- Build Rating
Third time I built this pedal (I may be addicted). This time with an actual printed enclosure. Happy with how this turned out! Obviously the enclosure design is heavily inspired by the original amp. MP-140G because Ampeg VH-140C. Get it? 
First time I built this was with a kit from Musikding in Germany, the next one was with hand picked (higher quality) components mostly from Mouser and this time around I thought I'd go for a budget version with cheap (mostly) Tayda parts only - and honestly, this sounds pretty much exactly the same, maybe even better than the second "high quality" version I built... The only build I had problems with (high crosstalk and oscillations) was the Musikding kit which I now think is more because of their choice of components rather than any issues with the actual PCB layout.
I learned from my past builds and mounted some of the electrolytic caps on the daughterboard and the DC-DC converter upside down. This way the build fits perfectly in a 1590BB2 enclosure without any clearance issues.
By the way, if anyone is looking for an alternative for the rather expensive Traco TEC 2/3-0923 I can vouch for the WRA0515S-3WR2 (4.5-9V input) and WRA1215S-3WR2 (9-18V input) by Mornsun et al. These can be had on AliExpress for less than half the price of the Tracos. I socketed the converter at first and compared both to the Traco. They all work perfectly fine with a regular 9VDC power supply.
Anyway, here's a full playthrough/demo of the pedal:
Metal and hardcore riffs only. This circuit is not really suited for anything else in my opinion. I wouldn't call it a one trick pony though since the active tone controls have such a wide range but yeah, high gain only. The pedal doesn't really work for low gain stuff.
First time I built this was with a kit from Musikding in Germany, the next one was with hand picked (higher quality) components mostly from Mouser and this time around I thought I'd go for a budget version with cheap (mostly) Tayda parts only - and honestly, this sounds pretty much exactly the same, maybe even better than the second "high quality" version I built... The only build I had problems with (high crosstalk and oscillations) was the Musikding kit which I now think is more because of their choice of components rather than any issues with the actual PCB layout.
I learned from my past builds and mounted some of the electrolytic caps on the daughterboard and the DC-DC converter upside down. This way the build fits perfectly in a 1590BB2 enclosure without any clearance issues.
By the way, if anyone is looking for an alternative for the rather expensive Traco TEC 2/3-0923 I can vouch for the WRA0515S-3WR2 (4.5-9V input) and WRA1215S-3WR2 (9-18V input) by Mornsun et al. These can be had on AliExpress for less than half the price of the Tracos. I socketed the converter at first and compared both to the Traco. They all work perfectly fine with a regular 9VDC power supply.
Anyway, here's a full playthrough/demo of the pedal:
Metal and hardcore riffs only. This circuit is not really suited for anything else in my opinion. I wouldn't call it a one trick pony though since the active tone controls have such a wide range but yeah, high gain only. The pedal doesn't really work for low gain stuff.
