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aion Lab Series Manual

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PROJECT NAME
L4 BASS PREAMP
BASED ON
Lab Series
®
L4 Bass Preamp
EFFECT TYPE
Bass preamp, overdrive & compressor
PROJECT SUMMARY
A pedal adaptation of the two-channel preamp of the Lab Series® L4 bass amplifier from the late 1970s,
a downtuned relative of the legendary L5.
Actual size is 5.48" x 2.61" (main board) and 4.90" x 0.71" (bypass board).
L4 BASS PREAMP
BUILD DIFFICULTY
Advanced
DOCUMENT VERSION
1.0.0 (2023-07-04)
1

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  • Page 1 1.0.0 (2023-07-04) PROJECT SUMMARY A pedal adaptation of the two-channel preamp of the Lab Series® L4 bass amplifier from the late 1970s, a downtuned relative of the legendary L5. Actual size is 5.48” x 2.61” (main board) and 4.90” x 0.71” (bypass board).

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    While Lab Series was considered its own brand, the parent company Norlin also owned Moog, who was responsible for the design of the whole Lab Series lineup. The L4 and its single-channel sibling, the L2, used the L5’s circuit as a starting point for the preamp design.
  • Page 3 USAGE The L4 Bass Preamp has the following controls: Channel 1 • Deep (toggle switch) boosts bass frequencies at 100 Hz when on. When off, the signal remains roughly flat. • Treble, Mid and Bass form a standard Fender-style 3-band passive EQ. •...

  • Page 4: Circuit Design Notes

    When developing the original Lab Series L5 Preamp, we adapted a supply scheme from Alesis rack units in the early 1990s that involved a 9VAC adapter and an AC voltage tripler. This was then rectified to bipolar +/-19V DC and regulated down to 15V on each rail.

  • Page 5: Parts List

    PARTS LIST This parts list is also available in a spreadsheet format which can be imported directly into Mouser for easy parts ordering. Mouser doesn’t carry all the parts (most notably potentiometers) so the second tab lists all the non-Mouser parts as well as sources for each. →...
  • Page 6 PARTS LIST, CONT. PART VALUE TYPE NOTES 470k Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W 100k Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W...
  • Page 7 PARTS LIST, CONT. PART VALUE TYPE NOTES Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W 100k Metal film resistor, 1/4W 100k Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W Metal film resistor, 1/4W...
  • Page 8 PARTS LIST, CONT. PART VALUE TYPE NOTES Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm 150n Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm 2.2uF Film capacitor, 7.2 x 5mm Original amp uses 2.7uF tantalum, but 2.2uF film will work the same. 220pF MLCC capacitor, NP0/C0G 330n...
  • Page 9 PARTS LIST, CONT. PART VALUE TYPE NOTES 2N5088 BJT transistor, NPN, TO-92 2N3904 BJT transistor, NPN, TO-92 2N3904 BJT transistor, NPN, TO-92 2N5457 JFET, N-channel, TO-92 Original uses PN4303, but 2N5457 will perform the same. 2N3906 BJT transistor, PNP, TO-92 MPSA13 Darlington transistor, NPN, TO-92 LF356N...
  • Page 10 PARTS LIST, CONT. PART VALUE TYPE NOTES FREQUENCY 100kC dual 16mm dual pot, right angle TREBLE 2 25kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot VOLUME 2 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot Original uses 2.5kA. See build notes. MASTER 25kA 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot LIMIT 50kC 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot...

  • Page 11: Build Notes

    BUILD NOTES DC converter selection There are several brands and models available, all with the same pinout and similar specifications. Here are the DC converters we’ve found that will work in this circuit. BRAND PART # MOUSER # SUPPLY NOTES Traco TEC 3-0923 495-TEC3-0923...
  • Page 12 BUILD NOTES, CONT. Calibration The L4 Preamp has two different calibration trimmers, located on the far-left side of the PCB. To set these, all you will need is a multimeter and a signal generator (which can be a computer or smartphone). Note that all voltages are taken in AC, not DC, since we are dealing with audio signal levels.
  • Page 13 Due to the height of the DC converter and electrolytic capacitors, the components on the switching PCB are mounted on the bottom, the same side as the footswitch. This is in contrast with most other Aion FX projects where the switch is mounted on the bottom of the switching sub-board and the components face up.

  • Page 14: Schematic

    SCHEMATIC (CHANNEL 1, CHANNEL 2) CH.1 IN LF356N IC2B RC4558P DEEP 1A 22uF 22pF IC2A 22pF RC4558P DISTORTION & LIMITER DEEP 1B BASS 2 25kB IC5B INPUT C IC4B RC4558P RC4558P 4.7uF IC3B IC4A RC4558P RC4558P CH.2 IN DEEP 2A INPUT A 220pF IC5A...
  • Page 15 SCHEMATIC (DISTORTION, COMPRESSOR, SWITCHING, POWER) 2N5457 100k IC9B RC4558P IC9A IC8B IC8A RC4558P LM13700N LM13700N 2N3904 IC7B 2N3904 RC4558P TEST 10uF 100pF IC8_BUF1 LM13700N 220pF 2N3906 FROM CHANNEL 1 IC8_BUF2 LIMIT LED & CHANNEL 2 LM13700N 3mm red IC7A RC4558P MPSA13 Channel switching &...
  • Page 16 DRILL TEMPLATE INSTRUCTIONS Cut out the drill template on the following page, fold the edges and tape it to the enclosure. Before drilling, it’s recommended to first use a center punch for each of the holes to help guide the drill bit. Ensure that the template is printed at 100% or “Actual Size”.

  • Page 17: Drill Template

    DRILL TEMPLATE INCH 0.9” 0.9” ø3/8” ø3/8” ø1/2” VOLUME 1 MIDRANGE 1 VOLUME 2 MIDRANGE 2 FREQUENCY MASTER x: -2.33, y: +1.58 x: -1.50, y: +1.58 x: -0.41, y: +1.58 x: +0.41, y: +1.58 x: +1.24, y: +1.58 x: +2.33, y: +1.58 ø9/32”...

  • Page 18: Enclosure Layout

    ENCLOSURE LAYOUT Enclosure is shown without jacks. See next page for jack layout and wiring. Note: The upper pads for the dual-gang gain potentiometer appear to be cut in half. This is intentional! It’s called a plated half-hole or castellated via, and it’s used so that the PCB can lay flat across the pots instead of angling upward for the dual pot.

  • Page 19: Wiring Diagram

    WIRING DIAGRAM OUT GND -V CH.2 CH.1 CH.2 CH.1 +V JACK GND JACK 1590XX L4 PREAMP...

  • Page 20: Document Revisions

    LICENSE & USAGE No direct support is offered for these projects beyond the provided documentation. It’s assumed that you have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and refunds cannot be offered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error. All of these circuits have been tested in good faith in their base configurations.

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Lab l4 bass preamp

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