Had any "WOW" moments with a build recently?

[Chuck D. Bones]

HFE = DC current gain (what the meters measure)
hFE = AC current gain (what the circuit cares about)

Good thing the two are not all that different.

I plan on doing a BMP breadboard project. I'll go a little crazy and try Silicon, Germanium, JFETs and MOSFETs. Maybe even PNP!!! For sure there will be experiments with different Hfe trannies.

 

[K Pedals]

HFE = DC current gain (what the meters measure)
hFE = AC current gain (what the circuit cares about)

Man I didn’t even know that…
I’ve seen it written both ways but I had no idea there was a difference…

 

[Kroars]

I’ve got to add the Informant to the list. I was never a huge Rat fan and admittedly do not have much experience with it, but there’s something about this variant (placebo?). Super easy to build, like most every PedalPCB board and just sounds fantastic. Really enjoying this one.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I was pretty surprised with the aion isotope (adaptation of the IVP Tube Voice preamp section). It goes in a different direction than a lot of preamp circuits and has a good focus on the high mids. Great for a ‘clang’ sound.

I’ve been eyeing that one for a while. It seems really cool and interesting, but as someone who has never had an interest in Steve Albini, it’s hard to gauge if I’d like it— I like clangy sounds and it seems pretty unique which I’m always down for, but you can’t find a single IVP demo on the internet where it’s not just someone trying to mimic Shellac

 

[Harry Klippton]

but as someone who has never had an interest in Steve Albini

Oh god thank you. I'm finally not alone

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Oh god thank you. I'm finally not alone

I mean, nothing against the guy, but I’ve never been interested in punk, hardcore, or post-hardcore in the slightest. The only things he’s produced and/or engineered that I’ve enjoyed are the pair of fairly mediocre Cheap Trick albums he was involved with from the early 2000s.

 

[benny_profane]

as someone who has never had an interest in Steve Albini, it’s hard to gauge if I’d like it

I do like Steve Albini, but I didn’t make the project with the intention of sounding like him. I thought the topology looked interesting and wanted to give it a shot. It’s a unique solid state gain circuit and the EQ has interesting tuning. It’s definitely more versatile than just trying to sound like Albini.

Edit: if you build it and don’t like it, I’m sure someone that wants to bust out some shellac riffs will buy it from you.

 

[spi]

I like Shellac but I don't want to sound like them.

 

[mdc]

Albini isn't the only guy who used them...

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Albini isn't the only guy who used them...

The tons of scaffolding makes me think the Dead, but the look of the guy makes me think Al Di Meola. Am I close for either?

 

[benny_profane]

The tons of scaffolding makes me think the Dead, but the look of the guy makes me think Al Di Meola. Am I close for either?

The Grateful Dead are the other famous users of the IVP. That's Bob Weir.

 

[benny_profane]

In any case, this circuit won't make you automatically sound like either Albini nor the Dead. If you wanna sound like Albini, get an aluminum neck guitar and use a a space heater falling down the stairs and CD jewel cases in a shredder for your rhythm section AND use the IVP. You don't have to do that, though.

 

[mdc]

The IVP is a pretty nice, very neutral-sounding preamp. On its own it just kind of sounds like a clean solid state preamp. I don't think there's much magic in it. I have an original one (I bought it from Tortoise even!), and I used it as the front end of my DAW for a while. To be fair, I haven't spent much time trying to drive an amp with it or using it as a straight-up distortion box.

 

[Coda]

The IVP is a pretty nice, very neutral-sounding preamp. On its own it just kind of sounds like a clean solid state preamp. I don't think there's much magic in it. I have an original one (I bought it from Tortoise even!), and I used it as the front end of my DAW for a while. To be fair, I haven't spent much time trying to drive an amp with it or using it as a straight-up distortion box.

I think the Tube Voice setting is the one people are obsessed with. There are several pedals that replicate it…no pcbs here yet, though…for now.

 

[djmiyta]

I think the best thing that to come out of finding this forum has been doing projects stepwise, slowing down, and concentrating on getting them not only playing well, but looking great.

DIY is more worthwhile to me when the aesthetics match or exceed the utility.

This is where my most weakest part of my builds a few coats of paint and a sharpie (the paint I only just started) I did try one waterslide failed miserably plus I cant figure out how to use gimp or inscape

 

[Harry Klippton]

I finished a pair of promethiums yesterday and fired them up today and yup, wow! I compared them to one of my MIJ HM-2s and I'm really happy. Build report coming soon

 

[djmiyta]

I decided long ago that my aesthetic would be to match the color of the original enclosure and match the knobs. That way I visually reference the pedal in question.

Thats a nice Idea I usually make a play on the name of the peddle meatball /meatsak type thing I will admit tho that when I do end up with akiller sounding pedal should deserve to be in a good looking box I just dont have the skills and honestly the patience to acquire them so until someone makes a program for dummies and pedal stickers I'm stuck . I'm more than good with a beat up pedal as long as it sounds good thats number 1 for me. I'm very envious of some pedals done DIY I've seen some really nice works of art shit most of my pedals Ive built dont even have knobs I think my girl figured on 250-300 dollars just for the knobs so knobless they remain c'mon lottery

 

[djmiyta]

oh and my latest wow build was the BBE Sonic Stomp Aion board. How did I ever play the guitar without one its like having and playing guitar with no strings. Why

 

[wintercept]

I built the Redshift Phaser from Aion, and I was worried at first as it was my first bigger build. But I found that I really like bigger and more complex builds and I’m now seeking them out. The other Aion stuff is on my radar: the full IVP, the L5 preamp, and the Lovetone stuff.

The Isotope from Aion surprised me as well. It didn’t sound how I expected it to, but it does a really nice, dry, overdrive sound. The Meridian Compressor/Exciter from Aion did the same thing for me. Not what I was expecting, but it definitely sweetens up clean sounds and is interesting with distortion.

The Bayonet from PPCB was my first Big Muff. It sounds pretty bad going into my daw with amp sims, but into my tube amp it is sounds immense. Definitely a “Wow” moment everytime I click it on.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Does "Wow, I'm such an idiot!" count?
I built a Repo Fuzz today, First, I managed to wire the breakout board to the main board backward. At least I realized my gross faux pas before I put the boards in the enclosure. Then I forgot to scrape the paint off of the inside of the box, so every time I touched the box, it hummed.