Tone Geek Mini-Taur - Early Silver Configuration (Warning: Graphic Klontent)

I've built several Klon clones at this point, including several Mini-Taur boards from The Tone Geek - most recently a fairly early configuration one for my personal use. As I mentioned in my teaser post a few days ago, one of the upcoming production pedals was going to be a Klon Centaur clone, but I wanted to finalize the part load out and configuration so I could buy in bulk. I had one last Mini-Taur board and faceplate lying around, so I decided to build one last one up with the faceplate before moving to the new enclosure (and hitting up Ryan for some boards sans faceplates!). 

Boss Blues Driver with a Ukrainian Dinosaur - For a Good Cause!

When Russia began its illegal and pointless invasion of Ukraine in February, I posted a "yellow and blue" pedal I'd recently finished - my first Boss Blues Driver - in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Later on I donated Ukrainian Army BMP serial number 2 to the Pedals for Ukraine charity auction on Instagram. That pedal did very well, raising $260 for relief efforts. I ultimately plan to build more of those, but I wanted to do something a little different for a second Pedals for Ukraine donation. Something more dino related, so I hit the web looking not only for dinosaurs native to Ukraine, but I also wanted to come up with a fun pedal to put into said enclosure! Given my first "blue and yellow" pedal was a Boss Blues Driver, I thought that may be a good place to start.

You Can Call Me Jan, or You Can Call Me Ray... Cloning the Vemuram Jan Ray Overdrive!

This build sort of picks up where I left off last time with my Vemuram TSV808 build, I now turn to the Vemuram Jan Ray. This is another Tube Screamer variant, and while expensive (at least $375), it is still in production. According to the Vemuram site:

"The Jan Ray was designed to recreate the punchy clear tone of the Blackface Fender amps from the 60's. So-called the 'Fender Magic 6' sound. An easy to handle overdrive keeping the characteristics of the guitar with great sustain without any unnatural compression. The end result is an ultra-smooth drive that retains the Tube Screamer’s trademark mid bump; however, it opens it up with the full-range clarity of the Jan Ray."

There are a few clones of this pedal out there, and it is better known than the TSV808, but for this build I'm also using one of the brand new Tone Geek boards - the Black Triangle project. 

Above Top Secret! Cloning the Vemuram TSV808

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the most common and popular overdrive pedals out there. The pedal itself has gone through many iterations, perhaps not as many as the Big Muff Pi, but it has a long history. Analogman has a decent write up on the history of the tube screamer on his page, and there is another decent write-up at Premier Guitar. As with many pedals, earlier variants or boutique modifications are especially prized by players, and these often command a premium price. The Ibanez TSV808 Vemuram is one such pedal, and it is sadly now out of production. If you refer to the original Sweetwater page, it states:

"The TSV808 employs a refined version of the original Tube Screamer circuit: Instead of four stages like the Tube Screamer (buffer -> overdrive -> tone -> buffer), the TSV808 contains three stages (overdrive -> tone -> +7dB gain boost). The end result is an ultra-smooth drive that retains the Tube Screamer’s trademark mid bump; however, it opens it up with the full-range clarity of the Jan Ray."

The controls on the TSV808 Vemuram are also a bit different as well. The normal Drive, Tone, and Level knobs are there, but there are also trimmers for bass and saturation. The pedal also included internal dip switches that allowed you to toggle between smooth and asymmetric clipping. So in short, this was an amazing pedal. It wasn't cheap new, if I'm reading my Goggle wayback machine correctly, it original cost $449, and I'm not sure exactly when it went out of production. Currently prices on the open market are exceeding $2000, with $2400-$2500 price points showing up for nice examples.

Teaser Time! Upcoming Pedals from Steggo!

One of my goals for this year was to get to the point to where I could sell pedals with all original and/or licensed art. A few of these, like the Steggo-san Overdrive, the various Thagomizers, and the Browncoat are already out there, but I really wanted to get some of my favorite pedals out there in unique dino form. Now that all of the dinos are back from vacation, there has been a lot of prototyping and art layout going on in the background, so I figured it was time for some teasers!!!

Steggo himself somewhere in the skunk works!

Jazzmaster in Warmoth Guitar of the Month Competition

I made it in just under the wire and got my Noventa-style Jazzmaster entered in the Unofficial Warmoth Forum guitar of the month contest. This month is the "Warmoth or Professionally Finished" category, and since Warmoth finished mine it works. Voting is now open (HERE) and goes through July 19th. A lot of really awesome entries this time around!

Noventa Jazzmaster - Steggo Style - Finaly Done!

I made it by the Five Star Guitars to pick up my freshly set up Noventa Jazzmaster clone. A couple of months ago I'd gone through the full construction article of how I built this beauty, but I also related that I'd unfortunately gone as far as my tools and skillset would allow. I'd purchased a new neck directly from Fender, and the nut wasn't set up yet - it just had pilot grooves for the strings. I lacked the proper file set to finish the work, so I (wisely I think) decided to hand it off to the professionals...