i got the fever who is with me? What build you did that blew you away?

[strassercaster]

i finished my first pedal on january 29th. its been three solid months and i have built 7 Dam red roosters for freinds ,three klon cemtaurs ,two Vox tonebender, two dod 250  preEamps,one heath kit fuzz for my bass buddy, a madbean univibe ,a marshall shredmaster/hyde,an mxr micro amp,and an MXR Distortion plus  and a swamp thing. They dont give out trophy's for this I know ha ha but thanks to this website i can now afford to enjoy some pedals i could have never found or afforded.


  Over half of these i have sold  for a small profit to fund my builds or given to friends.  my first Dam red rooster took me  7 hours to build counting finishing / paint. Now i can do one in about three. i dont think i can do them much faster a couple times i rushed and spent more time trouble shooting than if i had taken my time ha ha.

  how long do most pedals take you guys?  its not a competition just wondering. i still seem to spend too much time boxing and wiring the offboard stuff. of the above pedals my freinds and i really love the red rooster and vox tonebender. the dod is cool and the klons are okay . i was pleasently suprised last night by the mxr micro boost. ya know the ross and mixr distortion plus and dod are all just minor variations  and so is the mxr micro amp but man  i have
always wanted a booster like this. im still unhappy with my madbean harbinger one univibe i ordered the top of the line LDRs from small bear that should give me more depth.

So I am still just a noob and to be honest i am far from designing a pedal of my own but i am enjoying the ocassional tweak here and there with values e ct .I know some of you have the FEvEr and are light years ahead of me in builds and knowledge . Thats why I am here.
 
 I guess the big question is what build has pleasently suprised you?.. . i kind of built the main pedals i wanted too. i dont think i want to do a chorus or delay idk seems like a ton of work for something i can get on craigslist for under 100. plus the good ones use the mn300 5/7/8 chips so why even bother most are fake right? But then again how many dirt boost pedals do I need ha ha

 im trying to decide where do i go from here. i think maybe a systech harmonic energizer those are rare top dollar and i have never seen or heard one live. what else I  am open to suggestions. what pedal did you build on a whim and now its on your pedal board?i built my first twenty but only ten kinds. im considering a rockett animal or the wampler plexi drive . pros and cons?

 Just want to thank Mark and Mirosol you guys make this stuff  work and all you that helped with some of my questions and future questions and responses.

 what to build next ?

[Chris60601]

I have to agree about a pleasant surprise was the MXR distortion. To be honest, ever since I heard Nazarth's Love Hurts, I always wanted an Small Stone (I built Tonepads) and that too was all I expected it to be for me at least. Now I'm trying to find a trem that will get me close to the Twin Peaks sound. I have a line on 2 so I may add to the EA trem I have now.

[strassercaster]

cool i love this stuff. Ya i like the mxr distortion plus it was my first dirt box. back in the day we all thought thats what van halen used ha ha. it is what randy rhoads used.i am far from an expert on Tremolo pedals thats for sure. I will say the swamp Thang/tremodillo is very warm and has an undescribable coolness about it. I just dont know what i can do with it. I made it for a real good friend still testing it out before i give it too him. its really cool. i almost made the ByOc version what do you think of that?

[rocket88]

first i just want to say you're definitely off to an awesome start . that's a ton of builds in a short time, and a nice variety too. i probably had built around the same amount, but i spent most of my time tweaking everything since i wanted to make everything work well on bass, and i kept trying to figure out how everything worked. but, that takes awhile, but trust me you're definitely on your way there.

for me build time differs based on the complexity of the circuit. i can build a simple boost, Si fuzzface, 1 knob fuzz, and similar sized circuits in an hour or so. once you start getting to larger circuits with more offboard wiring, ie more pots and switches, the time increases. also, since starting to build more for sale i try to take longer during the final phase of building, i know it seems counter productive, but i do it because i want to make sure nothing happens to the finish on the enclosure, and work even harder to make the wiring as neat as possible. most of the build time is always in the offboard, its the biggest pain the the ass, and can take forever. hell, one effect i built too about 6 hours to wire up due to the number of pots, and switches.

i've got to say, my top 15 of the pedals that i built, that i just fell in love with probably would be:

1 - bjfe blueberry od - bass od of the gods, and something i had been chasing for so long. once we were able to crack it, i made a layout, built it, and it's never leaving my pedalboard.

2 - EHX green russian muff (v7 1994 layout) -  i built it with the "correct" russian transistors, and russian diodes, and it has exceeded what i dreamed it would. it's thick and creamy, and everything a big muff, especially a bass big muff which i have and is blah, should be. i also changed some of the values to match that of the schematic on kitrae.

3 - germanium giant - it's a modified version of the nick greer green green giant. a bunch of us worked on it, and it's just fantastic. you can dial in the amount of grit you get, and it uses the magic of germanium, what more could you want?

4 - DAM ezekiel - this thing is a freaking monster. i modded mine with 6 clipping options as opposed to 4. it goes from mild to headblown off distortion.

5 - Proco Rat - i modified mine to retain the lowend for bass, replaced the diodes of with germanium ones, and added a blend control. it goes from just  a hint of grit to pretty much classic rat.

6 - DAM fr-69 - i made a layout for this one, and its basically a modified germanium mosrite. it's got more lowened, and just plain nasty psychedelic fuzzy goodness.

7 -  germanium fuzzface - i built mine with a bias control. it's everything i dreamed a vintage fuzzface should be.

8 - silicon fuzzface - i built it with a bias control and BMP tonestack, and high gain bc130c transistors.

9 - one knob fuzz - all you can control is the volume, just a wall of fuzz.

10 - earth research graphic fuzz - the most oddball fuzz i've built. crappy engineering, but you get the planet eating fuzz, and as you control the depth knob it adds this cocked wah type sound, and if you keep going it just self osculates into this 50's scifi spaceship sound.

11 - colorsound fuzzwah - nasty throaty wah, and a fuzz of the gods.

12 - monolith oracle - basically a mk 1.5 tonebender, but there's something special about it. it's deeper, and meaner then the stock one.

13 - EHX small stone - just awesome classic chorus. only issue is if you turn the rate knob up too much you will get the dreading LFO tick,

14 - rangemaster - modified mine for more low end, more of a full boost now then a treble booster, but if gives this amazing germanium warmth, and adds just enough hair to my signal to just make things perfect.

15 - DAM greasebox - just a greasey gooey tonebender fuzz.

notable builds:
- barbershop
- wampler ecstacy
- EHX opamp big muff

shit the list goes on and on. mostly because for the builds i do myself i don't do what i don't try and like first. keeps down my rate of ending up with something i just feel "meh" about.

i built an EHX hogsfoot on a whim thinking it would be great, but only to find it muffled sounding, so i ended up tweaking it to get it where i think it sounds good. now i've got a clean boost thats capable of something like 20db of boost that i like. some of the pedals i've built based on suggestions from guys here that i have similar tastes with, and i've been pretty happy with them all. it's hard to nail down the best builds, because as you build more and more, you end up with so many that it's hard to pick your favorites, and i'll swap stuff out all the time to see if i get something i'm happier with sound wise.

[motterpaul]

For me so far it is the Diesel Diefet, the AMT B1, The Wampler Plexi with Trimmers - those are my top three.

I also like the Deep Blue Delay with the PT2933 chip. It works great - and I got the ICs for a bargain.

[Vince]

Catalinbread RAH hitting a dirty tube amp.

[Frank_NH]

There are a few "best build..." threads on this forum, so you can have a look at those for ideas, as well as the great suggestions given above.  I'll answer the questions asked below:

(1) What build you did that blew you away?

This is a hard question.  My first build (the Univox Superfuzz) blew me away because I realized that I could build one of these effects and actually have it WORK!  Soundwise, there have been so many good sounding circuits, many of which have been boxed.  I've also built several PCB projects and have a few more of those in the works.  But limiting this to strictly vero builds, the one I thought sounded the best right off the bat was the G2D Cream Tone.  It's ready to be boxed and I plan to do so with the boost switch.  It just has a great, verstile tone that goes beyond the ordinary tube screamer.

(2) How long do most pedals take you guys?  It's not a competition just wondering.

I can go from raw vero to completed build (ready to test) for a moderately complex project in about 3 - 4 hours.  It's best to take your time though, as one extra hour spent being careful means five fewer hours debugging!  

Boxing takes me several hours (4-5) and I start with a pre-painted box.  If I added labels it would take a little longer.  Naturally, if you're doing custom artwork, it may take several days to get the enclosure ready.  But once the holes have been marked and drilled, assembly can be done in an hour or two.  The 3PDT boards really help make the wiring a snap.  What often takes a LOT of time is measuring everything and making sure you have enough room for your board + switches, jacks etc.  Every effect is a custom job in that regard.  That's also why I like 1590BB and 125B boxes.  

(3)  What to build next?

One of the great attractions of this hobby is that you can go through hundreds of builds and discover that each has its own unique sonic signature aka "personality".  And as we get to experience these sounds, we begin to refine our own likes and dislikes (e.g. types of clipping diodes, tone controls, boost switches, pot control sweeps, unity gain level, etc.).  I know that's happened to me - I really dislike overdrives with a flubby "farty" low end (which is why I didn't care for the CB Formula 5).  I really like tone controls with a wide range not just a simple treble roll-off.  And so on...

It's also hard to determine what something will sound like through a YouTube video.  Your guitar, amp are likely entirely different (I use Gretsch hollowbodies mainly), so take some of these demos as a guide only.  I do like watching people like Andy at PGS or Mr. Gearmandude because at least they provide relatively consistent demos for a wide range of effects.

In the end, my advice is build what you like or think you would like.  And remember that the components for these builds cost as much as meal at your local Bistro (maybe less!) - in other words, it costs relatively little to experiment.  And who knows, maybe you'll discover the new secret to sonic bliss.  

[strassercaster]

Thanks for the wisdom  Frank great advice and approach. i tried doing the labels. i am not there yet. my printer was working great and crashed now it keeps enlaging all of my artwork. . Its  on the list for now im just worried about tone.im definitly going to look into the cream tone .

[strassercaster]

Cool Motterpaul. glad you got the diefet diesel going. i am glad to see the wampler getting such a high review as well. Keep rocking

[strassercaster]

wow Rockett your not messing around .thanks for the great reply 😀. i appreciate the rankings . i know that we a
l have different tasted but if some of your top pedals are some of mine then i know our tone pallets are comparableand can use that in going forward. Rock out roll on!

[alex.s]

If you like fuzz tones the Silicone Tonebender is avery worthy build, especially if you don't have a small stock of Germanium transistors to audition and build an original. Also the Ampeg Scrambler is a brilliant octave fuzz, going frmo a nice cruchy distortion to mental glitchiness. The bufferless Tube Screamers I do enjoy, too, and the first I built (Lovepedal Eternity) was lent to a good friend and never returned, which must mean something? :)

Also a "build" I'll always suggest to anyone is a Beavis Board-alike. Immensely useful to try, mod, debug, go socket crazy and spare you wiring/boxing time on those circuits that don't quite hit the spot.

[Beaker]

My list is small, but here goes (and in no particular order):

Ace Tone FM-2 Fuzz Master - an awesome and interesting alternative to a Superfuzz. The circuit is very similar in design (minus one transistor stage), but has a character all of it's own.

Germanium Giant - great sound from such a tiny circuit. Equally good on guitar or bass.

Janglebox - superb Ross / Dynacomp compressor variant. Sounds lush.

Runoffgroove Ginger - Ampeg SVT in an box. Just amazing, and equally good on guitar!

Conrad Buzz Tone - gnarly, nasty 60's fuzz, with the added bonus of an self-oscillating footswitch. See Anders layout in the Contributions section.

Germanium Fuzzrite - see Mirosol's layout on the main page, and use MP38 transistors.

Not a guitar effect, but Alex's Dub Siren on the Requests page is great. I still need to convert it from normal rotary pots to slider pots though.

Still to build is Rocket's BJFE Blueberry bass overdrive.

[rocket88]

Anytime man, just glad to help. I tried to give some sort of explaination of their sound to help. There are a lot of great suggestions so far, and I have to build pretty much everything beaker has listed. They've been on my list way too freaking long. Hell you don't even want to know how long my build list is, it always gets bigger as I find things I really want to build.

It's pretty funny because it seems to me that a lot of us have similar tastes. Mostly from posts about music we listen to, especially when building, or concerts, etc.

Beaker, trust me I think you'll love the bjfe blueberry. I mean it's basically the klon of bass OD's, in rarity, and hype. It was everything I was looking for to give me that just enough breakup natural OD. For me it was worth the wait, and worth the build. I've got to make a comparison video of the bjfe and the bearfoot blueberry so people can see how they are different. To my ears they are night and day. Both are good, but the bjfe is just warmer and more natural sounding to me.

[strassercaster]

thanks Alex i actually have a silicon Fuzz face its pretty cool . I am loaded with the germanium i have about 30 pnp and 30 npn all in the 50hfe to 140. thanks for your response. I will look into the ampeg i have heard great things about this one and its on a short list that just got shorter. Rock out roll on. oh ill check out the Love pedal as well. isnt that based on another pedal?

[strassercaster]

hey thanks again rockett and beaker.ya there ya go . I built one bass buddy the heath kit fuzz. man its grand funks bass player in a box. it kinda suck for guitar but kick axx on bass. ill look into the svt ginger and the germanium giant as well. thanks guys!

[Beaker]

"Beaker, trust me I think you'll love the bjfe blueberry. I mean it's basically the klon of bass OD's, in rarity, and hype. It was everything I was looking for to give me that just enough breakup natural OD. For me it was worth the wait, and worth the build. I've got to make a comparison video of the bjfe and the bearfoot blueberry so people can see how they are different. To my ears they are night and day. Both are good, but the bjfe is just warmer and more natural sounding to me."

Yeah, I've followed your contributions thread closely, just still need to get around to it.

I built the Bearfoot for a pro session bas buddy, but it was like "Meh!", and not even close to the Ginger. I did not have the nerve to try and sell it to him - just could not bring myself to do it, even though he asked me for one. I just had to tell him that it was not worth his money.

It never got boxed.

[alex.s]

strassercaster wrote

oh ill check out the Love pedal as well. isnt that based on
another pedal?

Not sure there isn't a single Lovepedal model that isn't based on another pedal...?!

That oen in particular is a Tube Screamer without in and out buffer. Makes for a slightly more transparent, more touch responsive and little less gainy version of it, thought also more susceptible to changes in position in an effect chain - my friend who has my first one reshuffled his board and found having a boss pedal in front of it made for a slightly darker sound.

Probably been mentioned before, but the many variants of Electra Distortion (from the 100's of Lovepedal "designed" ones, to the Green Giant/Germanium Giant, Beavis Trotsky Drive etc) are actually very nice sounding circuits, very simple and great for socketing, modding and tinkering. Worth a play around!

[Neil mcNasty]

The builds that I have cherished most has been the ones that either has become stayers on my pedalboard or has triggered an urge to expriment more with modifications and tweaks.
My stayers are i interestingly many of my first builds (lucky shots I guess) and are:
- AMZ Mini Booster (with J201 for max boost and some fat grit)
- Kay T-1 Tremolo (with Blend mod and the Comet Filter up front + LPB at the end. Magic!)
- Magnavibe (Subtlile but very sweet)
- Green Ringer (classic and unique)
- DeProfundis Delay (The best sounding delay on these pages)
- Mosrite Fuzzrite (with 6.8nf instead of 2.2nf. Going to try it with MP38's)
- Madbean Bloviator II (throw away your buffer and put this at the end of your chain instead! You'll never turn it off!!!)
- Roland SP201 Preamp (after I adapted it for pedal use, I've never turned it off... Better than the EP3 in my opinion! Magic at the end of the chain...)
- DAM Red Rooster (nothing makes my amp scream like this one does)
- Foxx Tone Machine (noisy as hell, but oh so sweet!)

These are also stayers and triggered alot of experimentation:
- Germanium Giant/Rocket (Wow! So many flavours with different Germaniums. My biggest surprise lately and blooms when adding a second stage with a different Germanium for Q2 + removing the diodes, turns it into a dirty preamp...)
- Roland Double Beat Fuzz Section (the best fat monster-fuzz ever! Added Bias/Gate mod and a AMZ mini-booster up front for maximim insanity)
- Devi Ever/Effector - 13 SodaMeizer (with a reversed NPN Germanium instead of PNP Silicon in Q4, it becomes an old school fuzz with a ton of harmonics and longest sustain I've ever had. Forget chords! One string is more than enough!)

As you might notice there are no overdrive and distortion pedals on this list.
I actually do not use any (specially Distortion pedals & Diode Clipping/Compression, sounds horrible in my ears).
A good booster pushing a good amp does the trick and no overdrive can compete with a saggy old amp (specially the Silvertone 1483/1484. Both are the same amp, but the 1484 has Tremolo and the worlds most horrible spring reverb, and is way too expencive since Jack White use it. Get the 1483 with the 15" speaker instead and get your mind blown!)
But if I should mention any Overdrive that I consider worth building, it would be:
- DOD 250/Distortion + (classics!)
- Zendrive (Amazing dynamics!)
- Red Llama (my favorite overdrive when forced to using a clean amp)
- Superbolt (I refuse using those 3-letters up front! Steal the Supraux Deux back and clone the hell out of the arrogant bastards "products". And on top of it all, he has the guts to make a video about how he spent 4 years adapting a Supro amp... What a complete load of bullshit! I can read a schematic!) Sorry... It triggers me every time i think about it...!
I feel much better now!

[Travis]

lol JHS also cloned the Devi Hyperion and called it the "Bun Runner". Wtf is that even supposed to mean? The Hyperion sounds like scorched earth demon flames consuming your soul and they call it Bun Runner..

I hate JHS

[rocket88]

And don't forget. JHS spent years developing it.