Mach 1 and Southern Belle (My 3rd and 4th Successful Builds)

geoffrey

Well-known member
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Behold the Mach 1 (red) and the Southern Belle (light blue). These were my 3rd and 4th successful builds overall (the keyword here is successful"). Still just a beginner/novice and it shows: things got a little messy up top with the Southern Belle. For whatever reason, the LED didn't work, so I got to practice my desoldering skills (which are basically none). Managde to get the malfunctioning LED out, but was forced to solder the new one from the top of the board and bend it around.

People post some awesome builds here, so I feel a bit awkward posting beginner stuff, but there is a reason for this (and it's not to get pats on the back or attention in that kind of way).

After I finished my 2nd build (VHS, posted here) and an easy (but awesome) one knob fuzz from Fuzzdog, I thought maybe I could up the stakes a little bit. I tried a couple of more "complicated" boards from a couple other vendors and crashed and burned horribly on both. Lot's of human error and ignorance; maybe I'll go back and trouble shoot them one of these days, but I sure as hell don't even want to look at them now. Super discouraged, I began to second guess myself and think that my ability to successfully put together that VHS was a lucky fluke, and that I probably suck at this hobby after all. But then I thought to myself, "hey, I've still got some PedalPCB boards, let's head back over there." Point being, these two pedals came together beautifully and, other than the LED issue, with ease. Confidence regained.

Thus, the moral of this super long post (and I know I'm preaching to the choir here) is that PedalPCB makes the most straightforward and fun builds that this novice has come across. From novice friendly boards like these, to the VHS, to more challenging stuff, there is something here for everybody. I mean, these pedals sound amazing and I put them both together today! This hobby (which is now a full blown obsession) is indeed here to stay.

Super sorry for the long post; I had to let it out. Thanks for reading and making this a great community.
 
Congrats! I absolutely get the discouragement and self doubt when a build doesn't work. It doesn't matter how many successful builds I have, when I build something that doesn't work my heart sinks and my confidence tanks....hahaha. But I absolutely agree with @Harry Klippton, hang on to those builds that don't work, as you gain experience you might re-visit them and be able to get them working. Troubleshooting is a skill that comes with time, experience and lots of practice. One tip, read as many of the troubleshooting threads as you can, especially the "solved" ones.
When I was first starting out I learned so much from just reading those threads, (what to avoid).

Fwiw, when I "board mount" my led's in that position, I always mount it from the top and bend it down into place like you did.

So how do you like these drives? I built both as well, I LOVE the Mach 1 but for some reason the SB didn't do it for me. Despite the fact that they're both very similar.
 
Congrats! I absolutely get the discouragement and self doubt when a build doesn't work. It doesn't matter how many successful builds I have, when I build something that doesn't work my heart sinks and my confidence tanks....hahaha. But I absolutely agree with @Harry Klippton, hang on to those builds that don't work, as you gain experience you might re-visit them and be able to get them working. Troubleshooting is a skill that comes with time, experience and lots of practice. One tip, read as many of the troubleshooting threads as you can, especially the "solved" ones.
When I was first starting out I learned so much from just reading those threads, (what to avoid).

Fwiw, when I "board mount" my led's in that position, I always mount it from the top and bend it down into place like you did.

So how do you like these drives? I built both as well, I LOVE the Mach 1 but for some reason the SB didn't do it for me. Despite the fact that they're both very similar.
Thanks and thank you, too @Harry Klippton! And thanks for your input on the LED mounting; it does seem a lot easier to do it that way now that I think about it.

Honestly, I haven't gotten to play them much yet (kids were asleep and the headphone amp has no head room). I hope to give them a run through today and report back
 
I've got a few PCBs I screwed up as well. My solder iron was displaying an incorrect temp and was super hot. I actually melted the wire trace bit out of the board on one and suspect I overheated a few components on 2 other ones. Super annoying. Everything is on hold till I move back home though.

The Mach1 is a great pedal. One thing I really like about pedalpcb is that they have a standard format for their knobs and have Tayda on board with multiple pre-drilled enclosures available. I know some people love the enclosure build part but it's nice to be able to save time.
 
Congrats! I absolutely get the discouragement and self doubt when a build doesn't work. It doesn't matter how many successful builds I have, when I build something that doesn't work my heart sinks and my confidence tanks....hahaha. But I absolutely agree with @Harry Klippton, hang on to those builds that don't work, as you gain experience you might re-visit them and be able to get them working. Troubleshooting is a skill that comes with time, experience and lots of practice. One tip, read as many of the troubleshooting threads as you can, especially the "solved" ones.
When I was first starting out I learned so much from just reading those threads, (what to avoid).

Fwiw, when I "board mount" my led's in that position, I always mount it from the top and bend it down into place like you did.

So how do you like these drives? I built both as well, I LOVE the Mach 1 but for some reason the SB didn't do it for me. Despite the fact that they're both very similar.

Have to circle back to say that I too adore the Mach 1. It's kicked my JHS Morning Glory (real one) off my board. I played and and extensively compared the Mach 1 with the Morning Glory, and the Mach 1 wins hands down regarding being more "transparent." The MG adds just a little, tiny something to your sound by my ear. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like that little something. It's a great overdrive, but I've got to go with the Mach 1 here.

The Southern Belle is is a bit grittier and not as versatile as the Mach 1. I do like the sound of the Mach 1 going into it though. I want to now compare it to some TS type pedals, like the Bootleg, because I really like the idea of a Mach 1 (light dirt) > Southern Belle/Bootleg/TS type (Medium dirt) > RAT chain in my rig.

If anyone has any suggestions on what that "medium dirt" build should be, I'm all ears!
 
Have to circle back to say that I too adore the Mach 1. It's kicked my JHS Morning Glory (real one) off my board. I played and and extensively compared the Mach 1 with the Morning Glory, and the Mach 1 wins hands down regarding being more "transparent." The MG adds just a little, tiny something to your sound by my ear. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like that little something. It's a great overdrive, but I've got to go with the Mach 1 here.

The Southern Belle is is a bit grittier and not as versatile as the Mach 1. I do like the sound of the Mach 1 going into it though. I want to now compare it to some TS type pedals, like the Bootleg, because I really like the idea of a Mach 1 (light dirt) > Southern Belle/Bootleg/TS type (Medium dirt) > RAT chain in my rig.

If anyone has any suggestions on what that "medium dirt" build should be, I'm all ears!
There's lot of good ones you can try. The "Danae" is a neat drive. Kind of a TS/Timmy mashup.

If you want the more "authentic" TS sound, you can just build the "Little Green Scream Machine" which is a direct TS808 clone.

But I tend to like the "variants" more. Like the "Lone King", "GreenGage", "Honeysuckle Overdrive".

Or what I call the "one generation removed TS" drives, like the Zen and Zen-ish type circuits. One I've really been enjoying a lot lately is the "Tellurian Drive". Then as a kind of oddball, I'll throw in the "Mystery Meat". That's one circuit that somewhat defies categorization but is super versatile, sounds great and stacks well with other drives.
 
There's lot of good ones you can try. The "Danae" is a neat drive. Kind of a TS/Timmy mashup.

If you want the more "authentic" TS sound, you can just build the "Little Green Scream Machine" which is a direct TS808 clone.

But I tend to like the "variants" more. Like the "Lone King", "GreenGage", "Honeysuckle Overdrive".

Or what I call the "one generation removed TS" drives, like the Zen and Zen-ish type circuits. One I've really been enjoying a lot lately is the "Tellurian Drive". Then as a kind of oddball, I'll throw in the "Mystery Meat". That's one circuit that somewhat defies categorization but is super versatile, sounds great and stacks well with other drives.
What to choose....I guess I'll ultimately have to build them all now :ROFLMAO:
 
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