Narcissus (Looking Glass)

[MattG]

Here's my build of the Narcissus, based on the DOD Looking Glass. I actually own a Looking Glass. I was planning on tracing it myself, but PedalPCB beat me to it! I did some quick side-by-side testing of the real LG against the Narcissus. My testing certainly wasn't exhaustive, but they seemed pretty close to me! I am using this pedal for a very light, edge-of-breakup sound. It's fairly transparent, though does give just a hint of coloration (which I happen to like). With the filter, bass and treble EQ, and the high/low gain switch, it's quite versatile. So far I've only used it for solo playing at home, but I'm hoping it works just as well for live playing.

 

[jeffwhitfield]

Built one of these myself and I quite like it. I've been doing a bunch of comparisons between pedals and, for this one, the two I compare them most to are the Distortr and the Face Melter.

Now, the Face Melter, while it uses the same transistors also utilizes an op-amp so I can't say it's a direct comparison. There are similar tones in it...but also a LOT more gain too which qualifies it more as a straight-up distortion pedal than anything.

Probably the most direct comparison is the Distortr, which is based on the Zvex Distortron. I had some problems with this pedal. The Subs switch didn't work for squat and, honestly, after realizing just how damn noisy it is the sound then feels rather "meh". I compared it to a real Distortron and my impression didn't really change.

That said, the circuit for the Narcissus is remarkably similar to the Distortr. Makes me think that DoD fashioned the circuit of the Looking Glass off the Distortron. To my ears, while it doesn't have quite as much gain as the Distortr it feels more usable. Default tone with all the knobs at 12 o'clock are quite milder than the Distortr....which is a good thing actually. The Distortr is a rather bright circuit. The Narcissus feels like a milder version but can get quite bright if you want it too. The whole range feels more usable. Whereas with the Distortr some of the more extreme settings feel like too much.

So, yeah, Narcissus is more or less a better version of the Distortr .

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Nice build, Matt!

 

[MattG]

Nice build, Matt!

Thank you sir!

That said, the circuit for the Narcissus is remarkably similar to the Distortr. Makes me think that DoD fashioned the circuit of the Looking Glass off the Distortron. To my ears, while it doesn't have quite as much gain as the Distortr it feels more usable. Default tone with all the knobs at 12 o'clock are quite milder than the Distortr....which is a good thing actually. The Distortr is a rather bright circuit. The Narcissus feels like a milder version but can get quite bright if you want it too. The whole range feels more usable. Whereas with the Distortr some of the more extreme settings feel like too much.

If you haven't seen this already, take a look at this thread on TGP: The DOD's Looking Glass Thread. Look for comments by user "shoepedals", which is Christopher Venter, the man behind Shoe Pedals, and the designer of the Looking Glass. He says it's based on his "Savior Machine" pedal (which is sold under his botique Shoe brand), but tweaked a bit, and also adapted for mass production. Of course, it could still be influenced/inspired by the Distortr! But some interesting nuggets in there regardless.

 

[jeffwhitfield]

Thank you sir!



If you haven't seen this already, take a look at this thread on TGP: The DOD's Looking Glass Thread. Look for comments by user "shoepedals", which is Christopher Venter, the man behind Shoe Pedals, and the designer of the Looking Glass. He says it's based on his "Savior Machine" pedal (which is sold under his botique Shoe brand), but tweaked a bit, and also adapted for mass production. Of course, it could still be influenced/inspired by the Distortr! But some interesting nuggets in there regardless.

Will do! Thx for sharing!

Looking at the schematics side-by-side, it's pretty amazing the similarities between the two. There's definitely a lot of difference of course...but the fact that they both use the same transistors with a very, very similar way of generating gain. The way the Distortron does it results in more gain...but also more noise due to the added compression. The Looking Glass isn't quite as aggressive...but it also adds a lot more options for shaping the tone. Pretty interesting.