Cloning the Lizard Queen!

About a year ago, Josh Scott from JHS pedals released a really fun video where they did a bit of live action role playing and developed a new effects pedal from the ground up they called the Lizard Queen. Nothing unusual there, but the catch was they wanted to replicate the process used by Electro Harmonix in the 1970's and create something that was simultaneously new and vintage. The result was a brand new fuzz pedal with very old DNA that could be built using available components. Speculation abounded as to whether or not the pedal would ever actually be released, but earlier this year, JHS released both small and large form factor versions of the pedal. Amazingly enough, the large form factor pedal was shown in full detail (front and back) so not only the components but the electrical traces were visible. Therefore this is likely one of the most quickly and extensively cloned pedals out there, but I figured there had to be room for a dinosaur version too!

For this build I went ahead and used the Lot Lizard board from PedalPCB. As you'd expect from a clone of an early-style fuzz pedal, the component count is fairly low. When populating the board you have a couple of options as there are a couple of very minor circuit differences between the limited edition large box version of the pedal (which originally retailed for about $250 and has gone up from there) and the small mass-produced variant (which started at $99 and can be purchased for less used). The differences come down to one ceramic capacitor and one potentiometer. I decided to base my build on the large-box version of the circuit (mostly) and that also informed my component choice.

To better mirror the components in the original big box version, I decided to go ahead and use NOS Allen-Bradley carbon composition resistors. I doubt this will make much (if any) difference in the sound of the unit, but they sure do look cool. For my personal pedal, I also scrounged and used the last of my 100nF Panasonic film capacitors. I've built a couple more just using WIMA film capacitors in place of the Panasonic ones. Both the small and large box versions use a 47pF ceramic capacitor, but they're in different parts of the circuit. After some testing, I went ahead and used both sourcing some NOS ceramics from my local electronics store. The transistors and electrolytic capacitors are all new production.

As I opted not to add a battery to the enclosure, the wiring was really straightforward. I'm using my own 3PDT daughter board that is set up very much like the PedalPCB version. The internal wiring is a mix of ribbon cable and aviation grade wiring from Tube Depot. All of the jack connections are insulated with heat shrink tubing. 

Playing on the name of the original pedal, I decided to feature our own reigning reptilian monarch, Steggi, on the enclosure. I may have to change the name of the pedal down the line, but I think the end result is fairly cute - even if it borrows quite a bit from the style of the original.

The sound of the pedal matches the demos I've found online, and honestly I'm really liking it a lot so far. I don't think it is going to replace the K-T Event Fuzz on my main board, but it may join it. I'm going to try and get some tone demos in the near future.