Post-Lockdown pedal building

roberty

Finished a few more up

This one I've been dragging my heels on. I fucked up the drilling so I filled the holes up with a metal epoxy and drilled them again. I managed to melt one of the pot covers in the resulting confusion which is a bit embarrassing. It has my trademark slightly wonky label. I intend to use this for practicing with since it's more or less half a pedal board in one unit







The LEDs are colour coded with the knobs. The red LED isn't as bright as the other two so I'll probably change the CLR at some point



I did this Tone Bender MK II as well, pretty standard:





And lastly this thing from Parasit which sounds absolutely bonkers:





Quick phone recording through the Spark:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7jl1icaoyyw0m6r/2022_04_19_22_35_32.mp3?dl=0

I will never be one of those people who can make things neat and straight. I think I will focus my efforts elsewhere now. I have more dirt pedals than I could use in a lifetime. Maybe 50

Cookiemonster

roberty said:

Finished a few more up

This one I've been dragging my heels on. I fucked up the drilling so I filled the holes up with a metal epoxy and drilled them again. I managed to melt one of the pot covers in the resulting confusion which is a bit embarrassing. It has my trademark slightly wonky label. I intend to use this for practicing with since it's more or less half a pedal board in one unit







The LEDs are colour coded with the knobs. The red LED isn't as bright as the other two so I'll probably change the CLR at some point



I did this Tone Bender MK II as well, pretty standard:





And lastly this thing from Parasit which sounds absolutely bonkers:





Quick phone recording through the Spark:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7jl1icaoyyw0m6r/2022_04_19_22_35_32.mp3?dl=0

I will never be one of those people who can make things neat and straight. I think I will focus my efforts elsewhere now. I have more dirt pedals than I could use in a lifetime. Maybe 50

I have the same issues and interestingly the same solder sucker

TJT1979

I’m looking to build a couple more. A Phase90 from Fuzzdog, and something for boost/drive/fuzz…

I’d like something which can go from a cleanish boost up to fuzzy. Something granular with texture. Needs to feel dynamic and respond to volume pot on the guitar. 

Any thoughts?

Initially I’m drawn to Red Llama or Astrotone from Fuzzdog, or the Dual Broadcast from Jed. 

I’ve done quite a few Fuzzdog builds (the newish Gorva switches are excellent!) but never anything from Jeds. 

Has anybody compared these? I’d be going into a lightly crunchy amp. 

Thanks in advance. 

roberty

@TJT1979 to be honest I think the circuit you're describing is the humble Rat :-) I am aware that they are a bit marmite so might not be your thing (I love them personally).  They go from cleanish boost to fuzzy and everything in between, have a grainy texture, and are responsive to guitar volume

Cookiemonster

TJT1979 said:

I’m looking to build a couple more. A Phase90 from Fuzzdog, and something for boost/drive/fuzz…

I’d like something which can go from a cleanish boost up to fuzzy. Something granular with texture. Needs to feel dynamic and respond to volume pot on the guitar. 

Any thoughts?

Initially I’m drawn to Red Llama or Astrotone from Fuzzdog, or the Dual Broadcast from Jed. 

I’ve done quite a few Fuzzdog builds (the newish Gorva switches are excellent!) but never anything from Jeds. 

Has anybody compared these? I’d be going into a lightly crunchy amp. 

Thanks in advance. 

I have built a few llamas. You can get a otalgia board for a few pounds on ebay and source parts for very cheap

TJT1979

roberty said:

@TJT1979 to be honest I think the circuit you're describing is the humble Rat :-) I am aware that they are a bit marmite so might not be your thing (I love them personally).  They go from cleanish boost to fuzzy and everything in between, have a grainy texture, and are responsive to guitar volume

Perhaps. I’ve never tried a Rat but I’ve always liked the sound of them on videos! My worry is that they are a bit too Distortion-y, and quite high-gain before the fuzzy texture kicks in. Also with Fuzzdog’s kits there are a few different variants (3 band EQ, Baxendall, etc) which makes me confused and scares me away!

Cookiemonster said:

I have built a few llamas. You can get a otalgia board for a few pounds on ebay and source parts for very cheap

Would you say it fits my description? Without having played one I wonder if they get a bit boomy, especially in a band context. 

Cookiemonster

TJT1979 said:

roberty said:

@TJT1979 to be honest I think the circuit you're describing is the humble Rat :-) I am aware that they are a bit marmite so might not be your thing (I love them personally).  They go from cleanish boost to fuzzy and everything in between, have a grainy texture, and are responsive to guitar volume

Perhaps. I’ve never tried a Rat but I’ve always liked the sound of them on videos! My worry is that they are a bit too Distortion-y, and quite high-gain before the fuzzy texture kicks in. Also with Fuzzdog’s kits there are a few different variants (3 band EQ, Baxendall, etc) which makes me confused and scares me away!

Cookiemonster said:

I have built a few llamas. You can get a otalgia board for a few pounds on ebay and source parts for very cheap

Would you say it fits my description? Without having played one I wonder if they get a bit boomy, especially in a band context. 

Its so cheap to build I would definitely try it. I do like mine. But I do think the Rat sounds like a good idea. Btw a Rat on low gain is a killer thing. Just fantastic sounding

Cookiemonster

TJT1979 said:

I’m looking to build a couple more. A Phase90 from Fuzzdog, and something for boost/drive/fuzz…

I’d like something which can go from a cleanish boost up to fuzzy. Something granular with texture. Needs to feel dynamic and respond to volume pot on the guitar. 

Any thoughts?

Initially I’m drawn to Red Llama or Astrotone from Fuzzdog, or the Dual Broadcast from Jed. 

I’ve done quite a few Fuzzdog builds (the newish Gorva switches are excellent!) but never anything from Jeds. 

Has anybody compared these? I’d be going into a lightly crunchy amp. 

Thanks in advance. 

Jeds are great btw, and without the support page they have on Facebook, I think I would have given up and not made any pedals, now I have built more than I can remember, so do recommend the site. If you haven't already buy a test rig, it changes everything

roberty

TJT1979 said:

roberty said:

@TJT1979 to be honest I think the circuit you're describing is the humble Rat :-) I am aware that they are a bit marmite so might not be your thing (I love them personally).  They go from cleanish boost to fuzzy and everything in between, have a grainy texture, and are responsive to guitar volume

Perhaps. I’ve never tried a Rat but I’ve always liked the sound of them on videos! My worry is that they are a bit too Distortion-y, and quite high-gain before the fuzzy texture kicks in. Also with Fuzzdog’s kits there are a few different variants (3 band EQ, Baxendall, etc) which makes me confused and scares me away!

Yeah the Rat is only really fuzzy at the more extreme distortion settings. Re: variants I wouldn't bother with the Bandaxal or the Fuzz Pups. The little ones are really fiddly and you won't have a good time if you're new to building. The standard 3 knob rat is a classic for a reason

Cookiemonster

roberty said:

TJT1979 said:

roberty said:

@TJT1979 to be honest I think the circuit you're describing is the humble Rat :-) I am aware that they are a bit marmite so might not be your thing (I love them personally).  They go from cleanish boost to fuzzy and everything in between, have a grainy texture, and are responsive to guitar volume

Perhaps. I’ve never tried a Rat but I’ve always liked the sound of them on videos! My worry is that they are a bit too Distortion-y, and quite high-gain before the fuzzy texture kicks in. Also with Fuzzdog’s kits there are a few different variants (3 band EQ, Baxendall, etc) which makes me confused and scares me away!

Yeah the Rat is only really fuzzy at the more extreme distortion settings. Re: variants I wouldn't bother with the Bandaxal or the Fuzz Pups. The little ones are really fiddly and you won't have a good time if you're new to building. The standard 3 knob rat is a classic for a reason

I totally agree. Although I am building the life pedal !! Currently. 

The Rat is something I have also built on Vero, so must have been 3 I think versions. This Life pedal I am intrigued about, but I think at it's heart it's just a Rat, octave and boost

roberty

@Cookiemonster the life pedal is amazing, you're in for a treat. Inverted fifth chords sound apocalyptic. Obviously it does the rat thing too but it is so much more than that

stickyfiddle

Yeah, the Life is utterly brilliant. I’m not a doom guy by any metric but it’s just a brilliant little box of *noise*

LastMantra

roberty said:

Finished a few more up

This one I've been dragging my heels on. I fucked up the drilling so I filled the holes up with a metal epoxy and drilled them again. I managed to melt one of the pot covers in the resulting confusion which is a bit embarrassing. It has my trademark slightly wonky label. I intend to use this for practicing with since it's more or less half a pedal board in one unit







The LEDs are colour coded with the knobs. The red LED isn't as bright as the other two so I'll probably change the CLR at some point



I did this Tone Bender MK II as well, pretty standard:





And lastly this thing from Parasit which sounds absolutely bonkers:





Quick phone recording through the Spark:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7jl1icaoyyw0m6r/2022_04_19_22_35_32.mp3?dl=0

I will never be one of those people who can make things neat and straight. I think I will focus my efforts elsewhere now. I have more dirt pedals than I could use in a lifetime. Maybe 50

They look great, very tidy inside.

Tbf big decals are tricky. They can change shape when you wet them and the bigger they are the more noticeable any imperfections are. Smaller ones, and with a border like your tonebender, always look better ime. 

The magic mushroom I'd probably make the two rectangles round the pots/switches separate and put a line round the writing/image and have that separate too. Even maybe cut the mushroom image out carefully with small scissors or a craft knife. Looks good as it is though!

roberty

@LastMantra cheers thanks. There is some logic to the Mushroom rectangles, the switches change the mode of the knobs underneath them, so the switch and the knob control one function as a pair. There's probably a better way to do it but I think it's quite clear what everything does at least

roberty

The trick with decals is to print them on paper and keep adjusting the designs until they line up. I keep forgetting though haha

LastMantra

roberty said:

@LastMantra cheers thanks. There is some logic to the Mushroom rectangles, the switches change the mode of the knobs underneath them, so the switch and the knob control one function as a pair. There's probably a better way to do it but I think it's quite clear what everything does at least

That's cool, and I like the knob colour choice too!

roberty

@LastMantra I want a blue one where the yellow is for RGB, it looks a bit reggae at the moment haha

poopot

Quick and dirty demo of the recent pedal

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc2iASErPlI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Cookiemonster

poopot said:

Quick and dirty demo of the recent pedal

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc2iASErPlI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Following you on Instagram 

LastMantra

poopot said:

Quick and dirty demo of the recent pedal

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc2iASErPlI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds good. And you can play with no hands!