Top Five

The thing I struggle with in a thread like this is communicating use case. My favourites totally depend on context. The Cattle Driver and Rangefinder are my favourite pedals to put in front of an amp. They both sound bad with my recording/practice setup (either a Sunn Beta preamp into a UniCab into a FocusRite Scarlett or an HX Stomp). I usually audition my builds on my HX Stomp to avoid waking my kids up (I do all my building after they've gone to bed). I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to run a pedal into that thing and have it sound good. If that was the only means I had of practicing my top five would have only been time/modulation-based builds.

I definitely use threads like this to populate my wish lists though. I'll build things just to see what the fuss is about (curious how many other people do that). I really appreciate when people share the mods they've done to make something a "top 5" pedal. For example, the Klon. I think the stock Klon is mediocre. I really like it with the bass and gain mods. My overall impression of the Klon is that it's a good pedal because I only play with the version that I tweaked.
 
comradehoser said:
totally overthinking this.
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I agree.

And it's all on @owlexifry (again) with his builder J and builder K :
owlexifry said:
maybe J has years of experience with different pedals/amps and can figure out pretty quickly what a pedal can do, and maybe builder K is a complete and utter hermit with borderline clinical behavioural issues that spends way too long with each build.
we'll never know.
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and (as usual) @Feral Feline :

Feral Feline said:
Then factor in what amps, what guitars/pickups, playing styles, musical (& non-musical) genres... We get right back to the whole
"One Player's permanent-on-the-pedalboard Is Another Player's dust-gathering-paperweight."
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I did my best to keep us on the subject, but i'll admit i let both of them push me on the wrong path, very briefly. It won't happen again.

Edit : In defense for our dear and distinguished fellow members, post #66 also acted as trigger for all this bewilderment, let's be honest.
 
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joeyd said:
The thing I struggle with in a thread like this is communicating use case. My favourites totally depend on context. The Cattle Driver and Rangefinder are my favourite pedals to put in front of an amp. They both sound bad with my recording/practice setup (either a Sunn Beta preamp into a UniCab into a FocusRite Scarlett or an HX Stomp). I usually audition my builds on my HX Stomp to avoid waking my kids up (I do all my building after they've gone to bed). I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to run a pedal into that thing and have it sound good. If that was the only means I had of practicing my top five would have only been time/modulation-based builds.

I definitely use threads like this to populate my wish lists though. I'll build things just to see what the fuss is about (curious how many other people do that). I really appreciate when people share the mods they've done to make something a "top 5" pedal. For example, the Klon. I think the stock Klon is mediocre. I really like it with the bass and gain mods. My overall impression of the Klon is that it's a good pedal because I only play with the version that I tweaked.
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love what you said about modded top 5's. it's a great way to share why you made mods and how that changed how much you love it. i don't have a good example of that, except maybe setting up the adjustable clock in the hydra (though i don't think i have it on any radical setting, maybe a tad longer delay).

i mostly run straight into my mixer and out studio monitors, so there's pedals that make zero sense or require at least one other pedal to "work" properly. definitely different than working with an amp.
 
Locrian99 said:
which is why i strongly suggested the karaoke.

Mentioning the reverb reselling etc one thing i have found is if i were to resell which i havent done much of (i think one on reverb, probably 15 locally) I’d be more likely to choose a PPCB circuit as youre making more of a direct clone. Madbeans, lectric fx, to an extent aion i think does a bit more modding to make vintage circuits work. Or are a bit more “inspired” vs a clone. I know for me there have been several where i literally wanted an exact copy and PPCB would be where I’d go, but for something a little more off the beaten path….

I think both styles have their advantages…

I still need to build a blue shift
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Well, another way to look at the "top five" SELLERS at ppcb (which actually doesn't interest me nearly as much as builders' personal top five) is that if you are reselling or not, the top two (Klon and Life Pedal clones) make sense as builders or sellers, as people want to check out what the fuss is about, but they remain MASSIVELY overpriced and inaccessible. Definitely a motivation for me building the Life Pedal (plus I Sunn (o)))-ish like things )

Again, re: different use cases and parameters--that's what makes this list interesting to me from a reader's perspective (what's important to others) and a writer's perspective (what's important to me). I know for a fact that some people here play classic rock, guitar shredwankery, 80s clean modulated strat strum, intentionally annoying noise rock, and for me, a lot of low and slow stuff--I'm not under the illusion that I should be following others lists, but I can learn some interesting things--like using the Low Tide on bass--and hell, I'll give the Julia chorus another shot.

Or, like, I don't get compressors, I have less than zero use for a compressor, but I will definitely build Michael W.'s top compressor recommendation just to try it, and maybe it will become part of my rig. Probably not, though.
 
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My tops:

1. General Tso: this is probably my favorite compressor I’ve ever played, DIY or not. I used a diamond compressor for a decade and it knocked it off. Pretty much never gets turned off. One of those “I made that?!?” Type of things.

2. Clandestine Preamp: it also rarely gets turned off. Makes everything sound better. One of those “you might not notice it’s there, but you’ll notice it’s gone” pedals.

3. Pro-10 Dual: probably my overall favorite overdrive ever. It’s just “tuned” so nicely. I like both sides on their own quite a bit and they stack nicely too. The blue side is my favorite Bluesbreaker variant I’ve tried.

4. Mach One: hard to go wrong here. It’s a super simple build and it sounds fantastic in just about every application. Solo, stacked, low gain, cranked, singles, humbuckers… it just works great. I know it’s more or less a Timmy with a tone control but it’s set just so it adds just the right push. Like general tso and the Diamond comp, I used a Timmy forever but like this slightly better.

5. And a bonus: not a PedalPCB board itself, but came to me through PedalPCB…. MattG’s Dynamic Haircut/Barber Gain Changer. I fall in love with this pedal more every time I play it. It has so many good sounding settings. My only gripe is that I can’t choose between them all. It’s got a great breakup/drive character to it but also has just ridiculous clarity. I don’t know exactly how to describe it. Like no matter how much gain is applied it stays so clear, like I’ve got more definition/string separation with it on than off :p
 
Focusing mostly on surprises I picked up on forum members’ recommendations rather than absolute favorites.

1. Chop shop. This wasn’t on my radar AT ALL until it came up in some overdrive thread. It’s so simple, sounds good on its own, and really makes other drives shine. I’ve built two other jfet-y drives (son of Ben and Indiana deluxe) that I also like, but the chop shop wins for simplicity.
2. Clandestine. I really resisted this one because it seemed like pure nonsense mojo talk. But it fits in a 1590b, was relatively cheap to build, and sounds nice! And got me interested in doing an EP3 deep dive next.
3. The low tide modulator. Never would’ve considered it on my own. It’s just fun to get lost in. It’s incredible that this complicated thing is doable by dingus DIY’ers like me.
4. The karma suture board (I forget the name right now). Wasn’t interested in HPs until someone mentioned this one as a good (less harsh) entry point. I built it kind of on a lark and it’s probably my favorite “vintage” fuzz I’ve built.
5. Pro-10. I honestly thought I’d like it more than I did when I first finished the build. But lately I’ve been building all of the popular BB boards (build report roundup soon) and have really come to appreciate the pro-10 as just a nicely tuned design (as someone else said above) that has become a kind of “yard stick” for me.
 
CIRCULATOR is my favourite phaser. I’ve tried the phase II, and it’s great too. But I enjoy the blend on the Circulator. And the cleaness of the phase.
MOONSHOT is my favourite tremolo. I knew it as soon as I turned it on. It was a clear Yes! Others add colour to the tone, in my opinion. The moonshot plays well with others, and has a blend and volume. Simple straightforward and Effective.
The CRACKLEJACK is a powerful boost that I have 3 of on my board. Haha. It’s so small and it fits into enclosures with other pcbs easily. So my Sproing Reverb has two crackles in the box with it, at the end of the line.
OCTAROCK. Such a fun pedal to use for solos. It “widens” the sound. I love the green ringer circuit, and the Octave up in the Octarock is slightly different. Neither better nor worse.
Fuzz… I can’t decide on a favourite fuzz. I love the multi knob fuzzes for the tweakability. The fuzz foundry and the deluxe are both great. So is the Fuzz Captain. But I’ve built the Copper Glad and I love that it’s a simple, one knob, tweak your guitar Volume knob, FUZZ.

Honourable mention. Mercurial Boost. I didn’t realize before having one that my tone needed the clean mid boost. I took my EQ pedal off my board, because the Mercurial is all I needed. It can also be a clean OD. And it’s a small pcb, so a cracklejack fits in with it wonderfully.
 
Rather than going with a top five, I'll go with a first five. Here are the first five PedalPCB builds that I did, all of which are worth doing:
  • Rangefinder: It does the Brian May/Rory Gallagher/Tony Iommi thing. I also really like using it in front of a high gain amp to tighten things up, similar to how you would use a tube screamer. And it's a very easy build, too.
  • Trumpeter: Who doesn't want a fuzz that can sound like a trumpet? It also does a nice overdrive/edge of breakup thing, too.
  • Dung Beetle: Another easy-to-build fuzz circuit that sounds great.
  • Ionosphere: I challenge you to play through this without feeling tempted to play some riffs from Sleep's Dopesmoker. It's impossible. It's a one-trick pony, but it's a heck of a trick.
  • Plecostomus: Want a fuzz that goes from overdrive to synthy, splatty, gated goodness? Look no further.
Other than the one germanium transistor in the Rangefinder, none of these builds require any exotic parts, so you can use Tayda as a one-stop shop. And here's a family photo:

IMG_2493.jpeg
 
While I do believe that certain amps, guitars or musical projects would lead me to choose different pedals, these are my top five favorite PPCB boards that everyone should build.

1. Gravitational Reverb - This is my preferred way to verb, subtly and out of the way. It can do longer if needed with the flip of the switch and for a belton brick reverb it sounds really good. The build is fairly straight forward and the build would benefit from the experience of soldering in a brick and all the space constraints they exhibit.

2. Hydra Delay - As everyone else has stated, it just sounds really great. For a build, there is no better way to practice soldering SMD than the FV-1 chip. For 18 dollars you really make sure you don't fuck it up and drilling all of those holes to line everything up....whew....

3. Dung Beetle - As a few have mentioned and I have sang from the roof tops, this is my favorite fuzz. It can approximate Fuzz Face and Tone Bender sounds plus it can overdrive and get spitty and gated. A straight forward build with low part count.

4. Duo-Phase - I think this is a must for everyone, after you get a few builds under your belt. With the high part count, the drilling, the ldrs/led and clean wiring needed, it will raise your skill level. Plus is sounds amazing, you turn it on and it is Siamese Dream.

5. Flock Harmonizing Fuzz - This was an out of left field win for me. I was not expecting to even like this since most PLL circuits are too unruly for me but it has lived in various boards since it was built and is a bag of inspiration. For a build, it is a bit more than your standard fuzz build with the extra knobs and rotary switch but nothing all of us can't handle. Highly recommended!

BUT DAN!!! NO OVERDRIVES! NO DISTORTIONS!! NO COMPRESSORS!!!

Overdrive, Distortion and Compressors are very subjective and very much dealers choice. I personally think klones and bluesbreaker circuits are highly overrated and maybe benefit from using them with a louder Fender Blackface amp. Now, since no one asked, here are some of my go to drives using the various amps I own (mainly Marshall style)

1. Celestial Drive - It is gnarly and delicious, easy to build and is no longer made. It reminds me of a lower gain Rat.

2. Soul Vender - If you like Tone Benders and want to spend some time selecting the transistors, it is magic. Mine will be passed down like a holy grail.

3. Pandoras Box - Three knobs and two toggles and a myriad of tones. I have subbed the LM308N with OP07 and it is brash and fun.

4. Jet Drive - This is a sleeper rock box, I would have never bought it in stores but for a build it kicks ass.

5. Skylight Overdrive - This was designed to work with high gain amps but with a crunchy Marshall it sounds awesome and mine looks beautiful.

6. Golden Falk - The best Marshall in a box pedal made, I love it. Pair it with the UniCab and you have some great direct recording tones.

7. Cannon Fodder - I loved the original Wave Cannon and was thrilled to be able to build an original with the blast switch as a stomper.

8. Pharamcist - Its Revolver and Rubber Soul in a box.....

9. Chauffeur Overdrive - An insane amount of parts for an overdrive and it sounds really good.

10. Thumbsucker Compressor - A very versatile compressor and an easy build

11. Closed Circuit Booster - This thing really sounds great making all of your guitars sing. It is subtle but with lower output pick ups it works great.

Sorry for the hijack but you all know I could ramble for days....

​

 
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