- Build Rating
Here's my Churl of Toan. I've been try to declutter most of my infrequently used pedals, but I've held on to my Pauper (Prince of Tone). I recently started using it, and remembered why I didn't sell it. I never use the OD/distortion switch (it stays parked on OD), nor do I use the internal DIP switches. So I made a custom version of this circuit stripped down to my personal essentials, which basically makes it a Bluesbreaker with an internal "presence" control. I wired the presence control slightly differently than the POT/KOT, opting to do it the way @Chuck D. Bones does it in his Emperor of Tone.
After I settled on the actual drive circuit, I set about adding all my usual deliciously overkill features:
This is actually "take 2" of this circuit, as I made a mistake generating the gerber files, which resulted in part of the circuit being shorted to ground. The part that was shorted was actually the RF filter, so I was able to bypass it entirely with a wire to verify the rest of the circuit worked. I would have re-fabbed the board anyway, as I absent-mindedly laid out the control pots in a non-conventional way.
The other highlight of this build was using my brand new Pace ADS200 Plus soldering station. My previous soldering station was adequate, but I've been wanting a pro-grade soldering station for a while, so I finally pulled the trigger. I can't believe how fast this thing heats up!
The enclosure is another faux snakeskin job: I bought some pleather snakeskin, used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to glue it to the enclosure, then coated the whole thing in Envirotex resin.
The new PCB fired up perfectly right away. It sounds great! Just like my Pauper.
I have a "Deluxe" Churl of Toan in the works that adds a few more features. I'm also thinking about miniaturizing this circuit via SMD so it will fit in a 1590B with top-mount jacks and/or easily fit into a dual pedal. To me, the BB/POT circuit really sounds great on its own, but also does a great job pushing other drives, like one of my all-time favorites, the modified Animals/Skreddy Diamond Peak.
After I settled on the actual drive circuit, I set about adding all my usual deliciously overkill features:
- RG Keen's P-channel MOSFET reverse polarity protection
- Additional PSU filtering
- Buffered electrical bypass
This is actually "take 2" of this circuit, as I made a mistake generating the gerber files, which resulted in part of the circuit being shorted to ground. The part that was shorted was actually the RF filter, so I was able to bypass it entirely with a wire to verify the rest of the circuit worked. I would have re-fabbed the board anyway, as I absent-mindedly laid out the control pots in a non-conventional way.
The other highlight of this build was using my brand new Pace ADS200 Plus soldering station. My previous soldering station was adequate, but I've been wanting a pro-grade soldering station for a while, so I finally pulled the trigger. I can't believe how fast this thing heats up!
The enclosure is another faux snakeskin job: I bought some pleather snakeskin, used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to glue it to the enclosure, then coated the whole thing in Envirotex resin.
The new PCB fired up perfectly right away. It sounds great! Just like my Pauper.
I have a "Deluxe" Churl of Toan in the works that adds a few more features. I'm also thinking about miniaturizing this circuit via SMD so it will fit in a 1590B with top-mount jacks and/or easily fit into a dual pedal. To me, the BB/POT circuit really sounds great on its own, but also does a great job pushing other drives, like one of my all-time favorites, the modified Animals/Skreddy Diamond Peak.
