# Wonder Drive



## barmalej

Hi, i soldered the circuit, checked all the components and did not find an error (i hope). But the output signal is completely not distorted. It is simply amplified if i turn the volume knob to maximum, tho other knobs do not change anything serious.
Has anyone already built this scheme? Can someone share the voltages on the amplifier and transistors?
Thanks for any help.
p.s. English is not my mother tongue, please excuse any errors on my part.

IC1:
1: 4,5
2: 4,5
3: 4,5
4: 0
5: 4,5
6: 4,5
7: 4,5
8: 9

Q1
C: 9
B: 4
E: 3,6

Q1
C: 9
B: 4
E: 3,6


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## music6000

Did you assemble the pots in the enclosure & test the circuit to get these results?


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## barmalej

I connected the circuit as in the photo (9v) and measured the values(not in bypass-mode), all potentiometers are approximately in the middle. Led light on.


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## music6000

The reason I ask is that the Tight & Bite pots need dust covers or Insulating so they do not touch the PCB.
Can you test for Continuity between Pot legs and Pot pads.


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## barmalej

The pots are ok(bent to the side), this is not visible in the photo, but they do not touch the board.


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## Robert

One thing to keep in mind, this is basically a Tubescreamer with no clipping diodes.   It's not a high gain pedal on it's own.

Another guy was happier with the sound after replacing C7 (10n) with a 47n cap.


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## barmalej

Robert said:


> One thing to keep in mind, this is basically a Tubescreamer with no clipping diodes.   It's not a high gain pedal on it's own.
> 
> Another guy was happier with the sound after replacing C7 (10n) with a 47n cap.



Maybe, but the screamer is at least overloaded, but there is no overload at all


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## music6000

barmalej said:


> The pots are ok(bent to the side), this is not visible in the photo, but they do not touch the board.


Good, To be sure as this is confusing at times, with this pedal the DIRT (DRIVE) pot is on the top left & VOLUME is on the top right.
It changes the pedal's character dramatically.


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## zgrav

if turning the DIRT pot is not changing the sound you hear, that pot is not connecting to the parts shown in the circuit diagram  (IC1, pin 1 and one side of R19). If those connections are OK, make sure that the other side of R19 is connected to R2 and R15.


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## barmalej

I checked again, everything is in ok, then i replaced the IC- no changes, the "dirt"-pot simply add volume, not the slightest overload .


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## zgrav

I thought you said originally the volume pot worked but the dirt pot did not do anything.  Do both of those pots work to make it louder?  If your dirt pot works, does the "tight" pot make any change in the sound?      Are you sure you have the right value pots for all three places?


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## Robert

I have one of these assembled somewhere around here... I'll hunt it down and see if I can record a clip of how much gain it _should_ have.

There are no clipping diodes and it has a 100K gain pot, it's more of an active EQ than a traditional "overdrive" ...


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## barmalej

zgrav said:


> I thought you said originally the volume pot worked but the dirt pot did not do anything.  Do both of those pots work to make it louder?  If your dirt pot works, does the "tight" pot make any change in the sound?      Are you sure you have the right value pots for all three places?



Sorry, maybe i explained most likely incorrectly: all pots working, but not give the effect that i expected. In the description says, that the effect is similar to savage drive, and this pedal is aggressive overdrive. But "wonder drive" is at the moment, as PedalPCB says, an active EQ, which is most likely what i guess.



Robert said:


> I have one of these assembled somewhere around here... I'll hunt it down and see if I can record a clip of how much gain it _should_ have.
> 
> There are no clipping diodes and it has a 100K gain pot, it's more of an active EQ than a traditional "overdrive" ...



Thank you, please check, maybe there is not enough gain on the IC.


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## Robert

I have an original on the way for comparison.... Don't trash it yet.


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## barmalej

Thanks. So, it works like a booster. And where is better to connect it to the pedalboard? At the end of the chain?


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## music6000

I think what is at play with this pedal maybe dependent on how early your Amp breaks up & How hot your Pickups are.
 I have a customized Tele I modded with S.D Little '59  in the Neck & Custom Shop Little '59 in Bridge position. It is also switchable
 on each Pickup to Single Coil. There are a lot of Pedals that I've built that would be classed as Low Gain.
 They are Low Gain in Single Coil mode but if I flick the switch to Humbucker mode you are talking Medium to Higher Gain without adjusting anything else.
 That's why I always try to find demo's that are using similar Guitar & Amplifier.
 Also a Given , you need to hear the Demo in Pedal Bypassed also!


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## Robert

Here is a list of component value differences compared to the original unit I have here today.  

As mentioned before, this pedal does not create a lot of clipping / distortion on it's own.   It behaves more as an EQ or boost than a typical overdrive. 

The tone you hear in the demos is the product of the pedal pushing an already distorted high gain amp.  






*R9*    10K
*R15*    4K7
*R19*    10K

*C1*    150n
*C7*    220n

*VOLUME*    B100K
*TIGHT*    A50K


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## mnemonic

Robert said:


> Here is a list of component value differences compared to the original unit I have here today.
> 
> As mentioned before, this pedal does not create a lot of clipping / distortion on it's own.   It behaves more as an EQ or boost than a typical overdrive.
> 
> The tone you hear in the demos is the product of the pedal pushing an already distorted high gain amp.
> 
> 
> View attachment 325
> 
> *R9*    10K
> *R15*    4K7
> *R19*    10K
> 
> *C1*    150n
> *C7*    220n
> 
> *VOLUME*    B100K
> *TIGHT*    A50K




Cool, thanks for comparing. 

Do you think those changes will make a significant change in the sound?  I like mine but now I’m wondering if I should build another.


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## Robert

I'll compare the two later this evening.


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## raydomz

I just completed this build and am super happy with it! I will do a full test of it tomorrow but in short, it is everything I'd hoped it would be. It can take a super muddy/bassy high gain tone and add all the tightness and bite you need without reducing too much of the thunder. Great pedal.

To address some of the OP's concern, here's what I've found in my 20 minutes of testing: the "dirt" knob is exactly that. It's not a "gain" knob. It does provide a little saturation to the gain already produced by the amp (I'm playing a Randall Thrasher 50) but the majority of the function of this pedal is coming from the bite and tight controls.


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## barmalej

Hi, i soldered the circuit, checked all the components and did not find an error (i hope). But the output signal is completely not distorted. It is simply amplified if i turn the volume knob to maximum, tho other knobs do not change anything serious.
Has anyone already built this scheme? Can someone share the voltages on the amplifier and transistors?
Thanks for any help.
p.s. English is not my mother tongue, please excuse any errors on my part.

IC1:
1: 4,5
2: 4,5
3: 4,5
4: 0
5: 4,5
6: 4,5
7: 4,5
8: 9

Q1
C: 9
B: 4
E: 3,6

Q1
C: 9
B: 4
E: 3,6


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## barmalej

Yes you are right. This is a signal amplifier, and for testing you will need one real tube amplifier. On other amplifiers it probably will not work. I unfortunately have nothing on the lamps, so my tests do not work correctly ?.


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## zgrav

You are not the first person to finish a working pedal that does not sound the way you expected it to sound. I think it happens to most of us.  Overdrive pedals are the ones that are most tied to what kind of amp you are using.  You can hold on to this pedal and try it with a tube amp when you get a chance and may find out it is exactly what you need for that setup.    Now that NEXT pedal you build might be the one that works with your existing gear.......


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## Robert

raydomz said:


> I just completed this build and am super happy with it! I will do a full test of it tomorrow but in short, it is everything I'd hoped it would be. It can take a super muddy/bassy high gain tone and add all the tightness and bite you need without reducing too much of the thunder. Great pedal.



Is this with the stock values printed on the board, or the newer values posted above?


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## raydomz

Robert said:


> Is this with the stock values printed on the board, or the newer values posted above?


This is with the stock values printed on the board. I didn't see the new ones until after I ordered everything - for my purposes, it's great as-is!
What change could I expect had I built it with the updated components?


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## raydomz

Update: I was able to give this pedal a true test drive last night at my Dad's shop (where volume can be had!) through both my Randall Thrasher 50 and a vintage Laney Supergroup 50w (rare session model). The Randall ran through a Mesa rectifier vertical 2x12 loaded with v30's and the Laney ran through a custom Orange-spec 2x12 loaded with a WGS Reaper and Reaper 55hz. No other pedals were used other than the Wonder Drive.

My first test was through the *clean channel* on the Randall. With channel volume on full and half of the gain (think mild plexi breakup), this thing comes across as a TS from hell. I did not need to turn the dirt up past 1-2 o'clock. It's reaaaaally great. The tight and bite controls are really interesting and will take some fiddling. There's a ton of sounds in this pedal and with the controls being very interactive, it will take a bit of time to find my favorites, but so far they're all my favorites  

Through the *gain channel *of the Randall it is just wicked. The dirt knob provides a little added saturation but to be fair, the Thrasher put outs a ton of gain even on 1/2 like I had it set. I don't know that I would turn the dirt past 1/2 if already going in to a high gain amp - it simply becomes a "signal noise" control (at least with this amp). The tight and bite controls again have a tremendous effect on the character of the tone. I started with a clear, thunderous tone by setting the amp up with the treble at 10 o'clock, bass at 3 o'clock and middle at noon and the Wonder controls at dirt 12 o'clock, volume full, tight 12 o'clock, bite 8 o'clock. I could have left it there and never touched anything again. But alas, there are so many knobs and tones! I did not find a tone I disliked or one that was unusable. Death metal, to black metal, to modern metal, it's all there (and more) without touching the amp.

Through the "*bass" channel* of the Laney SG (I did not test the "treble" channel, it's already obnoxiously bright) I was again blown away. For anyone not familiar, the Supergroup is a true plexi-killer. We started with everything full blast and the bass completely rolled off (a la Iommi and still a very fat tone) and the Wonder with volume on full and all knobs rolled off. THIS was a killer sound and something I was not expecting. To my ears, it sounded like the Wizard (range master copy) through the amp, but with a ton more gain and chunk. And when I say that, I mean to say you have a super group on full volume which is already a bit to handle, but then you turn the Wonder on and it becomes an out-of-control-but-in-the-best-way kind of amp. We had so much fun with this that I never touched the pedal after turning it on. I'm sure there are many more sounds to be had here but I was in love with it at first listen.

What I like best about this pedal in each scenario is that the punch provided by big tubes and power transformers was not lost. The sounds where capable of being very tight and percussive without losing any of that warmth and bass that normally fades away with, say, a tubescreamer. I guess a better way to say it, is that each amp/channel still felt like it had it's unique characteristics, just with a tiny devilish gnome running through the signal chain creating chaos. 

This is not simply a "modern metal only" pedal. Anyone interested in tones on the scale of hard rock to black metal will be satisfied with what's coming out of this pedal. It's awesome. Great work PedalPCB!


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## zgrav

That is a really fun review to read.   I suggest adding that to the Reviews section on the page for this board.


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## rmfroyd

What affect will changing the revised components have on the circuit?  The WonderDrive that I built before the revision is quieter when compared to the Savage drive(The volume at 10 o'clock on the Savage drive is 2 o'clock on the Wonder Drive).  Will the component changes help this?

Thanks


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## AlexSwan

The airiseffects had the  version 3 savage drive as you think in what difference?


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## raydomz

AlexSwan said:


> The airiseffects had the  version 3 savage drive as you think in what difference?



The main difference between version 3 and versions 1 & 2 is that v3 no longer has clipping diodes.


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