Hetari Gotoh
Active member
- Build Rating
Third build, some kind of modded bluesbreaker. After reading up on the topic I chose the blue channel of the protein pedal because... yes. I can't even remember why. It must have looked like a good idea at the time.
One thing I remember is @spi describing it as "excessively loud and shrill" and @jesuscrisp pointing out the difference in detail between the UK and korean versions of the bluesbreaker. Armed with that random bit of information I decided to go
This incredibly courageous feat required a way to switch R2 and R3 between 3K3/4K7 and 27K/33K while also ignoring any possibly related capacitor. With the power of the search button I got some help from @Feral Feline , to whom goes my gratitude. The easiest method would have been fitting a toggle switch to the side of the box, using the empty space between the PCB and the footswitch, but the thought of that tiny piece of metal protruding from the side was intolerable.
So it was time to mod my pre-drilled enclosure as well. I procured a really menacing hand reamer (made in Japan, out of glorious nippon steel folded a thousand times) and enlarged the hole between the pots. It was disappointingly easy. Drilling another hole for the LED was a bit more rewarding. I measured everything thrice because it HAD to be centered, only to find out that it looks even more off because the footswitch hole nearby is certainly not centered. Suddenly I remembered the eternal "workshop is overloaded" notice on the Tayda website and imagined why their 1mm tolerance has a 2mm tolerance. I then admired my handiwork while watching The Machinist (2004) high on isopropyl alcohol fumes.
Everything about the build was A-OK, apart from the 3 hours needed to devise and put together the 8-legged, 4-assed resistor monster, wire it to the half-populated board and eventually fit it into the confined space between the pots. I also experimented with abysmal quality heat-shrink tubing, heating it with improper tools. The worst of the worst was relocating the LED. It should have been the simplest part but it proved to be a monumental pain in the ass. Go figure.
Instead of detonating into a fiery storm of metal fragments, the assembled pedal fired up and worked in all its presumed bluesbreakage. I can't compare it to anything yet, I can only attest to the fact that in my particular situation the volume pot reaches unity at 9 and "mushroom cloud laying motherfucker" level at 12. After that it's mushroom clouds all the way up.
The gain pot, on the other hand, is absolutely useless until 12, although it DOES THINGS™ to the tone in a way that pleases my pylorus.
Let's say that the pedal provides a freshly shaven armpit sensation and the taste of burnt lemon zest. Switching from 3K3/4K7 to 27K/33K makes the armpit deeper and the lemon sweeter. It also covers them both with a wet woolen blanket. It's definitely noticeable and it's somehow nicer at high levels of gain on single coils. Probably. Right.
Since there's no coherence left in this report it's time to thank the brave souls that are still reading at this point and go do something more productive, like, using this contraption I just put together. I don't know exactly what I'll be molesting next, I just know, deep down, that it will be another overdrive pedal.
One thing I remember is @spi describing it as "excessively loud and shrill" and @jesuscrisp pointing out the difference in detail between the UK and korean versions of the bluesbreaker. Armed with that random bit of information I decided to go
"Yo dawg, I heard you like modded bluesbreakers, so I put a mod in your modded bluesbreaker
so you can flip a switch while you play and go from loud and shrill to loud and muffled"
It probably doesn't make much sense to someone who can design a circuit and/or play guitar, but the goal here was the modification itself as a learning experience.so you can flip a switch while you play and go from loud and shrill to loud and muffled"
This incredibly courageous feat required a way to switch R2 and R3 between 3K3/4K7 and 27K/33K while also ignoring any possibly related capacitor. With the power of the search button I got some help from @Feral Feline , to whom goes my gratitude. The easiest method would have been fitting a toggle switch to the side of the box, using the empty space between the PCB and the footswitch, but the thought of that tiny piece of metal protruding from the side was intolerable.
So it was time to mod my pre-drilled enclosure as well. I procured a really menacing hand reamer (made in Japan, out of glorious nippon steel folded a thousand times) and enlarged the hole between the pots. It was disappointingly easy. Drilling another hole for the LED was a bit more rewarding. I measured everything thrice because it HAD to be centered, only to find out that it looks even more off because the footswitch hole nearby is certainly not centered. Suddenly I remembered the eternal "workshop is overloaded" notice on the Tayda website and imagined why their 1mm tolerance has a 2mm tolerance. I then admired my handiwork while watching The Machinist (2004) high on isopropyl alcohol fumes.
Everything about the build was A-OK, apart from the 3 hours needed to devise and put together the 8-legged, 4-assed resistor monster, wire it to the half-populated board and eventually fit it into the confined space between the pots. I also experimented with abysmal quality heat-shrink tubing, heating it with improper tools. The worst of the worst was relocating the LED. It should have been the simplest part but it proved to be a monumental pain in the ass. Go figure.
Instead of detonating into a fiery storm of metal fragments, the assembled pedal fired up and worked in all its presumed bluesbreakage. I can't compare it to anything yet, I can only attest to the fact that in my particular situation the volume pot reaches unity at 9 and "mushroom cloud laying motherfucker" level at 12. After that it's mushroom clouds all the way up.
The gain pot, on the other hand, is absolutely useless until 12, although it DOES THINGS™ to the tone in a way that pleases my pylorus.
Let's say that the pedal provides a freshly shaven armpit sensation and the taste of burnt lemon zest. Switching from 3K3/4K7 to 27K/33K makes the armpit deeper and the lemon sweeter. It also covers them both with a wet woolen blanket. It's definitely noticeable and it's somehow nicer at high levels of gain on single coils. Probably. Right.
Since there's no coherence left in this report it's time to thank the brave souls that are still reading at this point and go do something more productive, like, using this contraption I just put together. I don't know exactly what I'll be molesting next, I just know, deep down, that it will be another overdrive pedal.
