That's right!  Popular demand has struck.  To satisfy the wishes of the populace and to silence the constant email inquiries, I decided to bring back the much loved The Lightning Boy tube drive/boost pedal.  I'm sure that will satisfy a good number of folks.  On Youtube recently, Intheblues channel, demoed the out-of-production pedal.  Here's that video if you haven't seen it yet:

So what's different about The Lightning Boy II?  Well, I wanted to keep it fairly true to the original, but I had a number of personal issues with the original that I wanted to change with the new version.  First off, the LB2 will operate on 12V instead of 9, providing more headroom and more gain.  Next, the original version was designed to be as inexpensive as possible, which forced me to make many compromises on components and the circuitry.  This time around, no cutting of corners to make a low priced product.  Its going to cost a bit more, but you're getting a much cooler pedal.  There will be an internal switch that can be accessed by taking off the back plate.  The switch will toggle between normal operation and "Turbo," a feature that will be on all new LBA products since the Op-2 Comp.  The original had no noise filtering electronics, since that would have increased the cost of the pedal.  The LB2 will have a number of features designed to reduce noise.  There's going to be a noise filter cap, improved grounding path to eliminate internal ground loop noise, and the tube filaments will be running about 1v under normal, which will not affect performance of the tube, but it will lower the noise created by the heater filaments by about 5dB and it will radically extend the life of the vacuum tube.  The tube itself will ship with a tube damper mounted on it, stock, to minimize microphonic noise, which could be heard as an amplified "click" when stepping on the pedal.  The tube socket is getting upgraded to the super tight kind used in the Op-2 Comp.  The original socket was an el-cheapo.  The new sockets are double the price, but they are more than double as good.  Super grip means, better transfer of signal (better sound) and reduced risk of the tube ever becoming accidentallly unseated (which I never heard of happening to begin with).  The visual look of the pedal will be very similar, with an almost identical top panel decal and single big knob.  The knob is getting upgraded to the same one as I'm using for Trinity.  This knob is actually 4x's more expensive than the original knob used on The Lightning Boy, but it looks 10x's cooler!  The back plate and side are going to be laser engraved instead of hand engraving to save time and reduce the risk of mistakes.  Machine work will be done via CNC instead of by hand to reduce cost and improve accuracy.

The original pedal had a 1 year warranty, mostly due to the low quality parts used in it.  The new version will have a mighty 5 year warranty because it won't be using anything less than the best of the best parts.  
  
Availability:  I'm aiming for a February 2017 release of the pedal.  At this point it looks like The Lightning Boy II will sell for right around $200 USD.  We're currently accepting pre-orders, which will be for $180 USD.  Free shipping on all pre-orders.  The pre-orders will ship in late January 2017.  There's already people on the waiting list prior to the publishing of this blog post.   Email [email protected] if you're interested in pre-ordering The Lightning Boy II.  

I started work on designing Trinity in March of 2015.  Today I feel confident in saying I am done prototyping and ready to move into production... for real.  I said this once before, but it never happened.  I realized then that I rushing things for no reason.  I decided to take my time and create something I could be super proud of for the rest of my life.  Today I feel so massively accomplished.  It has been the most complicated journey of my life, but I'm a better, smarter man as a result.  I'm looking forward to sharing my masterpiece with the world. 

There have been several massive hurtles on this journey.  The biggest was noise, which I have done a great job of limiting (-90dB at full volume, drop the input volume to 50% and the noise is -110dB).  Second was the EQ section.  The EQ was strangely way more difficult to get perfectly integrated than I expected.  It would cause self oscillation at extreme settings and with the knobs centered the response was not flat.  There was also an 18kHz roll off regardless of knob positions.  I tried so many different EQ circuits with no success before finally getting smart.  After finally getting some software to run EQ simulations I was able to design an EQ that is perfectly flat in response when the knobs are centered, offers a good amount of boost and cut, and does not cause self oscillation at any setting.   I started with the "James" EQ, which is a passive version of the Baxandall circuit.  That circuit is not perfectly flat with the knobs centered, so I had to modify it.  The circuit still oscillated at extreme settings, but thankfully I came up with a mod that resolved this issue.  I got it worked out really good.  The other element of the EQ equation is the amplifier section that drives it.  The EQ has its own tube, which is out of circuit when the EQ is bypassed.  Its a 6922 cathode follower circuit with some negative feedback around it to create a super clean low impedance output to drive the EQ.  It sounds stupendous!  The EQ adds a bit of THD when engaged, but its not over the top.  It sounds very warm and musical.

Next week I'll do some thorough tests measurements for the Trinity page.  Next step is to build a production model.  Thanks to the high cost of prototyping it will have to wait a little bit.           

Without a doubt, this project is the most significant thing I've worked on to date.  Its a complicated analog device that needs to perform like a space ship (minus the whole going to space thing).  Lots of requirements like low noise, flat frequency response throughout and beyond the audio band, low THD, decent amount of gain, all controls work perfectly, no self oscillations at any setting, and tons of flexibility.  Basically it needs to do a ton of stuff really well and offer a sound that's highly desirable.

That all said, I went back to the drawing board about a month ago or so, with good initial results.  Its better now.  The current prototype has no EQ in the circuit yet.  I wanted to get everything else performing perfectly before designing the EQ section.  I'm writing this blog post today because I'm finally really satisfied with the amplifier.  It sounds absolutely stunning.  High resolution and pretty low noise with a decent amount of gain.  The sound is what its all about and it sounds nothing short of amazing.  The current topology is a single ended ultra-linear pentode amplifier driving a custom output transformer.  THD is 0.185% with a 2kHz sine wave feeding the input with 80mV and the volume knob on the channel strip set to 100%.  At that setting the noise floor is measured at -90dB A-weighted RMS and the gain delivered is 48dB.  Turn the volume knob down to 75% and the noise floor drops to -100dB.  Kick on the turbo and the gain jumps from 48dB to 57dB!  With the turbo engaged, the THD is just over .3% with the volume knob cranked.  With those settings, the A-weighted RMS noise floor is -80dB.     

There's still a lot of work to do, but at least now things are looking better than ever and most importantly, it sounds absolutely wonderful!  

We're going to offer a giveaway for the exact Op-2 Comp pedal used in our crash test video (video below). If you're already on our email list you'll be automatically entered into this giveaway. If you're not on the list, sign up here before September 1st:  http://eepurl.com/lELgf.
A winner will be selected from our email list subscribers at random on September 1st. We will announce the winner on our facebook page and the winner will be notified by email. If we do not hear back from the winner within 3 days, a new winner will be selected at random and the process will repeat until we hear back from someone with their shipping info.

Things have really been on the up and up lately.  A lot has been getting accomplished.  I finally found enough time to get back to work on designing the Trinity channel strip system.  Looking back I realized how far I had come and how much I had learned along the way.  After spending a few days trying out new ideas and getting nowhere significant I decided to scrap the design and start over from scratch.  It really sucked having to make that decision.  Bottom line is I am a perfectionist and I have a vision for what the final product will be.  I tried everything, exhausted all possibilities and spent probably too much time trying to make the damn thing meet all of my insane performance requirements.  Scrapping the design to start over made the most sense in order to meet the system requirements I set forth well over a year ago.  I started over by designing a block diagram of how the new version should be laid out.  It will be significantly more expensive now, which also sucks, but the sound and performance are what matter to me.  

Today, I made some incredible developments.  The Trinity channel strip will have 3 vacuum tubes in it, each one representing a gain stage.  Today I finally was successful in developing a working prototype of the first gain stage,  in which my sound and performance requirements have been exceeded.  The first stage offers 35dB of gain (with a gain knob for the input level).  The noise floor of this stage at full volume is -110dB on the spectrum analyzer.  It has a very flat response from DC-25kHz, which is the cutoff point of my analyzer.  I'll use my o-scope soon to determine how far out the high frequencies extend before rolling off.  25kHz is pretty awesome as it is, but I feel like it probably goes way up.  The THD is below 0.1% with a 1v 2kHz sine wave, but I can't give an exact number until I conduct more tests.  Each stage will contribute some THD, so it needs to be low... although some THD is ok with me.  My limit for what I feel sounds great in normal situations is 0.47% THD.  To me, anything above half a percent is too colorful to be an all-around-player.  Above .5% it becomes to me, a specific sound and color that is desirable for only certain situations.      

This new design for Trinity is going to be very expensive and will probably take a considerable amount of time to work out, but I'm sure I can get it done in under a year!  The new layout calls for 4 audio transformers in the signal path, twice as many as before.  Its necessary for total isolation between the various circuits.  The EQ circuit especially needs to be isolated for noise and stability reasons.  I'm planning to go with a push/pull output stage this time around to minimize noise and THD, while providing plenty of volume.  I experimented yesterday with using an interstage transformer as a phase inverter and it worked great.  That's the plan for the output stage.  The main thing I need to figure out is a low noise tube stage for the EQ circuitry.  That stage mainly needs to provide about 20dB of low noise gain that's relatively clean.  I would be cool with a higher amount of THD with the EQ on vs. bypassed.  It would be easier to design and I think no one would complain about more tube tone.  More to come!    

Lots going on and planned for the future.  Jon set up an instagram account for LBA and is managing that for us.  If you're on Instagram, head over and check out http://www.instagram.com/lightningboyaudio.

In other news, we shot an crazy video in which we demolish an Op-2 Comp (or attempt to) to demonstrate how bullet proof the design is.  People have expressed concerned over the fragility of the glass tubes when it comes to gigging and possible stage falls.  Others have shown concern over the reliability of point-to-point wiring vs. everyone else's PCB building techniques. This video was put together to silence the naysayers.  There is no way in hell your pedal will ever be abused to the extremes we put it though.  Check out the vid here:

Yep, it works and it sounds great!  A one-off for LBA Recording Studio (new website coming soon with photos).  After I finished designing the Op-2 Comp and finished teaching Jon how to build them exactly as I would, I was supposed to get back to work on the Trinity project.  I decided to take a slight detour and completely rebuild the control room at LBA Recording Studio from the ground up.  lol.  That was no slight detour, btw!  I have been planning to do this for years.  Really, I just needed the time, money, and motivation.  It was a huge job that would not be complete unless I built a vacuum tube powered mixing board.  Here it is... the Trinity Master Module.  Its expandable, so as the years drift on I can keep adding modules to expand its capabilities.  The Master module seen here is a 10 channel mixer with pan controls for 8 channels.  The other two channels are fixed hard left and right.  There's a Master output volume attenuator (Gold Point stepped attenuator), and left/right master trim controls for the tube output amplifier stage.  Most of the controls are for the stereo master, which include independent left/right channel mutes, a master mute, phase invert, mono/stereo switch, speaker selector, input selector (external stereo input or 10 channel internal mixer), and output selector (monitor, bounce).  The board is powered by the Trinity system's "Beast Mode Power Supply," which can supply power to 4 different Trinity system devices.  Right now its powering the Trinity Master Module, the Trinity ARA (Auxiliary Return Amplifier), and a prototype Trinity Channel Strip.  The idea is a bunch of Trinity Channel Strips feed into the Trinity Master Module.  This is probably the first all-tube point-to-point hand wired mixing board made since the 1950's, but its lightyears beyond in terms of technology and fidelity.  The mixer is basically noiseless (-110dB noise floor) and has practically no crosstalk, with a flat response from DC-30kHz.  In terms of sound its more punchy and forward than the Flux Bender EQ, but with some of the same tonal qualities.  Very clean, but tastefully warm.

I have been hunting for a low noise 12v power adapter with a negative barrel center for a long time.  Up until now the best solution for someone looking to power their Op-2 Comp off a single wall adapter (not a multi-pedal supply) has been the TC Electronic adapter we have been offering.  I was not entirely satisfied with the noise performance of this adapter, but it was better than average.  The main reason I had to look harder is because one customer had a problem with their TC adapter not working sometimes.  Lightning Boy can not back a shoddy product and thankfully we don't have to thanks to the new adapter option I'm about to tell you about.  We're now offering a new adapter for sale with or separate from the Op-2 Comp.  This 12v adapter was designed for computer applications, so it has super low noise.  The main problem with adapters like that is the barrel jack's center is positive.  To remedy this, we are including a polarity reversal adapter jack that plugs onto the DC barrel jack of the power adapter.  The combo ships together for one price of $24.95 USD.  I'm happy to say I finally found a low priced low noise 12v solution for Op-2 Comp.  This power supply offers a whopping 2A of current. Its plenty of juice if you wanted to daisy chain a few 12V tube pedals off one low noise supply.  

Customer concerns about powering the Op-2 Comp:

Question:  what are you planning to offer or recommend as a power supply for the Op-2 Comp now that you've switched over to 12v?  
Answer:  We have tested a number of wall wart style 12VDC power supplies for low noise and selected the one we feel performs the best.  We are now offering a TC Electronics branded supply for optional purchase with the Op-2 Comp.  
 
Question:  What if I don't want a wall wart?  I want to power all my pedals from one power supply/brick.  Not a wall wart and no daisy chains.  
Answer:  There are many products on the market that supply at least 400mA at 12v and also supplies 9v to multiple jacks.  Some examples are the Voodoo Lab 4x4, Voodoo Lab ISO-5, Eventide Powerfactor 2, Cioks Big John, AC10, DC10, TC10, Ciokolate and the upcoming DC10 Link. Additionally, the TRex Goliath has 12vdc at 450 ma outputs. While a bit more obscure, Yankee Power has several power supply products that can supply 12 vdc at 400 ma minimum. 

Question:  But I already have the MXR Iso Brick.  I need something that can power your 12v pedal(s) and the Iso Brick, which needs 18V DC @ 2A regulated.  
Answer:  I'm not aware of anything that does exactly that.  In this situation, the only solution I can think of is a custom power supply that I could build for you.  It would have 3 regulated DC outputs.  Two 12v 400mA outs and one 18v 2A out, all isolated.  Not an inexpensive solution though!  

I have been working closely with Cyrus from Ovnilab to make improvements to the design of Op-2 Comp.  He has been playing with the pedal and gave me some valuable recommendations for improving the product.  I did not take what he said lightly.  Since Op-2 Comp hasn't been released yet, I made all the changes he suggested.  Here's the list of changes:

• The pedal will sell for just under $380 instead of $400, but the first run will be sold for $360 each.  Read on to learn more about that.  
• The pedal now runs on 12v at 400mA instead of 9v at 1270mA.  Less current draw is a big plus, but the added voltage was much needed to create more headroom.  This change also created more volume, more compression, and a cleaner tone.   
• The on/off power switch is no more.  The unit powers on as soon as you turn on/plug in your power supply.  The on/off switch is still on the pedal, but now it does something different.  Its called "Turbo."  When the turbo switch is engaged, it gives you more "Tube tone" and more volume.  Technically what it does is increase the THD slightly, it modifies the frequency response super slightly, and it boosts the volume.  Basically it sounds thicker and warmer.  
  

Since the first run of pedal cases have already been made with the original nomenclature, they will be discounted.  Every Op-2 Comp we release will be this new Revision A.  The first run will be hand engraved on the back to indicate Revision A and 12v DC @ 400mA.  There is a limited supply of 1st run pedals, so they are first come first serve.  
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Unfortunately, Gearmanndude reviewed the pedal before the revision A update, so we're working on putting together a shootout video of the original design vs Revision A.  The difference is massive, so that's why we decided to go with Rev A for the official release.