MichaelW
Well-known member
I was traveling last week so didn't get to build anything, plus I had a guitar pickup swap/wiring project that was driving me batty. (Turns out I had a bad 3-way blade switch.....whodathunk those ever went bad? It was a CRL).
Anyway, I had "staged" these two builds, meaning all the parts were pulled and ready to go, enclosures drilled, pots and switches mounted and aligned just waiting for the finished boards. So I managed to get both builds done today between meetings and calls.
I've been fascinated with Pete Cornish's pedals because they are so hard to get and freaking expensive. These two designs were the most intriguing as they are completely original circuits and not based on anything else. You can read about Aion's tracing journal here and here.
Pete Cornish is another "gooper" ala Bill Finnegan. It boggles the mind why pedal builders do this, it's kind of like throwing down the gauntlet for people to trace.
Both builds are pretty dense with high parts counts and obnoxious parts values....but I managed to scrounge up all the "seldom used" resistor values between my two kits, with a couple of substitutions here and there.
The CC-1 (Cornish Crunch) is a low gain pedal with some fuzzy qualities when the gain is dimed. But it really sounds best when backed off and used as a low gain dirt box. Some very very cool sounds to be had with this pedal and it really doesn't remind me of anything else, amp or pedal.
The OC-1 (Optical Compressor) is my first NON-overdrive/distortion or boost pedal. I was a little nervous about firing it up the first time..but it worked first time. Still tweaking the biasing as there is no real target provided, so it's all by ear for now. And tuning a compressor is a first for me.
I've been looking for something to replace my Keeley Compressor on my board and wanted to try this one. It's an odd compressor. The controls are not super intuitive but once I read how to set it up properly from the Cornish website again some very cool sounds to be had. I haven't completely wrung it out yet but paired with the CC-1 these pedals seem made for each other. I'm still learning how to use these pedals but so far I'm really digging them both. Not sure if the OC-1 will knock the Keeley off the board but it's definitely another "texture" in the arsenal. Seeing as how much these pedals are going for on Reverb, I am extremely happy with my $30-ish clones.
Oh and as usual not too sure about the knobs on the OC-1. I was trying to capture some of the "amp knob" vibe of the original but feels like these knobs just overpower the 125b. I may need to raid @fig's knob stash and I always seem to be scrounging for knobs, I have a lot of bags with like one or two of a color (Hence the multicolor CC-1).
I'm a bit behind in pulling together some sound demos, so the next video might be a "multi-pedal" showcase.
Anyway, I had "staged" these two builds, meaning all the parts were pulled and ready to go, enclosures drilled, pots and switches mounted and aligned just waiting for the finished boards. So I managed to get both builds done today between meetings and calls.
I've been fascinated with Pete Cornish's pedals because they are so hard to get and freaking expensive. These two designs were the most intriguing as they are completely original circuits and not based on anything else. You can read about Aion's tracing journal here and here.
Pete Cornish is another "gooper" ala Bill Finnegan. It boggles the mind why pedal builders do this, it's kind of like throwing down the gauntlet for people to trace.
Both builds are pretty dense with high parts counts and obnoxious parts values....but I managed to scrounge up all the "seldom used" resistor values between my two kits, with a couple of substitutions here and there.
The CC-1 (Cornish Crunch) is a low gain pedal with some fuzzy qualities when the gain is dimed. But it really sounds best when backed off and used as a low gain dirt box. Some very very cool sounds to be had with this pedal and it really doesn't remind me of anything else, amp or pedal.
The OC-1 (Optical Compressor) is my first NON-overdrive/distortion or boost pedal. I was a little nervous about firing it up the first time..but it worked first time. Still tweaking the biasing as there is no real target provided, so it's all by ear for now. And tuning a compressor is a first for me.
I've been looking for something to replace my Keeley Compressor on my board and wanted to try this one. It's an odd compressor. The controls are not super intuitive but once I read how to set it up properly from the Cornish website again some very cool sounds to be had. I haven't completely wrung it out yet but paired with the CC-1 these pedals seem made for each other. I'm still learning how to use these pedals but so far I'm really digging them both. Not sure if the OC-1 will knock the Keeley off the board but it's definitely another "texture" in the arsenal. Seeing as how much these pedals are going for on Reverb, I am extremely happy with my $30-ish clones.
Oh and as usual not too sure about the knobs on the OC-1. I was trying to capture some of the "amp knob" vibe of the original but feels like these knobs just overpower the 125b. I may need to raid @fig's knob stash and I always seem to be scrounging for knobs, I have a lot of bags with like one or two of a color (Hence the multicolor CC-1).
I'm a bit behind in pulling together some sound demos, so the next video might be a "multi-pedal" showcase.
