PedalPCB Quacksalver/Snake Oil The Very Thing

[OD is Glorious]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

I love this circuit. I was not expecting this roaring, rolling, sustaining overdrive/distortion. I thought it was a boost? Look at my image of settings that made the circuit significantly loud - 11am on the volume. I enjoy everything about the tone that this circuit delivers. It has a great natural tube sounding voice with much headroom. Honestly, build one - not many parts, nothing hard to find and the result is glorious. This is a winner IMO. Apparently Mythos is involved and that makes sense because I love the Mythos Golden Fleece/PPCB Copper Clad.

I used a Taayda enclosure and applied a film free decal and Spraymax 2k. I redid the graphics twice! Sprayed it twice. I am glad that I did because I love the circuit. I tried to copy their original design but it appears embossed in images - it looks like steam-punk inspired etched metal. I used low profile jacks and a PPCB top jack plate. I used aluminum - Davies 1510 Clone Knobs. I used a green 3mm LED and a clear freznel.

This circuit would easily fit inside a 1590b. I did not socket the diodes but it might be interesting to try germaniums since there is usually volume drop with Ge - this overpowered circuit could liven up the Germaniums.

Build one and you can thank me later!

Notes:

1. One150N film cap which is not common
2. There is room for a battery in a 125b
3. One 1N4007
4. Four IN914

 

[RICHB555]

Great job! This is one of my favorites also. Really its own thing (very ) and unique in terms of OD tone. My furnace tech saw my bench during a service call a few years ago, and being a guitar player himself, expressed an interest in my DIY hobby. I was just finishing up the Quacksalver, so I gifted him that build and built myself another.

 

[OD is Glorious]

Great job! This is one of my favorites also. Really its own thing (very ) and unique in terms of OD tone. My furnace tech saw my bench during a service call a few years ago, and being a guitar player himself, expressed an interest in my DIY hobby. I was just finishing up the Quacksalver, so I gifted him that build and built myself another.

Right! I love it. I am partial to 1590b so I may build another. It has surprising symmetrical, clipping!
I am going to go out and buy the pedal so I can look at that pedal top in person.

 

[The Grand Wazoo]

I love your knack for graphics on top of your ability to stuff big things into little things. Your build reports on common versus uncommon components is quite helpful as well, I’m putting an order together now and I may need to alter it,

 

[OD is Glorious]

I love your knack for graphics on top of your ability to stuff big things into little things. Your build reports on common versus uncommon components is quite helpful as well, I’m putting an order together now and I may need to alter it,

Thanks! I am still pretty new at it and hope others can learn from my mistakes.

 

[HamishR]

I was intrigued by your report, so I had a look at the schematic. I thought it looked familiar - it's almost identical to the Lovepedal Eternity available here too. As there have been a plethora of Eternity variations it could even be a direct copy of one of them. It's pretty much a variety of stripped down Tubescreamer.

I think the key "improvement" (IMO) over the TS is the use of two pairs of diodes in the feedback loop rather than a single pair. That makes it sound a bit more "open" and less squishy. You could probably build this on an Eternity PCB or vice-versa.

Your enclosure looks really good, and I love the colour!

 

[OD is Glorious]

I was intrigued by your report, so I had a look at the schematic. I thought it looked familiar - it's almost identical to the Lovepedal Eternity available here too. As there have been a plethora of Eternity variations it could even be a direct copy of one of them. It's pretty much a variety of stripped down Tubescreamer.

I think the key "improvement" (IMO) over the TS is the use of two pairs of diodes in the feedback loop rather than a single pair. That makes it sound a bit more "open" and less squishy. You could probably build this on an Eternity PCB or vice-versa.

Your enclosure looks really good, and I love the colour!

Thank you. I thin k you nailed it with the "open" description. Wish I had socketed so I could try Ge.

 

[Cybercow]

Nicely executed! Well done!

 

[OD is Glorious]

Nicely executed! Well done!

Thank you. It is a fun circuit to play with and I think they undersell it by calling it a boost.

 

[Cybercow]

Thank you. It is a fun circuit to play with and I think they undersell it by calling it a boost.

Yeah, there are a LOT of great circuits floating around that are way undersold. One of my faves is an old, discontinued Kasha "Overdrive - Guitar" pedal that is, like the 'Very Thing', quite a simple circuit that does more than just boost. So far as I know, I'm the only one producing any boards for it.

 

[bluedmc777]

I’ve been curious about this pedal for a while. I always thought is was a MIAB type of pedal. Sounds like I need to give it a try. If Mythos was involved it’s most likely a tweak of another popular circuit so I’m not surprised it’s related to the Eternity.

 

[bluedmc777]

To my suprise I’ve yet to see anyone else build “The Second One” pedal yet. I’m dying to know what others think of it. Beware it is high gain Marshall territory so if that’s not your thing I probably wouldn’t bother.

 

[OD is Glorious]

To my suprise I’ve yet to see anyone else build “The Second One” pedal yet. I’m dying to know what others think of it. Beware it is high gain Marshall territory so if that’s not your thing I probably wouldn’t bother.

I just said yesterday I have to stop buying boards. Now I have two more to buy!

 

[OD is Glorious]

Yeah, there are a LOT of great circuits floating around that are way undersold. One of my faves is an old, discontinued Kasha "Overdrive - Guitar" pedal that is, like the 'Very Thing', quite a simple circuit that does more than just boost. So far as I know, I'm the only one producing any boards for it.

View attachment 124578

Do tell. I could swap you an EMU board with faceplate for a board. I accidentally ordered two and only wanted one

 

[bluedmc777]

I just said yesterday I have to stop buying boards. Now I have two more to buy!

I have 6 in the mail but USPS are running circles around me. It’s ok though I managed to get “The Special Overdrive” and the “Sola Sound Yellow Hybrid Tone Bender” built and verified on my protoboard. Just haven’t boxed them yet. Stay away from the special overdrive lol.

 

[OD is Glorious]

I have 6 in the mail but USPS are running circles around me. It’s ok though I managed to get “The Special Overdrive” and the “Sola Sound Yellow Hybrid Tone Bender” built and verified on my protoboard. Just haven’t boxed them yet. Stay away from the special overdrive lol.

Man, I am going to die from lead exposure

 

[bluedmc777]

I won’t be far behind you lol. I really need to get a fan.