- Build Rating
In yet another nod to this thread, You guys that build the same pedal more than once…, I present my "Pez Rojo", a custom implementation of the Mentatone Red Snapper. Here is my first build (1590B), and here is my second build (125B). Both of the originals were based on the PedalPCB Red Herring and have long been sold (victims of declutteringing frenzies).
Continuing with the "hitting my stride" theme of my recent builds, I did this because (1) it's a classic circuit I wanted to revisit, (2) I wanted another vessel for my bypass quasi-IC module, and, if I'm being honest, most importantly, (3) I really like the aesthetics - a simple fish decal on the @StompBoxParts "Red Perl Vein" enclosure with clear knobs.
This mostly worked on first power-up - everything except the cut control. I could hear it doing something when I turned it, but the change was almost not-noticeable. Turns out I accidentally used a 1nF instead of a 10nF for C4 (see the Red Herring schematic). Easy fix, and now it's 100% rocking.
This is a simple yet pretty flexible circuit with the bite and cut controls. You can dial in a fairly neutral or "transparent" EQ, or you can dial in some mid-hump. A fair amount of the tunable range leans fairly bright, so I think this would pair particularly well with a darker rig. But there's plenty of not-bright range as well, so even with my typically treble-forward setup, I could find plenty of balanced and usable tonality.
The actual amount of dirt available is less than I remember, it's definitely a light- to mid-gain dirt pedal. Part of that is likely due to having used BA282 diodes, which have a higher Vf (i.e. clipping threshold) than 1n4148. In my PCB, I actually added spots for extra series clipping diodes - I jumpered them in my build, thinking the BA282 would be enough to bias the circuit towards a lower-gain specialist, and I think I succeeded. If I get bored, I might try using 1n4848 and adding a little series resistance, or maybe low Vf diodes like BAT41. This is the stuff that makes this circuit great: it's simple enough that small changes can have a noticeable effect.
My recent Nashville Nobility (Nobels ODR-1) has been my go-to light dirt pedal since I built it. While testing out this Pez Rojo, I found that the Red Snapper into the ODR-1 sounds great: great lead tone and/or hard(ish) classic rock tone.
Note my ultra-gringo blunder of putting the adjective before the noun on the PCB silkscreen.
Anyway - I have a few spare PCBs I'm happy to drop in the mail. The quasi-IC is not required for this build - it can easily be wired to a 3PDT.
Continuing with the "hitting my stride" theme of my recent builds, I did this because (1) it's a classic circuit I wanted to revisit, (2) I wanted another vessel for my bypass quasi-IC module, and, if I'm being honest, most importantly, (3) I really like the aesthetics - a simple fish decal on the @StompBoxParts "Red Perl Vein" enclosure with clear knobs.
This mostly worked on first power-up - everything except the cut control. I could hear it doing something when I turned it, but the change was almost not-noticeable. Turns out I accidentally used a 1nF instead of a 10nF for C4 (see the Red Herring schematic). Easy fix, and now it's 100% rocking.
This is a simple yet pretty flexible circuit with the bite and cut controls. You can dial in a fairly neutral or "transparent" EQ, or you can dial in some mid-hump. A fair amount of the tunable range leans fairly bright, so I think this would pair particularly well with a darker rig. But there's plenty of not-bright range as well, so even with my typically treble-forward setup, I could find plenty of balanced and usable tonality.
The actual amount of dirt available is less than I remember, it's definitely a light- to mid-gain dirt pedal. Part of that is likely due to having used BA282 diodes, which have a higher Vf (i.e. clipping threshold) than 1n4148. In my PCB, I actually added spots for extra series clipping diodes - I jumpered them in my build, thinking the BA282 would be enough to bias the circuit towards a lower-gain specialist, and I think I succeeded. If I get bored, I might try using 1n4848 and adding a little series resistance, or maybe low Vf diodes like BAT41. This is the stuff that makes this circuit great: it's simple enough that small changes can have a noticeable effect.
My recent Nashville Nobility (Nobels ODR-1) has been my go-to light dirt pedal since I built it. While testing out this Pez Rojo, I found that the Red Snapper into the ODR-1 sounds great: great lead tone and/or hard(ish) classic rock tone.
Note my ultra-gringo blunder of putting the adjective before the noun on the PCB silkscreen.
Anyway - I have a few spare PCBs I'm happy to drop in the mail. The quasi-IC is not required for this build - it can easily be wired to a 3PDT.
