Terminally pointless: stock + jan ray values AionFX Termina (Timmy V2)

[Hetari Gotoh]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

I think my addiction has an addiction. By now, for various unfortunate reasons, the number of timmy & friends I have built and given away is in the double digits. The more I research the difference between the Timmy and the Jan Ray, the less things make sense.
To make things make more sense this time I used a Termina board as a base for a JR, since it's a hybrid between the two circuits, plus a couple stock ones for reference and then I compared them all with a Malekko B:ASSMASTER.




The graphics depict an unholy hybrid of two famous characters, a biological twin and an artificial clone, named "Rem Rei". This representation of an electronically inbred abomination is demurely posing on a Tayda pearl gray enclosure, nestled between the input and output sections of the circuit. I have censored the dangling battery clip with masking tape to reduce the overall lewdness of the gut shot.

Now, I must say, both the stock Termina and Tommy III share the same expected timminess. They sound like a great utility pedal / clean boost when used with other pedals, sexiness enhancer on their own. The Jan Ray I previously built has something *more*. There is a difference in perceived warmth and harmonic content that probably shouldn't be there. I thought maybe it's something due to component tolerance or a lucky mistake, but I built several and the results are the same, even with a blind test.

This one? It sounds more timmyish than it should. The most prominent difference with the coda effects JR, apart from the clipping switch, is now the power section, with a different filtering capacitor and reverse polarity diode.

The conclusion is either scientific (the toan mostly resides inside the voltage sucked by the different reverse polarity diode) or subjective. Maybe psychoacoustic (my ears want to believe) or psychiatric (I have a mental condition that compels me to build the same thing over and over in order to find empirical reasons to keep building the same thing over and over).

This is the parts list I used:

R1	1M
R2	3k3
R3	9k1
R4	680R
R5	1k2
R6	3k3
R7	3k3
R8	omit
R9	9k1
R10	7k5
R11	100R
RPD	1M
RLED	?
TRIM	10k

C1	47nF
C2	22pF
C3	47pF
C4	39n
C5	1μF
C6	47n
C7	150pF
C8	1μF
C9	47μF
C10	100μF
C11	100n

D1	1N5817
D2-6	1N4148
IC1	LM1458N

GAIN	B500K
BASS	B50K
TREBLE	B10K
VOLUME	B10K

 

[MichaelW]

Interesting, I have some custom Jan Ray boards based on the schematic floating around this forum.

I’m a huge fan of the Timmy derivatives like the Powder Blue, Acer drive, Cast Iron, Blue Note (built on a Mammal board). Ironically I am not a fan of the actual Timmy, either the one I built or the one I bought. I kinda went down the Jan Ray rabbit hole and my good friend and enabler @szukalski whipped up some Jan Ray boards and had them drop shipped to me from JLC land.

Anyway, the actual Jan Ray sounds a bit underwhelming to me, all hype, lies, damn lies, controversy aside. I think the closest pedal I have is the Scenario Preamp and I think it sounds much better than the Jan Ray. All of the above mentioned pedals have a second gain stage. Which makes me wonder if messing with the clippers on the Jan Ray would help.

 

[HamishR]

Ha! I feel the same - I have a bunch of Timmy style pedals I love but the actual Timmy does nothing for me. Very vanilla. The Jan Ray is a bit boring too.

Mr Gotoh's pedal shown above though is beautiful. A work of art.

 

[Hetari Gotoh]

Thank you so much, HamishR! And thank you MichaelW for your input (and for guiding me further down the same rabbit hole ).

What I learned so far is that while the timmy is useful for stacking with other pedals, the jan ray instantly loses what I perceive as its jan rayness when coupled with anything else. It sounds sexy straight into an amp or stacked with itself. Adding a timmy to the "mix" is OK as well. In my personal and very limited experience, any other combo basically turns it into wasted space on the pedalboard, AKA "lies, more lies and hype".

Speaking of stacking with itself and wasted space on the pedalboard, something twisted and horribly useless is forming in my mind.

I can imagine how the derived pedals with an added gain stage might have a more noticeable and useful effect and I will explore that direction, but how would you mess with the clippers on the JR specifically?

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

Great artwork!
I remember you're from Italy, do you still order UV printed enclosures from Tayda? How does it work with import and taxes?

 

[Hetari Gotoh]

Grazie! Yes, I generally use Tayda to do the UV print for my builds. It's actually cheaper than going with unpainted enclosures and doing my own drilling because it slows things down. Like, a lot.
Shipping is either Thai Post + playing the customs roulette for smaller orders or DHL Express for heftier orders which is fast, ultra-reliable and handles VAT and duties. Size, weight and value dictate the best choice.

 

[MichaelW]

Thank you so much, HamishR! And thank you MichaelW for your input (and for guiding me further down the same rabbit hole ).

What I learned so far is that while the timmy is useful for stacking with other pedals, the jan ray instantly loses what I perceive as its jan rayness when coupled with anything else. It sounds sexy straight into an amp or stacked with itself. Adding a timmy to the "mix" is OK as well. In my personal and very limited experience, any other combo basically turns it into wasted space on the pedalboard, AKA "lies, more lies and hype".

Speaking of stacking with itself and wasted space on the pedalboard, something twisted and horribly useless is forming in my mind.

I can imagine how the derived pedals with an added gain stage might have a more noticeable and useful effect and I will explore that direction, but how would you mess with the clippers on the JR specifically?

I built one today and for my first alternate clipping experiment I swapped out the 4148's with 914 + 1N4007's in series. Otherwise known to me the " @HamishR " clipping arrangement

I might just stop right here, the clipping sounds so much better now. I found that the stock clippers can sound a bit "farty" when the gain is above 12 0'clock on the stock.

Between changing the clippers and changing the gain pot to an A1M it's kind of changed the scope of the pedal.
I like the overdrive sounds better throughout the significantly increased gain range, yet it still does the low gain-no gain sounds well. Oh and I also exposed the Bass trim with a 9mm pot. Having easy access to this control can really help dial the pedal in for different guitars and amps. I haven't boxed it yet, but once I do, I'll post a build report.

 

[HamishR]

I only just came up with a Timmy-based OD specifically for stacking. As it's for my Strat, I wanted it to have a slight bump in the lower mids. It has come a fairy circuitous route, starting off as a modified Lovepedal Eternity which became more like a very simplified Timmy once I chucked the TS style tone control. I put a mid-boosting bass control in - it's not like a TS style mid bump; it's a bit forceful, but in a nice way.

I'll happily share the schematic if anyone is interested. It's a very simple thing.

 

[Hetari Gotoh]

It all started with an innocent, romantic Lovepedal Eternity and it turned into a Strat-wielding naked Timmy with a dominant streak. Sounds like the schematic for a steamy summer novel. There's money to be made there. Please, do share!

The HamishR clipping arrangement seems to be working as advertised for the JR. I'm not sure it makes it less flatulent at high gain settings, but it somehow provides elegance and refinement to the gas emission. The accessible bass trim is a great idea. Thank you, MichaelW. I will experiment with the gain pot change as well.