Vulcan analysis*
I put a star in the title of this post because my analysis is going to be really rudimentary and amateur. It’s just where I’m at in my understanding. That said lets look at the Vulcan, which is a great…
Tag overdrive
Timmy/Jimmy Update
Someone posted a comment about my original Timmy/Jimmy build. I was never happy with this and not sure if I got it right. It didn’t sound bad, it didn’t sound great, to me. Maybe it was right but Timmy just…
Violets are Blues. A Bluesbreaker variation
I ran into this post on FreeStomboxes.org. Violet Blues, looked interesting. I don’t own a Bluesbreaker, might as well make this one! I designed a PCB in Eagle, designed, an enclosure, manufactured a PCB. I think this year, all boxes…
Uber Drive #2
Second build of the “Uber Drive”. This is clone of Paul Cochran’s Timmy overdrive. Maybe this needs a better name? I manufactured these boards over at PCBWay.com. Their prototyping service gives you 10 boards for $5. Which is a great…
Rock Box
The Box of Rock is a great Marshall sound in a pedal. It includes a boost section also. Box of Rock is pretty amazing and sounds great. J. Mascis likes it so much that he had Zvex put two in…
Timmy clone
Timmy is a boutique overdrive by Paul Cochrane. This pedal generated a lot of discussion over the ethics of cloning pedals. A couple companies were accused of cloning Timmy. Most of the most popular boutique pedals out today are clones of…
The Crank by Mark Hammer
This is interesting variation on the Tube Screamer style diode clipping. Read more about it at Mark Hammers site here: In a nutshell the goal seems to be less distortion. More of a booster to overdrive effect. I’d say…
UBE Screamer 4069
I wanted to do something a little more artful as a box. The Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures has a very iconic image. I don’t know what the secret sauce of this image is but it’s very compelling. From what I…
Smash Drive Aron Nelson
Smash Drive is a DIY community project by Aron Nelson, who runs the DIYStomboxes.com forum. Smash Drive is a overdrive/distortion built from the LM386. Its simple and easy to work with. you’ll find the 386 in many guitar circuits. its…
6 new PCBs from PCBWay
I got 6 new boards made at PCBWay.com. The PCBWay.com service is a great deal the biggest cost is shipping. The best deal is to order multiple boards at once since the shipping is combined. This time I waited til…
Vulcan 1.2
I made a couple small updates to the first Vulcan PCB. Got the new boards and did a build to confirm they are working as expected. Everything works as it should! This is a pretty good sounding overdrive distortion. The…
UBE Screamer 4069
This is a version of the UBE Screamer using the 4069 in place of the 4049. Essentially these chips are the same. They both contain 6 inverters. The 4049 is a 16 pin DIP while the 4069 is a 14…