Boteh Drive (Wampler Paisley)

MichaelW

MichaelW

Well-known member
Build Rating
5.00 star(s)
Catching up on some build reports.

Nothing interesting enough for a demo yet.

First up is the Boteh Drive. I think it was @ChrsGuit that recommended this drive to me.

I didn't know anything about this pedal before ordering the board, but looking into it a bit, it's supposed to sound like Brad Paisley's Train Wreck amp.

So in that regards, it doesn't disappoint, definitely has that "Wreck" vibe in the way it breaks up.

Of course it got me to pull out my Derailer (Ethos TWE-II) which is also based on a Train Wreck. There are definitely some similarities as well as some differences.

The Derailer has a lot more gain available, in fact too much. Before I did the @Chuck D. Bones mods to the Derailer it was barely usable for me.
But with the mods, it spreads the gain out over the rotation of the knob and is much more usable a drive.
One of the cool things about the Derailer is that it has a lot of low and low mids that give it a very "amp like" sound.

More so than the Boteh. Even though Brad has said that the pedal is very amp-like for him, I didn't find it so myself. It's much more direct and in your face like a pedal.
Maybe a tad boxy.

Still a great sounding pedal. I've been enjoying comparing it between the Derailer as well as my Fuchs Train II amp model, which is also based on the TrainWreck.

The Boteh has a bit less gain than the amp or the Derailer, which I think does a better job of emulating the amp. But, as I said, it doesn't take away from how good the Boteh sounds. I just kinda went down a Train Wreck rabbit hole ...heh.....

Straightforward build.

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I hear what you say about boxy. I have one on vero and I pulled it out yesterday coincidentally. Sounds great with a boost in front but the eq really needs tweaking. That low end is overpowering..
 
I built one on Vero a few years ago. Agree with all that has been said. Weird that if you want to emulate a Trainwreck you would use a Tubescreamer as the basis. But then maybe it was more designed to be used in front of a Trainwreck? I dunno.

I built a Ceriatone Trainwreck style amp a few years ago too - way too much gain for me! It was pretty faithful to the original circuit and I used custom Trainwreck style transformers from somewhere in the US. I think the key was supposed to be to get too much gain and modulate it from the guitar, which did work - to a point.

Pretty sure I pillaged the trannies from that build and made a Marshall 2204 with them...

Anyway, this build is almost tediously perfect. When will you do something weird and controversial, Micheal? You know, misplace a resistor or something?? Use a slightly crooked piece of wire?? They can't all be perfect, surely??
 
I find this pedal shines when used with a totally clean Fender amp... For actual lead work, like pentatonic bending, it sorta gets "lost"/"congested"...

The pedal works best with a Telecaster bridge pickup for rhythm work... especially open chords where you might hit some walk down notes or fills on the lower frets... especially if you dig in a bit.

If I had a complaint, it seems like Unity volume is a bit higher up the chain... like it needs a better volume sweep...

That's a big peeve of mine. Some pedals are like a bluesbreaker with very little volume on tap while other builds (Special Overdrive or Nobleman) are blowing you out on volume at 8-9 o'clock...
 
ChrsGuit said:
I find this pedal shines when used with a totally clean Fender amp... For actual lead work, like pentatonic bending, it sorta gets "lost"/"congested"...

The pedal works best with a Telecaster bridge pickup for rhythm work... especially open chords where you might hit some walk down notes or fills on the lower frets... especially if you dig in a bit.

If I had a complaint, it seems like Unity volume is a bit higher up the chain... like it needs a better volume sweep...

That's a big peeve of mine. Some pedals are like a bluesbreaker with very little volume on tap while other builds (Special Overdrive or Nobleman) are blowing you out on volume at 8-9 o'clock...
Click to expand...
You should build the Derailer. You'd probably like it a lot. Just remember to swap the B50k for an A50k for the gain pot. Makes a big difference.
 
Question about the Derailer - I like to build things as simple as possible (but not simpler). Of the 4 switches, are any of them always in one position? My preference would be to eliminate some or all of them.
 
phaezamp said:
Question about the Derailer - I like to build things as simple as possible (but not simpler). Of the 4 switches, are any of them always in one position? My preference would be to eliminate some or all of them.
Click to expand...
That's hard to say. Each of the toggles has a pretty significant impact on the tone. Ethos is known for trying to recreate the whole front end of the amp. Which ones you could live without is going to be up to your ears. You COULD build the circuit and use alligator clips to the toggles to see how you'd like to hardwire the toggle before drilling an enclosure for it.
 
The Derailer is definitely up there with one of my favorite circuits I've built from this site, it just sounds beyond stellar with my rig. Just fed it into my OCD clone (also from PPCB, also did a ton of mods to it), then into the General TSO, and with a touch a reverb, I just found my new "always on" tone.
 
DeadAirMD said:
The Derailer is definitely up there with one of my favorite circuits I've built from this site, it just sounds beyond stellar with my rig. Just fed it into my OCD clone (also from PPCB, also did a ton of mods to it), then into the General TSO, and with a touch a reverb, I just found my new "always on" tone.
Click to expand...
It's definitely a great pedal. Very amp-like sounding to me. Lots of tweak ability. Just not my sound but I love taking it out and making noise with it from time to time:)
 
Yeah, that's probably exactly why I like it so much is because of how "amp-like" it sounds. Great news as well @MichaelW and @Robert, definitely will keep an eye out for more Ethos from here, if that's the case. Got a ton of beyond love for PPCB, this has completely changed my approach to music and search for my own tone, as well as drastically deepened my love of guitar and making music.
 
MichaelW said:
You should build the Derailer. You'd probably like it a lot. Just remember to swap the B50k for an A50k for the gain pot. Makes a big difference.
Click to expand...
I'm about to start on the Derailer, but I'm having trouble sourcing "1v8" diodes. Build Docs suggest 1N4678 Diodes, but none of my pedal supply sources have them. Any suggestions on an easily available alternative?
 
I don't recall where I got it from.
Try Amazon. If you can't find one DM me your address, I'm sure I have one I can send you.
 
MichaelW said:
You should build the Derailer. You'd probably like it a lot. Just remember to swap the B50k for an A50k for the gain pot. Makes a big difference.
Click to expand...
Hey Michael.
Finally getting around to the Derailer. in your comment, you said swap the B50 to an A50 for the gain.
On the schematic it's showing a B10k for volume and gain, and a B50 for the hi cut
 
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