# L5 Preamp



## JamieJ (Feb 16, 2022)

I haven't had much time for building recently so this one has taken me a few months to get done. I was meticulous about measuring every part when I was populating this board as I really didn't want to have to troubleshoot this one. Luckily it worked first time. It sounds awesome. I am using it as the last drive in my chain at the moment and it has really brought my amp to life with a sound that I prefer. I also have a power amp project waiting to go which this will be the preamp for. Stay tuned. Thanks to @jeffwhitfield for help with the UV print!










Here’s a quick and dirty sample with some random noodling. I am loving channel 1. It feels really touch sensitive. Channel 2 has plenty of gain and the whole unit has loads of headroom and can put out crazy volume. 
I’m playing a strat - looper - L5 - HOF into a 7w bass breaker.


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## BuddytheReow (Feb 16, 2022)

Wow! With a build like that I would have triple checked every component value and solder joint as I went. Fantastic job!


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## fig (Feb 16, 2022)

Awesome job Jamie. Really, really nice!


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## cooder (Feb 16, 2022)

Superb all around, squeaky clean!


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## jeffwhitfield (Feb 16, 2022)

Looks great man! Bet it sounds good too!  No problem on the help. Anytime!


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## Paradox916 (Feb 16, 2022)

Outstanding man! That thing looks like fun.


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## giovanni (Feb 16, 2022)

That looks awesome!


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## SYLV9ST9R (Feb 16, 2022)

Awesome job Jamie!!


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## scheffehcs (Feb 16, 2022)

Awesome, definitely going to build this in the future. Would love to hear a sample!


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## ADAOCE (Feb 16, 2022)

Wow Jamie that is a huge build! Nice job man.


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## JamieJ (Feb 16, 2022)

Thanks all. 

@scheffehcs - I’ve added a quick demo video.


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## Barry (Feb 16, 2022)

Nice! Sounds great too!


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## giovanni (Feb 16, 2022)

JamieJ said:


> Thanks all.
> 
> @scheffehcs - I’ve added a quick demo video.


Nice! What were those weird sounds you can hear at some point in the demo?


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## JamieJ (Feb 17, 2022)

giovanni said:


> Nice! What were those weird sounds you can hear at some point in the demo?


That’s the compressor part the circuit hitting its limit. The limiter knob sets the needs to be used to try and find the right threshold.


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## vipor3d (Feb 18, 2022)

JamieJ said:


> That’s the compressor part the circuit hitting its limit. The limiter knob sets the needs to be used to try and find the right threshold.


Are you sure that's supposed to happen? I have an actual L5 as well as one of these pedals that was built by Aion Electronics and neither have that popping sound in the compressor regardless of where it is set


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## JamieJ (Feb 19, 2022)

vipor3d said:


> Are you sure that's supposed to happen? I have an actual L5 as well as one of these pedals that was built by Aion Electronics and neither have that popping sound in the compressor regardless of where it is set


I think I may need to mess about with the distortion and compressor trimmers a bit more  but I’m not too concerned as it sounds awesome.


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## Grubb (Feb 19, 2022)

This is excellent all-round Jamie. Looks and sounds great.


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## Gordo (Feb 19, 2022)

Jamie I had similar noises on both my builds.  It ended up being a power supply issue.  I've been using a Yamaha 12vac supply and it straightened it out.  I'll dig thru my notes to see why that might be.

Both channels are capable of more drive and my builds are really close to to my real Lab Series L5.  To be honest though, I really like the clean sounds of yours and one of the calling cards of the real amp are the stellar cleans and edge of breakup/compressed sounds.


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## Paradox916 (Feb 19, 2022)

that’s a pretty good sounding pre. An excellent candidate for an desktop amp


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## JamieJ (Feb 19, 2022)

Gordo said:


> Jamie I had similar noises on both my builds.  It ended up being a power supply issue.  I've been using a Yamaha 12vac supply and it straightened it out.  I'll dig thru my notes to see why that might be.
> 
> Both channels are capable of more drive and my builds are really close to to my real Lab Series L5.  To be honest though, I really like the clean sounds of yours and one of the calling cards of the real amp are the stellar cleans and edge of breakup/compressed sounds.


Thanks @Gordo 
I will have a look into that power supply.


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