This is a Way Huge Pork Loin work-a-like on a layout created by Madbean called Pork Chop Suey Cider. I always wanted to try the Pork Loin out but no retail store around here carried it so I just dismissed it until now. Its got a few cool features like the a really nice “soft clipping” overdrive sound that can get a nice mid gain when cranked. It also has a “clean” knob that blends in a clean preamp and help keep your note definition. The “curve” knob lets you adjust the frequency corners and can add a bit more crunch to the OD.

When I first populated this I was waiting for the 2N2484’s that never showed up so I stuck some 2n2222a’s and they actually sounded great. I did want to hear if the 2N2484’s made any difference is sound so I found that Mouser does carry them. Once I swapped out the transistors I really could not tell a whole lot of difference. The 2N2222a’s sounded a bit hotter but with playing full chords I was happier with the 2N2484’s and stuck with them.

I kept the pork theme and did a reverse etch of some pig art I found on Google Images. I also went with a metallic pink for the pig theme.

Insides are pretty straight forward and I used a Grind Customs 3PDT board to keep it clean. The top mounted jack just barely fit but it works.

Voltages:
Q1 2N7000
G 6.8v
S 8.2v
D 9.1v

Q2 2N2484
C 4.1v
B 1.2v
E 0.6v

Q3 2N2484
C 4.8v
B 2.2v
E 1.6v

Q4 2N2484
C 4.2v
B 4.8v
E 9.1v

Q5 2N2484
C 2.2v
B 1.2v
E 0.6v

Q6 2N2484
C 4.8v
B 2.2v
E 1.6v

Q7 2N2484
C 9.1v
B 4.8v
E 4.2v

IC1 LF353P
1 4.5v
2 4.5v
3 4.5v
4 0v
5 4.5v
6 4.5v
7 4.5v
8 9.1v

IC2 LM388P
1 4.5v
2 4.5v
3 4.5v
4 0v
5 4.5v
6 4.5v
7 4.5v
8 9.1v

This is a Third Eye Pedals Muff Gun PCB which is a work alike of the Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz. I bought this PCB from Hexjibber over at Madbean Forums. I was excited to give this Big Muff variant a try since I loved the idea of the LPB-1 booster in front of the circuit and the cool Mids/Focus knobs. I built this to spec and it sounds great. This will be a great pedal for the collection for sure.

I did a reverse etch that I think came out great but its a bit hard to see in the pictures. I think the burnt orange metallic paint doesn’t help taking pictures of it either.

I used one of Grind Customs FX 3PDT boards to try out. Great little board and I may stock up on them.

A better picture of the etch. Its hard to get the light to play nice to photograph it.

 

Voltages:
Q1
C 4.2v
B 0.8v
E 0.2v
Q2
C 4.1v
B 0.6v
E 0.0v
Q3
C 4.6v
B 0.5v
E 0.1v
Q4
C 4.6v
B 0.7v
E 0.1v
Q5
C 5.8v
B 1.5v
E 1.0v

There is a thread over at Madbean Forums about building a reverb in a 1590A enclosure.

I actually know of 2 options but they are not for beginners of this vast world of DIY pedals.

1776 Effects Rub-A-Dub Reverb
Jon Patton did a layout of the 1776 Effects Rub-A-Dub that fits in a 1590A but its not for the faint of heart. When I built mine I destroyed 2 1590A enclosures and broke a few tools in the process due to throwing them.

Jon’s Layout for the 1590A Rub-A-Dub
Here is his build report at Madbean Forums

I made a PCB from his vero layout and populated it. Here was the outcome.

Unfortunately I do not pictures of the finished pedal. I built it for a guy in Santa Cruz that said his board got stolen at a dive bar show…Not happy. This is the first and last time I forget to take pictures of my builds.

MOD The Deluxe Reverb
This, just like the Rub-A-Dub Reverb, is a Belton based reverb. The Storyboardist was able to build a very small layout (Just a few mm’s over the size of the brick). This build offers tails since its a buffered effect and also has a Mix & Dwell knob.

Storyboardist’s layout 

I etched and populated it tonight and it sounds great. I used a short decay Belton brick since I have a project in mind for this. I will not be putting it in a 1590A but I will be putting it with another effect in a 125B and need all the space I can get.

Rej from Grind Customs suggested I give this Big Muff variant a try and I am so glad i took his advice. This thing is so thick sounding and has some piercing mids if you need them. It seems to cut through any mix I throw at it with ease and sounds great. Do yourself a favor and grab an UltraStoner PCB from Grind Customs FX and populate this thing.

Reverse etch on a 125B enclosure. The artwork is hard to see so I posted another photo at the end of this post. The artwork was a random find on Google Images.

I went with the top mounted jacks just because it worked well with the layout.

 

Here is a better shot of the pedal straight on.

Voltages:
Q1
C 3.9v
B 0.6v
E 0.0v
Q2
C 5.6v
B 0.5v
E 0.0v
Q3
C 3.7v
B 0.6v
E 0.0v
Q4
C 5.2v
B 1.7v
E 1.1v

Finally finished this Cornish SS-2 & G-2 pedal using the Black Horse Effect Duplex Drive PCB. This is a great dual pedal and is NOT just another Big Muff pedal. This thing sound great a low gain and is a very smooth sounding low/mid gain OD/distortion. This is definitely a pedal I will be putting on my board and cherishing. I really love how clean & easy Black Horse Effects PCB is and I can finally retire my very version of the G-2.

Used a play on words and tried to get the same look from a Cornish pedal. The knobs are from Small Bear. The artwork is a reverse etch on a 1590BB enclosure.

Voltages:
Q1
C 9.2v
B 6.0v
E 5.5v
Q2
C 4.7v
B 0.8v
E 0.1v
Q3
C 3.9v
B 0.6v
E 0.0v
Q4
C 4.8v
B 0.7v
E 0.2v
Q5
C 9.3v
B 5.5v
E 5.0v
Q6
C 4.8v
B 0.7v
E 0.2v

LM1458
1 4.7v
2 4.7v
3 4.2v
4 0
5 4.4v
6 4.7v
7 4.7v
8 9.4v

I have been really busy with a few work deadlines and it’s cutting into my bench time. I spent the last few days populating PCBs that have been sitting on the bench way to long. I have some enclosures coming this weekend so I hope to have some etch time with them to get these builds wrapped up.

David Rolo’s Liquid Mercury – Tap Tempo Phaser

David Rolo’s TWIN PEAKS Tap Tempo Harmonic Tremolo

Black Horse Effects’ The Beast (Maxon OD-820 and Klon Centaur in one box)
I still need to get my diodes auditioned and soldered in.

This last weekend I was determined to empty out my “box of fail” builds and try to breath some life into them. Today I decided to try to conquer a Madbean Zero Point SDX (Which is a beast) and I tamed that beast, slayed the dragon or tipped the cow. I got this PCB back in February 2014 and I populated it over a couple of days and then when testing it I was getting nothing but distorted delay repeats. I was very very green in February (now I am just very green) and had no idea where to start troubleshooting. I then revisited it in June thinking “this is the time I get this thing going” but I failed again. I replaced all the PT2399’s and I checked voltages and they looked fine so It went back in the “box of fail”.

Now, today! I set the PCB up on my test rig and got a tone going through it and started tracing out where the distorted repeats start in the circuit. I found the distortion was on pin 8 of IC2 PT2399 (Current control 0) and to my surprise I had a 10nF film cap instead of a 100nF film cap in C15. As soon as I popped in a 100nF cap everything was repeating clean as it should.

On the PT2399 the pin 8 (CC0) and pin 7 (CC1) are for “mod” and “demod”. Now I just need to figure out what they are used for and why did it produce distortion with a 10nf… but for now, ITS WORKING.

An old build sees the light of day and I finally feel like my troubleshooting skills are getting a tiny bit better.

Here is a shot of the PCB. Ever since I moved to the Panasonic film caps, these box caps are hard to look at. lol

This is a GrindCustoms UltraStoner PCB built to TSM680 specs and it sounds great. Has a huge mid boost and just makes this Big Muff variant just pop out. I found with little fiddling around with it and with my Gibson SG I was able to nail many of the great stoner rock and psychedelic bands tones with ease. From Sleep to Red Fang with no problems.

 

Rej suggested that I put this in a multi build with the UltraStoner built to stock… I just may.