For this build I started with the amazingly clean PedalPCB Octa Mayer PCB. Since this was a vintage effect, I decided to try going with mostly vintage or vintage style parts for this particular build. The resistors are all new, but they are carbon film resistors. I'd also seen some photos of the internals of vintage units with ceramic capacitors, so I hit up my local vintage component store and stocked up. Apart from the polarity protection diode, the diodes, transistors, and electrolytic capacitors are all new production, though. Getting the board populated was a dream because all of the resistors and diodes were in really neat rows - meaning I could literally populate all of them and then solder. I then followed with the capacitors and finally the transistors.
The board is fairly tiny, and although PedalPCB lists this as a 125B build, I wonder if it might fit into the smaller 1590B enclosure as well. Honestly I prefer the larger enclosure, but it seems like it may be a candidate. I was initially going to put the LED at the top between and below the knobs (and that's how I tested the pedal originally, but once I figure out the enclosure art, I realized the LED would need to move. So I swapped out the original LED on the PCB with a jumper and went to my 3PDT daughter board with LED functionality. Per my normal practice, the main board is connected to the daughter board with ribbon cable. All of the jack connections are made with aviation grade wire from Tube Depot and are insulated with heat shrink tubing.
As this is a classic pedal, I figured I'd go with a true classic among dinosaurs, the Archaeopteryx! According to Wikipedia:
"Archaeopteryx is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek ἀρχαῖος (archaīos), meaning "ancient", and πτέρυξ (ptéryx), meaning "feather" or "wing". Between the late 19th century and the early 21st century, Archaeopteryx was generally accepted by palaeontologists and popular reference books as the oldest known bird (member of the group Avialae). Older potential avialans have since been identified, including Anchiornis, Xiaotingia, and Aurornis."Archaeopteryx lived in the Late Jurassic around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany, during a time when Europe was an archipelago of islands in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now. Similar in size to a Eurasian magpie, with the largest individuals possibly attaining the size of a raven, the largest species of Archaeopteryx could grow to about 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) in length. Despite their small size, broad wings, and inferred ability to fly or glide, Archaeopteryx had more in common with other small Mesozoic dinosaurs than with modern birds. In particular, they shared the following features with the dromaeosaurids and troodontids: jaws with sharp teeth, three fingers with claws, a long bony tail, hyperextensible second toes ("killing claw"), feathers (which also suggest warm-bloodedness), and various features of the skeleton."
The art is some that I licensed from Adobe, and is from the same set I used for my Steggovibe pedal. The original art was just a black and white line drawing, so I had to go in and add all of the color... which took a while!
The sound of the Octavia is a bit wild and can take some time to tame - much like several other vintage and more modern fuzz pedals. However, with a little work and the right stratocaster, you can absolutely nail the tones from "Purple Haze" - now if I could just nail the notes!
No comments:
Post a Comment