New Jekyll and Hyde

[Tim C.]

I bought the new revised version of the Jekyll and Hyde pedal by Visual Sound. I didn't play it before buying it due to time constraints. Is there a way to tame the Jekyll side? It is still too grindy, even at the lowest setting.

Tim C.

[bulldogguitars]

Do you have a schematic or do you know where one is available, so we can get a peek.

[Mark Hammer]

We have it on good authority that Visual Sound will be happy to help owners of their pedals engage in nondestructive mods. Contact their support desk.

[Matt T.]

It was Dr. Jekyll (the good guy) and Mr. Hyde (the bad guy). The Jekyll side is the lower gain, 'green' side...the Hyde side is the higher gain, 'red' side. I'm going to guess that you really meant the Hyde side that is too grindy...is that correct?

If it's the Hyde (red) side that is too grindy...I can't help much because I haven't messed with the Hyde side. But if I had to guess an easy mod I'd start with the clipping diodes...increasing the clipping threshold (i.e. more diodes in series or changing to LEDs).

If it's the Jekyll (green) side...that's just a TS808 circuit...almost exact. Read up on RG's Technology of the Tube Screamer article and you'll have plenty of options. FWIW, I have an old silver J&H and I did the following (to the Jekyll side only):
Changed the .047uF input cap to .1uF (a little more bass and a tiny bit more gain)
Decreased the 51k resistor in series with the Drive pot to 10k (this basically allows you to turn down the gain even lower than before and doesn't affect higher gain settings...if you really did mean 'Jekyll' then this is probably EXACTLY what you want).
Added a germanium diode in series with one of the existing silicon diodes (this increased the clipping threshold on half the waveform a little bit...so it slightly softened the clipping and made it a little bit asymetrical).

That's it. And to echo what I've heard Mark say before...at some point you start to lose the TubeScreamer sound (which isn't inherently good or bad...ask Landgraff ). I tend to only use Tubescreamers in a certain way (Drive all the way down, unity gain or just above it, fairly neutral Tone) so these mods work for me...but they might all be steps in the wrong direction for somebody else.

[Tim C.]

Thanks Matt, et al

It is the Jekyll side that is too gainy. Let me explain. When I turn the drive control all the way to the left, the signal is still too overdriven. (I am playing a simple Fender custom shop Strat with standard gain pickups)

I have several overdrive pedals and in general when the gain or drive is all the way to the left I get just a hint of grit. Right now with the drive all the way left on the Jekyll side it is more gritty than I want. I want to be able to get that just on the edge sound and still be able to gain it up if I want to.

The whole idea of using this pedal is so I don't have to drag two pedals to the gig. I can have the slight hint of grit side and the over the top side all in one.

Tim C.

[R.G.]

Have you tried sending email to service@visualsound.net? That might help.

[Tim C.]

Well, I was wrong on my original assessment of this pedal. I gigged with it tonight for the first time and it worked beautifully. It was nice only needing one pedal to give me two different overdrive levels. This will be my new go to pedal for gigging.

Tim C.

[bob p]

It is the Jekyll side that is too gainy. Let me explain. When I turn the drive control all the way to the left, the signal is still too overdriven. (I am playing a simple Fender custom shop Strat with standard gain pickups)

stupid question -- does dialing back on the guitar's volume control help at all?

[Steve A.]

stupid question -- does dialing Jack on the guitar's volume control help at all?

I tried that but only got his answering machine. Oh, you meant "dialing back" not "dialing Jack"...

That should help clean up the sound, but you shouldn't *have* to do that. You want to be able to dial your guitar volume control up and down to further control the sound.

In view of Tim's latest post I guess that this is all a "mute" point... <g>

Steve Ahola

P.S. Hey, when I looked at your post my cursor was on the "b" of "back" and it did look like "Jack" to me, so I took the liberty of editing your post in order to resemble my own visual recollection...

[bob p]

not a problem, Steve. it won't be the first time that somebody's put words in my mouth.