rwl
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This is a report on my build of the Snouse Blackbox Overdrive 2 Stage Pro Mod [deep breath], or Pot and Kettle Pro. I heard a few people recommending this pedal so figured I'd try it out.
Inspiration
OK, bear with me. I really wasn't sure about what to name this thing. The Pot and Kettle PPCB name is fun, but I couldn't come up wth any good puns related to it. And I'm trying to lean more towards PNW birds, so I was hoping for something local. I couldn't get the saying "The pot calling the kettle black" out of my head as I was building the pedal. And then I started thinking, "The pot calling the kettle black-capped."
I know.
In any case, the chickadee is one of the most iconic North American birds. Ubiquitous, distinctive adorable appearance and unique call, brave and surprisingly smart for their size. I'd been wanting to build a pedal featuring these guys. The chickadee is one of the few birds I could identify as a kid (the others being Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals). And these days, we have a leucistic chickadee living in our yard (this is the sort of bird version of albinism or vitiligo - it has whitish patches of feathers that should be black).
The design is kinda dull I think. It's fine - professional and clean, but I don't really feel like it has a "hook." In any case, I wanted both the common local birds on here, the Black-Capped Chickadee and the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. We also live near Mountain Chickadees, but they aren't in our neighborhood.
The Build
A straightforward build. No problems, and the enclosure came out fine on the first try. I don't like pedals that have that extra row of switches on the bottom, since it means I need to be either really careful of shorts or put some electrical tape between the pots and switches (I typically do the latter, better safe than sorry). But that's a minor concern.
The Pedal
It's a bluesbreaker circuit. I really like bluesbreakers, and there's a lot you can do with this one. But for me at least it comes up a little short. First off, many of the switches don't seem to have a noticeable effect. I think they only really make a difference with certain other setting combinations. The overall tone is fine but a bit fiddly.
I think as I've built more pedals I've come to appreciate having fewer controls. When I started building I figured the more options the better. Of course, if there's a lot of options and they're all kinda zany I do like that (something like the Chalumeau, or Seahorse) - it feels very expansive, lots of cool sounds. But I don't much like fiddling with all the little settings for a regular overdrive - many of which are not that noticeable, and many of which seem to have an obviously bad option. With this, I felt like the sound was always about 85% of what I was looking for. And I get the uneasy feeling that if I just flipped this switch it would finall ybe the sound I was looking for.
It's not a bad pedal by any means, but I think in the end the KoT is the best Bluesbreaker circuit. I also prefer the JHS Morning Glory to this...
Ratings
Inspiration
OK, bear with me. I really wasn't sure about what to name this thing. The Pot and Kettle PPCB name is fun, but I couldn't come up wth any good puns related to it. And I'm trying to lean more towards PNW birds, so I was hoping for something local. I couldn't get the saying "The pot calling the kettle black" out of my head as I was building the pedal. And then I started thinking, "The pot calling the kettle black-capped."
I know.In any case, the chickadee is one of the most iconic North American birds. Ubiquitous, distinctive adorable appearance and unique call, brave and surprisingly smart for their size. I'd been wanting to build a pedal featuring these guys. The chickadee is one of the few birds I could identify as a kid (the others being Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals). And these days, we have a leucistic chickadee living in our yard (this is the sort of bird version of albinism or vitiligo - it has whitish patches of feathers that should be black).
The design is kinda dull I think. It's fine - professional and clean, but I don't really feel like it has a "hook." In any case, I wanted both the common local birds on here, the Black-Capped Chickadee and the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. We also live near Mountain Chickadees, but they aren't in our neighborhood.
The Build
A straightforward build. No problems, and the enclosure came out fine on the first try. I don't like pedals that have that extra row of switches on the bottom, since it means I need to be either really careful of shorts or put some electrical tape between the pots and switches (I typically do the latter, better safe than sorry). But that's a minor concern.
The Pedal
It's a bluesbreaker circuit. I really like bluesbreakers, and there's a lot you can do with this one. But for me at least it comes up a little short. First off, many of the switches don't seem to have a noticeable effect. I think they only really make a difference with certain other setting combinations. The overall tone is fine but a bit fiddly.
I think as I've built more pedals I've come to appreciate having fewer controls. When I started building I figured the more options the better. Of course, if there's a lot of options and they're all kinda zany I do like that (something like the Chalumeau, or Seahorse) - it feels very expansive, lots of cool sounds. But I don't much like fiddling with all the little settings for a regular overdrive - many of which are not that noticeable, and many of which seem to have an obviously bad option. With this, I felt like the sound was always about 85% of what I was looking for. And I get the uneasy feeling that if I just flipped this switch it would finall ybe the sound I was looking for.
It's not a bad pedal by any means, but I think in the end the KoT is the best Bluesbreaker circuit. I also prefer the JHS Morning Glory to this...
Ratings
- Build: 5/5
- Pedal: 4/5
