Liquitone Product Catalog

These are the products that are currently part of the Liquitone catalog. They are divided it three main groups; 'Standard Range', 'Deluxe Range' and 'Custom Range'.
The list will be updated with pictures, demo's of current and new offerings along the way.

G E N E R A L  L I Q U I T O N E  S P E C I F I C A T I O N S ;

All designs are discrete transistorized analog circuits built on miniature turret-boards, which are
fastened securely using metal hardware. All components and connections are accessible without
the need to remove the board from the enclosure and there are no board mounted jacks, pots
and switches to prevent failure and to make it easier to modify and service. 

I aim towards the following goals with my design choices;

- The sound of the effect should be clear, open dynamic, expressive and incorporate seamlessly 

   into your signal chain. They should be a part of your sound instead of being a blanket layered on 

   top of your sound.

- They have to be flexible in use,yet simple and intuitive to control and adjust.

- They should inspire you instead of distract you from playing.

- The have to be responsive to your playing style so the effect doesn't play you, but you play the effect.

- The pedals should be able to withstand long years of heavy use, but be easily repairable by me or any 

   other repairman in the event something does fail.

Q U A L I T Y  P A R T S  U S E D ;

- Polished aluminium Eddystone enclosures

- 2mm thick FR4 fiberglass epoxy board

- 1mm Vector k24 and k31 solderpins

- Boards held in place using metal standoffs

- 0.6mm/0.8mm silver-plated solid copper wire for board-connections between pins.

- Vintage cloth covered wire

- Sturdy non-circuitboard mounted
   potentiometers (Alpha), switches
   (Myiama, Carling, Alpha). and jacks
   (Neutrix)

- No ultrabright LED's, especially not
   bleu or white. I use standard diffused
   yellow and orange 

   3mm/5mm LED's mounted in nickel-
   plated metal bezels and quality
   Fender-amp style Pilot lights with
   amber jewel light in the case of large
   enclosures and 19 inch racks.

- I use creme, burgundy and black
  Dakaware 2300 chickenheads,
  Davies 17mm and 28mm knurled
  pointer knobs and large 27mm
  creme pointer knobs.

- Wherever I can I change 3PDT switches for relay-operated true-bypass controlled by sturdy 

  momentary switches. Relays and IC's are mounted on IC-sockets for easy servicing.

- All current designs are Discrete Transistorized audio-circuits although I do use IC's in 

  non-audio-circuits.

- I use a variety of new and New Old Stock transistors such as; 

   - Silicon 2N3904,2N3906, 2SC828 and Metal Can BC107/108/109.

   - Germanium glass encased Mil spec. CV7003 and OC45.

   - FET J201 and 2N5457.

- I use a mix of 0.6W Metal Film, Carbon Film and Carbon Composit resistors, Vishay 0,25W and 

  Bourns 0,6W cermet trimpots.

- The audio-path uses high-grade
   Mallory 150, Panasonic Stacked
   Metal Film, Xicon Styro, Sprague

   Orange Drops and Silver Mica
   capacitors.

- Aluminium electrolytic capacitors are
   replaced with longer life and better
   audio tantalum- or  film-capacitors
   wherever possible.

  

                                                                                                                                                                               

P R O D U C T S;

' S T A N D A R D  R A N G E '

These are the basic versions of my effects with only the essential controls and functions in 

a sanded or polished aluminium enclosure.

                                                                                                                                                                   

O C 4 5  B O O S T

Point-to-Point wired Dallas Range-Master treble-booster circuit with 3-way selector-switch to choose between classic treble-, mids, or full-range boost.

- This one uses a glass encased NOS germanium Mullard OC45 transistor from the early '60's
- Dependent on which types I  manage to get hold of that have the right gain and leakage the type of
  transistor used may vary. The name of the pedal will change accordingly to for instance OC45 Boost,
  CV7003 Boost, etc.
- Put in front of a medium overdrive or slightly over-driven amplifier it is possible to go from clean
  sounds to bluesy crunch all the way to soaring Black Sabbath sounds with loads of sustain and
  harmonics just by adjusting your guitar's volume knob and how hard you hit your strings. 
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/08/projects-update-august-2013.html

                                                                                                                                                                   

O C T A V E  F U Z Z

Tychobrahe Octavia circuit with normal fuzz/octave fuzz switch and NOS germanium diodes.

- It's a gated silicon fuzz that is unruly and temperamental, but with lots of character. It's like a feline that
  can be tamed but never fully loses it's wild instincts.
- In Octave mode it adds an octave up to the notes, and bell-like, ring-modulated notes around the
  12th fret. Playing chords upset this little monster, resulting in unpredictable but exiting chaos.
- It does it's job best   when playing notes around the 12th fret using the neck-pickup and the guitar's
  tonecontrol backed off a bit.
- It plays very well with the OC45 Boost or a germanium fuzz in front of it, cleaning up along with them
   when dialing back the guitar's volume knob.

                                                                                                                                                                   

T R E M O L O

Discrete transistorized optical tremolo of my own design build around the Uni-Vibe's building blocks with high-headroom Class-A discrete transistorized audio-path.

- Uses a lamp/photocell combo like old blackface-Fender amplifiers instead of a LED or Vactrol for
  smooth amp-like tremolo response.
- I chose this simple setup with just a 'Depth' and 'Speed' knob for those who like the simplicity of the
  old amp-tremolo's
- Indicator-LED always flashes synchronous with the speed of the tremolo and changes from yellow in
   bypass to red when on.

                                                                                                                                                                   

L I Q U I V I B E

Mono version of the Deluxe Stereo Liquivibe.

- Polished aluminium wah-enclosure.
- Bypass-LED on the side
- Soft touch momentary Chorus/Vibrato switch at the heel of the Deluxe version moved to the
  Stereo/Mono rotary-switch of the Deluxe version.
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/07/vintage-vibe.html

                                                                                                                                                                   

' D E L U X E  R A N G E '

These are deluxe versions of my effects with more controls and switches for added flexibility.

They come in polished aluminium, nitrocellulose or hammertone finishes

                                                                                                                                                                   

D E L U X E  T R E M O L O

Same circuit as the 'Standard' Tremolo but with a 4-way rotary switch for 3 extra effect-modes.The modes are;

-Tremolo

-Harmonic Tremolo

-Filter modulation, somewhat reminiscent of a stripped down Uni-Vibe

-Vibrato

http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/08/deluxe-tremolo.html

                                                                                                                                                               

D E L U X E  S T E R E O  L I Q U I V I B E

Stereo Uni-Vibe circuit built inside a Surf Green Nitrocellulose lacquered wah-enclosure
with polished aluminium treadle. Built to sound and function as close as possible to an
authentic '69 Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe but with added stereo output, true bypass and
chorus/vibrato switch at the side.

- 24V operating voltage in the LFO and 18V operating voltage on the audio-path like the original Uni-Vibe.

- Closely matched hermetically sealed and goldplated photo-cells, 2SC828 and BC107B transistors

- Electrolytic capacitors replaced with tanatalum and film caps for longer life and better audio.

- Stereo/Dual Mono switch to select between classic mono Uni-vibe sounds and stereo rotating-
  speaker sounds.

- Indicator-LED's for Bypass, Cancel and Chorus/Vibrato

- Relay operated Stereo True-Bypass and Chorus/Vibrato switching.

 http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2014/06/custom-stereo-vibe-001-and-002.html

                                                                                                                                                                 

' C U S T O M  R A N G E '

Customized features and finishing options are included here. 

There is a lot possible regarding customized finishing and choice of knobs, but they have to fit 

within the Liquitone's classic/industrial cosmetic style. 

I do polished aluminium, classic nitrocellulose lacquered finish from the Fender color-

charts and hammer-tone finishes. 

I don't do graphic etches, decals or silkscreen but use metal stamps for lettering 

filled in with black for easy visibility. In the case of colour finished enclosures the stamped lettering 

will be filled in with black or a contrasting colour like white, red, blue, silver or gold.

                                                                                                                                                                   

C U S T O M  O C 4 5  B O O S T

Custom options;

- Range-selector-switch removed in favour of hardwired Treble, Mids or Full boost

- Level knob omitted in favour of hardwired to maxed out level.

- Build inside a small enclosure that can be attached to the Guitar-strap
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/06/liquitone-octave-fuzz-and-other.html
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/06/liquitone-effects-in-action.html#more

                                                                                                                                                                   

C U S T O M  O C T A V E  F U Z Z

Custom options;

- Octave Fuzz/Fuzz toggle-switch omitted or put under a foot-switch

                                                                                                                                                                   

C U S T O M  S T E R E O  L I Q U I V I B E

The same circuit as the Deluxe Stereo Liquivibe but built inside a normal enclosure.

- Choice of having it build inside a 1590D enclosure with a knob for 'Speed' or with speed controlled by
   an external expression pedal.

-  With or without 'volume' knob or 'vintage high input impedance/classic low input impedance' switch.

http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2014/06/custom-stereo-vibe-001-and-002.html

                                                                                                                                                                   

C U S T O M  B - 1 2  F L I P S T E R  F E T  P R E - A M P

FET pre-amp based on the pre-amp section of the Ampeg B-12 portaflex bass-amp, which is used on a lot of Motown recordings. Runoffgroove Flipster circuit, made under licence of Runoffgroove.

- It is capable of some overdriven sounds, but excels in clean, low-, medium-drive settings. It is
  however possible to drive into higher gain by placing a booster like the OC45 Boost in front of it,
  which it handles very well.

- It is made for bass but also sounds very nice on guitar. It sort of has that Marshall Plexi low-end
  bark to it. It has a very touch sensitive, slightly compressed tube-like response and is capable of
  cleaning up nicely  with the guitar's volume control or holding back on hitting the strings hard.

- Production is on hold till I solved some noise issues this circuit is know for.

- The version pictured is custom build for use in a 19 inch rack, but I'm currently designing a
   stompbox version of it.
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2013/10/liquitone-b15-flipster-custom-001.html

                                                                                                                                                                   

C U S T O M  B Y P A S S  L O O P E R / M I X E R

Relay operated True-Bypass effects-loop 

- Has a 3-way selection switch to activate a mixer circuit that can be used as a buffer or a 

  Wet/Dry effect mixer.

- Each channel can be changed from 0 to 180 degrees phase-signal to correct phase-cancelations
  when mixing in effects that reverse phase.

- The mixer/buffer circuit uses discrete FET transistors.

Custom options are;

- Choice of the number of bypass loops. 

- Choice of any number of mono or mono or stereo bypass channels and where you want the mono to
  split into stereo.

- With or without wet/dry mixers. You can choose to have none at all or have a mixer on some
  channels, for instance only on the channel you plan to use digital (multi) effects on.

- With or without expression pedal controllable master wet/dry mixer.

- Mono or stereo attack-responsive LED's
http://liquitone.blogspot.nl/2014/06/development-and-custom-builds.html