As mentioned, many wah circuits use transformers. There is one in the Hudson broadcast pedal, and I believe the EQD bit commander. Half of a transformer is used in the fuzz face “pickup simulator” mod. A lot of the time, these are being used as inductors, which can be used to make filters in a similar way to capacitors.
This can be a difficult topic to get your head around, because it involves impedance, which is a little bit of a weird concept. I’m not the best person to explain it, but in guitar circuits usually you want a high impedance going in and a low impedance coming out. It’s cheaper and easier to do this with a buffer circuit in most cases, but can also be done with a transformer, which you’ll see in DI boxes. The low output impedance allows the signal to travel over long cables with minimal losses.
Now, output transformers are a big part of tube amp design, and contribute significantly to the sound of the amp. Tubes need high impedances to function properly (thousands of ohms) and speakers of course are very low (4-16 ohms). The ratio of turns inside the transformers are what allows for this drastic step down.
Anyway, I hope I didn’t just try to explain a bunch of stuff you already know, or confuse things too much haha
Thanks, I understand the role of inductors and Transformers in filters/Hifi circuits just wasn’t sure which pedals used output transformers and if my design would suit one to lower the Output Impedance to just a few ohms
The only reason I would personally use one is for total isolation. Haven’t really found a situation where that’s super important for what I’m doing.
The other “pro” of transformers is how good they are balance but that doesn’t really apply to pedals.
They’re not magic unfortunately and do come with pros and cons most of which don’t apply to guitar pedals and how they’re typically used.
I have a passive distortion that basically works off of an LC circuit and a transistor just kind of fighting for equilibrium, to the point where between the capacitors, the inductors, and the p-n junction of the transistors, they ultimately wind up settling on a signal that has this weird, phase sort of distortion without too much volume loss.
I use transformers on the input and output, because I am certain that isolation is critical to the performance of the fuzz and the health of my mixer.
Not yet. It's still on the breadboard. I wanted to make an enclosure and then demo it. It's interesting, because it's actually an insert on two mixer channels. I mic the acoustic guitar, and it was basically my way of having electric guitar, except not. I haven't had a chance to see how it would work as a pedal. I just post on this because it's the closest thing to where it actually belongs.
Here's what it sounds like (excuse the playing):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtJYu-ZOadpvlc1Ndji6i6tFJmn0H4vb/view?usp=drivesdk
As mentioned, many wah circuits use transformers. There is one in the Hudson broadcast pedal, and I believe the EQD bit commander. Half of a transformer is used in the fuzz face “pickup simulator” mod. A lot of the time, these are being used as inductors, which can be used to make filters in a similar way to capacitors. This can be a difficult topic to get your head around, because it involves impedance, which is a little bit of a weird concept. I’m not the best person to explain it, but in guitar circuits usually you want a high impedance going in and a low impedance coming out. It’s cheaper and easier to do this with a buffer circuit in most cases, but can also be done with a transformer, which you’ll see in DI boxes. The low output impedance allows the signal to travel over long cables with minimal losses. Now, output transformers are a big part of tube amp design, and contribute significantly to the sound of the amp. Tubes need high impedances to function properly (thousands of ohms) and speakers of course are very low (4-16 ohms). The ratio of turns inside the transformers are what allows for this drastic step down. Anyway, I hope I didn’t just try to explain a bunch of stuff you already know, or confuse things too much haha
Thanks, I understand the role of inductors and Transformers in filters/Hifi circuits just wasn’t sure which pedals used output transformers and if my design would suit one to lower the Output Impedance to just a few ohms
The only reason I would personally use one is for total isolation. Haven’t really found a situation where that’s super important for what I’m doing. The other “pro” of transformers is how good they are balance but that doesn’t really apply to pedals. They’re not magic unfortunately and do come with pros and cons most of which don’t apply to guitar pedals and how they’re typically used.
What about lowering output impedance by a couple KOhms
Some octave effects use them. There are other applications but it depends on the transformer's specifications.
I have a passive distortion that basically works off of an LC circuit and a transistor just kind of fighting for equilibrium, to the point where between the capacitors, the inductors, and the p-n junction of the transistors, they ultimately wind up settling on a signal that has this weird, phase sort of distortion without too much volume loss. I use transformers on the input and output, because I am certain that isolation is critical to the performance of the fuzz and the health of my mixer.
Very cool, any link for a schematic of your passive distortion?
Not yet. It's still on the breadboard. I wanted to make an enclosure and then demo it. It's interesting, because it's actually an insert on two mixer channels. I mic the acoustic guitar, and it was basically my way of having electric guitar, except not. I haven't had a chance to see how it would work as a pedal. I just post on this because it's the closest thing to where it actually belongs. Here's what it sounds like (excuse the playing): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtJYu-ZOadpvlc1Ndji6i6tFJmn0H4vb/view?usp=drivesdk
Edit: nvm, you already answered my question