mkstewartesq
Well-known member
Finally getting around to detailing some past builds as time permits. Probably won’t be including any demos - not only because a lot of these pedals have already been the subject of far better demos but also because I am a relentlessly mediocre player, which would likely do a disservice to others trying to determine whether the pedal is any good or not.
Build: This is a a build of the AionFX Azure, which is a replica of the Boss CE-2 chorus. As we all know, the CE-2 has a pretty thick and distinctive sound, and can really evoke the 1980s – given that I planned for this to be my only chorus on my board, I specifically chose the AionFX version because it has a “mix“ control added, which allows me to make the effect a bit more subtle than a stock CE-2 by blending it with a dry signal.
The quality of the sound is of typical AionFX - accurate reproduction of the original pedal and extremely quiet. Very straightforward build using the 3207/3102 combination chipset. This was built before I started using shielded cables, but I've noticed no extraneous noise or inability to play well with other pedals with clocks or charge pumps. Easy to dial in by ear, although I could probably do even better with an oscilloscope as instruction are provided for that type of adjustment as well.
Enclosure: For whatever reason, I was on a Queen/Brian May kick at the time I built this and a few other pedals and so designed enclosures that in some oblique way invoked that band (even if they never actually used the pedal - Brian used a CE-1 in the early and mid-1980s, but never used a CE-2 to my knowledge).
So, for this pedal, I wanted to use a logo which was reminiscent the 1980 movie “Flash Gordon” for which they did the soundtrack ("Flash! Aaaah-aaah!"). So I settled on a name that I thought connoted a chorus sound with a similar number of letters to match the proportion of the logo: “Splash” (because a chorus has a watery sound, get it? Anyway….) and “Chorus” because, well, it is a chorus and that word sort-of kind-of sounds and looks like “Gordon”. I started with the proper font but I really have to say my daughter saved the day when she took pity on me and hopped in and not only created the curvature and color gradient but actually created certain of the letters from scratch to match the scale. I’d have to say her input on the overall layout, especially with the various lines that connote the style of the promotional art used for the movie, really took it to a level I could not have achieved by myself.
Fun fact: this is where we learned that Tayda ‘s UV printing can not only handle color gradients quite capably, but it can also even handle gradients in the gloss layer. Meaning that we put gloss varnish on the star and lines and applied a gradient to them so that, as the colored edges fade away, so does the gloss covering rather than creating a hard edged border. Just for future reference should anyone be interested in using this technique to avoid the “thick gloss borders“ look that a lot of Tayda print jobs have.
Thanks for looking!
Mike
Build: This is a a build of the AionFX Azure, which is a replica of the Boss CE-2 chorus. As we all know, the CE-2 has a pretty thick and distinctive sound, and can really evoke the 1980s – given that I planned for this to be my only chorus on my board, I specifically chose the AionFX version because it has a “mix“ control added, which allows me to make the effect a bit more subtle than a stock CE-2 by blending it with a dry signal.
The quality of the sound is of typical AionFX - accurate reproduction of the original pedal and extremely quiet. Very straightforward build using the 3207/3102 combination chipset. This was built before I started using shielded cables, but I've noticed no extraneous noise or inability to play well with other pedals with clocks or charge pumps. Easy to dial in by ear, although I could probably do even better with an oscilloscope as instruction are provided for that type of adjustment as well.
Enclosure: For whatever reason, I was on a Queen/Brian May kick at the time I built this and a few other pedals and so designed enclosures that in some oblique way invoked that band (even if they never actually used the pedal - Brian used a CE-1 in the early and mid-1980s, but never used a CE-2 to my knowledge).
So, for this pedal, I wanted to use a logo which was reminiscent the 1980 movie “Flash Gordon” for which they did the soundtrack ("Flash! Aaaah-aaah!"). So I settled on a name that I thought connoted a chorus sound with a similar number of letters to match the proportion of the logo: “Splash” (because a chorus has a watery sound, get it? Anyway….) and “Chorus” because, well, it is a chorus and that word sort-of kind-of sounds and looks like “Gordon”. I started with the proper font but I really have to say my daughter saved the day when she took pity on me and hopped in and not only created the curvature and color gradient but actually created certain of the letters from scratch to match the scale. I’d have to say her input on the overall layout, especially with the various lines that connote the style of the promotional art used for the movie, really took it to a level I could not have achieved by myself.
Fun fact: this is where we learned that Tayda ‘s UV printing can not only handle color gradients quite capably, but it can also even handle gradients in the gloss layer. Meaning that we put gloss varnish on the star and lines and applied a gradient to them so that, as the colored edges fade away, so does the gloss covering rather than creating a hard edged border. Just for future reference should anyone be interested in using this technique to avoid the “thick gloss borders“ look that a lot of Tayda print jobs have.
Thanks for looking!
Mike
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