- Build Rating
I haven't built pedals in about 10 years and the availability of parts and enclosure services has totally changed for the better. UV printing single enclosures is a really nice option. I'm stoked I don't have to toner transfer and acid etch with Drano® or use water slide decals anymore!
I made two Informant overdrives (1981 DRV clones); one in a 1590B and one in a 125B, and a Nivel overdrive (1981 LVL clone) in a 1590B enclosure.
The invormant/DRV enclosure is themed after the poster for the 2011 movie Drive
I'm very happy with the way this pedal sounds. In the few hours I tried it I found the "buffer" mode when it is bypassed is a little bright for my taste.
the Nivel/LVL - "55" because LVL is 55 in roman numerals and I put 1981 in roman numerals to try to give it a similar theme as the original while keeping it an obvious fake. I even put "IMITATION" in the style of the original brand's logo
I know there are a couple pedals called 55 but I thought this would be fun. I forgot to get a gut shot of it and it's already on my board.
I REALLY like this pedal. I use an amp modeler/preamp pedal (TC Electronic Combo Deluxe) with headphones to play guitar at home and I was looking for something with a pleasant low gain and this is exactly what I was looking for.
I used the 3PDT Breakout Board with Buffer Switch for all 3 builds and I found that using solid core wire was the easiest. I stripped the insulation off of a length of wire and bent it almost in half and before inserting it into the PCB making the length of each wire on the component side of the board shorter than the one closest to it, soldered the bent side, clipped the bends off, and I found that made it easy to insert the wires into the breakout board one by one without the previous one coming out. here is sort of a series of process photos.
Tayda printing was great and the "sand" texture is really cool. But like others have said the color between prints is not super consistent. The pink on the lettering is different between each enclosure but I don't mind. Also next time I print white text on black I'm going to go with double printed white because one layer doesn't seem like enough. I used "gloss" layers on the graphics for all three pedals. The ink/paint seems really durable. I scratched it a bit with a clamp while drilling the enclosures but it took a lot of pressure to scratch.
I got parts from 3 different vendors to get everything I wanted. I went with Love My Switches for knobs, pots, and foot switches (highly recommend their "Pro" feather soft click 3PDT foot switches), Amplified Parts for resistors and capacitors because their website is really easy to use, and a pot that I couldn't find anywhere else, and Mouser for diodes, ICs, LEDs, Lenses, and the switch for the buffer/bypass board.
I made two Informant overdrives (1981 DRV clones); one in a 1590B and one in a 125B, and a Nivel overdrive (1981 LVL clone) in a 1590B enclosure.
The invormant/DRV enclosure is themed after the poster for the 2011 movie Drive
I'm very happy with the way this pedal sounds. In the few hours I tried it I found the "buffer" mode when it is bypassed is a little bright for my taste.
the Nivel/LVL - "55" because LVL is 55 in roman numerals and I put 1981 in roman numerals to try to give it a similar theme as the original while keeping it an obvious fake. I even put "IMITATION" in the style of the original brand's logo
I know there are a couple pedals called 55 but I thought this would be fun. I forgot to get a gut shot of it and it's already on my board.
I REALLY like this pedal. I use an amp modeler/preamp pedal (TC Electronic Combo Deluxe) with headphones to play guitar at home and I was looking for something with a pleasant low gain and this is exactly what I was looking for.
I used the 3PDT Breakout Board with Buffer Switch for all 3 builds and I found that using solid core wire was the easiest. I stripped the insulation off of a length of wire and bent it almost in half and before inserting it into the PCB making the length of each wire on the component side of the board shorter than the one closest to it, soldered the bent side, clipped the bends off, and I found that made it easy to insert the wires into the breakout board one by one without the previous one coming out. here is sort of a series of process photos.
Tayda printing was great and the "sand" texture is really cool. But like others have said the color between prints is not super consistent. The pink on the lettering is different between each enclosure but I don't mind. Also next time I print white text on black I'm going to go with double printed white because one layer doesn't seem like enough. I used "gloss" layers on the graphics for all three pedals. The ink/paint seems really durable. I scratched it a bit with a clamp while drilling the enclosures but it took a lot of pressure to scratch.
I got parts from 3 different vendors to get everything I wanted. I went with Love My Switches for knobs, pots, and foot switches (highly recommend their "Pro" feather soft click 3PDT foot switches), Amplified Parts for resistors and capacitors because their website is really easy to use, and a pot that I couldn't find anywhere else, and Mouser for diodes, ICs, LEDs, Lenses, and the switch for the buffer/bypass board.
