Hello .
i use below circuit with a 3DPT switch for switching between activating circuit and a bypass mode.
because of the levels of amplification in the circuit, my levels of output (while active & by pass) differ a lot. whats the best way to normalize this? i thought maybe putting a pot in the output would be a good idea but i dont know how to calculate the amount.
any suggestions are appreciated.
i use below circuit with a 3DPT switch for switching between activating circuit and a bypass mode.
because of the levels of amplification in the circuit, my levels of output (while active & by pass) differ a lot. whats the best way to normalize this? i thought maybe putting a pot in the output would be a good idea but i dont know how to calculate the amount.
any suggestions are appreciated.
Change C8 to a 10uF bipolar. Add a 10k volume control in parallel with R14, taking as the output the signal from the pot's wiper. Adjust the 10k pot until the output and the bypass levels sound similar. This will keep all that nice distortion the same as well.
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Probably so, if the 10uF capacitor and 10k volume control are after the entire circuit.
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Every guitar pedal I've ever owned has had an output level control. I've never even seen a pedal without one!
The reason is to prevent exactly the problem you encountered. You use the "Level" or "Output Level" knob to set the pedal to unity gain - now the sound is equally loud whether you bypass the pedal or not.
(The exception is when you actually want a signal boost from the pedal, of course. Maybe for switching from rhythm to lead, for instance.)
-Gnobuddy
yes , i've made other pedals with that volume control you mentioned, but in most of distortion/overdrive pedals my volume pots are so sensitive, i mean from 1-10 levels i can only use 2 at most.
is this common?
in other pedals i've bought , when pedal is activated volume does not differ a lot, but the tone and shape of the sound will.. and it looks a little bit more natural
Just double checking: are you using a log or a linear pot? You should be using a log pot. (A linear pot will be very "twitchy", very sensitive as you said.)
If even a log pot is too sensitive, you can add a fixed resistor in series with the pot, between op-amp and pot, to reduce the signal across the pot. This will make the pot less "twitchy".
The exact value of series resistor you need will depend on your circuit, but as a starting point, I would try a fixed resistor of about three times the value of the pot itself. From there, increase or decrease the resistor if necessary, until your output level behaves the way you want.
So if you have a 10k log output level pot, and it's still too twitchy, try using a 33k resistor in series with the pot. If it's still much too twitchy, triple that again, and try 100k in its place.
On the other hand, if adding the 33k resistor makes the pot too insensitive, you can, of course, reduce it: try 22k, or 10k, instead.
Hope that helps!
-Gnobuddy
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