Show Your Pedal Builds

Here's where things stand while I plan and budget for the next big hardware/component purchase. I still have a few dozen PCBs on hand.

IMG_5232.jpeg
 
I fancy putting together a circuit tonight. Do I build...

A - OG Blues breaker pedal
Or
B - Keeley Java Boost

I've never tried either of these and genuinely can't decide. I've played plenty of 'boutique' blues breakers before but never a stock Marshall spec.
 
I'm one step closer to completing the build-out of my pedal workspace. I've been waiting on an Autonomous dual motor standing desk for weeks, and it was scheduled for delivery today.

Too bad only the desktop arrived. The base is stuck somewhere in New Jersey. They both shipped out from the same location at the same time, but somehow got separated. Hopefully it will arrive by Wednesday.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I fancy putting together a circuit tonight. Do I build...

A - OG Blues breaker pedal
Or
B - Keeley Java Boost

I've never tried either of these and genuinely can't decide. I've played plenty of 'boutique' blues breakers before but never a stock Marshall spec.
Click to expand...
What did you pick?
 
eggpl@nt said:
What did you pick?
Click to expand...

Option C. I played my strat for a few hrs instead. :grin

I sat in with a friend's band last week for a few songs. They wanted to do some tunes that require two guitarists and we all enjoyed it so much they want to do it again. I don't know the tracks they're talking about so I've got some homework learning these tracks for Thursday.

I'm thinking about building the blues breaker next week though. It's still a bit hot here at the mo,especially in my workshop and I don't want to be measuring germanium transistors until I can get my room closer to 21c.
 
In the last few weeks, I’ve completed:
  • Aion Luna (4ms Tremulus Lune) - This was a kit build, which comes with all the praise I’ve already heaped upon Aion’s kits. It’s a nice pedal. I found a setting that sounds almost like a doubling effect, and I’ve parked it there.
  • PedalPCB Virgil (Digitech Bad Monkey) - I had one of these and sold it. I mainly built this pedal just to re-add the Bad Monkey to my hoard. It’s as I remember it - a good boost with some handy EQ controls. It stacks incredibly well with the…
  • PedalPCB Southern Belle (Greer Southland) - I expected to like this since it’s literally just a Lightspeed with some modifications to increase clipping. It’s a lovely higher gain OD - it cops what I want out of something like a BD2 in a more pleasant, smoother fashion. Stacks beautifully with lower gain / boosting overdrives.

No pics at the moment but maybe later. I still want to box up the Dielectric Boost (Lovepedal Tchula) then this phase of build is complete.
 
The September roundup:
  • Mint Ice Scream is a VFE Mint Ice Scream
  • Dielectric Boost is a Lovepedal Tchula
  • Virgil Drive is a Bad Monkey
  • Stratus Deluxe is a Boss SD1W
  • Titan is a Fulltone OCD
  • Southern Belle is a Greer Southland

The Ice Scream build is a perfect example of how frustrating PedalPCB's documentation can be. There are a couple DIP switches inside that toggle symmetrical/asymmetrical clipping or remove the clipping diodes all together. Which one is which? Who the fuck knows. (Well, I do, thanks to my signal generator and oscilloscope.) There was 0 indication on the PCB (aside from tracing and comparing against the schematic) or in the build documentation. It's a nice pedal - a very flexible screamer-type drive - but damn. PedalPCB could really stand to improve their documentation.

Compare that to Aion's Titan, which has 6 DIP switches inside, and the documentation perfectly explains how to use those DIP switches to approximate different versions of the OCD. Night and day.

Didn't really dig the Dielectric Drive. Granted, I haven't really explored it a ton yet - I need to try it more with single coils. Aesthetically, I ordered a 25mm knob because the 19mm knobs looks to small for this build.

Stratus Deluxe is fine, but I really don't know that I'm an SD1-lover. Even with the Bright Mod, the SD1 sounds duller and tubbier. The Waza Mode accentuates that tubbiness. However, Aion provides an alternate BOM for a more Tube Screamer-flavored build of the Stratus Deluxe, and I have a second PCB for exactly that purpose. I need another TS like a need a hole in the head, but I love em.


IMG_6226.jpeg
 
eggpl@nt said:
PedalPCB could really stand to improve their documentation.
Click to expand...

Yeah the pedalpcb docs are incredibly poor. It's the polar opposite of Aion, Madbean and Fuzzdog. They've all got great info in their build docs. I'd much rather pedalpcb released less projects and fleshed out the docs for the ones they have a bit more. The pcbs themselves are fantastic though .
 
I also like this (linked below) for breadboarding. I think the advantage of something like this is that it can move from breadboard to breadboard so if you have multiple projects in parallel, you don’t need to have multiple prototyping boards.


huntingtonaudio.com

Breadboard Butler

A no nonsense, power and signal caddy workhorse tool for breadboarding low voltage designs. I think that you'll find it to be a great addition to your prototyping workbench. I designed it when (picky old me) couldn't find an existing breadboard module out there that fit my needs. This one does...
huntingtonaudio.com huntingtonaudio.com
 
gearJunkie said:
This should be arriving early next week.

CopperSound Pedals DIY - Deluxe Breadboard

View attachment 53722

Integrated audio jacks, power jack, bypass switch, and status LED

2,290 points. Stereo I/O and TRS Expression.
Click to expand...


Dude I’m glad I saw this post. I’m going to order one of these mono board kits. Looks fun as hell, and with no soldering required to mess around, that’s perfect for tinkering.
 
I've rescued these two from a drawer. I don't remember what overdrives I built there. I am having a worrisome problem with my memory :facepalm The only thing I recall is that I probably abandoned them because they were implemented at the Fractal before I could put them inside a box

DIY1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ordered a Coppersound breadboard, some jumpers, and the Soft Clip OD pack. (Tubescreamer)

Figured that would be a logical place to start since it’s a pedal I’m familiar with.

Looks like fun. Hopefully this goes better than my amp build. :ROFLMAO:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top