DEMO Fornicus Overdrive

[jwyles90]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

Just finished putting this one together, all in all it was an easy and fun build. I've only heard good things about this circuit in general, but given how expensive they are these days I've never had the chance to play one, so I was stoked when we finally got a PCB for it. Would I pay $500 for one? Definitely not, but overall I'd say it's unique enough to warrant the hype that it gets. The drive itself sounds really nice and has a wide, useable range from gritty boost to full on, saturated fuzz type stuff.

The sag feature is interesting. It took me a second to know for sure if it was actually working or not. Seems to me, on my build at least, that the trimpot basically needs to be all the way open to get the most noticeable effect out of it, and the "Weight" switch in the down position really takes it up a notch. It's fairly subtle when the weight toggle is up, so I'd probably just keep it down all the time. I recorded a little clip with the sag knob set to be momentarily engaged with the footswitch, so the crackly bits you hear are from when I engage it.

All in all I'd say this guy is worth it if you're looking for something a little different drive-wise, and want to add some blown out saggy goodness to it without needing to have it on all the time.

 

[Cvoxdog]

Looks good. I've been curious about this circuit since I really like my "mini" clone. Should be able to build mine soon once my parts show up.

 

[sticky1138]

I agree with everything said here. You need to dime the trimpot for it to sound right. I find the Mini a bit more versatile, but they cover similar territory.

 

[jwyles90]

I agree with everything said here. You need to dime the trimpot for it to sound right. I find the Mini a bit more versatile, but they cover similar territory.

Yea they feel like cousins in my mind (which makes sense). I like how this one feels almost a little more unpredictable in terms of how the sag function works, whereas the mini is a much more controlled kind of thing.

 

[fontoponto]

I'm curious what these two sentences mean:

that the trimpot basically needs to be all the way open to get the most noticeable effect out of it

Open means full resistance CW or 0 resistance CCW?

I agree with everything said here. You need to dime the trimpot for it to sound right. I find the Mini a bit more versatile, but they cover similar territory.

The same here. I linked it to my build report and wrote that it needs to be CW maxed like mentioned here but I guess I was confused
To get crackle -> full CW.

 

[jwyles90]

I'm curious what these two sentences mean:


Open means full resistance CW or 0 resistance CCW?

The same here. I linked it to my build report and wrote that it needs to be CW maxed like mentioned here but I guess I was confused
To get crackle -> full CW.

You got it. Full CW is "open" in my mind.