Mellowtone Hi Five

[dugwolf]

Hello. I’m looking for more info on the Mellowtone Hi-Five circuit. I’ve tried searching, but I haven’t been able to find very much info so I thought I’d ask here. Anyone know anything about it? It’s my favorite boost/overdrive. I’m just curious if there’s any other pedals that are based on the same circuit.

[Gone Fission]

I don’t instantly recognize the circuit by the values. If I saw the underside of the board and pot values, I could probably trace it and I’m no ninja. A two transistor drive with no clipping diodes won’t be rocket surgery, which is a bonus if it sounds good.

[dubkitty]

i Googled for schematics and came up dry, though there are Singing Tree, Wolf Computer, and Wizard Fountain layouts available. i guess i could open mine up, but i would prefer not to because i'm completely innocent when it comes to pedal construction and undoing stuff i don't really understand scares me. if the OP could do that it'd be a bit simpler.

weirdly, when you Google "Mellowtone Hi Five" and select Images the first thing you see is an iteration of the FEB that got posted on Facebook LOL.

[dub]

You could hit them up on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellowtonemusicelec/

[dugwolf]

Thanks for the info! Knowing that it’s two transistors and no diodes is helpful. I don’t know if I’ll take it apart. I’m pretty clueless about pedal construction as well. I did message Mellowtone on Instagram a couple months ago, but never heard back.

[dubkitty]

the only clean boosts i’ve ever found that i like as much as the Hi Five are the Animals Pedal Vintage Van Driving Is Very Fun in low-gain mode and the new Fuzzhugger Scalable Pet. the Hi 5 has a certain difficult-to-describe feel to it that makes it particularly special. i need to spend more time with the Pet before i know where in the category it fits; it’s probably notable that the other 2 also do some OD/dirt sounds in their higher-gain modes.

[Gone Fission]

Disassembly ought to be easy. Remove the knobs, remove the nuts and washers around the potentiometer shafts (carefully collecting them for reassembly), and push/pull the PCB straight back until the shafts are all the way in the case, being careful not to over exert the connecting wires. If it’s a two layer board, the rest of the traces should be visible on the other side and look like the one connecting the + connection to the two 10k resistors. If it’s all there, that, the markings on the transistors, and the pot values should give all you need to know.

[dubkitty]

wouldn’t let me delete something i need to check before posting it.