MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This is the first of a series of MIAB type pedals I have queued up.
I've been sitting on this board for some time now, it might even have been in the first PPCB order I placed.
I actually owned the commercial version of this for a hot minute, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention so I returned it.
But then I missed it......
But since I kinda already knew what the pedal sounded like, it kept getting pushed to the bottom of the PCB pile until I fished it out this week and decided to build it as part of my MIAB series. (I've got the Golden Falk, Aion BSIAB2, Closed Circuit Limiter Boost all lined up).
After building the Je T'aime it whetted my appetite for more "JTM-ish" pedals. The Charlie is supposed to emulate a JTM45.
And I'll say up front, it doesn't sound like one heh. No surprise there, hard to capture that in a pedal.
Having said that, like the Je T'aime, it's does give a nod to that gritty texture of a pushed JTM (although not the fat, warm cleans) and it sounds really quite good for low gain applications.
Compared to the Je T'Aime it's got a lot more going on with a 3 band "Marshall style EQ" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and a creamier texture when cranked.
I have to say it does not sound very appealing to me with the gain cranked. In fact the best sounds I was getting was with the gain knob almost all the way off then boosting it with the Celsius Preamp. Sounded great with both my Strat neck pickup as well as PRS 594 humbuckers.
I think this pedal is ripe for stacking and I'm planning to play around with some different drive pedals before and after to see how it does.
On it's own it's a nice low gain, amp-ish kind of pedal that reacts well with the guitar volume control, pretty open and uncompressed sound.
I've not been a huge fan of the JHS pedals in general, but I'm digging this one. Seems like a lot of resistors but the build was easy and smooth.
I've been sitting on this board for some time now, it might even have been in the first PPCB order I placed.
I actually owned the commercial version of this for a hot minute, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention so I returned it.
But then I missed it......
But since I kinda already knew what the pedal sounded like, it kept getting pushed to the bottom of the PCB pile until I fished it out this week and decided to build it as part of my MIAB series. (I've got the Golden Falk, Aion BSIAB2, Closed Circuit Limiter Boost all lined up).
After building the Je T'aime it whetted my appetite for more "JTM-ish" pedals. The Charlie is supposed to emulate a JTM45.
And I'll say up front, it doesn't sound like one heh. No surprise there, hard to capture that in a pedal.
Having said that, like the Je T'aime, it's does give a nod to that gritty texture of a pushed JTM (although not the fat, warm cleans) and it sounds really quite good for low gain applications.
Compared to the Je T'Aime it's got a lot more going on with a 3 band "Marshall style EQ" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and a creamier texture when cranked.
I have to say it does not sound very appealing to me with the gain cranked. In fact the best sounds I was getting was with the gain knob almost all the way off then boosting it with the Celsius Preamp. Sounded great with both my Strat neck pickup as well as PRS 594 humbuckers.
I think this pedal is ripe for stacking and I'm planning to play around with some different drive pedals before and after to see how it does.
On it's own it's a nice low gain, amp-ish kind of pedal that reacts well with the guitar volume control, pretty open and uncompressed sound.
I've not been a huge fan of the JHS pedals in general, but I'm digging this one. Seems like a lot of resistors but the build was easy and smooth.
