Crown Jewel

[mbenbranch]

This is a BYOC Crown Jewel that I finally got working and boxed up. My first issue was a faulty charge pump IC that created a high pitched whistle all the time, even in bypass. That was the easy fix.

I ran into a really frustrating grounding issue that took a while to sort out. The entire circuit sounded great outside of the box, but once it was bolted in place there were issues between the treble and gain knobs shorting out. I couldn't consistently replicate the problem so it was tough to figure out the issue. It took mounting and removing the PCB more times than I would like to admit, but I worked it out and pretty pleased with the end result.

Lots of great sounds and a wide range of gain options. Hope to put it on my main board this weekend and spend some more time exploring. My wife did the artwork and I love how it turned out.

 

[joelorigo]

Really nice!

 

[drgonzo1969]

beautiful artwork on that enclosure!

 

[joelorigo]

I’d also like to know what you think of this pedal after a while, I was looking at it earlier this year.

 

[steviejr92]

Woooow im loving the art work man! Great build!

 

[mbenbranch]

I’d also like to know what you think of this pedal after a while, I was looking at it earlier this year.

It hasn't been a while yet, but I have spent some real time playing with this thing at a proper volume.

A few notes so far:

The range of tones I can get are pretty incredible. I'm kind of amazed by the interaction between the 3 band EQ, mid frequency knob and midrange shape toggle. The knobs and switches actually make impactful changes to the tone.

This much tone shaping is helpful for really hearing what is going on with the hard and soft clipping options. Sometimes with a multiple clipping choices and a standard tone control it feels like you can't really dial in something that makes that diode or LED shine. (IMO)

Switching between 9 and 18V opens up all kinds of different flavors of how things distort and dynamics. I haven't really built anything else where this is a switchable parameter so it's very cool to explore.

I don't know how something with this many knobs and switches would work live but for jamming at home and tone chasing it's awesome.


And thanks all for the kind words about the design. My wife was pleasantly surprised to see people enjoy her work.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

And thanks all for the kind words about the design. My wife was pleasantly surprised to see people enjoy her work.

If i were you, I'd give this woman more enclosures asap. Do it now!

 

[Gordo]

I’m a big fan of hand painted art like this. Very impressive.

 

[Barry]

Build looks great love the artwork!

 

[HamishR]

Yeah! Work her into the ground!

(I may have got a bit carried away just now...)

 

[Drayve85]

Yeah! Work her into the ground!

(I may have got a bit carried away just now...)

…..isn’t that what wives are for???

JUST KIDDING, just kidding!!!