PlexiPre Deluxe – Plexi Plus, ToneTwEQ & Stage 3 combo

[Chris]

I have built two of these, one with the AfterBlaster boost and this one with the Stage 3 Boost as well as an order switcher to place the boost before the Plexi, for more gain, or after, for more volume…and I fit it all in a BB!  (barely)

I really love this Plexi Circuit as well as the KoTB (which I will also be posting soon). Thanks Barry!  Hope you all enjoy, happy building!

 

[Chris]

There are two things I forgot to mention about this build which may be helpful to others.

1. This build came about because I didnt re-measure after i applied the label, and so my holes were too close to the box walls for the AfterBlaster to fit, so I reworked my idea and added the Stage 3 instead.  I guess there are 2 lessons here, 1. measure, measure and remeasure! and 2. “turn lemons into lemonade” and don’t get discouraged if something goes wrong – take a deep breath, think about it, and you will figure something out – some of the best ideas come out of overcoming problems!
2. For this particular build, I had to bias the drains to 7.5v to get the gain and tone equal to my previous builds.  As you can see in the photos, I used the old style through-hole J201s, whereas in my previous build, I used SMD J201s (I biased those to around 2.5v).  There are 2 lessons I learned here: 1. use your ears in addition to your meter when biasing, because all parts are slightly different and 2. always buy parts from reputable sources.  I got these from mouser, I believe, and luckily they were able to be biased, but I can imagine the fakes are far too out to make them sound good, so be careful!

I know that many of you are seasoned builders but hopefully this will help someone out. 🙂

[Anonymous]

So your build is similar to something I had been planning. I was planning on having a preboost board and post boost board along with a switchable tweq and plexiplus in between. What are your thoughts on that? I know from your other posts that your wire the tweq in series with the plexiplus and was wondering what your opinions are for order switchable tweq and plexiplus.

Thanks!

[Chris]

Hey @LegoZombie thanks for reaching out. I love the idea, and actually, if you use both the Plexi Volume knob AND the ToneTwEQ Volume knobs along with the order switching, your ToneTwEQ can actually double as your boost (before or after), as it has plenty of output to spare.  Placing the boost before the Plexi will give you more gain, while placing it after will give you a clean boost.  I have used the ToneTwEQ as a standalone Boost with a three band active EQ and it is excellent.  Hope this helps, I am looking forward to seeing this when it is completed!

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