Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
I saw that DirtBox Layouts has done a layout for this from the schematic on PedalPCB – it’s one that I’ve been wondering about for a while after playing with the CODA FX Black Hole Doom Machine. I had an idea of what was happening, but I was slightly off in some parts around the transistors replicating the power … Read more
The Soma 63 is an amp in a box style pedal, with the usual array of J201s with trimmers replacing valves, an amp-style tone stack, and a transformer at the end of the signal chain thrown in for good measure. I added some mounting points on this, as you don’t want a board with a transformer on … Read more
The Benson Preamp is pretty popular, but 2M pots are hard to find. This is a modded vero layout using a 1M bass pot. To make this change and keep the same frequency response, resistances are halved, capacitance is doubled. Note that the Drive pot value also had to be halved. I’ll add a regular size … Read more
The RCA BA-31C would have been found in broadcast consoles of the day (late sixties), as a microphone preamp module. I think it may have been the starting point for the Hudson Broadcast, as they look quite similar and I’ve heard some references made to RCA. If it is what they used, I can … Read more
This is the input amplifier from a Revox A77 reel to reel (circa ~ 1967) – which also happens to be almost identical to the mic preamp in Trident A-Range mixing consoles from the early seventies. So far out of the preamps that I’ve been working on, which is the Neve, RCA and this, I’m … Read more
I quite like some of the guitar sounds from The Beatles Revolver album, and after looking at the Vox Supreme, I thought I might have a play with the UL series preamp. I’m also waiting for the build docs to come out for the Aclam Dr Robert on pedalpcb as a comparison. It’s also a … Read more
So not strictly Vox, but perhaps it’s the easiest way to label this one. It’s variation of the Jext Telez White Pedal done by Frank_NH on Freestompboxes, which is really the brilliant channel of a Vox Supreme. Frank made a few changes to keep the feel, while simplifying the design. running at 9v no wah … Read more
Last time I did a Sunn Model T layout it was a super blood moon (Coda Doom machine) – today is the winter solstice, so I thought why not stick with the theme and do another Sunn layout. This time it’s the Guitar PCB version, which is pretty similar to the Sunn Model T amp … Read more
Could there be a better time than a super blood moon to post the Coda FX Black Hole Doom Machine? Yes, the super blood moon is a real thing, and it’s happening in my part of the world at the time of this post. Ominous astronomical omens aside – this is a JFET version of … Read more
The Pete Cornish ST-2 is a Colorsound Overdriver with a few mods. The ST-2 is intended to be a tone-shaper; it’s not actually an overdrive. So if you are looking for dirt, you have come to the wrong place with this one. Although one can make a few tweaks to bring some dirt to this, but … Read more