MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This is another pedal I had never heard of until it became available as PPCB "Flank" Distortion.
When I went to go do some research about it I found out that it had been discontinued but used prices were like up near $1000 on Reverb
.
That got me interested in building it even though I didn't think it was going to be my thing being such a high gain pedal.
My opinion only, but calling it a distortion pedal is a bit of a misnomer, as to my ears it's a very high gain overdrive with some distinct Marshall flavoring.
I saw the demo that Jeff Kollman did (it's his signature pedal) and he said the intent when designing the pedal was to get a sustaining lead tone.
And that it does in spades.
I was very surprised how much I like it. Even though it's pretty high gain, it's got a ton of character and sounds great as a stand alone overdrive.
Very thick and dare I say "meaty" tones. It "feels" fantastic under the fingers.
The toggle switch kicks in a big low end boost and changes the nature of the clipping a bit.
The 3 band EQ is very interactive and you can dial this pretty much for any kind of pickup or guitar.
This pedal has not left my signal chain since I built it. Just a killer sounding pedal. Highly recommended build!
Another "Trash Can Knob" build hahaha.
The opamps are TL072's and I'm trying to use up some SMD versions I have. The BIG ASS electros are butt load of 47uf that I bought by accident from Electronic Goldmine. They're only 100v 47uf but they are MASSIVE. They were also super cheap on sale, as I recall it was like a couple bucks for 50. They were a great price for Nichicons. I still don't understand why they are so big. Anyway, I try to use them up wherever I can make them fit.
When I went to go do some research about it I found out that it had been discontinued but used prices were like up near $1000 on Reverb
.That got me interested in building it even though I didn't think it was going to be my thing being such a high gain pedal.
My opinion only, but calling it a distortion pedal is a bit of a misnomer, as to my ears it's a very high gain overdrive with some distinct Marshall flavoring.
I saw the demo that Jeff Kollman did (it's his signature pedal) and he said the intent when designing the pedal was to get a sustaining lead tone.
And that it does in spades.
I was very surprised how much I like it. Even though it's pretty high gain, it's got a ton of character and sounds great as a stand alone overdrive.
Very thick and dare I say "meaty" tones. It "feels" fantastic under the fingers.
The toggle switch kicks in a big low end boost and changes the nature of the clipping a bit.
The 3 band EQ is very interactive and you can dial this pretty much for any kind of pickup or guitar.
This pedal has not left my signal chain since I built it. Just a killer sounding pedal. Highly recommended build!
Another "Trash Can Knob" build hahaha.
The opamps are TL072's and I'm trying to use up some SMD versions I have. The BIG ASS electros are butt load of 47uf that I bought by accident from Electronic Goldmine. They're only 100v 47uf but they are MASSIVE. They were also super cheap on sale, as I recall it was like a couple bucks for 50. They were a great price for Nichicons. I still don't understand why they are so big. Anyway, I try to use them up wherever I can make them fit.
