MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Some of you may recall my obsession (as some would call it) with the EP3 Preamp pedals.
I've built two Clandestine Preamps (Chase Tone Secret Preamp) And use both of them in my pedal chain, I've also built the AionFx Ares (based on the ClinchFX EP3) which I use in my second amp's efx loop chain. I've also built the Episode Booster (Xotic EP Booster).
Before I got into DIY pedals, I had an Xotic EP Booster that I used regularly.
So when I saw that @Robert was offering this variant from Catlinbread I HAD to build it
What makes this unusual is that it has an exposed JFET Bias control, ostensibly to account for the variations in JFET specs (there's a pretty narrow spec to get as close a tone as possible to the original EchoPlex units.)
It also has an additional Boost control with about 6db of gain. So not as much "boost" as the Xotic but more than either the Chase Tone and Clinch units.
(Keeping in mind that these preamps are about "tone sculpting" rather than actual boosting. ) And finally it has a high cut control.
Much has been said about the EP3 Preamp, but for me, I really like the "mastered" sound it gives you. I run the Clandestine as an "always on" pedal as the last pedal in my FX Loop.
So the Eschaton has some neat features mentioned above, tonally it's also the darkest of the bunch. After chatting with Robert about it, I decided to remove the C8 cap which controls how much "cut" the high cut control cuts. (Say that 10 times fast Trying to get a feel for how bright it can actually be before deciding on an alternate value. I wound up replacing the 33n cap with a 6n8 cap. Even at its brightest it was still about as dark as the darkest setting on the Clandestine.
So I can't get that "glassy" sound of the other variants but it still has a slightly different "fullness" to the sound that the others don't.
For EP Pre freaks, this is a recommended build, cool to have another variant to mess around with.
For the demo, I compared it to my Clandestine and Ares preamps to show how they differ and how similar they are. These pedals are an exercise in subtlety so it may require headphones to hear the differences.
I'm also using my Red strat that is now running a set of Bootstrap "Sun City Select" pickups. I think I've finally found the permanent pickups for this guitar. I've tried so many different pickup sets in this guitar including a number of different sets of Lollars, Wolfetones, Fender Custom Shops and probably a few I've forgotten about. None of them sounded "quite right". Man, these pickups are the perfect fit for this guitar. Essentially they are wound to similar specs as the Lollar 64's or Fender CS Texas Specials. But something about them makes them stand out in this guitar. They're A5 magnets with a slightly overwound bridge pickup. The fact that they're a $50 set of pickups is mind boggling. They're excellent pickups, period.
I've built two Clandestine Preamps (Chase Tone Secret Preamp) And use both of them in my pedal chain, I've also built the AionFx Ares (based on the ClinchFX EP3) which I use in my second amp's efx loop chain. I've also built the Episode Booster (Xotic EP Booster).
Before I got into DIY pedals, I had an Xotic EP Booster that I used regularly.
So when I saw that @Robert was offering this variant from Catlinbread I HAD to build it
What makes this unusual is that it has an exposed JFET Bias control, ostensibly to account for the variations in JFET specs (there's a pretty narrow spec to get as close a tone as possible to the original EchoPlex units.)
It also has an additional Boost control with about 6db of gain. So not as much "boost" as the Xotic but more than either the Chase Tone and Clinch units.
(Keeping in mind that these preamps are about "tone sculpting" rather than actual boosting. ) And finally it has a high cut control.
Much has been said about the EP3 Preamp, but for me, I really like the "mastered" sound it gives you. I run the Clandestine as an "always on" pedal as the last pedal in my FX Loop.
So the Eschaton has some neat features mentioned above, tonally it's also the darkest of the bunch. After chatting with Robert about it, I decided to remove the C8 cap which controls how much "cut" the high cut control cuts. (Say that 10 times fast
Trying to get a feel for how bright it can actually be before deciding on an alternate value. I wound up replacing the 33n cap with a 6n8 cap. Even at its brightest it was still about as dark as the darkest setting on the Clandestine. So I can't get that "glassy" sound of the other variants but it still has a slightly different "fullness" to the sound that the others don't.
For EP Pre freaks, this is a recommended build, cool to have another variant to mess around with.
For the demo, I compared it to my Clandestine and Ares preamps to show how they differ and how similar they are. These pedals are an exercise in subtlety so it may require headphones to hear the differences.
I'm also using my Red strat that is now running a set of Bootstrap "Sun City Select" pickups. I think I've finally found the permanent pickups for this guitar. I've tried so many different pickup sets in this guitar including a number of different sets of Lollars, Wolfetones, Fender Custom Shops and probably a few I've forgotten about. None of them sounded "quite right". Man, these pickups are the perfect fit for this guitar. Essentially they are wound to similar specs as the Lollar 64's or Fender CS Texas Specials. But something about them makes them stand out in this guitar. They're A5 magnets with a slightly overwound bridge pickup. The fact that they're a $50 set of pickups is mind boggling. They're excellent pickups, period.
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