Cloning the Lovepedal JTM - a New One Knob Pedal!

As Steggo and Kyle announced earlier this week, there is a new entry in Kyle the Ankylosaurus' "one-knob pedal" line of effects - the Philovenator Overdrive. This one is a clone of the Lovepedal JTM with an added twist (which does add an extra control, but it creates a fairly fun and unique pedal in the process). The Lovepedal JTM itself is essentially mid-60's British tone in a box, but it's not exactly a cheap pedal with new examples running around $225 (US). The original just has one control that varies the volume at the clipping stage, so it was an ideal choice for a Steggo clone!

Announcing a New "One-Knob" Pedal!

Back in November, Steggo and Kyle introduced Kyle the Ankylosaurus' "one-knob" collection of pedals with three inaugural designs:

• The Astrodon Physicist - A Brian May treble boost pedal
• Acanthopholis Gold - An Acapulco Gold clone on a new board
• Archaeoceratops - An EQD Arrows clone

A fourth model will be fully released later this week (with a full build log forthcoming). As before, Steggo and Kyle couldn't wait to tell everyone about it! So without further ado...

Get the Funk Out - Cloning the Legendary Mu-Tron III

The Mu-Tron III envelope filter possibly more than any other pedal created the funk sound of the 1970's. Classic units are in high demand and cost in excess of $600 for units in good shape. The circuit itself is another one that is hard to clone because there are some specific parts required. Madbean pedals used to make a couple of PCBs - the Naughty Fish and Nautilus - that captured the sound of the original pedal. Unfortunately both of these are currently out of production. However, Fuzz Dog now offers the Moo Tron (see what he did there?) board which combines the features of the original Madbean boards to  replicate the effect of the original Mu-Tron III. 

Off Axis Fuzz - Cloning One of the Originals!

Originally developed by Roger Mayer for Jimi Hendrix in 1967, the "Axis Fuzz" is a unique and classic fuzz pedal. Named after it's prominent use on the title track of Hendrix's album "Axis Bold as Love" - the effect uses a unique combination of NPN and PNP transistors that provides stable tone response without interference. As I'm a sucker for fuzz pedals and classic effects in general, I decided to take the plunge and see what the hub-bub was about!

Cloning the Venerable Maestro PS-1A

The early 1970's saw an explosion of effects pedals with many well-regarded units making their debut. One of these was the Maestro PS-1 and PS-1A phasers, or more technically it was called a "phase shifter." I had a friend request one, and I figured it would be an entertaining challenge. Fortunately Lectric-FX has recently released the Altered State Phaser. This is not an exact clone of the original, rather it is a bit more user-friendly version of the original effect with some modern modifications. The effect now runs off of a normal 9V power supply, which still providing the effect the +/-12V it needs to function properly. There are also changes to the buffer, op amps, as well as a few optional modifications to the circuit. 

New Black-Ash Variant - Closer to the Original

Back in December I finished up a clone of the EQD Black Ash fuzz pedal. For that first validation build I went with all modern components, but the original Black Ash used a lot of vintage bits in its construction - including carbon composition resistors and what appear to be paper in oil capacitors. I wanted to experiment with the components a bit and decided to try to take the build a few steps closer to the original to see if it made much difference.