Cloning the Fulltone OCD - The Ominous Carnivorous Dinosaur!

Founded in 1993, Fulltone made a variety of pedals over the years and was in many ways at the forefront of the boutique pedal market - in the US at least. The owner had been mired in some recent controversy and announced in August 2022 that it would be closing shop. If you go to the company website now, you get a Looney Toons "That's All Folks" banner, and that all of the individual pedals (which had been marked down) are sold out. The Fulltone OCD was a very popular overdrive pedal that, much like many popular pedals, underwent several parts transitions over the years. There are several variants, but I wanted to focus on some of the 1.X variants initially - especially the 1.4 which threw in a Germanium 1N34A transistor.

Finally a True "Steggo" BMP Clone!

Any long time readers of this blog will know that I really like the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi in all of its forms. It is one of the main pedals of choice for some of my favorite guitarists, including David Gilmour, and is a key ingredient in their overall sound. I've built several BMP clones over the years, but all of them have had enclosures that mirrored the original in one way or another. Recently I've tried to do a "make over" of any of my "Steggo" pedals with a focus primarily on creating fun dinosaur names for them, and I've finally come up with a dinosaur themed BMP clone!

A New Klon Klone - from a New Source!

I don't often wax political on this blog. When Russia began it's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine back in February, I was angry (and remain so), and wanted to show solidarity with and support of Ukraine. At the time, I posted a build report covering the "blue and yellow" Blues Driver pedal build I'd just finished. In the interim I've built a couple of pedals for auction on Pedals for Ukraine. I've also donated to various agencies supporting Ukraine. A few months ago, a Ukrainian builder, South Obolon FX, began posting files so you could get your own circuit boards made. All he asked in return was a donation to the ongoing efforts in Ukraine, donations I was more than happy to make. One of the boards he provided files for was the Kent Rev 2, a Klon Centaur clone with a few added twists, so I figured I'd take a chance and have a few boards made up!

A Big Thank You - Pedals for Ukraine

I just wanted to give a shout out and thanks to the people who bid on the Ukrainian Army BMP pedal in the Pedals for Ukraine auction. It ended up going for $260 which was donated to World Central Kitchen to support ongoing relief efforts in Ukraine. 

The pedal was mailed out yesterday and is on its way to its new owner!

Ukrainian Army BMP Auction is LIVE!

My Ukrainian Army BMP serial number 2 went up for auction on the Pedals for Ukraine Instagram site this morning. Bidding starts at $50 and goes through Thursday May 7 at 11:59PM. The bidding takes place via replying to the comment with the most current high bid. I'm hoping that the pedal will bring in some decent money for relief efforts in Ukraine.

Site and Pedal Sales Updates

So the (very) small scale manufacturing is now in full swing at Steggo. I'm not intending to go into a stand-alone business here, just small-scale sales of a few pedals to share the good tone and basically support the hobby. To that end, I've added a pedals for sale gadget on the right hand column. Those of you reading this on a mobile device will likely need to change to web emulation to actually see it - I remain convinced that mobile devices by and large provide absolute crap emulation of just about everything. I've also added links to the Steggo Facebook page as well as my Instagram account which is mostly Steggo related at this point. I've also added a "Contact Steggo!" gadget so you can email me with questions, orders, anything.

Ukrainian Army BMP SN 002 Going to Auction

Over on Instagram there's been an auction of sorts going on to benefit Ukrainian relief efforts called "Pedals for Ukraine." A few weeks ago, I finished up my first early 90's Sovtek Big Muff Pi clone and at the time was trying to figure out a way to give back since I'd sourced a lot of the key components from Ukraine. Well, now that serial number 002 is completed, I've decided rather than trying to sell the pedal and give half to relief, I'm going to just donate it to the Pedals for Ukraine effort so all the funds get to those who need it - and someone gets a really great sounding pedal to boot!

Production Updates, Prices, Timeline, and Teasers!

Steggo Studios will have some pedals available for sale soon! I've been working in the background on the boards as mentioned in my previous blog entry - along with a few surprises because who doesn't love surprises! I've been waiting on enclosures from Tayda to arrive, and they hit the post earlier this week! So without further ado, here's "the plan" and planned inventory levels!

Renaming a Classic Big Muff Variant - Because... Reasons...

When I did my first build of a Tayda Big Muff Pi board back in January, I mentioned that the board included a set of instructions to allow you to build a total of seven (of the myriad) variations of this venerable circuit. I built my first one up as a Triangle, and it quickly became one of my favorite BMP pedals (okay, to be honest, there's none I don't like, but a few rise to the top). After finishing up that one, I'd devised a "cunning plan" to create not only a few more fun BMP pedals for my use, but a few to sell to "support the habit" as it were. Since I'm fairly good at Soviet green paint jobs (as you can see in my first Civil War / Red Army build as well as the enclosure I painted for a friend), I figured it would be fun to try and build a Sovtek BMP clone with as close to the original components as possible.