- Build Rating
I finished up a couple builds this weekend from my queue/backlog, one of which is the Pro-10 Blue. I bought this PCB somewhat on a whim, after feeling like "everyone" was saying it's one of the better-tuned Bluesbreaker-derived overdrives.
This build was more or less unremarkable: fairly low parts count, nothing fancy or exotic, smallish PCB. Had I built it in isolation, it would have been a fast build (but I've got just under 10 builds going in parallel).
No issues at first power-on, which is always immensely satisfying. And indeed, it sounds killer! Usually when I build a pedal, I do a quick power-on test, and if it works, I tell myself I'll come back later and really put it through the paces. But in this case, the tone immediately brought a smile to my face, and I spent some time with it straight away.
For the enclosure, I used the pricey Gorva Black Sparkle. I bought this over a year ago with the intent of using it on the one - that magic pedal that would make me forever content, and kill my desire to constantly build and test new pedals. I realized, I'll probably never really find such a unicorn of a pedal, and maybe I don't want to find it anyway, as building is half the fun. So in more practical terms, I realized that this Gorva Black Sparkle finish is too dark to take a waterslide decal (I don't have a color printer), and without a label, the pedal should have a simple interface. And what's more obvious than the classic three-knob volume/drive/tone controls? Furthermore, the Gorva 125B is just a bit smaller than a standard 125B, so a smaller PCB was in order. The Pro-10 checked both those boxes!
The bypass circuit is my own microcontroller-based relay bypass. (That was my other project this weekend, I built up eight of my v3.0 bypass boards, ready to rock for my next builds.)
Edit: keen-eyed viewers might notice that I'm running wires from my relay bypass board to the LED. This actually isn't necessary, as my boards support a PedalPCB "SW" connection, so the LED can be driven from the actual effect PCB, as typical for PedalPCB boards. I have dedicated LED wire holes on the relay board as a convenience (or when working with effect PCBs that don't have LED wiring holes, e.g. AionFX). So why did I make more work for myself? Brain fart, pure and simple! On one of my previous builds, I wanted to double-check the LED wire holes, and since then I've left my brain in auto-pilot, not realizing I was making more work for myself (and making the build messier).
This build was more or less unremarkable: fairly low parts count, nothing fancy or exotic, smallish PCB. Had I built it in isolation, it would have been a fast build (but I've got just under 10 builds going in parallel).
No issues at first power-on, which is always immensely satisfying. And indeed, it sounds killer! Usually when I build a pedal, I do a quick power-on test, and if it works, I tell myself I'll come back later and really put it through the paces. But in this case, the tone immediately brought a smile to my face, and I spent some time with it straight away.
For the enclosure, I used the pricey Gorva Black Sparkle. I bought this over a year ago with the intent of using it on the one - that magic pedal that would make me forever content, and kill my desire to constantly build and test new pedals. I realized, I'll probably never really find such a unicorn of a pedal, and maybe I don't want to find it anyway, as building is half the fun. So in more practical terms, I realized that this Gorva Black Sparkle finish is too dark to take a waterslide decal (I don't have a color printer), and without a label, the pedal should have a simple interface. And what's more obvious than the classic three-knob volume/drive/tone controls? Furthermore, the Gorva 125B is just a bit smaller than a standard 125B, so a smaller PCB was in order. The Pro-10 checked both those boxes!
The bypass circuit is my own microcontroller-based relay bypass. (That was my other project this weekend, I built up eight of my v3.0 bypass boards, ready to rock for my next builds.)
Edit: keen-eyed viewers might notice that I'm running wires from my relay bypass board to the LED. This actually isn't necessary, as my boards support a PedalPCB "SW" connection, so the LED can be driven from the actual effect PCB, as typical for PedalPCB boards. I have dedicated LED wire holes on the relay board as a convenience (or when working with effect PCBs that don't have LED wiring holes, e.g. AionFX). So why did I make more work for myself? Brain fart, pure and simple! On one of my previous builds, I wanted to double-check the LED wire holes, and since then I've left my brain in auto-pilot, not realizing I was making more work for myself (and making the build messier).
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