A WHOLE LOTTA PEDAL STUFF
Well folks I have been spending a LOT of time analyzing, designing, and building pedals.
This are will get filled up shortly. But here is the tentative plan – I will offering twists on some great pedals. I will fully explain why I made certain small changes and it going to be A WHOLE LOTTA FUN.
What is critical about pedal use is the other half of the equation. THE AMP. You need a good pedal friendly amp! If not, you are wasting your time IMO. More on this later.
As pedals become available for sale you should see them pop up here. But keep in mind I am not planning a mass production type offering – each pedal will be INDIVIDUAL. I am going to giving you the opportunity to have a custom name and colour for your pedal and the overall design of the pedal will follow some basic structures. I don’t foresee any tubescreamer type pedals in the future offerings as there are already a million different versions out there, but who knows?
My pedals are designed to run on a regular 9V pedal power supply – no battery option. If battery powered is something you need, let me know.
Pedals are all handmade by yours truly, so no fancy box or details instructions.
PROCO RAT & PHAEZ SAVAGE
BJF Dyna Red Distortion
I also want to mention the BJFe Dyna Red Distortion – it certainly gets it’s DNA from the RAT circuit. It’s been around for a long time and is loved by many. Red LED’s in the feedback loop – NICE. I have got to the heart of what makes it tick, and have come up with the Iron Viper. One thing I don’t really like about the orginal is the unity gain buffer at the end of the circuit which follows a couple of diodes which really clamp the voltage. This has been a minor complaint of the Dyna Red Distortion (DRD) by many.
What is interesting is the DRD and the highly respected Fortin-modded TS808 are birds of a feather. No exactly the same of course, but there is a real resemblance!
In my version, the last stage offers a bit of recovery so the output of the pedal is not so low. Works fabulous! Like all my my pedals, I designed custom boards and will post an inside pic when I remember.
Iron Viper
ON SALE! US$89 is the sale price as the aesthetics will be changing for future ones. This one is based on the Dyna Red Distortion. Main change: Modest gain stage instead of simple buffer at the end. Makes for more output, doesn’t affect the tone. Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
MI CRUNCH BOX/MARSHALL GUV’NOR/JHS ANGRY CHARLIE
I am lumping these together as they are essentially brothers. The JHS is essentially a Crunch Box but followed with the BAX tonestack. The Angry Charlie suffers IMO by cascading 2 gain stages EACH with 100X (max) gain factor. Well 100X100 = max gain of 10,000. LOL. It does the same thing as the RAT – the opamp hits the rails. It doesn’t clip due to saturation! The diodes would be trying to clip a signal that is basically SQUARE. I have some ideas for a modified AC circuit and will up things here as I work on it.
Again, let me state that the 98% of the clipping you hear from these pedals is from the op amp hitting the PS rail, NOT the red LED’s at the end of the circuit.
You guys like Gary Moore? I certainly do and one of the main facets of his great tone is his use of the Guv’nor. The Guv’nor is similar in framework to the MI Crunchbox/Angry Charlie. The Marshall Guv’nor has a JCM/Plexi type tonestack. Gain for the 2 opamps totals a more reasonable 3000X vs triple that for Angry Charlie (and some other what I call “crunch” circuits). Overall, a good circuit, no, IT IS A GREAT SOUNDING CIRCUIT! Another pedal that follows in line with MI Crunch and Guv’nor is the Alexander Jubilee Silver. It has the 2 stages of “crunch” but the total gain factor is only 3060X (max) vs 10,000X. I think it is still more than enough though. Following the 2 gain stages is a clipping stage with 2 red LEDS. Following that is a Marshall style tonestack – but like Guv’nor it is hanging at the end. Guv’nors are highly desirable – but are notoriously known for breaking down. The re-issues Marshall came out with later one do not sound as good.
Enter THE EMPEROR
The Emperor the Phaez version of the Marshall Guv’nor circuit, no changes except I eliminated the loop jack as it just complicates things and really offers no useful utility.
THE EMPEROR ONE.3
If you don’t have one- you NEED one.
$129 and READY TO GO!
Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
FULLTONE OCD
Although called an overdrive it has much more gain. Best into clean amps.
A very nice, well designed circuit. Here is how it works: Input is to a non-inverting opamp that has a max gain of 235X, which is quite a bit for an overdrive. For comparison, the well-regarded Marshall Guv’nor has a max gain of 45X from the first stage. That first gain stage has a low-end rolloff which starts at 723hz (that has been tweaked slightly!) and a high-end rolloff which depends on the gain pot’s position. At noon the rolloff is -3db at about 6.1khz and with the gain dimed that -3db point drops to around 1.6khz. From there the output from the first stage is subjected to another low-pass filter with an F3 approx 16khz. But I found the circuit sounds better with that f3 lowered a bit. At this point we have some asymmetrical clipping going on with a couple 2N7000 mosfets and a 1N34A diode. From here the signal goes to another opamp gain stage, also non-inverting, and the gain factor is 3.8X. More bandwidth at this gain stage than the first, with the low end going lower than the fundamental of a low E bass guitar string and the high end rolling above 4.8khz. The output of this second stage feeds a simple low-pass filter (tone control) and then the output pot. I have a some small issues overall with this platform, such as WHY USE A 500k VOLUME POT? It results in an output impedance that WAY too high. And the Hi/Lo switch at the back end of the circuit is redundant, it is right before the volume control – WHY? Just turn the volume up or down for the same effect. So YES I have done a few tweaks!
The new name for the OCD type circuit is The Octopus. Below are some versions available for purchase and the heart of the circuit is the OCD aka OVERDRIVE. But there are small variations here and there.
THE OCTOPUS (ONE.3)
THIS IS THE OCD TYPE CIRCUIT TO GET. For the nerds: 500ka Gain pot, 2k2+.068uf, 150k/39k, 2N7000+2N7000+1N34A, 100kb Vol pot and MUCH BETTER TONE CONTROL.
Price includes shipping in Canada/US48 ON SALE BECAUSE I WILL BE CHANGING THE COLOR SCHEME
BSIAB2 (Brown Sound In A Box)
Think of the opening chords to Runnin’ With Devil, the opening track of Van Halen’s 1st record. That is the Brown Sound, which cover most of DLR Van Halen, though I think it was more pronounced on the early records than later, like 1984. Van Hagar tone is a whole ‘nuther story.
I have been spending a lot of time on this circuit and analyzing what makes it great. IMO it is the jfet, SPECIFALLY the last one, which when overdriven, sounds much more tube-like than clipping diodes. Or opamp clipping which is more common than you think! If you want something that is going to cut through the mix, Brown Sound In A Box is for you! I really like the tone control on the BSIAB – don’t know who originally designed it, perhaps some RCA engineer in the 1940’s, but the structure is known as the “Big Muff” tonestack. The BSIAB version is good, but could be improved slightly – it controls a bit too much of the mid-range which makes it a bit closer to an overall volume control. Lets keep it a little bit more in the treble range. Just a bit of upward movement.
The ZVEX Box of Rock is based on the BSIAB2 but uses BS170 N-channel mosfets. The Wampler Pinnacle is also a version of the BSIAB.
I have been playing a couple versions of this circuit, the General Guitar Gadgets version, and the Dazatronyx one from AU. Unique circuit! You can get a custom version with your choice of enclosure colour, faceplate colour, a custom name if you like, etc etc etc.
BROWN SOUND DZ
This one is using the Dazatronyx board -hence the DZ designation (Daz sells for US$149) Uses SMD J201’s. AVAILABLE. THIS IS THE DAZYTROYX version, not mine (although I built it). Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
BROWN SOUND Akimbo.3
This thing is stunning and is one referred to in customer comments. AVAILABLE and price includes shipping to US48 and Canada
BROWN SOUND F’D-UP
UPDATED AUG 21/24. The F stands for Fender and it is the idea that EVH used a Blackface type amp INTO his 100W Marshall. This pedal captures that vibe. US$129
BROWN SOUND 3.6
This is going to be the Phaez standard for 3 knob Brown Sound pedals as of Aug 15/24. It is GOOD, trust me. US$109
AKIMBO – I had a long session with this one comparing it to the Dazatronyz Brown Sound, and they are similar. This one has a hair more bark/bite which is very Marshall-y. A lot of fun! Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
BROWN SOUND ACRYLIC
Based on the PedalPCB Acrylic Wampler Plexi-drive. Very good sounding, used as a reference. ON SALE as the Acrylic is less “Phaez” than the others. 3 JFET gain stages. Again, this is the PedalPCB version and is not my design. Tonally, not that far from the Guv’nor/Emperor
Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
TREBLE BOOSTER
I am veering off into the Treble Booster area here. The first one was from around 1965 and called the Dallas Rangemaster. Offered about 38db of gain and the F3 point was around 2.6khz. IOW, the lows were rolled off at 6db per octave under that point – it IS called a treble booster. I have a Rangemaster atm, and have recently built an Aion Radian. The Catalinbread Naga Viper is a take on the Rangemaster but has a couple extras. There is a range control which in fully counterclockwise position offers much more full frequency amplification, than the fully-clockwise Rangemaster treble-only setting. Heat is an internal gain control and could be useful, though I like it dimed. The latest Naga Viper has an attenuation knob which just is volume control at the input. Not needed IMO.
A good treble booster does more than just boost the high frequencies, it can get a nice swirly, almost phase-y effect which is very pleasing. It works fabulously into medium gain amps.
SIREN
Based on the Catalinbread Naga Viper. If you are interested – grab it, as future ones will be more expensive. Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
GREER LIGHTSPEED BLACK MOUNTAIN CRUNCH
This one is more similar to the Fulltone OCD circuit than the MI Crunch. The first gain stage is non-inverting and offers up to 213X amplification. This first stage is bandwidth limited, and does depend on the gain pot’s positions. As you move the position higher the highs are rolled off more and more, and on the low-end – well they just don’t get amplified AS MUCH. Between the 1st and 2nd gain stages there is slightly asymmetrical clipping going on and HF rolloff. The second stage is also non-inverting and is fairly low amplification (about 5X). There is also quite a bit of top end removed here, the F3 being about 1.6khz. But after this point is where I have some issue. First of all the tone control at min position rolls off the highs with an F3 about 300hz. That is too low IMO. Then there is the 250K volume pot. There is NO need to use a pot with that high a value, it just results in an output impedance that is just too high. Needless to say, I have only included the relevant parts of the circuit worthy of discussion. The circuit is more complicated than my barebones description. I have a version for US$89 (ON SALE) and it’s name is Annapurna. PRICE IS DROPPING!
ANNAPURNA
Based on the Greer Lightspeed Black Mountain Crunch, but with two important improvements. Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
KLON and KLONES
This is really a great pedal, though I don’t have an original (LOL). There are numerous youtube videos that compare the klones and for the most part, they are all within 98% of one another. I have a number of them. I doubt too many people could pass a blind test telling which was which. The Wampler Tumnus Deluxe is a bit of an outlier, as it has a full tonestack. But really the core Klon circuit is really quite cool! The gain pot is a dual pot that progressively allows the cleans to pass as turn the gain down, and then as you turn the gain up, it lowers the clean tone and introduces the overdrive.
The Centurion pictured above, is a GeneralGuitarGadgets kit and is Klone. Available to purchase.
However, I am going to offer something slightly different. The Klon has a 1khz peak which gives it a nice chewy overdrive. But the tweak I am planning is instead of the 1khz peak, have it higher, say about 1.8khz. As this comes early in the circuit, it will have a different effect than the Klon tone control, which IS effective, but is toward the end of OD path. But the idea of having a higher frequency OD, it will allow it cut through the mix much easier. The other neat idea in the Klon is the power supply. With the 1044 chip you end up +18V and -9V, effectively a 27volt rail which can swing LOTS of output to drive your tube amp into some nice clipping of it’s own.
The Bear – I have designed and ordered boards for the “cutting klone” and will update here when I have it built. I am pumped! The Bear pedal will be completed before long.
The Atticus – coming soon, this will be my alternative to the Klon/Klones. It will keep the same structure as the Klon but will a couple a couple important changes that may be the taste you are looking for. First the clean tone will be Fender Blackface. The OD tone will be more distortion oriented and a bit brighter and cutting. But you will still be able to blend the 2 tones. The Bear is one step in a different direction, The Atticus takes two steps. But both have Klon as the framework.
If you are interested in either The Bear or Atticus, please LET ME KNOW and I will speed up the design process.
CENTURION Very good Klon Klone. Based on the kit from General Guitar Gadgets. Price includes shipping in Canada/US48
Purchaser’s comment: “It smoked my EHX Soul Food, I think will have to give that one away”