Mad Professor - Simble  [traced]

General documentation, gut shot, schematic links, ongoing circuit tracing, deep thoughts ... all about boutique stompboxes.
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ipm
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Post by ipm »

Anyone?
I would really like to know what is it all about!

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Jone the Bone
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Post by Jone the Bone »

Simble is a new Dumble-amp sounding overdrive pedal, originally designed by Finnish audio engineer, Lassi Ukkonen.

http://www.simbletone.com/

Lassi made the first versions by himself, but now the Simble belongs to Mad Professor's pedal range. Price about 200,- eur.

Controls corresponds to the Hermida Audio Zendrive's pots, differently named. So, my loose guess is, that the Simble is very close cousin to Zendrive.

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triplesevener
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Post by triplesevener »

Not just that, given the one gutshot we've seen (of the back of the board), 3 of the 4 pots are the same value as a Zendrive, the one difference being a 1M gain pot.

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andregarcia57
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Post by andregarcia57 »

great sound....


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Ripdivot
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Post by Ripdivot »

It does sound nice. Seems to have more mids than a Zen. The type of mids that want to transition to controlled feedback very easily.

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roseblood11
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Post by roseblood11 »

Maybe he changed the direction of the mosfets? The zendrive just uses the clipping of the body diode... if you turn them around, you get a better bass response, and a little less distortion, so a 1M gain pot would make sense.

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micromegas
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Post by micromegas »

Comparision clip:


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Post by Ripdivot »

That's a great demo. Thanks for posting. During the part played over the backing track it's not quite fair because the zen is slightly quieter. The zen is a little dirtier and more compressed.

At the end where the pedals are compared without the backing track they sound very similar. The Simble is a little more open sounding and has better bottom end which you can hear when he plays the G chord.

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Post by Ripdivot »

I'll add that the demo makes me feel more content with my zen. The gas is going away.

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roseblood11
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Post by roseblood11 »

Try this on the zendrive, I guess it's the "Simble Mod"...
Attachments
(Don't know where this came from - I didn't draw it)
(Don't know where this came from - I didn't draw it)

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rs
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Post by rs »

Over here there are some demos and some info aswell as gutshots.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/toy_love/20140503/1399127207
Cheers.

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Post by 1oldsidewinder »

That shot of the corner of the board with the transistor and diodes is interesting. Looks like a series resistor combined with a diode (D1) and the transistor. The other diode looks to be labeled D8 and may serve a different purpose. So what are we looking at; a buffer w/ protection diode or maybe half of the clipping diode array? Kind of curious that it's not gooped there if it is part of the array.

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
Just a thought................could that transistor and diodes etc be part of the LED control cct concidering there is only a DPDT stomp switch fitted.
This may also explain the latency with the LED when switcihed.
John

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alkuz1961
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Post by alkuz1961 »

I think it's just Millennium Bypass
Image

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Richard Lainegard
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Post by Richard Lainegard »

Hey guys, registered a new user (since I've changed my surname since last).
ANyways, I posted a pic of this Simble PCB on my FB-page, and Delaney (Effects) suggested
I also post it here, since there was apparently a reverse engineering going down on this pedal.

So here is the pic in question. Any idea what this mod is?
Was is a last minute revision to the V.1.1 board and they wanted them
to go out, and didn't want to wait for a V.1.2 board (There has after all been
quite a buzz around these). Delaney's guess was a iltering sub circuit of some kind,
such as a bleed fix or a noise filter.
Simble PCB.JPG

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JOHNO
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Post by JOHNO »

Looks like it might be for the lighting led when the pedal is switched on. Rat style or millenium bypass?

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okgb
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Post by okgb »

I'd love to see , circuit wise what the difference is , whether level differences or circuit values
I thought the simby sounded fuller while the zen was brighter [ by a little ]

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lead2203
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Post by lead2203 »

JOHNO wrote:Looks like it might be for the lighting led when the pedal is switched on. Rat style or millenium bypass?
Yes..You can see the FET on the board is removed. Its just a quick fix for the bypass LED.

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Jone the Bone
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Post by Jone the Bone »

There is a pic of Simble's pcb, found from the net. I'd like to see more pics, component side too.
simble_pcb.jpg

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MoonWatcher
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Post by MoonWatcher »

Jone the Bone wrote:There is a pic of Simble's pcb, found from the net. I'd like to see more pics, component side too.
It looks like there's a DIP8 config for an op amp sort of in the middle there - looks like pin 4 connects to what is probably ground.

I don't see what appear to be any other possibilities for an op amp, but uniform resistor spacing can make that hard to tell. Still, those who said something along the lines of Zendrive-like are probably correct, or at least something on the simpler side with an op amp as opposed to discrete transistors.

Should be a quick trace after someone pulls it from the box, assuming no goop. Does Mad Professor goop their stuff any longer? Even if so, that would probably just slow things down a little.

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