Friedman BE-OD - ten times the electronics and not as blunt an object as this.  The BE-OD is a great OD but I still like this better.

[Blackboarcult]

It's funny, for this one I just recycled some caps from a failed BE-OD board I did some months ago (the Effectslayouts site one). Could not get the damn thing to work, triple checked everything and ended up burning the copper traces trying to reflow all solderings. That's the way of the noob, I guess, hahaha

And yes, the difference between ICs is minimal, and had I tested it with a real cranked tube amp I probably wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. But with a mercilessly clean SS, I heard some variation on it. Or it could also be self-suggestion...

As for the sumthin-missin thing, I meant something inbetween the preamp and the poweramp, to make it sound a little more like a real tube amp. I remember reading on some forum a guy who got this by stacking a TS followed by a compressor followed by a Bluesbreaker, into a SS amp, to get a tubey, cranked stack sound. But it seems an awful lot of work for uncertain results...
I just checked the red rooster layout (you do like simple circuits indeed, haha!) I'll try it as soon as the damn spanish post delivers the MP38s I ordered a bloody month ago

Thanks for the gain pot tip, I have some ready-wired 500k pots I'll be able to swap quickly and test, I think. I'm really liking the sound of it as is, but a little more gain can't hurt :)
BTW, I just wired a Cornish buffer between the Rockett and the mini-amp... And again it livens up the thing. I mean, what can't this buffer do? I'm really thinking of putting this gadget everywhere.

Cheers!

[Rafikian]

Great job !
Would mind sharing the schematic
Thanks in advance !

[spren27]

I traced the layout. I'll post a schematic when I get the chance. Spoiler alert. It looks a lot like a Timmy.

[HamishR]

Oh there are a heap of circuits similar to this - I was just comparing this one to a Clark Gainster and it's not so different.  I don't think the Rocket pedals are any closer to the Timmy than a thousand others!  It's a very basic circuit but it's what you do with it that makes the difference, and this one has a great sound.

It's not so far away from being a simplified Wampler Euphoria either.  The Earthquaker Devices Westwood looks like this but with added active tone controls.  I still prefer the 45.

[spren27]

Here's the schamatic based on the vero layout. Let me know if anyone spots any errors.

In the layout the gain and bass knobs don't have the extra lug connected. But I tied them to the wiper since it's standard practice in case the wiper stops working.

[Rafikian]

Thank you so much !

[Snare227]

I built one of these and love the sound of it.  I did notice that when I engaged the pedal there was a bit of an exaggerated pop.  I built a total of three and all of them have the similar problem.  Power supply and all other variables are good with other pedals.  There is a pulldown resistor on the input, so I would think that would take care of most of the problem.  It isn't out of this world loud, but louder than any of my other builds. I wondered if you noticed this with yours as well?

[HamishR]

I haven't noticed a pop on any of mine.  I'm sure there is some noise but it's never been an issue for me.

[HamishR]

I built this today - it's the 45 Calibre with the snarl switch from the Animal.  Why not?  What I would really love is instead of a snarl switch it was a "boosting mids and lows a bit" switch.  Any ideas??

[velouriafx]

I built the version with the Snarl switch and I'm also having pop issues. I put a 100k resistor in the output to the ground, but there was no change.

[GrooveChampion]

Oh, so the snarl isnt a regular boost switch? Its a slight EQ change?

[HamishR]

It's what they put on the original Animal pedal.  I thought it could be interesting to try the same exact snarl switch on the 45 as the pedals are so close.  I still think it's remarkable that the Animal and 45 are almost identical but sound so different.

But I prefer either without the snarl.  Someone might like it though!

[GrooveChampion]

Interesting, I guess that they use slightly different values and different diodes?

[traktop]

I prefer the snarl switch on the Rockett blue note, (exactly the same layout as the animal with a 50k gain pot and different switch network)

[HamishR]

Funny you should mention that - I thought about it last night and think it merits further investigation.  Thanks for reminding me!

[GrooveChampion]

OK, if you dont mind another question, is this a Screamer variant? Or a Bluesbreaker?