MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe Opamp Swap

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artkingjw
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Post by artkingjw »

hello,

I am very very much a beginner in the world of pedal electronics so please forgive me if I'm wasting people time and what-not, but I've done a search and it doesn't look like anything like this is up here so... here goes..

I'm about to acquire a Blue Boy Deluxe, and plan on swapping out the op amp. The stock is the JRC4558 which is typically described as warm - that's nice, but I'd like something a bit different. I already have my "warm" overdrive, and I'm after a different flavor of TS type overdrive. I've heard the TL072, Burr Brown OPA2134(i think), NE5532 yield nice results. I also understand different opamps have different amounts of compression and frequency spread.

I'd like something that would sound more open, less compressed, less emphasis on mids (ie. not as warm?) but at the same time NOT become shrill or fizzy. This would probably require a chip that has less compression, and a wider frequency spread.

If its relevant, I might run this pedal at 12 or 18v as well, but 99% of the time it'll be at 9v DC

Any thoughts and suggestions would be great, I would probably be buying 2 or 3 of these things to play around.

thanks!

ps. if someone managed to find/create some sort of table comparing the characteristics of these types of opamps that would be super! :D

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jwpartain1
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Post by jwpartain1 »

I'm afraid you won't find much help with an endeavor such as this. Most forum-ites here, myself included would tell you swapping op amps is not the way to go to change sound characteristics. There is not much to discuss beyond signal-to-noise, bandwidth (not really, negligible with audible frequencies), and acceptable power supply with regards to using op amps in audio amplifier configs. Maybe someone will disagree? :)

Get the pedal, play it, then perhaps look into modding it. Or build a Timmy or a tube-screamer and experiment with different tone-shaping circuits! It would save you $100.

EDIT: Upon re-reading your post, your sought after sound may be found in the Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop, which you can buy or build from schematics here. It is great, flat, and open.

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artkingjw
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Post by artkingjw »

jwpartain1 wrote:I'm afraid you won't find much help with an endeavor such as this. Most forum-ites here, myself included would tell you swapping op amps is not the way to go to change sound characteristics. There is not much to discuss beyond signal-to-noise, bandwidth (not really, negligible with audible frequencies), and acceptable power supply with regards to using op amps in audio amplifier configs. Maybe someone will disagree? :)

Get the pedal, play it, then perhaps look into modding it. Or build a Timmy or a tube-screamer and experiment with different tone-shaping circuits! It would save you $100.

EDIT: Upon re-reading your post, your sought after sound may be found in the Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop, which you can buy or build from schematics here. It is great, flat, and open.
cool, thanks for your input!

maybe I should have better described what I wanted - I am mostly (80-90%) happy with the EXISTING sound of the Blue Boy Deluxe and because of the extra knobs I find it very very very usable - I was just seeing if I could coax something a little different out of the pedal than the stock chip provides. I still want that overall BBD sound, but something a little different - the characteristics of which I have described in my first post. Yes I do realize that you could just turn those knobs to get that sort of sound, but when I did it, it wasn't quite 'there' for me you know what i mean?

does that clear things up?

so to respond to your suggestions - the barbershop and timmy will be too much on the transparent side, and my skills are no where near whats required to let me play around with building my own TS (not to mention my lack of time) - I'll get to it eventually tho

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