Chauffeur Overdrive

[MattG]

Just completed, my Chauffeur Overdrive. I was recently gifted a couple of these "Super Premium" 3PDT footswitches (200k cycle rating!), so tried to use premium components in the rest of the build. It worked on the first power on. I have so far only spent five minutes doing some quick noodling (mostly to verify it works), but initial impressions are quite positive. Eager to spend more time playing it!

There are a lot of components for a four-knob analog overdrive, I'm curious to see how this thing works. Gentle hint @PedalPCB the build docs do not have the schematic.

Anyway, the milled aluminum knobs are the nicest part of the external appearance:



I fully echo @HamishR's comment from this thread

And looking at the pics I am impressed with the symmetry. I find it... captivating.

The populated PCB itself does have a distinct aesthetic quality to it (at least to my eyes!).

 

[HamishR]

It's an interesting pedal isn't it? I built it, played a while, put it aside for other ODs, then recently plugged it in again. It's kinda perfect in that it has the right amount of bass, right amount of mids, right amount of treble, etc etc... But at the same time it doesn't engage me like other pedals do. I could easily use it for gigs or anything, but there are some far simpler pedals which seem to do everything this one does but also have that elusive quality - character.

This is why I seem to be building endless numbers of overdrives - searching for a sound I haven't heard before in some tiny little difference. Of course the way I use them and play them will probably have much more effect on the sound than some minuscule component change.

I like this pedal. Maybe I just want it to sound a little more aggressive or something? But man does it use a lot of electrolytic caps!

 

[cooder]

... and a LOT of opamps for an overdrive... I'd love to see the schematic and sense in that.

 

[MattG]

Just spent a little more time playing through this pedal. I really like it. I always feel that most overdrive pedals have an "optimized region": certain functional areas - strings, fret regions, chords vs single notes, etc - where they sound best, and other areas where the overdrive isn't as sweet. That's where this drive stands out so far: it feels exceptionally consistent no matter how I'm playing. Very interesting feel to it.

Definitely curious to see the schematic.

 

[ADAOCE]

Just spend a little more time playing through this pedal. I really like it. I always feel that most overdrive pedals have an "optimized region": certain functional areas - strings, fret regions, chords vs single notes, etc - where they sound best, and other areas where the overdrive isn't as sweet. That's where this drive stands out so far: it feels exceptionally consistent no matter how I'm playing. Very interesting feel to it.

Definitely curious to see the schematic.

Care to record some sounds?