comradehoser
Well-known member
Having tristesses modding the Windmill, so I needed a confidence booster, and built these circuits.
[Edit: oops, forgot signal chain: Yamaha 735a (passive mode)>pedals>Sunn Sonaro with bright boost on, tone stack at 12, 2x15 cabinet, volume 2ish (I have neighbors with a baby).]
I had built the Obsidius/B3K prior, and my son wanted a build for the bassist in his band. I decided to tack another on for my bassist friend and accidentally ordered 4 boards. I don't know why, but the Obsidius had lain dormant like a dark seed under a litter of other pedals. When my son wanted to build some bass dirt, it poked its little head out, and with the similar EL Grizzled Grime, the Pyrocumulus with 200 Sunny Sunns preamp, and the Aion Acoustic 360 board, it has become really central to the way I like to play bass. Here I include the 2 extra boards without offboard wiring or J201s, (because I want to know if I need to match them), but it's essentially the guts of the completed pedal to the left. And I really like the look of 1/4 watt resistors standing up rather than the wee fiddly 1/8 watters. Sans LED, as usual.
Inspired by my rediscovery and build reports here, I went Aioning and picked up the Empyrean Deluxe/Alpha-Omega, so here's the shootout of what counts for me (obviously not the enclosures)--the tones.
Clearly, the Empyrean does what it do as a real preamp--it has a powerful EQ that you can use to dial a large variety of feels. It shares DNA with the Obsidius in that they both have clean blends which I find really useful. The Empyrean also adds the ability to blend between two different dirts, both of which I dig. I don't feel the need to have MORE clipping, actually. The gain is more than sufficient for my needs, but I tend not to like fuzz on bass, so it might just be my personal ears. Also, both pedals share a high boost/cut toggle that is "subtle" if we want to be generous.
The differences: the Empyrean sounds more detailed and "hi-fi" somehow, more polished, and slightly more restrained. The Obsidius is just a filthier, grimier pedal capable of greater clank. And with the bass boost toggled up, it's viciously low and yet retains a lot of clarity.
[Edit: oops, forgot signal chain: Yamaha 735a (passive mode)>pedals>Sunn Sonaro with bright boost on, tone stack at 12, 2x15 cabinet, volume 2ish (I have neighbors with a baby).]
I had built the Obsidius/B3K prior, and my son wanted a build for the bassist in his band. I decided to tack another on for my bassist friend and accidentally ordered 4 boards. I don't know why, but the Obsidius had lain dormant like a dark seed under a litter of other pedals. When my son wanted to build some bass dirt, it poked its little head out, and with the similar EL Grizzled Grime, the Pyrocumulus with 200 Sunny Sunns preamp, and the Aion Acoustic 360 board, it has become really central to the way I like to play bass. Here I include the 2 extra boards without offboard wiring or J201s, (because I want to know if I need to match them), but it's essentially the guts of the completed pedal to the left. And I really like the look of 1/4 watt resistors standing up rather than the wee fiddly 1/8 watters. Sans LED, as usual.
Inspired by my rediscovery and build reports here, I went Aioning and picked up the Empyrean Deluxe/Alpha-Omega, so here's the shootout of what counts for me (obviously not the enclosures)--the tones.
Clearly, the Empyrean does what it do as a real preamp--it has a powerful EQ that you can use to dial a large variety of feels. It shares DNA with the Obsidius in that they both have clean blends which I find really useful. The Empyrean also adds the ability to blend between two different dirts, both of which I dig. I don't feel the need to have MORE clipping, actually. The gain is more than sufficient for my needs, but I tend not to like fuzz on bass, so it might just be my personal ears. Also, both pedals share a high boost/cut toggle that is "subtle" if we want to be generous.
The differences: the Empyrean sounds more detailed and "hi-fi" somehow, more polished, and slightly more restrained. The Obsidius is just a filthier, grimier pedal capable of greater clank. And with the bass boost toggled up, it's viciously low and yet retains a lot of clarity.
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