MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This circuit came from a TWOBB thread from the time frame when I was on my hiatus. So I missed it originally.
I wasn't completely sold on the idea of a CMOS based distortion/overdrive as I'm generally not a fan of them. In my mind they all sound like Red Llama's.
But Dave @szukalski kept telling me how great it sounded and how I should build it, and it wasn't like your typical CMOS based circuit blah blah blah
(Turns out he needed the board verified so he could put it up on his website, heheh)
So I built this yesterday with low expectations. When I fired it up on my PPCB Auditorium I was flabbergasted. It sounds freaking awesome!
It's a high gain distortion with an amp-like feel but can also do the lower gains things as well. Some of @Chuck D. Bones mods was putting in an active bass control, which can make the pedal sound pretty huge, and a Baxandall tone stack, and converting it to use the quieter CD4007 (as opposed to the 4069 in the original) But as Chuck says in the thread, Emma did a really good job voicing the gain at all the stages and I have to agree. It's hard to get a bad sound out of this. It also responds well to the volume control on your guitar and go from "almost clean" to "mean as hell" just from the guitar. It also stacks well with boosts like a Boss OD-1 or the QuickLime Girl.
Big shout out to @Audandash for sending me a CD4007 IC which I didn't have. Thanks dude!
I usually test new pedals with a Strat with vintage output pickups as that's "home base" for me. And the pedal sounds great with single coils.
But I have to say, it really comes alive with hum buckers. I tried it first with my "PRSG" (PRS S2 594 Thinline) with a set of Q Pickups "T-Tops" in it. (~7.6k on both pickups). Then I tried one of my Les Pauls with a slightly hotter bridge pickup (Wolftone Dr. Vintage ~8.5k) and finally my Epi SG with an even hotter bridge pickup (Wolftone Marshallhead ~9.2k) Man, it sounds good whatever I threw at it. This pedal could easily chug with a guitar with hotter pickups like a JB or something in that class.
Probably the most powerful control on this pedal is something called the "Bias".
As far as I can tell, it's not really "biasing" anything in the circuit. According to the website blurb. the bias knob takes the pedal from "Class A Amp feel to Class B" as you turn it. This sounds like typical marketing BS, but honestly, I can't disagree with that description.
The Bias knob as you turn it clockwise makes the clipping less compressed and more Marshally. As you dial it CCW it gets more compressed and wooly, and it reminds of a cranked Matchless DC30.
With gain turned way down and the bias knob at about 2 o'clock I was getting a really convincing Plexi sound and with my PRS it was like Angus City!
As you turn the gain up you kind of go through all the great Marshall sounds like, the JMP, then JCM800, 900, etc.
On the other end of the spectrum with Bias knob CCW I was getting that big AC30 or even Orange kind of bloomy gain.
This pedal really covers a lot of ground and I've still got a lot of exploring to do with it.
This morning I boxed it up with a nice enclosure. This one is a keeper for sure!
The pcb is available from the Sheepylove.com website.
For those of you in the US that would like to try this circuit, I have a few spare PCB's.
Just DM me.
Big thanks to @Chuck D. Bones and @szukalski for another great circuit!
I used that Copper Candy color enclosure from Tayda.
I wasn't completely sold on the idea of a CMOS based distortion/overdrive as I'm generally not a fan of them. In my mind they all sound like Red Llama's.
But Dave @szukalski kept telling me how great it sounded and how I should build it, and it wasn't like your typical CMOS based circuit blah blah blah
(Turns out he needed the board verified so he could put it up on his website, heheh)
So I built this yesterday with low expectations. When I fired it up on my PPCB Auditorium I was flabbergasted. It sounds freaking awesome!
It's a high gain distortion with an amp-like feel but can also do the lower gains things as well. Some of @Chuck D. Bones mods was putting in an active bass control, which can make the pedal sound pretty huge, and a Baxandall tone stack, and converting it to use the quieter CD4007 (as opposed to the 4069 in the original) But as Chuck says in the thread, Emma did a really good job voicing the gain at all the stages and I have to agree. It's hard to get a bad sound out of this. It also responds well to the volume control on your guitar and go from "almost clean" to "mean as hell" just from the guitar. It also stacks well with boosts like a Boss OD-1 or the QuickLime Girl.
Big shout out to @Audandash for sending me a CD4007 IC which I didn't have. Thanks dude!
I usually test new pedals with a Strat with vintage output pickups as that's "home base" for me. And the pedal sounds great with single coils.
But I have to say, it really comes alive with hum buckers. I tried it first with my "PRSG" (PRS S2 594 Thinline) with a set of Q Pickups "T-Tops" in it. (~7.6k on both pickups). Then I tried one of my Les Pauls with a slightly hotter bridge pickup (Wolftone Dr. Vintage ~8.5k) and finally my Epi SG with an even hotter bridge pickup (Wolftone Marshallhead ~9.2k) Man, it sounds good whatever I threw at it. This pedal could easily chug with a guitar with hotter pickups like a JB or something in that class.
Probably the most powerful control on this pedal is something called the "Bias".
As far as I can tell, it's not really "biasing" anything in the circuit. According to the website blurb. the bias knob takes the pedal from "Class A Amp feel to Class B" as you turn it. This sounds like typical marketing BS, but honestly, I can't disagree with that description.
The Bias knob as you turn it clockwise makes the clipping less compressed and more Marshally. As you dial it CCW it gets more compressed and wooly, and it reminds of a cranked Matchless DC30.
With gain turned way down and the bias knob at about 2 o'clock I was getting a really convincing Plexi sound and with my PRS it was like Angus City!
As you turn the gain up you kind of go through all the great Marshall sounds like, the JMP, then JCM800, 900, etc.
On the other end of the spectrum with Bias knob CCW I was getting that big AC30 or even Orange kind of bloomy gain.
This pedal really covers a lot of ground and I've still got a lot of exploring to do with it.
This morning I boxed it up with a nice enclosure. This one is a keeper for sure!
The pcb is available from the Sheepylove.com website.
For those of you in the US that would like to try this circuit, I have a few spare PCB's.
Just DM me.
Big thanks to @Chuck D. Bones and @szukalski for another great circuit!
I used that Copper Candy color enclosure from Tayda.
