duhvoodooman
July 31st, 2008, 08:40 AM
Just thought I'd post a quick photo of two new DIY pedals I just completed. These were the two free kits that I got with the "buy 4, get 2 free" deal that BYOC ran back in June. One is a souped-up clone of the well-known Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, and the other is (AFAIK) an original BYOC design digital delay. It's called a "ping-pong" delay because it utilizes two delay stages that can be run in series ("echo" mode, where the two delays are additive, up to 800ms total delay) or in parallel (the "ping-pong" mode). When running parallel, if you set the two delay knobs to different time intervals, you hear both echo signals, giving rise to the ping-pong like effect. Gives some pretty cool delay effects! The other two controls are for repeats (i.e. a signal feedback control) and mix (strength of the echo vs. the "dry" signal). The repeat control has enough range that you can drive the pedal into an infinite oscillation, if you want to. There's a good YouTube video HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOzocTjGQYE), if you want to check out BYOC's demo of the pedal.
I built the delay pedal purely stock, but the BMP clone was subjected to the customary DVM modification lunacy. This kit is a flexible design to begin with, since it incorporates a popular modification used by DIY builders for the Muff, namely an EQ bias switch. The stock BMP has a characteristically mid-scooped tone, which can make it difficult to cut through a band mix and be heard. Consequently, many pedal modders like to put in a switchable capacitor set-up so that the EQ voicing can be changed. The BYOC kit achieves this with a rotary switch that offers 4 choices: stock mid-scoop, flat mid-range, boosted mid-range, and an "lift" setting that bypasses the EQ stage of the pedal completely and gives a very full/fat sounding fuzz with a significant volume boost. I added two more features--a gain/sustain boost toggle switch on the left side and a 3-way toggle on the top-left that lets you switch between three different clipping modes--the stock silicon diodes, red LED's (louder & beefier tone), and JFET's (smoother & warmer). Very similar to the 3-way clipping switch I use in my ZYS overdrive pedal, for those of you familiar with that one. The gain/sustain boost is actually fairly subtle, and is based upon a popular BMP mod called the "creamy dreamer. Now that I've tried it once, if I built another one of these, I'd just "hard-wire" this mod rather than making it switchable, since it just adds a bit more sustain (a desireable thing in a fuzz pedal, IMO) relative to the stock circuit. I plan to just leave the switch in the "More" position all the time. The BYOC kit gives you the option of building the pedal either to the "Triangle era" or "Ram's Head era" circuit specs. I like the sound of the former a bit more, so that's the one I used. Because of all the added features, I called the finished pedal the "Mega-Muff".
Here's the photo of the two pedals (a clip or two maybe later):
http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/744891ce037cf26.jpg
I built the delay pedal purely stock, but the BMP clone was subjected to the customary DVM modification lunacy. This kit is a flexible design to begin with, since it incorporates a popular modification used by DIY builders for the Muff, namely an EQ bias switch. The stock BMP has a characteristically mid-scooped tone, which can make it difficult to cut through a band mix and be heard. Consequently, many pedal modders like to put in a switchable capacitor set-up so that the EQ voicing can be changed. The BYOC kit achieves this with a rotary switch that offers 4 choices: stock mid-scoop, flat mid-range, boosted mid-range, and an "lift" setting that bypasses the EQ stage of the pedal completely and gives a very full/fat sounding fuzz with a significant volume boost. I added two more features--a gain/sustain boost toggle switch on the left side and a 3-way toggle on the top-left that lets you switch between three different clipping modes--the stock silicon diodes, red LED's (louder & beefier tone), and JFET's (smoother & warmer). Very similar to the 3-way clipping switch I use in my ZYS overdrive pedal, for those of you familiar with that one. The gain/sustain boost is actually fairly subtle, and is based upon a popular BMP mod called the "creamy dreamer. Now that I've tried it once, if I built another one of these, I'd just "hard-wire" this mod rather than making it switchable, since it just adds a bit more sustain (a desireable thing in a fuzz pedal, IMO) relative to the stock circuit. I plan to just leave the switch in the "More" position all the time. The BYOC kit gives you the option of building the pedal either to the "Triangle era" or "Ram's Head era" circuit specs. I like the sound of the former a bit more, so that's the one I used. Because of all the added features, I called the finished pedal the "Mega-Muff".
Here's the photo of the two pedals (a clip or two maybe later):
http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/744891ce037cf26.jpg