MichaelW
Well-known member
Been wanting to do this ever since I saw the board released. But kept forgetting about it
I finally ordered the boards in one of the recent "crack coupon" promo's (along with some other stuff).
Really digging this boost as much as I thought I would. Side A is a high headroom clean boost. Sounds very transparent yet there's a little sumpin sumpin going on that not quite the same as the sumpin sumpin with the Amentum boost. Even at unity gain it adds a bit fullness and body and dynamic to the guitar tone.
The "Low" control doesn't seem like strictly a passive bass cut, but rather adds more body and fullness. Simply but functional EQ control that can fatten up single coils.
The Side B was built using germanium diodes in place of the 3.1v Zeners. I also ran out of 1n4148's and subbed 1n914's. For the ge dioedes I used HG5008's that measured in the mid 30's on my GM328. I did not socket so as to avoid going down rabbit hole of trying everything in my stash hahah.
I also subbed NE5532P's for the OPA2134's that the BOM called for. Mostly because I'm down to one OP2134 and saving it for a pedal where it might actually make a difference. No one seems to have any stock except Tayda and I'm trying to avoid ordering IC's from them as it seems a bit 'iffy".
The "dirty-ness" of the dirty boost side is subtle but effective. Sounds great on it's own, sounds even better stacked with side A and can function as a low gain drive pedal that way. Sounds AWESOME pushing another overdrive pedal or dirty amp into overdrive. I can see using both sides stacked to really push the front end of an amp (which I haven't tried yet). I believe in the original pedal the dirt side is supposed have more output. In this case since it's just two of the same board, I'm not getting that but it's also not really needed.
I wanted to get these boards into a 1590BB and in order to do so I had to get creative with bending the legs. Since I kinda worked my way out that jam on my Kings Hand V2 combo build, I used the same method of bending the pot legs back on themselves in order to move the board towards the top of the enclosure to make room for the footswitch. A little less stressful this time around since it was planned and not an "Oh crap..." moment of panic.
I used the Ball Silver Tayda enclosure, it really does look nice but it really does scratch pretty easily. Just a cotton rag and IPA wiping off some Sharpie marks left the scratches you see under the foot switches. I also used "water clear" LED's for first time. Pretty cool in that they seem a bit more subdued which I like.
Great and versatile boost by itself but built as a Dual Boost this really rocks!
I originally wired the power supply incorrectly on the Side A board, switched the Hot with one of the grounds. Ugh, which is why it looks a bit ugly after fixing it. It didn't look quite so bad as it does in the picture so I didn't bother cleaning it.
I finally ordered the boards in one of the recent "crack coupon" promo's (along with some other stuff).
Really digging this boost as much as I thought I would. Side A is a high headroom clean boost. Sounds very transparent yet there's a little sumpin sumpin going on that not quite the same as the sumpin sumpin with the Amentum boost. Even at unity gain it adds a bit fullness and body and dynamic to the guitar tone.
The "Low" control doesn't seem like strictly a passive bass cut, but rather adds more body and fullness. Simply but functional EQ control that can fatten up single coils.
The Side B was built using germanium diodes in place of the 3.1v Zeners. I also ran out of 1n4148's and subbed 1n914's. For the ge dioedes I used HG5008's that measured in the mid 30's on my GM328. I did not socket so as to avoid going down rabbit hole of trying everything in my stash hahah.
I also subbed NE5532P's for the OPA2134's that the BOM called for. Mostly because I'm down to one OP2134 and saving it for a pedal where it might actually make a difference. No one seems to have any stock except Tayda and I'm trying to avoid ordering IC's from them as it seems a bit 'iffy".
The "dirty-ness" of the dirty boost side is subtle but effective. Sounds great on it's own, sounds even better stacked with side A and can function as a low gain drive pedal that way. Sounds AWESOME pushing another overdrive pedal or dirty amp into overdrive. I can see using both sides stacked to really push the front end of an amp (which I haven't tried yet). I believe in the original pedal the dirt side is supposed have more output. In this case since it's just two of the same board, I'm not getting that but it's also not really needed.
I wanted to get these boards into a 1590BB and in order to do so I had to get creative with bending the legs. Since I kinda worked my way out that jam on my Kings Hand V2 combo build, I used the same method of bending the pot legs back on themselves in order to move the board towards the top of the enclosure to make room for the footswitch. A little less stressful this time around since it was planned and not an "Oh crap..." moment of panic.
I used the Ball Silver Tayda enclosure, it really does look nice but it really does scratch pretty easily. Just a cotton rag and IPA wiping off some Sharpie marks left the scratches you see under the foot switches. I also used "water clear" LED's for first time. Pretty cool in that they seem a bit more subdued which I like.
Great and versatile boost by itself but built as a Dual Boost this really rocks!
I originally wired the power supply incorrectly on the Side A board, switched the Hot with one of the grounds. Ugh, which is why it looks a bit ugly after fixing it. It didn't look quite so bad as it does in the picture so I didn't bother cleaning it.
