Sonic Tight'un Distortion

FET preamp into power amp distortion fun.

There's a lot of gain in this little fella, but it's incredibly tight and focussed, hence the name we've gone for. The FET stage creates remarkably tube-like clipping, giving excellent responsive dynamics. The Power amp takes this deliciously compressed tone and pushes about as hard as it can to create an output your amp will beg for.

We've done a little fiddling with this one to get the best results we can. We've gone for a 2N5457 in the FET stage. Back to back with the original 2N3819 there's no noticeable difference in tone, and the 5457 are more widely available. You can have the 2N3819 if you prefer, but you'll have to do some leg twisting to get it in there. We've opted for the LM386N-3 which gives much better results with note decay than the N-1, and has a more open feel. Much better for pushing your amp.

The original cuts out quite a lot of bottom end (hence the tightness), so we've added an option to increase the value of a couple of caps to thicken it up a bit. We'll supply some sockets if you add this option, which will include six additional caps.

The kit is supplied with vertical-mount pots which have round shafts, so you'll need set-screw fitting knobs.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components, pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is available as an option with full kits, and can take a battery if desired with footswitch positioned 22mm higher, closer to the controls. Knobs are not included.

Builds are only available with full kits including enclosure and vertical-mount pots. Please choose appropriate knobs.

Inspired by: Sonic Titan

Difficulty: Easy

PCB size: 50 x 22mm

Knobs required: 3

Enclosure: 1590B

Direct-Connect compatible (4-way)

If you want the kit pre-built you must add the enclosure option below and select your knobs in the Components section. Check Specials for powder-coated enclosure availability.

Download theINSTRUCTION PDF