C2CElectronics Black Eye

drew.spriggs

Active member
Had a guy bugging me for weeks about building him a tube preamp/distortion pedal, and to my absolute shock he actually paid once I steered him towards this! Using one of the C2CE PCB's, and a pair of Shuguang 7025s (probably the best new, non-stupidly priced 12A*7 variants I've found).

B+ is around 280v, and uses the Nixie SMPS design (with the couple of mods I've used previously). Low-ripple caps, better quality inductors (not in the image; changed them over once my Mouser order finally arrived) and much better MOSFETS than the original means it's very quiet, and stays very cool. Added in a bit more venting than on the original to make sure it gets some airflow.

Tayda powdercoated enclosure (accidentally got gloss instead of matte, but oh well), Cricut vinyl decals and a couple of coats of matte clear on top. I still hate painting clear as I'm not set up to do it cleanly, but all things considering it turned out pretty well (there's one speck of dust next to the E in eye, but the new owner is totally fine with it. The rest in the image is just dust on top). Some people may get the font/logo reference

Honestly, after the absolute shitshow I experienced trying to build a...certain other tube preamp in a pedal, this was an absolute DREAM to build - and I've already started on a King Nothing.

1734735490088.png

1734735497227.png

1734735505527.png
 
Back
Top