counterdeliver
Member
- Build Rating
5 Stars for “build experience” but I don’t really love the pedal (and I really wanted to). First the build: I watched the Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop V2 teardown video on YouTube where the guy gives the exact specs for each J201 - and I was psyched to nail both of them dead on from my stash. That made biasing super easy (though I had to turn the trimmers more than I expected). Beyond that, it’s a low parts count, nicely spaced, easy build.
Stamping the enclosure is never easy, but I’m getting better at it. I’m just glad Fairfield Circuitry doesn’t have all their lettering neatly lined up! All I have to do is try really hard to line everything up perfectly and that ensures it’ll be pretty jumbled like the real thing
. I 3D printed a jig with some PLA CF for strength and that helped a lot. The file was for different sized punches, but I scaled it down to get it very close.
Now for the pedal. I love low-medium overdrives. I loved a lot of demos I watched. I loved seeing Jeff Tweedy rocking one live a few weeks ago… I just don’t love mine. I knew it would be dark. I knew the “sag” control was going to be subtle (and not like a “starved voltage” breakup like the ~900 Fuzz or the “Big Cheese”), but it’s a bit TOO subtle IMO. I also would have appreciated a bit more differentiation between the down and middle positions on the “tone” switch. I’ll probably appreciate it more when I find the right pedal(s) to stack it with. Still experimenting (and open to suggestions)!
Stamping the enclosure is never easy, but I’m getting better at it. I’m just glad Fairfield Circuitry doesn’t have all their lettering neatly lined up! All I have to do is try really hard to line everything up perfectly and that ensures it’ll be pretty jumbled like the real thing
. I 3D printed a jig with some PLA CF for strength and that helped a lot. The file was for different sized punches, but I scaled it down to get it very close. Now for the pedal. I love low-medium overdrives. I loved a lot of demos I watched. I loved seeing Jeff Tweedy rocking one live a few weeks ago… I just don’t love mine. I knew it would be dark. I knew the “sag” control was going to be subtle (and not like a “starved voltage” breakup like the ~900 Fuzz or the “Big Cheese”), but it’s a bit TOO subtle IMO. I also would have appreciated a bit more differentiation between the down and middle positions on the “tone” switch. I’ll probably appreciate it more when I find the right pedal(s) to stack it with. Still experimenting (and open to suggestions)!
