MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
I put this together a couple of days ago but hadn't yet posted a build report.
I read through a lot of threads that I could find and I think maybe I probably should have read some of the general "meh" attitude about this build before ordering it.
-I also discovered AFTER ordering it that there's an SS-3 board as well.
So a couple things about this build. Starting with the enclosure. This was an experiment with fixing a botched enclosure that I drilled incorrectly very early on in my pedal building. It's been sitting on my bench mocking me. I finally decided to do something with it after reading some suggestions here.
I patched the botched drill holes with JB Weld Marine epoxy (all I had on hand for boat repairs).
Painting it was an exercise both in learning experience and frustration. It's been 3 different colors and has been sanded back at least 4 times because something crinkled.
It actually needs to be sanded back again to fix a couple of spots but I decided to call it good and decided to use it.
It's that same Hyacinth Blue color rattle can left over from the herb shelf I built for my wife and also what I used on my Space Heater and Black Eye builds.
The enclosure was originally sand textured black, so I had to knock that down a good bit for the new paint to adhere. A couple coats of primer, a couple coats of the color and a couple coats of clear gloss.
I have a couple of other drilled but unused enclosures that I may "fix" now that I've got some experience doing it.
Regarding the pedal itself, super easy build and went together fast. Fairly simple circuit that in some ways resembles 2x DOD250 circuits.
Kinda sounds like it too.
I read a lot of comments about how the SS-2 is "bass heavy" and that the SS-3 revisions addresses this with a bass cut.
I'm not experiencing this at all, I find it to be a super bright pedal. Could be that I goofed somewhere but overall it's a bit of a disappointing sounding pedal to me.
I used a pair of HG5003 GE diodes that measured in the mid 300's on my GM328 tester. It doesn't sound like the Ge's kick in unless the gain is dialed pretty high, but that's where it sounds best to me. I have the gain around 3 o'clock, the tone almost all the way CCW and I can get a nice creamy distortion.
Otherwise, with the gain dialed back, it's mostly the opamp clipping I'm hearing and it's brash, harsh and trebly sounding to me.
Again, pairing this with the right guitar and amp is going to be a factor. Sounds better with a darker guitar like my PRS 594.
Not sorry I built it, there's some good sounds to be had in this pedal, you just have to work for it
I read through a lot of threads that I could find and I think maybe I probably should have read some of the general "meh" attitude about this build before ordering it.
-I also discovered AFTER ordering it that there's an SS-3 board as well.
So a couple things about this build. Starting with the enclosure. This was an experiment with fixing a botched enclosure that I drilled incorrectly very early on in my pedal building. It's been sitting on my bench mocking me. I finally decided to do something with it after reading some suggestions here.
I patched the botched drill holes with JB Weld Marine epoxy (all I had on hand for boat repairs).
Painting it was an exercise both in learning experience and frustration. It's been 3 different colors and has been sanded back at least 4 times because something crinkled.
It actually needs to be sanded back again to fix a couple of spots but I decided to call it good and decided to use it.
It's that same Hyacinth Blue color rattle can left over from the herb shelf I built for my wife and also what I used on my Space Heater and Black Eye builds.
The enclosure was originally sand textured black, so I had to knock that down a good bit for the new paint to adhere. A couple coats of primer, a couple coats of the color and a couple coats of clear gloss.
I have a couple of other drilled but unused enclosures that I may "fix" now that I've got some experience doing it.
Regarding the pedal itself, super easy build and went together fast. Fairly simple circuit that in some ways resembles 2x DOD250 circuits.
Kinda sounds like it too.
I read a lot of comments about how the SS-2 is "bass heavy" and that the SS-3 revisions addresses this with a bass cut.
I'm not experiencing this at all, I find it to be a super bright pedal. Could be that I goofed somewhere but overall it's a bit of a disappointing sounding pedal to me.
I used a pair of HG5003 GE diodes that measured in the mid 300's on my GM328 tester. It doesn't sound like the Ge's kick in unless the gain is dialed pretty high, but that's where it sounds best to me. I have the gain around 3 o'clock, the tone almost all the way CCW and I can get a nice creamy distortion.
Otherwise, with the gain dialed back, it's mostly the opamp clipping I'm hearing and it's brash, harsh and trebly sounding to me.
Again, pairing this with the right guitar and amp is going to be a factor. Sounds better with a darker guitar like my PRS 594.
Not sorry I built it, there's some good sounds to be had in this pedal, you just have to work for it
