Pete Cornish - NG-2

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pervyinthepark
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Post by pervyinthepark »

Probably is, but it's hard to know what exactly we're looking at, let alone exact modifications made, without delving further. I vote we do it!
We have a pledge of $100, earlier in the thread there was at least $20 but that was years ago so lets forget it, and also Ivlark and the bois at tagboardeffects said they're willing to do degooping work and etc.
I will be making EagleCAD PCB designs and will give out ZIPs of the CAD files. My design is going to be board-mount potentiometers and wired switches and jacks, single PCB.
I would also donate some amount of money but am financially a little tied up at the moment so I'm holding my statement of fiscal contribution back until I know confidentially how much I can put forth.

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FeVeR2112
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Post by FeVeR2112 »

I just ordered the "Nugget Fuzz" board from Robert at Pedalpcb.com. It is based on the NG-2. No schematic up yet but...

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/nugget/

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palelight
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Post by palelight »

FeVeR2112 wrote:I just ordered the "Nugget Fuzz" board from Robert at Pedalpcb.com. It is based on the NG-2. No schematic up yet but...

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/nugget/
Thanks for the heads up. Just snagged one, worth a shot anyway. I'd figured, given some of the ungooped gutshots posted earlier, that there'd be some germanium transistors in the final (speculated tonebender-ish) gain stage. Interesting. The schem on the build guide has some tonebender-isms going on. At least it's not a big muff...

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snofla1900
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Post by snofla1900 »

If you look below the info you'll see a "download build docs"- there's the info how to build it as welll as the schematic !

Alf

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roseblood11
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Post by roseblood11 »

Who will post the first vero layout? Should fit in a 1590B

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alltrax
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Post by alltrax »

roseblood11 wrote:Who will post the first vero layout? Should fit in a 1590B
anders posted one at Guitar FX Layouts, not verified
http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabbl ... 44578.html

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palelight
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Post by palelight »

Well, ignore what I said above about the big muff... should have looked at more than the final gain stages. Indeed a silicon FF goosed with BMP output and clipping stages as noted over at guitar-fx-layouts.

Any way of knowing if this is just someone's approximation of the circuit from the scant info in interviews over the years or did some covert degooping go down somewhere?

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palelight
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Post by palelight »

My PCB's stuck in the mail for the time being, anyone get one of these built up yet?

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Jim-Analog
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Post by Jim-Analog »

Greetings!

Ah, fellow Possum-tone hounds! I'd for sure contribute to this in Lou's memory and an attempt to get THAT tone. I've gotten close using series connected distortion boxes and some tube stuff that I've built, but not exact enough.

BTW, the live sound on that tour was unbelievable! Saw them at a fairly small, nice old venue of about 1000 seats. The rhythm section was like a freight train with Mike and Lou going back and forth on top. One of the best Lou shows ever (out of about 10 that I've seen).

Let's do this fuzz!

Regards, Jim

palelight wrote:
pervyinthepark wrote:Does anyone want to work on setting up a new tracers fund..?
In Lou Reeds memory?
I love the NG Fuzz sound he gets on Like A Possum. Its insane and kind of unique yet something that's always been there, ay?
Because I've been chasing that Like a Possum sound for so long, I'm willing to pledge $100 toward a tracer's fund to get this one moving. Anyone else?

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HamishR
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Post by HamishR »

Well I have built one using the Pedal PCB board and it is all very underwhelming. Lovely board, boring pedal. I like my Skreddy fuzzes a lot more. After the build up I am disappointed - but a lot of pedals are like that.

I'm off to see what the Lou Reed Possum sound is now. :shock:

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palelight
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Post by palelight »

Bummer you didn't like the fuzz. I think this pedal is one instance where it's crucial to have the Cornish buffer in front of the effect. I built mine using the Pedal PCB board as well and it was night and day adding the buffer inline. Without it the gain stages are not getting slammed enough to have the swell and bloom to the attack of the guitar. With the buffer you get that breathing effect on the notes you hear on Like a Possum, or even some heavier Neil Young tracks. Also have to make sure it's biased different than something like a fuzz-face or tone-bender, you want gating more than sustain, somewhere around 30k on the pot I'm guessing (I mounted my bias knob externally). I was very pleased with how mine turned out.

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HamishR
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Post by HamishR »

I may try putting the buffer in front - thanks! Good idea. I have experimented with the bias as i imagine that the gating is part of the idea. Really, why isn't the bias an exterior control then?

I have also built Fuzzdog's Pitbull fuzz and that is one of my favourites for gated, "broken" sounding fuzz. It's wonderful! The Magnetic Effects Solar Bender is an updated Tonebender with tone and bias controls - it has a mix of silicon and germanium in it and it's awesome. In comparison the NG-2 has been rather pedestrian. But I will see if I can stick the Cornish buffer in there.

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Post by Jim-Analog »

Greetings,

I'm about to order one of the "Nugget" PCBs. Palelight, did you put buffers on both the input and output (typical PeteC) or just the input? Thought I saw someone offering empty "PeteC" buffer PCBs, but can't seem to find them.........anyone know? Thanks all! Figure it's worth a shot to try.

PS.........if I recall correctly, some of the closest Possum tones I got were using a tweeked FF a friend gave me (switchable Si or Ge front end, all 3 TXs on sockets; no idea what was in it at the time) and a Butler tube driver that I did a ton of messing around with in series. Sort of close but no cigar.

Regards, Jim

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Post by palelight »

HamishR wrote:I may try putting the buffer in front - thanks! Good idea. I have experimented with the bias as i imagine that the gating is part of the idea. Really, why isn't the bias an exterior control then?

I have also built Fuzzdog's Pitbull fuzz and that is one of my favourites for gated, "broken" sounding fuzz. It's wonderful! The Magnetic Effects Solar Bender is an updated Tonebender with tone and bias controls - it has a mix of silicon and germanium in it and it's awesome. In comparison the NG-2 has been rather pedestrian. But I will see if I can stick the Cornish buffer in there.
There's two versions of the pedal, Ng-2 with the bias on a trimpot and Ng-3 with it mounted externally. I'm guessing they used the internally mounted version for a cleaner more compact build. My guess anyway. And I wouldn't disagree with the pedestrian qualification, it's definitely more 'polite' compared to some of the very raucous gnarly fuzzes out there. I guess what makes it a little different to me is the eq, it still has a really full bass response and fairly natural treble, whenever I used something like a Fuzz Factory or the like it just devastated whatever low-end I had. I always thought of the NG's as closer to a really whacked out distortion than a crazy fuzz.
Jim-Analog wrote:Greetings,

I'm about to order one of the "Nugget" PCBs. Palelight, did you put buffers on both the input and output (typical PeteC) or just the input? Thought I saw someone offering empty "PeteC" buffer PCBs, but can't seem to find them.........anyone know? Thanks all! Figure it's worth a shot to try.

PS.........if I recall correctly, some of the closest Possum tones I got were using a tweeked FF a friend gave me (switchable Si or Ge front end, all 3 TXs on sockets; no idea what was in it at the time) and a Butler tube driver that I did a ton of messing around with in series. Sort of close but no cigar.

Regards, Jim
Just the input. I know the info about output buffers is floating around on various forums but I've never seen a schem with one, at least on the stand-alone pedals (I'm sure the giant stage boards are a different can of worms). He does use two input buffers on the G2 (which seems mega anal but whatever). I don't think an output buffer would change the tone of the pedal much, perhaps a little more high-end clarity seeing as that's what the Cornish buffers emphasize? But the fuzz can get pretty trebly after 1:00 on the tone knob as is. Haven't seen a Pete C style buffer board for sale, just used perf for mine and the layout from TagboardFX.

Same experience as well. I used a klone in front of a dizzytone fuzz biased for heavy gating. Sounded actually pretty close but there was absolutely no control over the tone or amount of fuzz, and it was finicky about amp eq. Too much of a hassle.

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FeVeR2112
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Post by FeVeR2112 »

PedalPCB now has a C-type buffer board that mounts on the 3PDT foot switch. Could be due to the dialog here.... :)

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Post by Jim-Analog »

Greetings,

As discussion has drifted a bit from the NG2 specifically to "Possum Tone" in general, I was wondering if we should start a new thread or keep it here, but either way, expand it to include ALL and ANY methods of achieving the "super saturated, amp death sound", as exemplified by Lou, Neil Young and others? I'm concerned the moderators may consider this thread has drifted too far from the NG 2 circuit and for its potential historical reference value; we should take the "tone" discussion elsewhere.

Palelight (who has compiled a huge quantity of historical data and rig photos) and I have been corresponding with some various ideas about creating this tone: from the NG2/3 to pedal chains, to the combination of various circuits to specific circuits and their characteristics.

There are always more ways to skin any cat and when you consider the quantity of gear available at a major studio session, to the 3 racks that Lou used on the Ecstasy tour, it becomes difficult to say if any tone is essentially the result of only (or primarily) ONE device. We have been working on analyzing the "alleged" NG2 circuit as per the "Nugget" PCB along with comments made by Pete C on his web page and in interviews about the NG2/3. BTW, I don't say "alleged" in any disparaging way, but only as not knowing how close it may or may not be to an actual NG2/3. If anyone knows more about what that layout initially was based on, I would love to hear the details!

So, what say everyone who is specifically interested in the tone, as opposed to just the device? Should the discussion remain here or perhaps there is a better sub forum to move it to? Looking forward to all your thoughts and thanks for reading!

Regards, Jim

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andy-h-h
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Post by andy-h-h »

I’v done a vero layout from the pedal pcb site. Works just fine - verified.

http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabbl ... 45176.html

Image

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Post by andy-h-h »

andy-h-h wrote:I’v done a vero layout from the pedal pcb site. Works just fine - verified.

http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabbl ... 45176.html

[ Image ]
IGNORE - uploaded the wrong file... :oops:

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Post by andy-h-h »

updated vero attached - ignore the previous.
Cornish NG-2.png

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Jim-Analog
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Post by Jim-Analog »

Greetings,

Good work on the Vero layout Andy! I'm curious what you think of the sound of the circuit as you built it and what (if anything) was your point of reference (a recording, live show, other pedal, etc.)? In general, in what ways do you find the pedal useful? Thanks for any info.

Regards, Jim

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