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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Finally got around to taking a few more pics of the Hi Five circuit. Got as much of the underside as I could without bending or removing the pots.

I'll trace it out later if no one beats me too it. Might be a NPN rangemaster variant?