Black Arts Black Forest

[Mulekicker]

Hey, has anyone built a Black Forest from the main page and used an on-off-on dpdt instead of the rotary? I had a box already drilled for 4 pots and a toggle and figured I'd just go with 3 input cap options. My issue is that I'm hearing no difference at all between my 3 settings.  I used a 120nf, 100nf, and a 330nf. So that should give me 220, 100, or 430 right? Seems like that should be audible. I have the 3 caps across the lugs and "switch A" from the board going to pin 2 and the input going from pin 5 to the footswitch. I think that's right but if someone wants to chime in that's done this successfully I'd appreciate it.

[BetterOffShred]

Yeah that's how you'd do it. Verify the switch is doing on/off/on, and maybe try like a 47n a 220n and a 470n ..  

The bass knob plays a large role in the cap selections impact. I love this pedal, it's one of my all time favorites.  Definitely needs a reverse log taper on the gain pot

[Mulekicker]

Right on. I'll change up the values and see what happens. Yep, I used a c10k for gain. I've seen a few people put a cap (100nf?) from lugs 1 to 3 on the bass pot. Did you do that? Thanks!

[BetterOffShred]

I did not add the cap.  It's one of the few pedals that I think sounds just as good low gain as it does high gain.  I use it to just crisp up long delay lines

[squirrels]

I built mine with a cap blend pot with a 10nf on one side and a 10uf on the other. One of my favorite builds.

[Mulekicker]

A pot seems like a cool idea. Another thing I noticed with mine, and it may be related to my input cap issue, is that the note kinda cuts off right at the end of its sustain. Same way every Meathead I've ever made does. I currently have bc109c's in it because they seem to sustain much longer than lower gain 2222's or 109b's. I'm gonna change out my switch and do all the usual debugging tricks we do cause I know this thing can sound killer. I originally built it at like 3am so who knows what stupid fuckups I may encounter.

[squirrels]

I like the pot. Mine is actually built from the original Overdriver layout. My original Black Forest build squealed horribly and I found the switch a little too big for my liking. This build had a three way toggle at first with  a 10n, 220n and 470n. Surprisingly the depth pot at max (10uf) doesn’t get too muddy. I usually have it set a little bit right of center.

[Mulekicker]

I got my switch sorted but I still can't get the high gain to sound right. It sounds great as a low gainer (really great) but when I crank the pot it gets gated and fizzy. I tried probably 10 different types of trannies last night in all sorts of combinations and 3 109c's still sound "best". I think I'm gonna rebuild the board from the Colorsound layout and see what happens. If I can get the gain to sound good I know I'll love this pedal.

[squirrels]

I use mine to boost my Orange. It’s very picky with pedals but it loves this one.