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The Projects/Distortion/Marshall™ The Guv'nor

Project · Distortion

Marshall™ The Guv'nor

This project is based on the Marshall™ The Guv'nor and also the Danelectro Daddy-o, which is basically the same circuit as The Guv'nor with input and output buffers added. This is the circuit for the original black unit from the 1980's, not any of the later, inferior versions.  This is a very versatile distortion effect, one of the best ever made in our opinion. With the tone controls, it is possible to get a nice variety of sounds.

We utilized the space in the lower right section of the PCB to install the clippers and wired them to the toggle switch.  This adds another set of sounds to the effect.

 Any trademarks mention on this page belong to their rightful owners and not to General Guitar Gadgets

Marshall The Guv'nor

The story

About the circuit

Marshall™ released The Guv'nor in 1988, a British-made black pedal meant to put a cranked Marshall™ stack in a box, and it became famous as the distortion on Gary Moore's "Still Got the Blues." The circuit is an op-amp gain stage followed by a pair of LEDs clipping the signal to ground, then a full bass-middle-treble tone stack and an effects loop. Marshall™ moved production to Korea in the 1990s with changes that most players consider a step down, and Danelectro's Daddy-O of the same era is essentially the original Guv'nor circuit with input and output buffers added.

This project at GGG

The Guv'nor was on JD's original project list, one of the layouts he drew from the schematics the DIY community had worked out, and it has never left the site. We based our replica on the original black British unit, not the later versions, and when we laid out the current board there was room in the lower corner for a second pair of clipping diodes, so we wired them to a toggle switch and gave the pedal a second voice; the layout shows the switch wiring. With the three-band tone stack it is one of the most versatile distortions on the site.

Schematic

Schematic

MGV Schematic with modern improvements
MGV Schematic with modern improvementsOpen full sizeDownload PDF
Original Marshall The Guv'nor Schematic (For reference only)
Original Marshall™ The Guv'nor Schematic (For reference only)Open full sizeDownload PDF

Parts layout

Parts Layout / Wiring Diagram

MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 1 Wiring
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 1 WiringOpen full sizeDownload PDF
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 2 Wiring
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 2 WiringOpen full sizeDownload PDF
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 3 Wiring
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, Stage 3 WiringOpen full sizeDownload PDF
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, All Wiring
MGV Parts Layout/Wiring Diagram, All WiringOpen full sizeDownload PDF

What you will need

Bill of Materials

Version 2013November06 · Copyright 2007 JD Sleep · Permission refused for posting/serving this file from any site other than www.generalguitargadgets.com · Trademarks are property of their owners

Resistors

Resistor IDValue3-band Marking4-band Marking
R12k2 (2.2k)red-red-redred-red-black-brown
R210kbrown-black-orangebrown-black-black-red
R31Mbrown-black-greenbrown-black-black-yellow
R447kyellow-violet-orangeyellow-violet-black-red
R547kyellow-violet-orangeyellow-violet-black-red
R6680kblue-gray-yellowblue-gray-black-orange
R71kbrown-black-redbrown-black-black-brown
R8680 ohmblue-gray-brownblue-gray-black-black
R91k5 (1.5k)brown-green-redbrown-green-black-brown
R10680 ohmblue-gray-brownblue-gray-black-black
R11100 ohmbrown-black-brownbrown-black-black-black
R1222kred-red-orangered-red-black-red
R13None
R141kbrown-black-redbrown-black-black-brown
R15None
R162M2 (2.2 M)red-red-greenred-red-black-yellow

Capacitors

Capacitor IDValueTypePossible Marking
C10.1µFFilm104
C2100pFCeramic or Film101 (or 100pF)
C30.22µFFilm224
C40.1µFFilm104
C50.01µFFilm103
C60.068µFFilm683
C710µFAluminum Electrolytic10uF
C8220pFCeramic or Film221 (or 220pF)
C90.22µFFilm224
C100.1µFFilm104
C110.22µFFilm224
C120.01µFFilm103
C130.0047µFFilm472 or 4n7k
C14470pFCeramic or Film471 (or 470pF)

Potentiometers

Part IDValueType
VR1 - Gain Control100kLinear Taper
VR2 - Bass Tone Control10kLog (or Audio) Taper
VR3 - Mid Tone Control10kLog (or Audio) Taper
VR4 - Treble Tone Control10kLinear Taper
VR5 - Volume100kLinear Taper

Other

Part IDPart Name
IC1TL072 or other dual opamp
D1, D2Red LEDs
D3, D4, D5, D6 (optional for clipper switching) (D4 and D6 are option for variations on clipping)1N914 Diodes
D7LED
J1Stereo quarter-inch jack
J2Mono quarter-inch jack
J3DC Jack
B19 volt battery (not included in the Kit)
Sw1Heavy Duty 3PDT foot switch
Sw2 (optional for clipper switching)SPDT on-on toggle switch 9v battery snap, Printed Circuit Board, 24 gauge stranded wire, Enclosure, Knobs

How to build it

Instructions

Version 2013November06 · Copyright 2007 JD Sleep · Permission refused for posting/serving this file from any site other than www.generalguitargadgets.com · Trademarks are property of their owners

This is a replica of the MarshallTM Guv'norTM Distortion referred to as MGV in these documents. Use the project documents provided, starting with the General Build Instructions. Follow the layout diagrams to add components to the PCB and the wiring diagrams to hook it all up. D3, D4, D5 and D6 are optional diode clippers, the kit supplies these in 1N914 diodes, but others could be used. They can be configured with two diode clippers, three diode clippers for asymmetric clipping (as the photo below shows) or as a pair of 2 two diodes in series for smooth distortion (same clipper setup as the BluesBreaker™). The wiring diagram shows a toggle switch to switch from the LED clippers to these optional clippers. Note that if you do not use D4 or D6 diodes, D3 or D5 can be inserted across both diode placements and no jumper is needed, as shown with D5 in the photo below (the last photo in this document). R14 should be a 1k resistor. This is different from the original schematic with a 4k7 resistor for the LED current limiting resistor. The 1k resistor works better for the LED that we supply with the kit. Since the kit is a tight fit in a 125B enclosure, the following are some tips for putting the smaller one together. 1. Build up the PCB with all the parts and also the wires in the off-board wiring pads.

2. In the enclosure, start by installing the pots, switches, LED and DC jack, but not the in/out jacks yet.

3. Plug the plastic standoffs into the PCB, expose the sticky bases and set the PCB in place, then remove the PCB, this sets the standoffs in place. It's easier to do this before you start adding wires inside the enclosure, although you can see from the photo that we started wiring before we did this. 4. Install all the wiring between the parts in the enclosure. Jumper the two lugs on the foot switch.

5. Run a wire from the short leg of the LED to the switch 6. Run wires between the pots as shown in the photo and the “Stage 1” wiring

diagram. 7. The PCB sits over the LED and the lugs of the second row of pots, so we should wire these first before we set the PCB in place.

8. Next set the PCB back on the standoffs and do all the rest of the wiring except the toggle switch. Lift the PCB back up to run the wires under the PCB for the toggle switch wiring. 9. Set the PCB back in place, install the in/out jacks and wire them them in. Solder in the battery snap and you're done. A photo of the completed insides is shown below.

Comments and questions are welcome and can be sent to [email protected] Here is a chart of voltages taken at the IC pins. This information can be used to help you find and fix problems if your MGV doesn't work when you test it. These are approximate voltages, if yours are within 0.5 volt variance, you are probably okay, however, pin 4 should be zero volts and pin 8 should be same voltage as the 9v+

Component

Location

9 volt power supply IC1

Voltage

9v

Pin 1

4.5v

Pin 2

4.5v

Pin 3

4.2v

Pin 4

0v

Pin 5

4.5v

Pin 6

4.5v

Pin 7

4.5v

Pin 8

9v

Here's a view of the inside of the completed MarshallTM Guv'norTM replica in the smaller enclosure.

More about this project

Notes, sounds and related links

Ready to build? We have the kit.

Buy a MGV Complete Kit. Includes all the parts and materials you need to build one, all for about the price you would pay for a PCB and parts.

Would you like a Ready to Solder Circuit Board for this project?  Note: If you buy the kit, the Ready-to-Solder Printed Circuit Board (RTS PCB) is included in the kit.  You do not need to purchase this Ready to Solder Circuit Printed Board if you buy the kit.