It's been roughly three months since my last Studio status (and Steggo's Secret Lab) update, so I figured it was time for a quarterly check-in. The first three months of 2023 have been busy, with a heavier than normal focus on modulation pedals - largely because I'd had several friends request them. Modulation pedals tend to be more complex than overdrive, distortion, or fuzz pedals (in general - anything that's a Boss clone is complex by its very nature!), so several of the builds have taken a bit longer than normal cutting my overall output, but I've been really pleased with how several of the pedals have come out!
In my last update, there were still some gaps from the October update, so I'll hit those gaps first and then move on to the December status report:
- Cornish P-2 in new dino-themed enclosure: As of December I had a couple of my hand etched boards, and I still do. I'm still planning on making these up, but PedalPCB has now released an official Cornish P-2 clone based on a trace of the real thing. These are in production now and enclosures are on order!
- Proco Rat clone / variant - This one is done and available for custom order. I'll eventually make a few for the store as well!
- EQD Hoof - This one is done as well, though currently out of stock...
- EQD Space Spiral - I finished up this one too, though I'm currently out of stock...
- King of Tone - As of December I was still in validation, and have made no progress.
- The Cornish G-2 Clone - Believe it or not, these are also done!
So the October tentative plan is nearly complete. I've been talking to a friend at the local guitar store who has an actual King of Tone pedal, so I'll be able to compare my build to the "real thing" and see how it stacks up!
I'd also shown a photo (above) of some of the great new Steggo boards which have been laid out and customized by South Obolon FX, here's the status on those:
- The Kloned Kentrosaurus - These have been a real hit, in fact Rob Chapman (yes that Rob Chapman) said that it is the best Klon themed pedal he's ever tried.
- K-T Event Fuzz - These are now done in a couple of fun versions
- Red Yamaceratops - Way Huge Red Llama clone. The enclosures are here, I just have to get them in the build queue!
- Mosasaurus Distortion - Ibanez MT10 Mostortion clone - still need to build and get enclosures - no change from December
- Ominous Carnivorous Dinosaur - Fulltone OCD clone - these are done, and awesome!
- Atomic Carnivore - ThorpyFX Heavy Water clone - first one is done (and awesome) but I need to make more...
- Spinops Booster - EHX Special Cranker - still need to build and get enclosures - no change from December
- Steggo-san Overdrive - Way Huge Geisha Drive clone - full PCB version of the hand etched board I did previously - these just released this week!
So, again, a fair amount of progress!
I also included several "coming soon" pedals on the list. Some of which I'd included images of the enclosure, others I'd just put into a table:
- The "Bronto Burger" - PRS Horsemeat clone is done, and actually appears to be fairly popular! I'm going to need to build some more of them.
- The Hoof Reaper clone in a Diablo themed enclosure is not together yet as other builds leapfrogged it on the priority queue - hopefully soon!
- An envelope filter request from a friend - this was a MuTron III clone using the Fuzz Dog Moo Tron board. Not only did the board work, it worked very well, and I've got tons of requests for more of them!
- A phaser request from a friend - this was the Maestro PS-1A Phaser clone using the Lectic-FX board. Again, this one not only worked, but exceeded expectations. The Studio has already sold two and there are requests for more!
- A Duo-Phase clone - this one is also done, and I'm working on a couple of custom builds.
- A fun and quirky fuzz pedal for the "one knob" collection - this one unfortunately is pending a new board. The first build did not validate completely as there was clear bleed over from the +9V power into the audio path.
- A combo pedal based on the Snake Oil pedals - still on the "to do" list
- A David Gilmour in a box combo pedal - getting closer as the files to make the PCB of part of this pedal are just now available
- Several fun fuzz pedals - I think my favorite in this group is the Alxasaurus Fuzz clone of Jimi Hendrix's Axis Fuzz pedal. I really love how this pedal sounds! There are others on the list, so stay tuned!
I've had a few other boards made up (above) for some other projects I've got cooking - and yes, one of those is the long overdue debut of the Dimetrodon Distortion original Steggo Pedal (okay - it's a modification of a modification, but I'm counting it!). At this point I'm getting some feedback from beta testers on prototype units before I finalize the standard configuration for the tone stack (which is customizable anyway). One of the others is a Fuzz pedal, and another is another pedal designer's board that is working to support Ukraine. More on those soon!
There's a whole host of other things "in the works" - mostly requests from friends. First up, I had a request for the venerable Earthquaker Devices Monarch pedal. This particular pedal is out of production, and has a fairly interesting history. It was released as a DIY kit at one point, but the circuit is a little ticky and requires some biasing and other modifications to work properly. There's a couple of great write-ups on the PedalPCB forum, and I'm planning on breadboarding the builds before I solder them down. The enclosure (above) is Greek-inspired and uses another great piece of dino art from Ukrainian artist @estelkatrin!
Another build I'm looking forward to is returning to a pedal I haven't built in a while - the EHX Electric Mistress. I'd built a PCB Mania version of this circuit about a year and a half ago, and while that was a decent build, it was clear on reflection that much of that circuit had been taken from Madbean (warts and all). Madbean has just released a new version of the "current lover" for 2023, and I'm going that route for several requested new builds. I'd also found some art online from two different sources to finally create a true "dino" version of the circuit rather than my Cortana (from Halo - not the Microsoft assistant) themed version I'd built in 2021. The working version of the art for the standard Electric Mistress is above. I'm working on alternate art for the a Deluxe Electric Mistress clone as well.
I also have several South Obolon and other boards I finally need to get around to finishing up and releasing to the wilds, these include, but are not limited to:
- An EQD The Depths clone
- A Catalinbread Katzenkönig clone
- A Foxx Tone Machine clone
- A Crowther Audio Hotcake clone
- A Mad Professor Royal Blue Overdrive clone
- An Xotic BB Pre-amp clone
- Another very classic flanger clone (board in hand - hopefully it works as advertised)
- ... and lots of surprises along the way!
So it's been an awesome few months here at the Studio, and as always there's a lot more great tone coming down the pipe. The plan is to continue to use the blog as the technical publication space for Steggo Studios - new builds, new variants, all of the cool tech information. The commercial side will continue to be on Reverb, Instagram, and Facebook - although we're hoping to get a full website going in the next month or so as well! Stay tuned!
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