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LPB1 CIRCUIT ANALYSIS

The LPB1 (Line Power Boost 1)
is a boost pedal that was
commercialized in 1968 by
Electro Harmonix. It is the first
boost pedal using a silicon
transistor. Indeed, previous
boosts like the Dallas
Rangemaster Treble Booster
were using germanium
transistors. Another novelty
with this pedal was that it was
boosting all frequencies and not
only trebles, making it the first
clean boost available!

The circuit is really the most

simple one you can imagine for
a boost:

First, there is a 0.1uF coupling

capacitor that prevents
parasitic DC current from the
guitar to go in the circuit. With
the R2 resistance, it forms a
high pass filter : by changing
its value, you can modulate the
amount of bass going through
the circuit. If you increase C1
value, more bass will go
through, and vice versa.

Then, there are two resistors

forming a voltage divider (R2
and R1), to provide a certain
voltage to the base of the
transistor. Here it is :
R2/(R2+R3)x9V
= 43/(43+430)x9=0,81V at the
transistor's base.

The silicon transistor is a

2n5088 (originally a 2n5133 -
same transistors that were used
in the Big Muff later), wired as a
common emitter. R4 and R3
will define the amount of
amplification. If you increase R4,
amplification will be larger. If
you increase R4, there will be
less gain.
A second 0.1uF coupling
capacitor that prevents DC
current from the battery to go
out of the circuit. Finally, a 100k
potentiometer wired as a
variable resistor defines the
final volume.

If you look carefuly, you can see

that the last stage of the Big
Muff circuit is exactly the same!
A LPB1 circuit is used to
increase the final volume.

Here is a global schematic for

what does what: (click to
enlarge)

5 comments

Δημήτριος January 27,

2018 at 8:52 AM
Thank you for the
schematic and analysis. As
an ammateur electronic
gadgets DIYer I tried to
follow but hit a snag in the
following two points:

i) from where the biasing of

the transistor comes

and

ii) the function(s) of R3 and

R4. Can you help me
please?

In i) it appears that biasing

comes from R1 and R2 but
then later you say that R3
and R4 also bias Q1.

In ii) it appears that R3 and

R4 work ..."against" each
other!? To me it sounds like
instead of complementing
they "balance" each other.
So what if I want to
introduce a variable resistor
in place of one of these
resistors to provide a
control for
increasing/reducing gain? At
the same time if R3 and R4
affect the biasing in
conjunction with R1 and R2
then how introducing a pot
will affect the entire design,
thus final output? Thanks
for your time and
explanation.
Reply

Evan Zaro May 16, 2018 at

10:43 PM
The transistor here is laid
out in common emitter
topology.

The bias voltage comes

from the voltage divider
formed with R1 and R2,
here the bias voltage is
simply VccR2/(R1+R2).

I would not say R4 and R3

are not bias resistors, that
terminology is a bit
misleading. From a small
signal perspective, R3 and
R4 are isolated from the
base of the transistor. To
reiterate, only R1, R2, and
the voltage supply is setting
the bias voltage for the
transistor.

The resistors R3 and R4 set

the gain. The gain of a
common emitter amplifier
will be approximately -
(R4||Rpot)/R3, where Rpot
is the resistance of the
potentiometer, and the
symbol || is to denote R4
and Rpot being in parallel:
R4||Rpot = (R4*Rpot)/(R4 +
Rpot).

Thus, the output signal will

be phase shifted 180
degrees and be amplified
by the ratio of R4*Rpot/(
R3*(R4 + Rpot) ). Now, it is
clear that the poteniometer
is used to vary the volume
of the amplitude/volume of
the output.

If you would like to learn

more about this circuit, I
would suggest researching
the common emitter
transistor topology. If you
want a more complete
understanding of basic
transistor topologies, there
is also the common base
and common collector.
Reply

Dr. Berti November 2,

2018 at 4:50 PM
This comment has been
removed by the author.
Reply

Dr. Berti November 2,

2018 at 4:51 PM
What about this: "If you
increase R4, amplification
will be larger. If you
increase R4, there will be
less gain." I think that it
wolud be: "If you decrease
R4, amplification will be
larger". What do you think?
Reply

Unknown December 28,

2018 at 12:29 PM
Hey man I was wondering if
the second capacitor has an
impact on tone or if it
serves some other purpose,
because in the screaming
bird they change both the
input cap and the second
cap to .022.
Reply

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