Your favourite builds?

[GermanCDN]

Can't really narrow down favourites, I've built a lot I really liked, so I'll mention a few that surprised me.

Hearthrob Trem - seemed too simple to be good, but sounds fantastic.  Going to build another one and put the DPDT to a footswitch.

MXR ZW/GT combo overdrive - I had the original ZW and hated it, so I figured this one would be a stretch, but sounds really, really good in front of my JCA and my H&K Tubemeister.

Okko Diablo - another overdrive that sounds different enough to stand out.

[Ross]

SD1 (with LED clipping, an awesome bass overdrive)
Meathead (22n/22n  input/output caps)
Hyperion (Absolutely KILLER, my favorite "somewhat normal" fuzz)
Devi OK (pretty much any Devi pedal's good in my book)
Klon Buffer

[Heath]

Vox Repeat Percussion - Some say it has limited usefulness.  I intend to wedge it the hell into as many different situations as possible.  I love it.  I had a Pete Townsend moment the other day and I was using this pedal and playing around with "Won't Get Fooled Again" and, while it's not at all like the song, it fit in this bizarre way.

Klon Centaur -  While it's not exactly what I was looking for, gain-wise, it's ability to sweeten what I'm playing and the ability to pull a neck pickup right out of the mud is amazing.

Fulltone OCD (ver.3) - The neighbors hate me based on this pedal alone.  It just makes me want to rock the hell out.

Xotic BB - Dear GOD this thing is loud.  If I can just figure out what I did wrong wiring the diode switch, it would supplant the OCD.  Smells like Angus.

Hearthrob Tremolo - Perfect Tremolo.  Simple, easy, beautiful sounding.

Deep Blue Delay - Well, since so many of you listed it, I'm not telling you something you don't already know.  It's fantastic.

Black Arts Pharaoh Fuzz - My Fuzzface will ALWAYS have a place on my board, but I'll tell you a secret... this is the most badass fuzz I've ever used.  I'm going to try out the LSTR at some point, but I really think I've found The One, here.

[alex.s]

I'm loving my Roger Mayer Octavia clone. Great sounding pedal, one of the few I've been eying for a while and as soon as I fired it up it was clear why..!
Also loved the Eternity Burst (and I wasn't the only one, as proven by the fact I need to build myself another one now!) and Red Rooster, which I first left on the side but eventually started growing on me. Simple but very effective. Prices I've seen people buying or selling these for, though, are absolutely bonkers!

[Geiri]

ROG Umble. It's my favourite pedal now.

[strassercaster]

great thread. I am a noob but built three pedals so far and love them all. I did a Red Rooster first a Klon Centaur and dinishing a vox tonebender at the moment. i juat bought a harbingor one pcb from madbeans. I ahev always loved the univibe sound and with over 80 componenets i cheated and bought a pcb. never even heard one hope it works and sounds good.

[Neil mcNasty]

- AMZ Mini Booster:One of my first 3 builds, and still on my pedalboard to this day. Nothing makes my amps scream like this. I do not have any need at all for overdrive pedals as long as I got this on my board...
- Dallas Rangemaster: There is a reason it it has become a legend, as above: nothing pushes tubes like these guys... But be aware!: there are a lot of transistors that sound way much better than the OC44! Just because it is the original transistor, does not mean that it is the best one!
- Valvecaster: My first build, so it's kind of nostalgic, and it is still in use to this day. Great Dirt Box! It sounds way much better on 12v or more though... In retrospect I prefer the Boob Tube when fed 40v. Then it actually got some headroom. 9v is a bit too low voltage for a tube to operate in a good manner. Anyway, It's a great tube saturator that can be used for more stuff than just as a guitar pedal! Works magic on drums as well, by the way... As an insert on the mixer...
- Red Lllama: Is it the best overdrive out there...? (when you need one) Or should we start naming it by it's truthful name and give credit where credit is due: "Mr.Anderton's Tubesound Fuzz". Anyway: It's awesome!
- Maestro Full Range Booster (fuzz mode): Wow! I did not believe it was possible to have headroom in a fuzz.... But I was wrong! Try it with Germanium Diodes! It will sound quite different with lower gain and more volume, but it sounds amazing! A "Fuzz" That Will Blow Your Mind! It is noisy as f**k with DC crackle on your guitar volume pot and all that old-school bull and issues, but who cares when it sounds this good? Best when everything is dialed at full!
- Kay T1-Tremolo: With a Depth Mod and a LPB at the end to make up for gain loss, it becomes a very interesting tremolo with a unique metallic klang at the sweet-spots. A LoFiSciFi Tremolo that does not sound anything like the others! Spaghetti Western Sound!
- Bazz Fuzz/Colorsound "One Knob" Fuzz: Both examples of simplicity. Sometimes less is more...

[Frank_NH]

This a good thread to update every year since we all build more projects and have had time to examine our pedals both live and in recordings.  I'll limit mine to the top three long term favorites and top three recent builds, along with some honorable mentions.

Favorite pedals (on my pedal board):

(1) Silver Klon(e) - This is a Klon clone built to the silver mod specs on an Aion electronics PCB.  It is my always on pedal, as it has a great buffer and at low gain add some shine and sparkle to my tone.  Everything I've tried stacked downstream of the Klon(e) just sounds better!

(2) SRV Special (Tube Screamer) - This is a slightly modified tube screamer circuit that I created my own vero layout for and sounds great.  It works best for single coils but provides a smooth, classic rock/blues sound for any guitar.  I don't need to turn up the gain too much to have this sound good.

(reference: http://www.lynx.bc.ca/~jc/pedalsSRVspecial.html)

(3) Zen Drive - The Zen Drive is the Swiss army knife of overdrives.  You can get a wide variety of great sounds with it, and it works well with other effects.

Recent builds that I'll probably use live or for recording:

(1) Thunderbird - What can I say?  One of the best Marshall emulators out there (better than the Marvel Drive in my opinion).

(2) Britannia - This is a great complement to the Thunderbird.  Crisp Vox-like tones with a lot of tone sculpting and gain on tap.

(3) G2D Cream Tone - Yes this one is quite new but I am so impressed with it so far I'm including it on this list.  Very transparent overdrive, and it seems to provide great tones in all settings.  Still deciding on if I should add the boost switch or not, but regardless it'll end up on my pedal board at some point.

Honorable Mentions:

* Model H - Still need to box this but the sound is awesome.  Instant Hiwatt in a box!
* Hearthrob Tremolo - Very nice, simple tremolo circuit.  I want to try pairing this with a reverb to see if I can emulate a Mr. Black DeluxePlus!
* ROG Umble - Another PCB project that sounds good and has lots of tonal options.  May use this for recording.
* ROG Omega - An early, simple project that sounds great.  Wonderful little booster.  I should use this one more, but it would be worth trying out a clickless on/off switch with this since it's the type of pedal you might engage several times during a song.
* MI Audio Crunchbox - Simple grab-and-go distortion.  What can I say?  It's a Crunchbox!
* Univox Superfuzz - The first DIY pedal I built and got working first time!  I don't use fuzz very often, but when I do I use the Superfuzz... (so says the Dos Equis man...)
* Clark Gainster - Another simple build and a cleaner version of a tube screamer.  I prefer my SRV Special now, but this one is a close second.

[Muadzin]

As has been said, our tastes keep on changing as we encounter new things. Or rediscover old ones. As of this moment, feb 11 2015 AD I do like the following:

- Stone Grey Distortion. This one has kicked my DLS build off my board that had been sitting there since like forever. Quite similar in tone in an A/B test, yet cutting better through a band mix IMHO. It was either this one or a Crunchbox, which to me sounded a little better, but it was more prone to squealing in my rig.
- Mayonaise III. With SE4021 trannies. Awesome beast! Made it with a mids switch, as are all my Muff builds, but I rarely have to use it in a band setting, until I get into heavy detuned stuff, in which case the flat setting is enough to cut through the mix again.
- Marshall Guv'nor. I should put this one up against the Stone Grey as I do think the Guv'nor is one of the best hi-gain pedals out there. Way, way, WAY better then the overrated Shredmaster.
- The Big Muff. In general. Did NOT like it at first when I first build my BYOC kit. Tried it again when the new kits came out, because if so many people liked it, there had to be something to it. Again, didn't like it. Then years later I discovered the Kitrae site, tried it again out of technical curiosity and this time 3rd time was lucky. Favorite versions so far (aside from the Mayonaise III of course): all-ceramic Triangle, Violet Ramshead, IC Muff and Civil War.

Honorable mentions:
- Dirty Little Secret of course. Any pedal that sat on my board for 6 years straight without interruptions has to be a good one. The first version. Never managed to get the 3rd version to sound right.
- Madbean Dirtbaby. PT2399 workalike of the old EHX DMM. At this point in time my favorite DIY delay. Might have made the list if I had tried it out in a band setting to see how it would do in a bandmix.
- Shoot the Moon tremelo. Simple go grab and rock tremelo if I need one. Because it less knobs then the Tremelus Lune on which it is based and unlike the EA trem it can do choppy.

Hates:
- Compressors. All of them! Every time I convince myself to try and build one they disappoint me as they do nothing for my sound. Nothing good that is. I'm sure others can do wonderful things with them, especially sound engineers. Me? I find them useless.

[Frank_NH]

Hates:
 Compressors. All of them! Every time I convince myself to try and build one they disappoint me as they do nothing for my sound. Nothing good that is. I'm sure others can do wonderful things with them, especially sound engineers. Me? I find them useless.

For recording purposes, I can see using a compressor, especially for vocals, bass and specific instrument tracks.  But playing guitar live, I too can NOT get used to playing with a compressor!  I feel that my Klone(e) used as a preamp gives me the "punchiness" I would want a compressor for while adding sparkle and retaining dynamics.

Having said the above, I still want to build a Janglebox - just because...

[skeletonghost]

Thanks so much to the members of this board, much of my knowledge of electronics I gained while learning how to build pedals here! Here are a few of my favourite builds:

Red Llama: I have to agree with many of you here, the tube sound fuzz is the best sounding overdrive I have built. Such a simple design too! Great project for a beginner.

Noise Ensemble:  The underrated cousin of the Clarinot. I prefer the sound of the ensemble, it has a bit more of a unique sound to my ear. With the added feedback mods it produces some really weird loops and fx.

Mojo Hand Iron Bell: My favourite custom Muff design. Excellent for bass!

Citrus Graphic Mkii (Green): Took my a while to figure out JFET biasing, but I have never found a pedal that sounds this HUGE. Instant doom. Don't think I'll ever own a real matamp, but this is good as it gets.

Custom Power Supply: Might seem like a weird choice, but the custom supply designed by Rocket88 and Induction has been an invaluable build for me! Really excellent example of what a great community is here as well.

[Travis]

The Red Llama that I built sounded SO GOOD but it was just too noisy. Any of you guys having noise issues with yours? Maybe I should revisit that one..

Now you've made me want to build the Citrus Graphic and that power supply too

[Heath]

Wow.. flashback.  Well, my tastes certainly have changed.  Without referring back to my previous entry here, I'll post with a clean slate.

I'm so tempted to go over board, as I've had a hell of a good time building some great effects, but I'll try to limit it to a handful of each type:

Tremolo:

Vox Repeat Percussion/Skippy/Hummingbird (built on stripboard): It makes me think of what it must have been like in early Syd Barret Pink Floyd during the long psychadelic instrumentals, just letting the music wash over you.  I love this thing and have a hard time unplugging it.

Twin Peaks (pcb from drolo/madbean forums):  I lucked across a thread on the MadBean forums where drolo was willing to get several PCBs for this circuit fabricated.  I snatched one up and built it and fell in love with it.  It's a gorgeous sounding tremolo with 4 different and very useful voices.  

ODs/Distortion (including amp pedals):

MI Audio Crunchbox (built on stripboard): Another one I just freakin love.  It's hard not to gush about this pedal.  I held off building it for a long time because I had plenty of dirt pedals.  Standard single coils, P-90s, humbuckers, vintage, hot, it doesn't matter, this thing sounds GOOD.  

Thunderbird (1776effects pcb): I had no desire for another Marshall pedal, but I got this one because I know ROG designs great stuff and if they were that hyped up by a new design, it was worth checking out.  I'm glad I did.  This thing is class all the way.  Fantastic tonal control.

Lovepedal Kalamazoo (stripboard): Ever since I heard PGS Andy do his Black Crows tribute demo of this pedal, I've been in love with it.  I know Lovepedal is not the most loved brand around (see what I did there?) and I've heard the Kalamazoo is very "Klon-like" and I'm not a brand-head.  I just love this pedal.  I use the term "sweet" a lot, I realize, and I think that's because it is one of those qualities, while hard to convey and open to a lot of interpretation, that I really appreciate in a pedal.  When a bluesy lick just seems to drip with honey, I'm sold.  To me, this pedal does that.  Even when it's pushed to Rude, it still maintains a sort of sweet charm that I really like.  

Green Wizard (stripboard with germ diodes, one of Paul Stevensons designs): Subtly aggressive with nice rounded edges.  The tone control is one of the best I've ever used.  The germanium diodes really bring out the warmthin this one.

... the classic ODs which I love and which need no further explanation
Tubescreamer TS-808 (stripboard)
Zen Drive Pro with Dumble mods (GuitarPCB PCB)
Timmy (Stripboard)
 

Phaser:

Stage Fright (5/6 stage phaser built on Madbean PCB): It's not the prettiest sounding phaser (it's damn pretty, don't get me wrong) but it gets you where you want to be with very little fuss.  Capable of some SERIOUS swish!  It's especially nice with a bass where a lot of guitar phasers seem to wimp out.

Small Stone (build on a "3pdt.com" pcb): This is the sweet one, but still capable of going nuts in it's own way.  I almost put my Phase90 (on stripboard) here because I still love it, but since I built the Small Stone, I just keep wanting to hear it.  

Reverb:

Ghost Echo (built on stripboard):  Using the Belton/Accutronics brick, v2, long, if I recall.  It's a very lush and pretty reverb that makes almost anything sound better.  it's another one of those that you can add another pedal to and just go off into a tie-dyed psychedelic trance.  I'm very impressed with how good EQD got the Belton brick sounding (not to take away from how ground-breaking the Belton is anyway).  Having built a Rub-a-Dub Deluxe and being less than blown away by it, I realize now how important the rest of the circuit is in relation to the brick.

Vibe:

Dr. Phybes Vibe (modified PCB from gutiarpcb): This is a modification of GuitarPCBs Phase-90-ish circuit.  Its is another one of those circuits that draws you in, making everything you play sound awesome.  Very hard to stop playing.

ROG Tri-Vibe (stripboard): A vibe for all situations.  Honestly, you just have to hear this one for yourself.  Once I get my broken one working again (something happened to it while moving when it was not yet boxed) it will be a fixture on my pedal board.  I love it in all ways you can possibly love a pedal.

Chorus:

Boss CE-2 (stripboard): This is your all-around-always-sounds-good chorus.  I can depend on this pedal at all times to not let me down.  Sweet, swishy, lush, yeah all those words full on.  BOSS got it dead right with this one and the stripboard version I built is right on target.  

Clone Theory (stripboard): It was tough to pick between this one and the Small Clone, but the Clone Theory is a warm sweet step above the CE-2 in some ways.  Whereas the CE-2 would be my go-to for anything, the CT would be my "this needs something special" pedal.

Fuzz

BATW Pharaoh (stripboard): I'm sure you've probably heard me gush enough about this circuit.  It turned me from a fuzz-burnout back to a fuzz-fan.  It will always be one of my favorites.

Joe Gore modified Fuzzface/Fiend Fuzz (stripboard): A fat fuzzy germanium fuzz-storm.  I haven't really found much out there that sounds better than this fairly simple circuit.  It's a little on the dark and doomy side, and that's just great because I already have bright and brittle fuzzes.

Tonebender Mk III (stripboard): This appears to be the less popular of the Tonebenders.  I really don't know why.  I think it sounds fantastic.  To me this is a perfect middle-ground germanium fuzz.  

Woolly Mastodon (stripboard): This is the fuzz I break out when I want to crush rocks.  An absolute BEAST of a fuzz pedal capable of removing skin.

Delay

Dirt Baby (Madbean PCB): Brian did this one right.  My only mild gripe is that I get a bit of overdrive with it so it's hard to get a pure clean sound.  Other than that it's an absolute joy to play with.  Another mesmerizing psychedelic exploration can't-put-the-guitar-down pedal.  I've lost hours playing with this pedal.

Multiplex Echo Machine (1776effects PCB):  Huge array of sounds without throwing way too many controls at you.  Don't get me wrong, it's got plenty of knobs and switches, but not so many it becomes annoying.  It's gorgeous sounding and has some great settings such as Binson Echorec, RE-201 Space Echo, and the Echoplex.



So, yeah, this got REAL long.  Having a mind-numbingly boring day at work and this certainly helped pass the time! :)

[rocket88]

WOOOOO!!!! one of mine made the list. i'm actually really honored man. thanks skeletonghost.

i've been racking my brain to think of my favorite builds now, but i think i need to do some more messing around with everything to see where i stand at this point. i feel like everything i've built i love for one reason or another, so i'm trying to think of my top 5 or so. what will they be

[elbeeuk]

The pedals I've built so far are:

EP Booster
TS9
JHS Angry Charlie @
Catalinbread DLS 1 + MXR MicroAmp (all in one), DLS 3 and SFT
Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe
78 IC  Big Muff
Timmy
Fulltone Fulldrive2
EQD Talons

My fave out of all of them has to be the Scarab Deluxe. It's an awesome take on a Tonebender.
Other highlights would be the Angry Charlie AT, DLS1 and the Timmy.

Cheers
Elbee

[MOPO]

Hi

DEAD ASTRONAUTE    SPACE PATROL , an incredible fuzz, we get out the sound of the toys of the 80s :-)

DEVI EVER   HYPERION a fuzz full of vitamins

DEMETER   FAT CONTROL  When you have tasted it you can not go without

DURHAM        SEX DRIVE   When we turn it off we miss it ......

WAMPLER    PLEXI DRIVE  Essential

RUB A DUB    a very endearing reverb

DEMETER     TREMULATOR   a very nice tremolo

[Pariah]

Hey Geiri. I ran out of sockets for a few delays recently so just did without. Always had issues with PT2399 builds, but these all worked... Weird. I'm starting to believe that PT2399s just hate being socketed? There is little sense in this, but haven't had any problems since ditching the sockets...

[Pariah]

Since dedicating my entire existance to vero...
In no particular order:

Dead Astronaut Chasm verb ( also built X-Fuzz. Love this too!)
Freppo's Theramin fuzz - Genius! Always wanted this sound from a guitar!
Hearthrob Tremelo. Simple joy.
Crap-Fi delay - My first stripboard delay build. Fun for days. Weird, unstable... Suits me.
Way Huge Red Llama - Great circuit.
EQD Acapulco Gold (with gain pot and added BMP tonestack = Doom!)
Marshall Shredmaster... Was the first pedal I owned. Was nice to revisit my teenage self.
Madbean Cavedweller (2015) - It worked.

Big shout out to the whole community here. It really helps a lot of folk out!
Enough chat... Time to get the old iron out. Next!
Best, Toby

[kuzieem]

Amp in a box:
-ROG thunderbird
-ROG britannia

Hi gainer dirt box:
-BSIAB2 18V

Lo gainer:
-KoT

Delay:
-DeProfundis

Vibrato
-ROG Tri Vibe

  Filters:
-Snow White Autowah combined with Baby 8 sequencer (seekwah)
-Maestro FSH also combined with the Baby 8 sequencer.

Chorus:
-Sea Machine

Bass preamp:
-Sadowsky

Cabsim
-ROG Condor

Buffer
-Cornish

Synth/Fuzz
-Into The Unknown

[Sergio]

Excuse me Neil, I am curious about your maestro frbooster, when you built this, did you build just the last stage? The fuzz op amp one? The first transistor stage plus fuzz, or the whole thing?  Did you find Equaliser part useful?  Did you try something else than 18volts? ThNks a lot, i was thinking about trying to draw it, so knowing all this could be useful. Thanks a lot