# Six string stinger help (tone control)



## AH92 (Mar 7, 2021)

Built a six string singer pedal. I’m however not totally satisfied. Its very dark/muddy even with the filter/tone on max. The filter knob also acts a bit strange. In addition to adding base it also adds a lot of volume when turning it counter clockwise.

Any tips what can be wrong or to brighten it up?


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## tcpoint (Mar 7, 2021)

The tone control is a Big Muff tone control.  You could use the Duncan Tone stack calculator and figure out a mod.


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## AH92 (Mar 8, 2021)

Ok, Will check that out.

Any of you guys that have any experience with this pedal. Is it very dark in general?
I find it unusable with the filter/tone less Than 3o’clock and its still quite dark


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## moonlightpedalbuilds (Mar 8, 2021)

It is a dark sounding pedal. Like superbolt


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## Pedal2222 (Oct 14, 2021)

No, C12 is 22n, not 2n2. The PCB is labled wrong only, see specs..


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## Diynot (Oct 14, 2021)

I built one and hated it. Tried to put a switch in to adjust the scoop of the tone control, but with little effect. From my brief time with the circuit I remember that the gain sort of acts like a guitar volume control in the sense that there was a lot of treble loss below noon on the gain control. Usually the silkscreen values are assumed to be the correct ones.


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## e_man_89 (Jan 15, 2022)

I am having the same issues with an Aion Effects Delta Amp Drive.  It is the same circuit as the Six String Stinger. When I engage the pedal it's as if someone threw a blanket over my amp.  Very little highs and way too much bass.  As you turn the tone knob counterclockwise the bass and low mids are boosted.

I changed the cap to ground in the tone circuit (C12 in the Six String Stinger) from 2n2 to 22nF and it really didn't help at all (might have made it worse).  I'm checking values in the Tone Stack Calculator, but I'm not sure that I can get away with changing just the cap value without changing some of the resistors.

In Tone Stack Calculator, when I plug in a .22nF the eq curve looks like it would be more like what I'm looking for.  With the tone knob @ 12 o'clock it's relatively flat with a treble bump.  When the tone is turned clockwise the treble goes up much more so that with the 2n2 and the bass isn't rolled off at the same time.

I'm going to trying the .22nF value in the pedal tomorrow.  I'll report back.

Is there another component I need to change along with the cap to get more highs out of this circuit?

Thanks for any advice.


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## e_man_89 (Jan 16, 2022)

Just wanted to post a follow up to this.

I remembered that the tone stack on this circuit is basically a Big Muff style tone circuit using a high pass/low pass setup.  I recalled seeing some info on modifying Big Muff tone stacks for different eq curves.

I found some good info here; Coda Effects - Big Muff tone stack and here Metro DC Music.  The pages are primarily about dealing with the midrange of the stack, listing values used in different Big Muff circuits that have mid scooped or mid emphasized sounds.

I used the values for a "flat" mid sound.  I checked them with the Tone Stack Calculator and they show a pretty flat line and the response from the tone control is much more conventional.

R15 - 39k
R16 - 39k
C11 - 10nF
C12 - 10nF

I'm not suggesting that these values are right for everyone, but this pedal is MUCH more usable for me now.  I socketed the four components to be changed and tried 2 different value sets.  

I just wanted to encourage anyone struggling with the tone of this circuit to look into these mods.  It has definitely helped mine.  The best thing about this circuit might be that it uses the BMP tone stack.

 Later...


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## tcpoint (Jan 16, 2022)

I've made lots of variations of this circuit.  Some of the better variations were using the Violet Rams head tonestack, using J113 or MPF102 instead of J201.  Change the source resistors to 1K, if change to these transistors.  Doesn't sound much like the Steel String (which I don't like), but sound pretty good to me.


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## mdc (Jan 19, 2022)

You could also try increasing the value of C8 if you find that rolling the gain down is darkening the tone too much.


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## Grubb (Apr 24, 2022)

e_man_89 said:


> I used the values for a "flat" mid sound.  I checked them with the Tone Stack Calculator and they show a pretty flat line and the response from the tone control is much more conventional.
> 
> R15 - 39k
> R16 - 39k
> ...


Edited because I'm an idiot  😅


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## jeffwhitfield (Apr 25, 2022)

What I’ve learned about this pedal is that it’s really targeted towards players with single coil guitars. Sounds like shit on a guitar with humbuckers. Upside of this pedal is that it can tame the chime of a bright single coils guitar. My Paranormal Cyclone is quite chimy so this pedal does come in handy as a boost and tone mod to knock down the chime. Smooths things out for sure.


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## Grubb (Apr 25, 2022)

jeffwhitfield said:


> What I’ve learned about this pedal is that it’s really targeted towards players with single coil guitars. Sounds like shit on a guitar with humbuckers.


In its native state, yes. It doesn't have to necessarily be this way though, and that's the beauty of tweaking the design to be more versatile or useful. I wonder if Minibooster users have the same experience of the circuit?


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## Grubb (May 13, 2022)

@jeffwhitfield Have you tried swapping C11 and C12 in your Six String Stinger? I recently swapped mine over and it's now a much better pedal, in fact it hasn't left my pedalboard yet. Eventually I might need to decide between it and a Mach 1.


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## jeffwhitfield (May 14, 2022)

Grubb said:


> @jeffwhitfield Have you tried swapping C11 and C12 in your Six String Stinger? I recently swapped mine over and it's now a much better pedal, in fact it hasn't left my pedalboard yet. Eventually I might need to decide between it and a Mach 1.


Honestly, I kinda gave up on it. Just not impressing me that much. I'm still seeking out a solid low gain pedal of this type. Got a few in my queue.


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## Grubb (May 14, 2022)

Fair enough. Definitely a worthwhile exercise if you ever decide to give it a second chance down the track. I'm really glad I modded mine. 

The other low gainer I'm excited about is the Super Stevie, probably quite a blues-specific tone, but it has a really nice cranked Fender sound my ear likes.


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