PROCO: Rat, with mods

PROCO Rat with mods vero layout V1 c85432703782

The humble Proco Rat – a staple of distortion throughout the 80s, and then later rediscovered by people that couldn’t afford expensive pedals or just liked the sound.  By the way, I refuse to acknowledge the Rat as a fuzz pedal.  Others may, but not me… Excellent analysis on Electrosmash if you have somehow missed it – link here  The … Read more

Hudson Electronics Sidecar

Hudson Electronics Sidecar 644aa4a6e6fe

 Here’s a really great sounding overdrive from Hudson Electronics. The Sidecar is loosely based on the Tube Screamer with a 2-band Baxendall EQ and some interesting soft clipping. It uses a PNP germanium as a diode along side an LED and a 1N4148 in an asymmetrical configuration. I’ve got a fabricated version available in the … Read more

RESISTORS: Basics for Guitar Pedal Builders

1W carbon film resistors 8ee5d1414f5b

Everything listed below is about guitar pedal builds and is not intended cover all possible uses of resistors.  It’s an incomplete and general reference intended for someone just starting out building pedals.   So if I have missed particular properties or information, it’s because I either don’t understand them or it’s irrelevant for this purpose.    … Read more