Ashdown Hyperdrive... but smaller... Interested?

[Bigwan]

Hi all,

I've been mulling a wee project over in my head for a long time, and may have mentioned it here in the past. This may get lengthy so bear with me… I should first say that the Ashdown Hyperdrive is the best drive pedal I’ve owned, bar none. So many things right with it, but then there’s the size… This may also interest anyone who thought the EBS Sheehan signature pedal looked cool but didn't want all the bells and whistles!

I'd like to build my own take on the Hyperdrive, but simpler, and in a much more pedalboard friendly format. I'd ideally like to do a short run of these pedals at some point in the future, but I've started to ask questions of the design that I'd like some input on from any interested parties. I should stress that I have yet to build ANYTHING to do with this pedal. I’m hoping to breadboard the design soon, but I’ve so many options floating around in my head it would be of help to have other users input to rein me in a bit!

For anyone who’s not familiar with the pedal it’s basically an adjustable filter (200 to 2200Hz adjustable center frequency with a selectable Q of ½ or 1 octave) that lets the mid frequencies through, distorts them to taste and blends that with the clean signal.

I know how I use my hyperdrive - basically exactly the same way as James Lorenzo does in the first section of this video:

James LoMenzo demo's the Ashdown Engineering LoMe…: http://youtu.be/tFfqWnybHEM

...but how do you use yours?

Here’s where my head is at currently:

I'd like to eventually fit this inside a MUCH smaller enclosure than the Ashdown pedal - aiming for a Hammond 1590n1 (4.77" x 2.58" x 1.57", or 121mm x 65.5mm x 40mm approx) with north mounted jacks. That’s verses the actual Hyperdrive dimensions of 174mm x 156mm x 72mm. That’s half a Pedaltrain Nano or a third of a Pedaltrain Mini for a single pedal! Unfortunately this may involve a little compromise…

I think the Hyperdrive is a little heavy on controls for my requirements and this may be the case for a lot of you – 5 rotaries (2 of which are actually dual-ganged pots – one knob controlling 2 separate resistances) and 2 switches. My current thinking would be to cut that down to 4 external rotary controls (gain, blend, Q and output level) and move the frequency control to either internal dip switches or trimmer pots, but I know this arrangement might not suit everybody. For me the frequency control, and actually the pedal as a whole, is very much a “set and forget” deal. This would help the design a little as that takes one of the dual pots out of the equation.

I’ve dropped the “input” control from my preliminary design as I don’t really see the need for it if the gain structures are appropriate and with gain and output controls.

I’ve dropped the “+10” switch as adjusting values around the drive circuit should give similar results by giving the gain control more range.

The “Q” switch is one I’m unsure about too. My first thought is to make it an external rotary control for flexibility, but it could be internally set by a trimmer or switch.

The “Blend” control is the other dual pot and I’d probably choose to implement the blend differently using a normal pot, but for me a blend control is vital so it has to stay as an adjustable parameter. Could go to separate volume controls for clean and drive signals instead of blend and output controls...

I’m running out of steam typing here so can a cast it out to anyone in internet land that has an opinion. This may never go anywhere other than my own pedalboard, but I’m interested in what you guys think in case I do get to do something with it.

Thanks in advance!

Edited October 16, 2014 by Bigwan

[cheddatom]

I would say I'd want the frequency to be adjustable, as well as the Q. So, it'd be gain, freq, q, blend, volume. I wouldn't mind if the volume was a tiny little pot on the back next to the jacks, kind of like on my XP-100

I'd love to have such a pedal but no doubt wouldn't afford the price of one of your finished units, sorry!

[planer]

Yes they are lovely, but the size of a small housing estate. I'm not sure I get on totally with my NM-2, having sold a HD to buy it.

[Graham]

I really like my Hyperdrive, it is a shame it's such a big footprint though: mine had an intermittent fault recently so I took the chassis off to look for obvious problems and there is a [I]lot[/I] of space on the PCBA, Ashdown could easily condense the pedal down into a smaller case if the mood took them.

Gig to gig, I typically ignore the input control and switches and adjust the centre frequency, drive and output depending on the room. I do sometimes adjust the blend, but not often.

A similar pedal in a smaller chassis with stacked Q and frequency pots (rather than a switch), drive, blend and volume would be great. Rather than an input pot you could always have a pad for if the output of your bass is too hot.

However, like another poster I doubt I could afford one of your creations

Edit: realised my post is almost identical to Cheddatom's, but least that means there's some consistency in what people want from a parametric overdrive.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Graham

[paul_5]

You could always gives folks the option of controlling the Q by having an internal trim pot or DIP switches - I've seen other pedal manufacturers do this, particularly on those 'set and forget' parameters.

The added bonus is that it can't be 'unset' in error.

Just re-read the original post (properly) and noticed that you've already considered this. My bad.

Edited October 17, 2014 by paul_5

[Bigwan]

I'll maybe just build the best compromise I can and let a few folk play it before even contemplating this any further!

What about a rotary switch to control frequency? That'd be easier...

[victor5string]

[b]gain, freq, q, blend, volume[/b]

This would be perfect for me. I've always liked the sound of the hyperdrive. I really like driving the midds on bass

[dannybuoy]

My issue with the Hyperdrive is that adding bandpassed distorted mids results in a perceived overall low end loss. If I were to clone it I would add an active bass boost control to the clean portion of the signal!

[Bigwan]

Interesting... Hadn't considered that, but worth some thought. Somebody else I'd discussed the project with had suggested adding an overall tone control (post blend) to roll off some highs. A combination of the two might add a great deal of flexibility, and still fit in a 1590BB sized enclosure...

[dannybuoy]

Baxandall treble/bass EQ then would probably be the best bet!

[Bigwan]

I had actually toyed with the idea of having an SFT or ROG Ginger-style circuit on the clean channel for myself - baxandall with a bit more besides!

Going to try all these combinations I think - definately be up to a portrait 1590BB at this point!

Edited October 23, 2014 by Bigwan

[TG Flatline]

Love the development of this project. Looking forward to seeing the end result! :-)

[dannybuoy]

Only prob with the SFT circuit is that the EQ is before the clipping stage, so you can't boost bass too much as it just ends up adding flabby overdrive. Something like the BB preamp which has the EQ on the end would be preferable!

[Wilson_51_]

Funny that this has come up recently as i have been looking at my own hyperdrive and thinking of ways to either miniaturise it or veroboard it to make it fit into an acceptable enclosure size. I use it as an always on subtle bit of grit and rarely change the settings and haven't found anything that sounds as good in this capacity.

The input control i never have anywhere but on full so im inclined to remove it and reaplce with a suitable resistor. all the other controls i would like to keep just for the occasional tweak if necessary. i dont want to really mod this pedal just to miniaturise it.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

[Bigwan]

[quote name='simon88wilson' timestamp='1414062796' post='2585310']
Funny that this has come up recently as i have been looking at my own hyperdrive and thinking of ways to either miniaturise it or veroboard it to make it fit into an acceptable enclosure size. I use it as an always on subtle bit of grit and rarely change the settings and haven't found anything that sounds as good in this capacity.

The input control i never have anywhere but on full so im inclined to remove it and reaplce with a suitable resistor. all the other controls i would like to keep just for the occasional tweak if necessary. i dont want to really mod this pedal just to miniaturise it.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks
[/quote]

As it stands it's impossible to rehouse the hyperdrive in a smaller enclosure due to the size of the pcb so it's a build from scratch job I'm afraid. Sent you a PM.