A Two for One Overdrive Pedal!

The JHS pedals SuperBolt has long been a staple of many pedalboards as it's a really decent overdrive pedal. A while back, however, JHS released the limited edition "TacoBolt" - a different take on the SuperBolt. It was more of a gated fuzz than a overdrive / distortion in a lot of ways. It was allegedly discovered when a normal SuperBolt had been mis-biased. TacoBolts at this point start at about $275 on Reverb, while SuperBolts are typically cheaper. I'd gotten a request for a TacoBolt from a friend, so I went in search of a good board.

Updating the Miragaia

A couple of years ago, Steggo released an awesome doom fuzz clone using the PedalPCB Arkaim Fuzz board. The build actually ended up being surprisingly popular, and I've even built a custom version in a totally unique enclosure. That new enclosure came out so well, I decided it was time to go back and re-visit the original Miragaia enclosure, as Tayda had expanded the range of enclosure finishes available since I'd done the original design.

A Slightly Different Archaeopteryx Fuzz

Last month I finished up a fairly old school version of the Octavia fuzz pedal with a ton of ceramic capacitors, etc. I'd intended to build about three of these, but ran out of some of the more vintage bits to actually go full ceramic for all of the capacitors. Since I'd already populated the resistors for the third pedal, I decided to substitute some of the same red metallized film capacitors like I use in a lot of my Klon builds for the ceramics.

A Different Blues Driver Mod!

I've previously built a few versions of the Galaxie mod of the Boss Blues Drive BD-2 pedal. The most common of which is the version I'd sold as a part of Steggo's ongoing support of Ukraine's defense. There are other versions of the circuit out there, and I'd at one point (in the sadly far too distant past) gotten a request for the Keeley modded version of the pedal. A quick search of the internet showed that one of my favorite sources of all information pedal, the Tone Geek, had a write-up detailing his version of the Keeley mod (as it was used by John Mayer). I thought this was a great start, but decided to see if I could take things just one or two steps further. So here's Steggo's take on the Tone Geek's take on the Keeley mod of the Blues Driver. 

Another Awesome Vintage Fuzz - Steggo's Take on the Octavia!

I didn't plan this on purpose, it just happened to be when the various projects got done. A couple of weeks ago I finally finished up my first Fuzz Face builds, and today I've just finished up another amazing vintage fuzz - the Octavia. This is another fuzz effect made famous by the legendary Jimi Hendrix. Originally designed by his sound engineer Roger Mayer, the pedal blends an octave up signal with a distorted signal to create one of the first (if not the first) octave-up fuzz effects.

Steggo Finally Builds a Fuzz Face!

Introduced in 1966 by Arbitrer Electronics, the Fuzz Face is one of the earliest guitar effect pedals. It gained a great deal of popularity because Jimi Hendrix made extensive use of the pedal. The circuit itself is fairly simple, only consisting of 2 transistors, 4 resistors, 3 capacitors, and 2 potentiometers. The catch is the gain and leakage of those two transistors is vitally important to the overall final tone of the effect. In modern clones, variable resistors are used to help individually bias the transistors to ensure good tone for both the silicon and germanium versions of the circuit. I'd always wanted to put together a fuzz face, but which one?

Fortunately and PedalPCB has a great board called the Twin Face which combines both the silicon and germanium versions into one pedal!

Another Plateosaurus Preamp!

I'd previously built a couple of the PedalPCB clones of the Benson preamp - one for a friend to gig with, and one for myself. As these are a little tricky to get set up right, I only make them on request as a part of a custom order. Another regular had requested one as a larger batch of pedals, so I pulled out my last PCB and started working!

Another Cool Custom Pre-amp! Cloning the Peavey Decade

I got a request for a pedal that recreated the pre-amp portion of the Peavey Decade amplifier. The Peavey Decade is an old-school solid state amp that has been used by a lot of bands. It has waxed and waned in popularity over the years, but it is popular enough that there are a couple of fairly boutique guitar pedals that emulate it's preamp section. PedalPCB makes a preamp board, called the Decadence Preamp. So with board in hand, I got cracking!

The Very Model of a Modern Master General? A New Steggo Fuzz Clone!

Steggo had gotten a request for a clone of the EQD Fuzz Master General. That pedal is an update of the vintage Ace Tone FM-2 Fuzz Master Professional, which was famous for it's fairly untamed octave up character. Fortunately PedalPCB had a board ready to go in the Fuzz Cadet, so I grabbed a couple of boards and got cracking!

A Custom Miragaia!

A couple of years ago I'd built a few clones of the Mountainking Megalith using the PedalPCB Arkaim Fuzz board. These have been somewhat popular, and I have an updated version of the "Miragaia" enclosure in the works. In the interim I'd gotten a request for a custom "doomy" pedal - with Steggi on it. So we aligned on using the same circuit - with a custom enclosure!

Capturing a Legend's Sound - Cloning the Cornerstone Gladio SC

Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the greatest rock / blues guitarists of all time. Many people have attempted to capture his distinctive tone, and many pedals have tried to capture that tone as well. The Cornerstone Gladio SC standalone preamp takes a somewhat unique approach by allowing a blend of the clean and driven signals - along with volume and tone control. There is even a toggle that allows for compression to be added to a signal. The end effect is you can essentially get a tone which sounds like it is running through a dual amplifier set up with one clean amp and one overdriven amp. I had a request to build one, so I went in search of a PCB and got to it!

Return of the Queen - A Special Saurus Regina!

Back in July I completed my first clone of the Lizard Queen pedal - it's really a decent old school fuzz pedal, and I've built a few here and there. I'd ordered some more enclosures and unfortunately one of them was misprinted at the factory. This is a fairly rare event, and Tayda always makes things right, but I wondered if it might be possible to use this particular enclosure for something fun - so enter a special version of the Saurus Regina pedal!

Seeing Red - Cloning a Unique Overdrive Pedal

I was looking for a unique and fun overdrive project when I came across the PedalPCB Bloodshot overdrive. It's a clone of the Heavy Electronics Red Eyes - which is a very cool pedal. Not only is it a really responsive dirty overdrive pedal, but on the originals the red LED clipping diodes are mounted to the front of the enclosure, so you can see them as the pedal is used. I didn't go that route with my build, but it looks like it might be possible with a little creative wiring.

Is It Distortion? Is It Sustain? A New SS-3 Clone!

A little over a year ago a built the AionFX Soma - their clone of the Cornish SS-3 - and called it the "Dimetrodon Distortion 2." This was before the complete re-work of the Dimetrodon Distortion pedal into its current form, and honestly the SS-3 is a little bit of a different beast than a Distortion+, even with the shared DNA. Recently I'd gotten a request for a new SS-3 clone, so I worked with the requestor to come up with a new prehistoric creature to serve as the mascot for the build. I also transitioned over to the PedalPCB Semi-Sweet Distortion 3 board in the process.

Second Son of Ben??? Steggo's Personal Preamp

A few weeks ago I finished up a Benson Preamp clone for a friend. He has an original unit, but wanted something smaller for his gigging board, so using the PedalPCB Son of Ben board I made him something that fits in a standard 125B enclosure size. His board has a lot of purple pedals on it, so I made his from a purple metallic enclosure with matching knobs using my laser etcher. I wanted to try something a little different on my copy - though it falls very much in the same theme.

Son of a Ben - Cloning the Benson Preamp

Benson Amps is an amazing boutique amplifier and pedal builder based in Portland, OR (very near to where Steggo is based!). One of their guitar pedal offerings is a pre-amp based on the Chimera 30 amplifier, and it is an awesome pre-amp. I have a friend who has an original unit, but was looking for something a little smaller to put onto his pedal board for gigging, so he asked if I could build him a version in a smaller form factor. Fortunately PedalPCB offers a board that fits in a 125B enclosure, so the project was a go!

Dropping the Hammer - Cloning the Precision Drive

The Horizon Devices Precision Drive is an exceptionally nice overdrive pedal really geared toward metal styles. It is designed to pair well with both solid state and tube amps, and provides a wide array of tone and attack options for the player to optimize their sound. I'd had a request for a dinosaur version of the pedal, so I went in search of a good schematic or board and went from there.

Rainbows and Unicorns? Cloning the Rainbow Machine

Earthquaker Devices has a lot of unusual modulation effects. I mean a lot of unusual modulation effects. One of the most unusual is the Rainbow Machine which is described as a "polyphonic pitch mesmerizer." It's a tough pedal to dial in, but it does have a fairly dizzying array of sounds on tap - with the pitch control being perhaps the most important. I'd received a request for a dinosaur version of the pedal, so I decided to take the plunge and see what I could make happen with it.

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!

Don't Fear the (Hoof) Reaper - A Double Fuzz With Octave

There are many combination pedals on the market today. Sometimes these combine two different types of pedals, other times they pair very similar pedals. I've done several of these in the past including a clone of the Cheese Source (a distortion + fuzz clone), a clone of the ThorpyFX Heavy Water (essentially a clean boost + dirty boost), and even a build inspired by the venerable Mu-Tron Bi-Phase (two of the same six-stage phaser in one box, with some extras). A few years ago, Earthquaker Devices decided to mate wto of their fuzz pedals - the Hoof and the Reaper together in one pedal, an sneakily added an additional octave up circuit (later released as the Tentacle) to the mix. The pedal was available in both the normal "Hoof Reaper" version, and with a "Cloven Hoof" variation - the "Cloven Hoof Reaper." PedalPCB has a board available for this project, the War Scythe, so I decided to take the plunge... well, twice!