Tortenmann TA-100 (Verified!)

[Neil mcNasty]

Saw this one over at Effects Layouts, and decided to make a vero layout for it, since there are so many Germanium lovers like me around here.

For those who compare the layout to the schematic: Note that I changed the switch lug number from 1 to 3, so that it would be logical when using SPDT (on/on) switches (which is what I normally use), so that the boost is on when you flip the switch up.

EDIT: THE LAYOUT HAS BEEN VERIFIED!

I did some small changes for the pots though:
The Gain pot has most of the gain bundled up at the end, so I replaced it with a C50K
The Tone pot had the opposite issue, so I used A25K
And since I was out of B10K, I used A10K which worked perfectly.

For the transistors I used AC128 for Q1, and AC125 for Q2 and Q3 (3x AC125 became a bit trebly for my tatse)

A very nice and sparkly low-gain overdrive!

[dan.schumaker]

Looks awesome, definitely going to try this out.

Any idea on HFE ranges for the AC-128's?  Do you think something like a Tonebender set would work?

[Neil mcNasty]

I have not seen any information regarding HFE.

I normally put them in sockets and judge by my ears, and I just ignore the whole HFE thing.
And HFE is not the most important aspect anyway! The leakage is...
It all comes down the circuit design: either it's picky about the leakage, or it does not matter that much.
So far I have never had an instance where a pedal sounds bad because of wrong HFE values.

I also find measuring transistors so boring and time consuming, that I prefer to just try out random ones, to see if I find a set that sounds good to my ears.
Much quicker and way more fun in my opinion.

I will probably be starting off my build by trying AC125, since I've got loads of them.
So I'm not even paying attention to the specified transistors either, when it comes to Germanium.
I just try a bunch of different ones and see what happens, and then I choose the the ones I liked best.
If it sound different than the original, but still sweet in my ears, then it is great, and I'm a happy geezer

The most important thing is that YOU like the sound of it!

[Neil mcNasty]

This layout has now been built and verified!
Notes about some pot-taper modifications has been added to the original post.

[JabboWookie]

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[induction]

JabboWookie wrote

I've popped 2 470uF capacitors, so I thought I had a bad board. I rebuilt the board and blew another one! What would cause that?

Prior to the capacitor popping, the only pot that worked was the volume pot, and the signal was pretty weak. The gain and treble pots did nothing. Both boards.

Most likely, either the cap was reversed or the voltage rails are reversed.

[JabboWookie]

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[induction]

Have you verified the voltage on rows A and C with a DMM?

[induction]

Was it something I said?

😕

[JabboWookie]

Got it sorted. I was using a new mini 9V DC jack that I've never used before and I had the + and - reversed. Thanks!

[GrooveChampion]

Pictures?

[Getomonk]

Hi. Awesome post😆 I've been looking for this for a long and built it over the weekend. Sounds fantastic, but on my build the boost switch doesn't seem to do anything.

What is it supposed to do?

Getomonk

[Neil mcNasty]

I get a huge gain difference with my switch.
One position makes it a dirty preamp, and the other a screaming overdrive...

[Getomonk]

Yeah, that what I expected from watching video. This is weird I've been through the build and everything seems right, but no boost. Guess it's going to take some poking about.

[Getomonk]

So I decided to rebuild the circuit... And it turned out to be the toggle switch that didn't work 😕

Anyway, works perfectly now. Lovely pedal. Thanks for the layout. 😊

[jaredcohen]

FYI I built this with Russian P416B's from Smallbear bc they were cheap... Sounds great!

[GrooveChampion]

Can someone explain to me how does this pedal and the Fuzz Factory get away with using negative ground and PNP transistors?

[vitt]

Basically a Pnp just needs voltage on emitter and ground on collector (using negative ground power supply).
There's a different interaction between ve, vb, VC.

[zombie_rock123]

Thanks for the layout! Having some difficulty after the usual suspects (comp values, traces knifed), is anyone able to post or email me the schematic? Unfortunately I don't have the posts to view the source and don't just want to spam the forum to get my post count up!

[Brain]

So, Ive built this twice now.  Sounds great for about 3 minutes and then the 16.5ohm resister after the power supply burns toast and Ive got to unplug.  Ive upped a couple of times to a 220ohm now, but it still gets really hot.  Any ideas?