This guy has long been in my PPCB Wishlist/"want to build" list, the Red Herring. This is a super-simple circuit, a single op-amp soft clipper, reminiscent of the Timmy, Zendrive, etc. Most people say it's based on the Boss SD-1 sans the input and output buffers. Whatever it's lineage, it's a tried-and-true formula. I suspect the simplicity is why we've seen so many overdrive/distortion pedals based on this topology: small changes can make a big difference, so it's a great foundation on which to build a particular sound.
If you read gear forums, the Menatone Red Snapper seems to be well-loved, perhaps more so in the past, but I still see mentions of it. I haven't played with it too much yet, but so far I like it. It doubt it will blow anyone's mind, given the simplicity of the circuit and the fact that there's just shy of 10 trillion drives in this low-medium drive space. But I don't regret building it, and so far it does feel like it's nicely flexible (I've only scratched the surface so far of what the "bite" and "cut" knobs can do); it's reasonably transparent; and it offers a lot of boost/volume.
I build it exactly per the documentation. On first power-up, bypass worked, but I got no sound when I turned it on. (Which blew my works-on-first-power-up streak - I lost count, but I think I was pushing maybe 10 pedals that just worked with zero issues.) Well, the issue was simple: I put the opamp in upside down! I corrected it, but it still didn't work. That was a huge blow to my pride, because this circuit is just so simple! I dropped in a new opamp - in the correct orientation - and it worked! So I think I may have killed that first opamp when I installed it backwards.
I installed it in a 1590B using @MichaelW's excellent 1590B Top Mounted Jacks guide. I also managed to just barely squeeze in my relay bypass board.
I finished this just after my Mojito build, so I was using them together last night. The Red Herring sounds great pushing the Mojito! I set them both for fairly low drive, and they sound great doing their own thing, and together, it's classic rock drive all day. Love it! (Actually, I wasn't planning on finishing the Red Herring last night, I wanted to rock out the Mojito. But my daughter was doing her instrument practice, and I didn't want to disturb her with my noise making, so I used the time to finish it up, and I'm glad I did!)
If you read gear forums, the Menatone Red Snapper seems to be well-loved, perhaps more so in the past, but I still see mentions of it. I haven't played with it too much yet, but so far I like it. It doubt it will blow anyone's mind, given the simplicity of the circuit and the fact that there's just shy of 10 trillion drives in this low-medium drive space. But I don't regret building it, and so far it does feel like it's nicely flexible (I've only scratched the surface so far of what the "bite" and "cut" knobs can do); it's reasonably transparent; and it offers a lot of boost/volume.
I build it exactly per the documentation. On first power-up, bypass worked, but I got no sound when I turned it on. (Which blew my works-on-first-power-up streak - I lost count, but I think I was pushing maybe 10 pedals that just worked with zero issues.) Well, the issue was simple: I put the opamp in upside down! I corrected it, but it still didn't work. That was a huge blow to my pride, because this circuit is just so simple! I dropped in a new opamp - in the correct orientation - and it worked! So I think I may have killed that first opamp when I installed it backwards.
I installed it in a 1590B using @MichaelW's excellent 1590B Top Mounted Jacks guide. I also managed to just barely squeeze in my relay bypass board.
I finished this just after my Mojito build, so I was using them together last night. The Red Herring sounds great pushing the Mojito! I set them both for fairly low drive, and they sound great doing their own thing, and together, it's classic rock drive all day. Love it! (Actually, I wasn't planning on finishing the Red Herring last night, I wanted to rock out the Mojito. But my daughter was doing her instrument practice, and I didn't want to disturb her with my noise making, so I used the time to finish it up, and I'm glad I did!)
