MichaelW
Well-known member
OPP = Other Peoples Pedals
I built these two for my #1 customer, my brother. He's never sent one back, so I'm running 100% in the customer service department.
(Of course he doesn't pay for them either so there's that........
I've built every variant of the Xotic RC/AC/BB family of pedals at this point. They're all basically the same circuit with Tube Screamer roots.
The AionFX Malacandra and Thulcandra (for you CS Lewis fans check out his Space Trilogy) are the Xotic AC Booster and Soul Driven Overdrive.
I've also built the RC Booster variant (identical PCB to the AC Booster with some different value components) as well as the BB PreAmp.
I've kept the BB Preamp (AionFX Perelandra Deluxe) for myself, and it's the best sounding BB Preamp I've played yet (sounds better than the two actual Xotic's I've owned).
My brother has been gigging the RC Booster version I sent him a few months ago so I thought I'd build him the AC variant as well for another tonal option.
I was quite surprised by both of these pedals as I've never played the originals, I was expecting to be as underwhelmed as I was with the RC Booster but was pretty pleasantly surprised.
The Malacandra (AC Booster) was marketed as an "VOX AC sounding" pedal. I've always thought that was a load of marketing BS as it's got nothing about it remotely close to an AC topology. Imagine my surprise when I first plugged it in and it sounded........kinda Voxy! Very different sounding than the RC Booster even though its only a few components difference between the two. It's actually a very cool sounding pedal and now I'm thinking about building one for myself.
The Thulcandra (Soul Driven) was originally an Allen Hinds Signature pedal. My interest is mostly is because I love the tones Allen Hinds gets. I wasn't sure what to expect but again pleasantly surprised. It actually sounds a lot like a Zen Drive. Which makes sense since it borrows both the "Voice" knob (which they call a Mid Boost, which is a misnomer) as well as the passive treble cut. The AionFX version puts the Bass Boost internal dip switches on an external pot to dial in the exact amount of bass boost. Which can be overwhelming as it's already a pretty bassy pedal. The controls are poorly named but once I figured them out it was pretty easy to dial up some nice D-style tones. Super smooth overdrive.
Going out in the mail to my brother tomorrow. I texted him and he was like "whaaaa....I'm still figuring out the Greengage you sent me....." heh.
Guess he can't keep up with the Michael Wong Pedal Making Machine.......
I built these two for my #1 customer, my brother. He's never sent one back, so I'm running 100% in the customer service department.
(Of course he doesn't pay for them either so there's that........
I've built every variant of the Xotic RC/AC/BB family of pedals at this point. They're all basically the same circuit with Tube Screamer roots.
The AionFX Malacandra and Thulcandra (for you CS Lewis fans check out his Space Trilogy) are the Xotic AC Booster and Soul Driven Overdrive.
I've also built the RC Booster variant (identical PCB to the AC Booster with some different value components) as well as the BB PreAmp.
I've kept the BB Preamp (AionFX Perelandra Deluxe) for myself, and it's the best sounding BB Preamp I've played yet (sounds better than the two actual Xotic's I've owned).
My brother has been gigging the RC Booster version I sent him a few months ago so I thought I'd build him the AC variant as well for another tonal option.
I was quite surprised by both of these pedals as I've never played the originals, I was expecting to be as underwhelmed as I was with the RC Booster but was pretty pleasantly surprised.
The Malacandra (AC Booster) was marketed as an "VOX AC sounding" pedal. I've always thought that was a load of marketing BS as it's got nothing about it remotely close to an AC topology. Imagine my surprise when I first plugged it in and it sounded........kinda Voxy! Very different sounding than the RC Booster even though its only a few components difference between the two. It's actually a very cool sounding pedal and now I'm thinking about building one for myself.
The Thulcandra (Soul Driven) was originally an Allen Hinds Signature pedal. My interest is mostly is because I love the tones Allen Hinds gets. I wasn't sure what to expect but again pleasantly surprised. It actually sounds a lot like a Zen Drive. Which makes sense since it borrows both the "Voice" knob (which they call a Mid Boost, which is a misnomer) as well as the passive treble cut. The AionFX version puts the Bass Boost internal dip switches on an external pot to dial in the exact amount of bass boost. Which can be overwhelming as it's already a pretty bassy pedal. The controls are poorly named but once I figured them out it was pretty easy to dial up some nice D-style tones. Super smooth overdrive.
Going out in the mail to my brother tomorrow. I texted him and he was like "whaaaa....I'm still figuring out the Greengage you sent me....." heh.
Guess he can't keep up with the Michael Wong Pedal Making Machine.......
