duhvoodooman
July 16th, 2007, 10:03 AM
I have a couple of ZYS orders to fill before I get to these, but I have the parts in hand for two more modified versions of BYOC pedal kits. These should be interesting, because they're fairly extensive modifications of the original vintage effects upon which they're based:
Modified ProCo Rat Clone
Super Swede and I exchanged a couple of posts on the subject of this famous distortion pedal, and I looked into the BYOC kit further to see what the possibilities were. Keith (the owner/pedal guru at BYOC) has put together a really cool PCB design for this effect that adds a lot of flexibility, and I took it just one step farther. The Rat, like many distortion boxes, uses a diode pair connected to ground to generate the signal clipping that gives the Rat its characteristic distorted sound. But Keith modified the circuit to add a second diode array (asymmetric silicon) that connects to the feedback loop to the opamp, the way a Tube Screamer and many other overdrive pedals work. He then added connections for an on-off-on DPDT switch, so that the finished pedal has three switchable clipping modes--distortion (stock Rat), overdrive (smoother, less distorted sound) and "diode lift", i.e. with the clipping diodes removed from the pedal circuit, so that it basically functions as a high-gain boost. Neat stuff!
The kit also lets you choose between "vintage" or "turbo" distortion modes, by installing silicon diodes on the PCB for the former, or yellow LED's for the latter. Here's where I made my one addition to Keith's excellent design, taking this diode pair off the PCB and adding a SPDT switch to let you run either vintage or turbo distortion mode at the flip of a switch. I'm calling this pedal mod the "Rabid Rodent"; see the mockup image attached below.
Modified MXR Phase 90
BYOC has offered a Phase 90 clone for quite a while, and for 2007, Keith has added a second control pot for "depth" to supplement the "rate" control that the original MXR pedal uses. But on the BYOC forum, I came across an "ultimate phaser" mod by one of the forum regulars, a pedal whiz name Kahel. This is a very extensive mod that adds two more pots, "feedback" and "mix", for additional degrees of control, plus two switches. One allows you to switch between Phase 90 (4 phase-shift stages) and Phase 45 (2 stages) modes, and the other switches between the stock phaser mode and a "vibe" mode. From what I've read, this is not a true Univibe emulation by any means, but does give some of that wobbly, uneven character the Univibe is known for. I'm calling mine the "Phaze Craze" and the mockup image is attached below. Wish me luck on this one, because I hear this combination of mods can be a bit tricky to pull off. Should be fun trying, though!
Modified ProCo Rat Clone
Super Swede and I exchanged a couple of posts on the subject of this famous distortion pedal, and I looked into the BYOC kit further to see what the possibilities were. Keith (the owner/pedal guru at BYOC) has put together a really cool PCB design for this effect that adds a lot of flexibility, and I took it just one step farther. The Rat, like many distortion boxes, uses a diode pair connected to ground to generate the signal clipping that gives the Rat its characteristic distorted sound. But Keith modified the circuit to add a second diode array (asymmetric silicon) that connects to the feedback loop to the opamp, the way a Tube Screamer and many other overdrive pedals work. He then added connections for an on-off-on DPDT switch, so that the finished pedal has three switchable clipping modes--distortion (stock Rat), overdrive (smoother, less distorted sound) and "diode lift", i.e. with the clipping diodes removed from the pedal circuit, so that it basically functions as a high-gain boost. Neat stuff!
The kit also lets you choose between "vintage" or "turbo" distortion modes, by installing silicon diodes on the PCB for the former, or yellow LED's for the latter. Here's where I made my one addition to Keith's excellent design, taking this diode pair off the PCB and adding a SPDT switch to let you run either vintage or turbo distortion mode at the flip of a switch. I'm calling this pedal mod the "Rabid Rodent"; see the mockup image attached below.
Modified MXR Phase 90
BYOC has offered a Phase 90 clone for quite a while, and for 2007, Keith has added a second control pot for "depth" to supplement the "rate" control that the original MXR pedal uses. But on the BYOC forum, I came across an "ultimate phaser" mod by one of the forum regulars, a pedal whiz name Kahel. This is a very extensive mod that adds two more pots, "feedback" and "mix", for additional degrees of control, plus two switches. One allows you to switch between Phase 90 (4 phase-shift stages) and Phase 45 (2 stages) modes, and the other switches between the stock phaser mode and a "vibe" mode. From what I've read, this is not a true Univibe emulation by any means, but does give some of that wobbly, uneven character the Univibe is known for. I'm calling mine the "Phaze Craze" and the mockup image is attached below. Wish me luck on this one, because I hear this combination of mods can be a bit tricky to pull off. Should be fun trying, though!