Vemuram TSV808 - Now With a Dino Enclosure!!!

When I built the Tone Geek Above Top Secret clone of the Vemuram TSV808 a couple of months ago, I was incredibly impressed, not only with the pedal, but with how the full functionality of the pedal could be accessed from the front of the enclosure. I decided I needed to make a fun dinosaur version of the pedal as well, and once again I collaborated with my wife for some of the enclosure art! So without further ado!

The interior and build follows exactly the same pattern as I used for my the first time I built the Above Top Secret board. The Tone Geek has an excellent Mouser BOM that follows the parts used on the original as closely as possible. I went ahead and carried that through to this build, and went high-end on the op amp as well. The end result is a pedal that isn't exactly cheap (though it's still over an order of magnitude less than the $1500 a real one will set you back!), but one that appears to capture the sound of the original - in a more user friendly package.

For the enclosure, I decided to play off of Ryan's "Above Top Secret" board name rather than the original name of the pedal. So, meet the Secret Spinosaurus! According to Wikipedia:

Spinosaurus (meaning "spine lizard") is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. Spinosaurus is known to have eaten fish, and most scientists believe that it hunted both terrestrial and aquatic prey. Evidence suggests that it was highly semiaquatic, and lived both on land and in water much like modern crocodilians do. Spinosaurus's leg bones had osteosclerosis (high bone density), allowing for better buoyancy control, and the paddle-like tail was likely used for underwater propulsion. Multiple functions have been put forward for the dorsal sail, including thermoregulation and display; either to intimidate rivals or attract mates. It lived in a humid environment of tidal flats and mangrove forests alongside many other dinosaurs, as well as fish, crocodylomorphs, lizards, turtles, pterosaurs, and plesiosaurs.

Not only does the enclosure feature some really cool art by my lovely wife, I decided to go one step further and try something new. Tayda offers a gloss or matt layer which can be added (for a small additional fee). I'd seen others use this to add a texture or additional graphics to enclosures, even in the absence of underlying images. I therefore decided to take some of my licensed clipart Spinosaurus images and them in gloss only, and I think the end effect is absolutely killer. 

So there you have it, a faithful recreation of the Vemuram TSV808, with all of the functionality available from the top of the enclosure, with a great dinosaur theme! No wonder Steggo looks so happy!