Rocktek - DIR-01 Distortion

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
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tasteless
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Post by tasteless »

Mistake in My last post (bad editing) it should have read "didnt like TOO BIG A VALUE at C1".
Which I eventually doubled to 68n.
Anyway I was telling a friend about this and he gave me a dead board from one , So when I fix ,and re-house it I can A/B any mods I do - Wicked !
You guys looking for more bottom end might like to try raising C3 and C5 to as much as 100n.
And definately go bigger on the electros at C7,C18 and C20.
I've been playing with the clippers today But, can't make up my mind - I think I'll go with 2 series pairs of diodes.
I'm really liking it.

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did concombre
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Post by did concombre »

Thanks a lot JiM for this schematics.
I am planning to convert mine into a hottubes clone (I don't know yet if I keep the fet switching or not).
I have compared the two schematics and I think it's doable. Almost all the resistors and caps have to be changed, sometime a resistor become a cap and vice versa but I can keep a lot of the existing tracks on the pcb. I will do a "hottubes shield" to add the 4019 and the tone stack in the circuitry. If someone is interested I will let you know.
thanks again
did

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Tonetweaker
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Post by Tonetweaker »

There's a guy on eBay selling NOS DIR-01s. He mentions in the listing how "mod-able" they are and even throws in some LEDs. It sounds like he's got a bunch, but is listing them one at a time. I snagged the last one he had up, just for the hell of it.

For any interested...

NEW Old Stock ROCKTEK Distortion Guitar Pedal with LEDS

I'd just wait out the auction. I threw up a bid at the last minute... I don't think anyone else even gave it a second glance.


Cheers...
Steve
In Soviet Russia, dirt box fucks YOU!! ~ Seiche

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Chakaranda
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Post by Chakaranda »

Hey Guys

I know this is an old tread but I just picked up one of these Rocktek Distortions for next to nothing, and I really appreciate that someone took the time to draw a schematic :thumbsup

I love this pedal! it's built like a Tank ! ...A russian pre ww2 tank that is, It'll blow up easily with a firecracker thrown at it ;)

Anyway I think it's a great pedal for modding: Its stock sound is not too bad, the design, layout and PCB is ok quality, so this makes a good starting point for turning this cheap chin plastic pedal into a genuine overdrive/distortion monster :twisted:

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mirosol
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Post by mirosol »

I recently acquired japanese Monkee Music Satan Distortion, which is supposed to be 1:1 with the original DIR-01. As there are/were couple of the values missing from the otherwise awesome DIR-01 schematic, i updated the drawing to match my unit. The date is determined through electrolytic cap date code 8940. I also drew up a stripboard layout for the circuit. Layout is at the time of writing, unverified.

On top of this all, i stumbled on a perfect youtube demo for the original DIR-01:
Attachments
monkee_music_satan_distortion.png
Monkee-Music-Satan-Distortion.png
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/
http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/
"No such thing as innocence" -Iron Chic

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chuckusa
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Post by chuckusa »

cbriere wrote:mmm :scratch:
change clipping diodes for RED LEDS, reduce C20 and change opamp for OPA2134 for real Marshall type dist.
just a suggestion. :thumbsup
Hi I am a noob and I was wondering, is the OPA2134 a drop in duel stage IC chip?

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chuckusa
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Post by chuckusa »

Reason I ask is I am starting to do mods on this exact pedal, I want to do some of the cap changes to find the sound shape I like, and I would also like to change the IC chip. What I mean by "drop in" is can I go out and buy one of them OPA2134 chips and install it into my Rocktek Dir-01 without having to change anything els?

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sixthfloor
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Post by sixthfloor »

According to the datasheets, OPA 2134 and JRC 4558 have the same pinouts. You should have no problem swapping them.

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chuckusa
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Post by chuckusa »

Do you think the opa2134 will change my sound?

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Fender3D
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Post by Fender3D »

never rely on an op-amp for a finger job...

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chuckusa
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Post by chuckusa »

JiM wrote:\ I did some Spice simulations, and eventually replaced the jumper across R26 by a 220k resistor (I shoud have made it a bit smaller)

JiM, you say you put a 220k resistor in place of the jumper on R26. Did doing this reduce the highs and distortion? In doing so, could you now turn down the gain knob all the way down and it still make sound? Or does it loose sound completely with the gain knob to zero? Also if the answer is yes about my first question, what value would you have gone if you decided to change out R26 again? And why?

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sixthfloor
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Post by sixthfloor »

chuckusa wrote:Do you think the opa2134 will change my sound?
Possibly, though it would be subtle. Maybe a bit airier at high gain settings, though you would have to test this to be sure.
chuckusa wrote:
JiM wrote:\ I did some Spice simulations, and eventually replaced the jumper across R26 by a 220k resistor (I shoud have made it a bit smaller)
JiM, you say you put a 220k resistor in place of the jumper on R26. Did doing this reduce the highs and distortion? In doing so, could you now turn down the gain knob all the way down and it still make sound? Or does it loose sound completely with the gain knob to zero? Also if the answer is yes about my first question, what value would you have gone if you decided to change out R26 again? And why?
220k might be a typo, using this value for R26 rather than the 3k3 on the schematic would increase the gain drastically. I think Jim meant 220R ?
Anyway most people seem happy with a jumper. Putting a small resistor (e.g. 100R or 220R) would allow to keep the pedal sounding when gain is at minimum. Using a jumper means no sound when the gain is at minimum.

In a nutshell : higher R26 = more gain, lower R26 = less gain, no R26 = no sound when the gain pot is zero.

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chuckusa
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Post by chuckusa »

sixthfloor wrote:
chuckusa wrote:Do you think the opa2134 will change my sound?
Possibly, though it would be subtle. Maybe a bit airier at high gain settings, though you would have to test this to be sure.
chuckusa wrote:
JiM wrote:\ I did some Spice simulations, and eventually replaced the jumper across R26 by a 220k resistor (I shoud have made it a bit smaller)
JiM, you say you put a 220k resistor in place of the jumper on R26. Did doing this reduce the highs and distortion? In doing so, could you now turn down the gain knob all the way down and it still make sound? Or does it loose sound completely with the gain knob to zero? Also if the answer is yes about my first question, what value would you have gone if you decided to change out R26 again? And why?
220k might be a typo, using this value for R26 rather than the 3k3 on the schematic would increase the gain drastically. I think Jim meant 220R ?
Anyway most people seem happy with a jumper. Putting a small resistor (e.g. 100R or 220R) would allow to keep the pedal sounding when gain is at minimum. Using a jumper means no sound when the gain is at minimum.

In a nutshell : higher R26 = more gain, lower R26 = less gain, no R26 = no sound when the gain pot is zero.
Great!! Thank you so much.

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