One of the Original Three - Cloning the Boss SP-1 Spectrum

Three Pedals for the Shredder-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Metal-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Power Groups doomed to die...

Excerpt from Lord of the Pedal Board...

In 1977 Boss entered the world of compact guitar effects pedals with the release of three pedals - the OD-1 Overdrive, the PH-1 Phaser, and the SP-1 Spectrum. In honor of the 40th anniversary of their release, Boss produced a limited run anniversary set of 1500 units with reproductions of all three of these pedals. They had to make a few changes to the circuit and some component substitutions, of course, but the final circuit adjustments were all still performed by hand on the new production units just as they were with the originals. The SP-1 was essentially a parametric equalizer pedal that could really create some unique sounds if fed into a boost pedal. With original copies costing anywhere from $500-$800 - and the limited reissues at nearly the same price point, this would seem to be an ideal candidate for DIY clones.

How Many Parsecs?

So my latest project is something a little different - the Aion Parsec. The Parsec is based on the Systec Harmonic Energizer from the mid-70s. It's a nifty little filter/equalizer pedal that lets you get some really interesting tones if you want to mess around with it. It will take your guitar tone anywhere from very growly bass to fairly tinny treble. You can also do some basic boost with it if you play around with it. This is another one of those long out-of-production pedals that the "real thing" will cost you north of $1000 (I recently saw one on ebay for $1495), but building your own is far cheaper, and a heck of a lot of fun!