update on the NOCTURNE..those keeping score

just a blip on the screen about the NOCTURNE pedal I've been
developing. The reverse engineering of the 301 preamp has been
done. The schematic drawn and the basic circuit has been "bread boarded"
so I got to test it out yesterday. The setzer gritsch happens as low 3 oclock on
the normal channels volume(63'blonde) when the pedal is dimed, the BSO sound is nearly there...we're getting closer. Roll back the volume on the gretsch with my master volume kit and the amp cleans up fat and twangy.

next.. the output's EQ circuit!! she's coming along, an OC hotrod paint shop
is going to do the first 5!! I'm excited.

I didn't know you had a pedal in the works...sounds pretty sweet, especially if you can get a 40-50 watt fender amp to give up the goods at 3.

are they going to be in pinstripped boxes?

How does it compare/contrast to a Timmy? Sounds like a sweet pre-amp to an echo box to get a more authentic tube or tape sound.

btw, sorry I haven't got ahold of you yet on Myspace...anytime I would try to get on at home, someone hi jacked my computer...

I'm Incinerator wrote:

I didn't know you had a pedal in the works...sounds pretty sweet, especially if you can get a 40-50 watt fender amp to give up the goods at 3.

are they going to be in pinstripped boxes?

How does it compare/contrast to a Timmy? Sounds like a sweet pre-amp to an echo box to get a more authentic tube or tape sound.

btw, sorry I haven't got ahold of you yet on Myspace...anytime I would try to get on at home, someone hi jacked my computer...

there's ramblings of it in some of the threads... This isnt going to be a drive box, or
boost per say. Its meant to be the final link between a maple box gretsch, a delay and
a non master volume fender amp particularly pre cbs point to point fender amps, to
achieve the masterful tone recipe Chef Setzer cooked up inadvertantly by joining the unholy matrimony of a 59' gretsch, a 60's fender amp, and a 70s spaceecho.

the only thing important about the 301 as it pertains to the gritsch and twang of the bso sound is that strange little mic pre sitting in the big japanese box that everyone thinks holds so much mojo. Its the preamp circuit and I am basing my NOCTURNE on that magic
alone.

This box is going to be probably very user specific in the country and rockabilly genre, but I think will be the solution for finding that elusive thing that setzer gets from his
gretsch guits.

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

just a blip on the screen about the NOCTURNE pedal I've been
developing. The reverse engineering of the 301 preamp has been
done. The schematic drawn and the basic circuit has been "bread boarded"
so I got to test it out yesterday. The setzer gritsch happens as low 3 oclock on
the normal channels volume(63'blonde) when the pedal is dimed, the BSO sound is nearly there...we're getting closer. Roll back the volume on the gretsch with my master volume kit and the amp cleans up fat and twangy.

next.. the output's EQ circuit!! she's coming along, an OC hotrod paint shop
is going to do the first 5!! I'm excited.

Thanks for the update TV

It was only earlier today I thought about posting about progress on the Nocturne

Damn this is so cool I cant wait


Any chance of an few photos of the guts of the 301 (not that I'd know what I was looking at - its just that I have never seen inside one)

Keep the updates coming

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

there's ramblings of it in some of the threads... This isnt going to be a drive box, or
boost per say. Its meant to be the final link between a maple box gretsch, a delay and
a non master volume fender amp particularly pre cbs point to point fender amps, to
achieve the masterful tone recipe Chef Setzer cooked up inadvertantly by joining the unholy matrimony of a 59' gretsch, a 60's fender amp, and a 70s spaceecho.

the only thing important about the 301 as it pertains to the gritsch and twang of the bso sound is that strange little mic pre sitting in the big japanese box that everyone thinks holds so much mojo. Its the preamp circuit and I am basing my NOCTURNE on that magic
alone.

This box is going to be probably very user specific in the country and rockabilly genre, but I think will be the solution for finding that elusive thing that setzer gets from his
gretsch guits.

Again, sounds pretty sweet. I still need the two main parts of that link...a full maple gretsch hollow body and a mid 60's fender amp (have my eye on a 63 6G6-B and cab on eBay at the moment). I can't deny the Spectra Sonic. I'd love to try it through a 6L6 powered amp soon (too bad I sold my twin RI before I got the SS). I'm pretty certain I will have a 6G6-B by years end.

Don't have the rock-a-billy chops down quite yet, can't get used to some of those jazz inspired voicings...country chops are fun though, nothing like trying to get a standard tele or the spectra sonic to emulate the sound of a steel guitar.

Good luck with the pedal, and definitely keep the updates coming

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

This box is going to be probably very user specific in the country and rockabilly genre, but I think will be the solution for finding that elusive thing that setzer gets from his
gretsch guits.

Nah, you'd be surprised how well a Gretsch, TIM and Bassman (Tophat) sound on a Finger Eleven song. I plan in it being my new boost pedal. My Widetread ($25 VERY well spent) is great, but I have a feeling the Nocturne will be better.

My pedal board power supply died at the last gig and I only had enough cords to hook up a tuner and the TIM. Scrounged up a 9V for my delay (rockabilly set coming up). Discovered the boost on the TIM and the drive knob in back. My rig sounded like balls. Blown away. That's my new setup. All the rest of the crap pedals were mucking up the sound and are gone. 3 pedals and we cover everything from Cash to Seether. Chorus? nah. Metal distortion? Nah. The Gretsch is all I use now too. Screw Gibson, Fender and the rest. Give me my Gretsch. It's survived numerous drops and abuse and only sounds better for it. YEEEEEEHAAAAAAWWWWWWW!

I've noticed that the sound the Gretsch makes has a wonderful way of fitting perfectly into whatever style song we're playing without changing any settings. Nice

BTW, I went an entire gig and practice having forgotten to tighten the Sperzel lock on my D string. Stayed in tune and in place. Unbelievable!

Don't worry, I saved room for my upcoming Nocturne pedal (mostly empty pedal boards are wonderful for cord storage, btw). Personally, I'd call it the Ignition! pedal, but I don't think I get a vote, LOL. Bring on #2 Tonemaster!

Miss me?
N

Woohoo! Sounds great TV! Can't wait! If you haven't already, definitely put me down for one!

I WANT I WANT I WANT^^
Really sounds great TV!
So, have you done any calculations on how much the nocturne will cost?





Chris

Oh yes, keepin score.

Well, it looks like we are going to have to pull the RE-301 fully apart again because as cool as its (this project box) sounding, I need to figure out a better power supply for more headroom. May pull a voltage doubler circuit that turns 9volts dc into 18volts dc internal like fulltone has been doing.

Plus the 301 used the Japanese JRC4558 op-amp and while thats affordable, I like the JRC4559...so. Looks like we'll put in a chip
socket so you can swap in or out your favorite opamp.
Just understand this is NOT an overdrive or booster pedal like sooooo
many out there.
I'm trying to really get ahold of the 301's preamp and its way of EQ'ing
the signal through that entire circus box (freakin 301 has a chorus, delay, and reverb in it, all with their own circuits).
I'm hoping to keep the price around $200 for the first run of 30,I want to have the hotrod love attached.. looks like they might get pinstriping.
I dont know, I'm living off a freaking credit card with this project and it
keeps getting more and more expensive to R&D.

I am meeting with the tech who's engineering the circuit next week and trying again to shore things up, especially since we are toying with the idea of a low end resonance control that would help those without
a big 212 closeback cab or visa versa, those with a thin sounding plank guitar like a strat or tele.. either way it ends up being a nice little tone injection that gets you that "thing" youre missing from "that" setzer sound you havent been getting.

Still shooting for spring delivery!

ps. yes Nikko we miss you

Awwww. You like me. You really, really like me.

Will you be able to ship to the UK TV? If I pay the carriage obviously.

Riffs_yeah! wrote:

Will you be able to ship to the UK TV? If I pay the carriage obviously.

....and to Norway...?

We'll make sure it gets delivered transcontinental

gretschoholic wrote:

....and to Norway...?

+ 1

sounds like a tone enhancer from hell...I'd be interested in one.

oh my gosh im getting so stoked on this thing TV. ill definately take one of those. ive been looking for a little boost in my sound

mjcodina wrote:

oh my gosh im getting so stoked on this thing TV. ill definately take one of those. ive been looking for a little boost in my sound

cool man..just remember that the word "boost" aint in the vocab with
this pedal. I know, its semantics but the world doesnt need another
boost pedal... although the rockabilly and country world DOES need
a vintage guitar preamp in a box between their guitar and amp!
We use mic pre's to get our sound from the mic to the P.A. and we use
mic pre's to let the mic hear our guitar rigs for the recording.. so we
CAN use a pre amp to make our amps hear our guitar's wood,steel and
pkups better... Setzer found it with a behemoth box atop his amp, I'm gonna try to put it on the floor at our feet!

Oh yeah i knew that i dont know jack about the electronics part of guitars and amps jsut play them. the majority of what i know comes from reading you guys talk about it. haha. but i cant wait to hear and see this thing (with how you describe it lookin).

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

mjcodina wrote:

oh my gosh im getting so stoked on this thing TV. ill definately take one of those. ive been looking for a little boost in my sound

cool man..just remember that the word "boost" aint in the vocab with
this pedal. I know, its semantics but the world doesnt need another
boost pedal... although the rockabilly and country world DOES need
a vintage guitar preamp in a box between their guitar and amp!
We use mic pre's to get our sound from the mic to the P.A. and we use
mic pre's to let the mic hear our guitar rigs for the recording.. so we
CAN use a pre amp to make our amps hear our guitar's wood,steel and
pkups better... Setzer found it with a behemoth box atop his amp, I'm gonna try to put it on the floor at our feet!

How is the progress?? Any pictures yet?

Is it in one of the boxes seen on 2.26 in this clip??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CRfnT45Ufw&feature=related

nietsk wrote:

How is the progress?? Any pictures yet?

Is it in one of the boxes seen on 2.26 in this clip??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CRfnT45Ufw&feature=related

No pictures yet. I will most likely have a video demonstrating it with
a few amps.

re cats:
setzer's video show's him using both his reverb tank and re301, but you cant tell if he's got both on or just the space echo.
The fender reverb unit is all tube and gives a bit of warm punch to your front end but its really insignificant to what the RE-301 brings to the table regarding pre-amp gain.

Just found this over at GDP, thought it was relevant to the Nocturne discussion:

BillyZoom:
Brian has 60' cords. It doesn't roll off treble because he plugs into a Space Echo that has a 20K input impedance. Normally, you can't use a 60' cord or plug a guitar straight into a Space Echo, but the combination works because the two factors cancel each other out. Using the Space Echo to transform inpedances also makes the FilterTrons sound better through the Bassman than they should. Space echos normally suck with guitar, which is why people do the FET input mod on them.

ruger9 wrote:

Just found this over at GDP, thought it was relevant to the Nocturne discussion:

BillyZoom:
Brian has 60' cords. It doesn't roll off treble because he plugs into a Space Echo that has a 20K input impedance. Normally, you can't use a 60' cord or plug a guitar straight into a Space Echo, but the combination works because the two factors cancel each other out. Using the Space Echo to transform inpedances also makes the FilterTrons sound better through the Bassman than they should. Space echos normally suck with guitar, which is why people do the FET input mod on them.

zooms story changes last time the cord was 50ft. gotta love it!

nocturn will have input imp. selector!

btw.. setzer doesnt record with a 50ft(60ftnow) cable let alone a space echo (yes for dirty boogie, echoplex on most others) hmmm...
damn those magic fingers, ribbon mics, and recording console mojo!
Hope this pedal gets us there!

With your knowledge on these things, im confident that it will be a blast.

Can't wait to hear it!

50' to 60' doesn't matter. They just have to be red.

N