MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Man, with a name like "ThunderGunExpress" you'd expect this pedal to bring the thunder!..............and it does! 
This is @szukalski 's layout for the Apocalypse Audio Thundertone with some significant mods by @Chuck D. Bones.
This was in the BoneYard and you can read about it in this thread.
It's supposed to emulate the preamp section of a Supro Thunderbolt. It definitely has that Supro sound but selecting the right IR for desktop audio can make a big difference. The original amp used a single 15" speaker which was a big part of it's sound. I don't have an IR for a 15" but a number of different 1x12's can work well.
The pedal itself has enough bass and a "big-ness" to it that's reminiscent of a larger speaker.
When I hear "Supro" I always immediately think "Tele, Page, Led Zeppelin I & II" heh. So that's the first thing I tried, a Tele bridge pickup dial in the right amount of gain and bam, it's all there, early Page.
I switched to hum buckers on my PRS "SG" and on the bridge pickup it was so easy to dial up a "Custard Pie" tone.
I then pulled out my PPCB "Super 64" build to compare. I can dial them to sound pretty close to same but the TGE has a more organic sound and the response is less pedal-ish than the Super 64. They're both great sounding pedals and I can highly recommend building both
I used PF5102 JFETS and in the picture is an MP38a which I started with. Then after rolling a few transistors I finally landed on an AC127 with Hfe ~122 which is what is in the pedal now. Great circuit thanks to @Chuck D. Bones and @szukalski.
This is @szukalski 's layout for the Apocalypse Audio Thundertone with some significant mods by @Chuck D. Bones.
This was in the BoneYard and you can read about it in this thread.
It's supposed to emulate the preamp section of a Supro Thunderbolt. It definitely has that Supro sound but selecting the right IR for desktop audio can make a big difference. The original amp used a single 15" speaker which was a big part of it's sound. I don't have an IR for a 15" but a number of different 1x12's can work well.
The pedal itself has enough bass and a "big-ness" to it that's reminiscent of a larger speaker.
When I hear "Supro" I always immediately think "Tele, Page, Led Zeppelin I & II" heh. So that's the first thing I tried, a Tele bridge pickup dial in the right amount of gain and bam, it's all there, early Page.
I switched to hum buckers on my PRS "SG" and on the bridge pickup it was so easy to dial up a "Custard Pie" tone.
I then pulled out my PPCB "Super 64" build to compare. I can dial them to sound pretty close to same but the TGE has a more organic sound and the response is less pedal-ish than the Super 64. They're both great sounding pedals and I can highly recommend building both
I used PF5102 JFETS and in the picture is an MP38a which I started with. Then after rolling a few transistors I finally landed on an AC127 with Hfe ~122 which is what is in the pedal now. Great circuit thanks to @Chuck D. Bones and @szukalski.
