Blaster Wiring help?

[claytushaywood]

I've decided to go blaster at this point. I havent decided if im gonna do GGG or alembic but I'm curious about some stuff. I've heard jerry at one point had the blaster set as always on and had a switch for gain increase. I was thinking it would be cool to have the blaster a couple different ways and thought someone out there might have a similar set up or let me know if one of these is possible. i would like the ability to have the blast pre volume control- like wolf had (??) at one point...so I could have the super effective volume control- or would i make this a gain control? anyways here's some ideas

1.) have the blaster always on at a 4db boost and a switch to go to 12db boost- wired-- pickup selector to blaster to 25k volume pot? with this i could possibly add the OBEL and if i used the boost while using the OBEL i would send more power to the pedals? i know to set this up i'd need to have two resistors (probably) on a switch that goes between two different values for the two different boosts

2.) Have the blaster wired with a gain control... Would I need a gain control and a pickup volume control... or a master volume... i dont know why but thinking about this is tying nots in my head.

Basically I just wanna have the blaster with some adjustable gain settings along with the very useable master volume 25k pot that comes after the preamp. Or should I just have a gain control on the blaster. or just have the blaster set with a couple db's of gain always and use the volume knob to control my output.

what do you all think? most important is if i can wire the blaster before a master volume control so I can have the very useable volume control and just spin it to kick my preamps butt!

[claytushaywood]

okay well i dont know how i missed it... but i am learning to search the forum through google and that's helping, but found some info on the alembic blaster. also found that alembics site says using your standard volume control before the blaster will make your volume knob be awesome while the blaster is on. and some people on the board say the blaster isnt made for using before a volume pot... but some say its cool... confusing. anyone got any idea how to mod this thing for always on with the switch allowing me to add some extra gain? i guess i was hoping for an ease of installation of a OBEL in the future

[hippieguy1954]

If you don't want to wire it in a way that is common, you can always try your own ideas and see what happens. If it was me, I would follow Alembic instructions and if not satisfied with that, then start deviations. Also, there is a huge amount of info online for the blaster. Lots of options.

[claytushaywood]

i see a lot of info regarding the circuit and how to diy one... can you point me in the direction of someone talking about whether to wire it before the volume pot or after? and help on turning my ideas into reality would be good too

[JonnyBoy]

Go to Waldo's site and look at the Wolf where it was wired before the volume control and he has a schematic to follow. Much like putting in a buffer I guess,,,

[waldo041]

i see a lot of info regarding the circuit and how to diy one... can you point me in the direction of someone talking about whether to wire it before the volume pot or after? and help on turning my ideas into reality would be good too

i have done all kinds of Blaster configs, and they all definately work. i have remoted the gain pot as well as modded for a gain switch that allows the blaster to always be on, and the switch adds the dialed in gain. in all my testing the only thing i did not like was the level of gain needed when using it pre volume control with an OBEL. as it is wired today! it NEEDS to be set at about a 10db gain to even the levels on both side of the OBEL switch. the transistor based design is not ideal for longer runs of cable that the OBEL inherently has, so to compensate the blasters gain needs to be turned up to get things even on the clean & effected side of that switch. that is exactly why wolf's blaster is dialed in so heavy on the gain. this does a few things 1.) the guitar is super hot, but is tameable with the way jerry used the guitars volume control. however 2.)the effects get slammed and adjustments need to be made from the normal known jerry settings of them. 3.) the battery drain is quick with the amount of gain used. 4.) if single coil noise is an issue with you, adding the 10db of gain needed with an OBEL will only increase that noise. this is definately why wolf is wired for parallel/series with a humbucking single coil in the neck today!

peace,
waldo

[hippieguy1954]

i see a lot of info regarding the circuit and how to diy one... can you point me in the direction of someone talking about whether to wire it before the volume pot or after? and help on turning my ideas into reality would be good too

i have done all kinds of Blaster configs, and they all definately work. i have remoted the gain pot as well as modded for a gain switch that allows the blaster to always be on, and the switch adds the dialed in gain. in all my testing the only thing i did not like was the level of gain needed when using it pre volume control with an OBEL. as it is wired today! it NEEDS to be set at about a 10db gain to even the levels on both side of the OBEL switch. the transistor based design is not ideal for longer runs of cable that the OBEL inherently has, so to compensate the blasters gain needs to be turned up to get things even on the clean & effected side of that switch. that is exactly why wolf's blaster is dialed in so heavy on the gain. this does a few things 1.) the guitar is super hot, but is tameable with the way jerry used the guitars volume control. however 2.)the effects get slammed and adjustments need to be made from the normal known jerry settings of them. 3.) the battery drain is quick with the amount of gain used. 4.) if single coil noise is an issue with you, adding the 10db of gain needed with an OBEL will only increase that noise. this is definately why wolf is wired for parallel/series with a humbucking single coil in the neck today!

peace,
waldo

First of all, your awesome Waldo! What would we do with out ya?
Second, I've used a blaster in a Strat also. It was ok, but didn't really do the trick for me. Then I took it out and sold it to a friend for cheap who uses it in a Strat all by it self and likes it just for the boost. I then installed Waldo's TCP1 and wahlah it was excellent! Didn't even need the blaster. I don't have the OBEL in the strat because I don't use the Strat for my pure Jerry sound, although it gets it just fine when not using any effects (which I do a lot). I do have the OBEL and TCP1 in my Jerryised guitar (Schecter C1+ with three super II's, TCP1, OBEL, 25K master volume etc.) for when I use effects or not. Once you use effects with the OBEL your always going to want it. And as I have stated here a few times, I would like a TCP1 in all guitars. I have one in three of mine and still have two more to buy and install. All guitars should come with a TCP1 installed!

[claytushaywood]

very cool! thanks! I'm really a fan of garcias early tone and the band starting up is definitely drawing inspiration from the wild ride haydays of the early years... i was thinking how rad it would be to start a band that follows the dead's evolution year by year, ha i wish! anyways, i understand there is some confusion about how wolf was wired. i guess i'm interested in 1974 wolf... that was volume before blaster right? as i understand with this wiring, you set the maximum gain the blaster puts out and when your volume control is at max that means that blaster is at preset max gain. guy from alembic told me volume control would work well without treble loss with blaster before volume control. is this true?

fyi waldo- your website states that wolf was wired single/series with the dual sounds... still getin confused about this