This is an LM386L based distortion that I’ve been playing with – I called it Kool Thing as I was testing it on one of my guitars that has an open tuning (DADDAD for the record), and I was getting a distinct Sonic Youth vibe – which is not all that surprising with that tuning.
It’s basically a variation of a Spaceman booster up front, and the LM386L section is based on the data sheet, with some inspiration from the D*A*M Sonic Titan. I did add a gain control to the 386 and have set this circuit up so it can run from clean to quite a lot of distortion, which is pretty cool.
I also tried the Q3 section of a MKIII style circuit after the amp to give it a bit more flavour – it was interesting but not worth the trouble.
It’s debatable that it actually needs two drive/gain related knobs, but I like the flavours you can get by combining the two. If I had the drop one, I’d remove the gain control and just set the LM386L to full (cap jumpering pin 1 and 8).
I kept the value of the cap used in the tone control quite low to, as I don’t like tone controls that cut really heavily. Even with a 2n2 this has plenty of roll-off.
It will sound different / not as good if you use an LM386N, for me, the LM386L is definitely better.
BALMORAL ELECTRIC: KOOL THING LM386L DISTORTION – VERO LAYOUT
KOOL THING SCHEMATIC
ON THE SCOPE / FFT
Drive sweep, 0 to 100. Gain 100
Gain sweep, 0 to 100. Drive 100
Drive sweep, 0 to 100. Gain 50
Tone sweep, Drive & Gain 100
Clean Boost
Gain sweep, 0 to 100. Drive 100
Drive sweep, 0 to 100. Gain 50
Tone sweep, Drive & Gain 100
Clean Boost