LO1166 transformer in a bass pedal

[Toto421]

Hi, i just saw some videos about a pedal with a transformer added just for harmonic saturation (I’ll add the links below) got me thinking about making one but with an LO1166 clone to use with my active bass but i have some questions and was hopping you could help me out. I’m not trying to get a full Neve 1073 sound out of a pedal/box, just add the harmonic saturation to maybe give it a “Neve character” which is something i do in mixing with the Kazrog true iron plugin which emulates just transformers, same thing but I’m planning on using this while playing live. So some of my questions are:

1. Would it be worth the effort of adding the LO1166 clone?

2. If i use something like a boost pedal or pre and post volume within the circuit will that help to control the amount of saturation?

3. Will I have a big increase in voltage such that it would be a problem to control the volume even with a volume pedal or something after it?

Any information/input on this is greatly appreciated!

Here are the videos:

 

[Newmarket]

What is your source of the LO1166 clone transformer ?

Others here will know more about this than myself, but - won't you need a beefy Neve type output stage to drive that properly. Esp if you want to push it into saturation territory ?

 

[shabtek]

yes--battery power not so feasable

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Here are the videos:

What I hear there doesn't convince me to spend a single dollar in it.
The example with bass only shows how deficient is teh LF response; that is to be expected.
And the BS about transformers giving only even harmonics is simply false.
Don't waste money on snake oil.

 

[Newmarket]

I'm not at all convinced by th ed demo vids there tbh.
But whatever those transformers he has are, they seem a very different animal the LO1166 ? So I'm not clear what point is being made (or not) tbh.

 

[ruffrecords]

I'm not at all convinced by th ed demo vids there tbh.
But whatever those transformers he has are, they seem a very different animal the LO1166 ? So I'm not clear what point is being made (or not) tbh.

I agree. He says transformer mojo is even order harmonic distortion. It isn't, it is odd harmonic distortion. Not very credible.

He also talks about expensive core material yet the blurb says it is steel cored which is the cheapest core material you can buy,

If you want to achieve something similar buy a TRIAD TY-141P transformer for about $5 and fit it to a diecast box with a couple of jack sockets.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Toto421]

What is your source of the LO1166 clone transformer ?

Others here will know more about this than myself, but - won't you need a beefy Neve type output stage to drive that properly. Esp if you want to push it into saturation territory ?

I have a Vintech x73 that i’m not using at the moment, was planning to pull it out of the unit just for testing exactly that, maybe a boost pedal to drive the transformer into saturation?

 

[Toto421]

What I hear there doesn't convince me to spend a single dollar in it.
The example with bass only shows how deficient is teh LF response; that is to be expected.
And the BS about transformers giving only even harmonics is simply false.
Don't waste money on snake oil.

I agree with you, in fact just by analyzing the harmonic structure of the digital emulation of the LO1166 with True iron plug-in clearly shows that it adds both even and odd harmonics in the pictures below

Although when i run my bass trough the digital emulation of the LO1166 it does add some nice “weight” to it, one question is will an active bass output alone be sufficient to run the physical transformer in to saturation even with a boost pedal before it or will it need more juice?

 

[Toto421]

I'm not at all convinced by th ed demo vids there tbh.
But whatever those transformers he has are, they seem a very different animal the LO1166 ? So I'm not clear what point is being made (or not) tbh.

Just wondering if i could do the same thing but with a LO1166 clone instead

 

[Toto421]

I agree. He says transformer mojo is even order harmonic distortion. It isn't, it is odd harmonic distortion. Not very credible.

He also talks about expensive core material yet the blurb says it is steel cored which is the cheapest core material you can buy,

If you want to achieve something similar buy a TRIAD TY-141P transformer for about $5 and fit it to a diecast box with a couple of jack sockets.

Cheers

Ian

Yes when pushing harder into saturation it tends to favour odd harmonics but that is just a digital emulation, not completely sure if the even order harmonics are the result of the other components inside the circuitry or if it really does add both.

I’m not planning on buying that pedal (for the exact same reason which is core material) just wondering if it would be worth the hassle of making one myself but with an LO1166 clone and if the active bass output would be enough to drive the LO1166 into saturation