Thermionic Effects

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Here is a list of the effects available for rent from Thermionic Studios. Every pedal listed here is one that we have in inventory (or have all the parts for and are in the process of assembling) and available for you to try out. We believe that if you're interested in tone-shaping for yourself, it might be nice for you to find out what you like before deciding that you're going to invest a lot of money in obtaining such pedals for yourself.

We have a few things listed along with the companies here for clarity - here's an explanation:

  • (Production pedals): This means that this company builds and sells full working pedals. Just buy, plug in, and play
  • (Built-from-PCB pedals): This company sells (mostly) only printed circuit boards (PCBs). We have purchased the PCB, and the necessary electronic parts to assemble this pedal.
  • (Kit pedals): This company sells kits that consist of the PCB, the enclosure, and all the electronics necessary. You're on the hook to assemble. Sometimes, despite the fact that the company offers primarily kits, low customer interest and lack of sales volume of certain pedals will prevent a company from putting together certain kits. In those cases, it's not uncommon for the company to offer just the PCB. When we believe there's an interesting pedal and only the PCB is available, we'll still buy the PCB and source the necessary parts.

We also have notes, where applicable, that are specific to each pedal - here's an explanation:

  • (pcb): We purchased this pedal as a PCB only and have sourced the parts to build it.
  • (kit): We have purchased this kit and have assembled or are assembling the pedal from the kit.
  • (modified): We purchased this pedal and have purchased and have applied, or are applying, a modification that we feel benefits the pedal.
  • "nothing": Where there is no indicator, this is simply a production pedal that we've not had to put any additional work into.

Where we have "(discontinued)" listed for a pedal, it means that the particular pedal that we have is no longer being produced by that company. For example, we have the Dunlop Uni-Vibe listed as (discontinued), yet if you go to JimDunlop.com, you'll see that they offer a uni-vibe pedal for sale. What we mean is that the VERSION of Uni-Vibe that we have is the older lamp-controlled Uni-Vibe with the original architecture, not the re-worked (non-lamp) version that fits into the smaller "deck-of-cards" sized pedal that is now available.

In other cases we specify, "(out of production)" meaning that no version of the pedal is made anymore - it's out of production, and there is no intended replacement. This pedal has reached end-of-life. This could happen because the company has decided to stop making the pedal completely. It could happen because the pedal company is out-of-business. A good example of this would be with the Build Your Own Clone Armstrong Twin kit. We spoke to BYOC and it was the case that not enough people were buying the Armstrong Twin for them to make it a product continuing forward. So we got one of their last PCBs for it.

With respect to pedals, and in keeping with our amplifier philosophy, please note that we ALWAYS attempt where ever and whenever possible, to collect pedals that we believe are artistically meaningful and musically significant. Our goal is to help you get to the "tone-nirvana" you either have in your head, or are perhaps still seeking.

Many of the pedals (production pedals) we have are no longer available at all (like our Electro-Harmonix Holiest Grail, or our Damage Control pedals) and must be long-sought on eBay and other used-equipment sites like Reverb.com. In most cases, clones are not available, and when another such pedals will be available for sale is questionable. Once these pedals break and can no longer be fixed, unless we can source others, they will likely be gone for good.

1776 Effects

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

Aion FX

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Aperture (pcb): Yet another Ampeg Scrambler. This one offers a diode selection switch and a Superfuzz-style gain recovery and volume control.
  • Argent (pcb): Faithful recreation of the no-longer-produced Boss FZ-3. Picked up to follow up on the FZ-2 clone we're also building.
  • Astra (pcb): The Sam Ash Fuzzz Boxx was discontinued over 50 years ago in 1968; so we're building a reliable one.
  • Atom (pcb): Unique fuzz circuit drawn by Dan Coggins of Lovetone and published in ETI electronics magazine before Coggins started Lovetone.
  • Blueshift (pcb): A semi-faithful clone (function is right, but not the form) of the BOSS® DC-2 Dimension C.
  • Cascade (pcb): A clone of the discontinued Washburn Stack-in-a-Box, the first distortion pedal to use JFets cascaded like vacuum tubes.
  • Chroma (pcb): A single, selectable frequency boost (only) cloned from the rarely-available but much-loved Boss SP-1.
  • Delta (pcb): Jack Orman's classic Mini-Booster with Aron Nelson's mods and R.G. Keen's improved biasing. Copied and sold as "original" by Vertex Effects.
  • DZ4 Preamp (pcb): The preamp circuit from the Diezel VH4 amplifier with toggle between instrument- and line-level output to power amp.
  • Fractal (pcb): A few companies offer a Pearl OD-05 clone, but this PCB has the most compelling story so we got it.
  • Gale (pcb): Booster/Limiter implementation of the no-longer-produced Schaffer-Vega wireless rig. Used primarily as a tone filter.
  • Hypercube (pcb): A 100% accurate functional replica of the BOSS® FZ-2 Hyperfuzz.
  • Isotope (pcb): An adaptation of the overdrive function from the IVP Tube Voice rack unit. IVP overdrive in a pedal.
  • IVP Preamp (pcb): Pedal implementation of the rackmount Intersound Instrument Voicing Preamplifier, a favorite of Steve Albini and Bob Weir.
  • L5 Preamp (pcb): The preamp section of the solid-state Moog Lab Series L5. Quality-of-life enhancements include channel-switchable tone stack.
  • Meridian (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Guyatone Exciter / Compressor. We bought two. This one will be tuned for bass...
  • Meridian (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Guyatone Exciter / Compressor. And this one to be tuned for guitar... More interesting than we first thought!
  • Monolith (pcb): Back from oblivion is AionFX's implementation of the Lovetone Big Cheese fuzz.
  • Obelisk (pcb): Another remake from the ashes of a deceased pedal company, this is a clone of the Lovetone Brown Source
  • Quadratron (pcb): Clone of the Lovetone Doppleganger phaser. We also have a PCB of this from MusicPCB. Building out to see if any differences!
  • Redshift (pcb): Blackout Effects closed their doors in 2018. This is a recreation of their 2009 Whetstone phaser pedal.
  • Rift (Legacy) (pcb): Yet another Superfuzz but this one has a tone knob and includes a switch for changing sets of clipping diodes.
  • Spectron (pcb): We have another clone of the Lovetone Meatball. Our other copy is from MusicPCB.com. We got both as we're interested in any differences.
  • TS-50 Bass Preamp (pcb): Released by Traynor in 1979, this is a preamp of what is still considered one of the best solid-state bass amps.
  • VH Drive Channel (pcb): This is the solid-state preamp of the Ampeg VH-140C, used throughout the 1990s by many heavy music bands.

AMT Electronics

(Production pedals)

  • E1: Engl-emulated Preamp and distortion pedal.
  • SS-11B: Modern Tube Preamp and distortion pedal.

Bogner

(Production pedals)

  • Ecstasy: Multi-option overdrive, patterned after the Ecstasy tube amp, also made by Bogner.

Boss/Roland

(Production Pedals)

  • BD-2: (modified) - "Blues Driver" Overdrive / Distortion pedal with Monte Allums BD-2 upgrade.
  • BF-2: (out of production) - "Flanger" Japanese version.
  • CE-5: (modified) / (discontinued) - "Chorus Ensemble" older (pre-2001) analog version chorus pedal.
  • DD-3: (discontinued) - "Digital Delay" (older Made-in-Japan version) up to 800ms, including a "hold" function.
  • DD-20: (out of production) - "GigaDelay" dual pedal with delay, editable configurations, and sampling up to 23 seconds.
  • DF-2: (out of production) - "Super Distortion and Feedbacker" Pre-DiMarzio lawsuit. Distortion with tunable feedback activated by holding down pedal.
  • DN-2: (out of production) - "DynaDrive" varies from overdrive to distortion based on how hard strings are struck.
  • DS-1: "Distortion" (older Made-in-Japan version) First made by Boss in 1978. Still made today, if with different guts now.
  • HM-2: (out of production) "Heavy Metal" (older Made-in-Japan version) Legendary pedal, and yet not as great as everyone currently thinks.
  • ML-2: "Metal Core" Grown out of the complaints of the Metal Zone, this is a smoother "Metal" distortion pedal.
  • NS-2: (out of production) "Noise Suppressor" Line noise / interference suppression pedal with both "reduction" and "mute" modes.
  • OC-2 (2): (out of production) "Octave" effect with dry signal, one octave down, and two octaves down.
  • OS-2: (out of production) "Overdrive/Distortion" blends the "growl" of overdrive with the "sizzle" of distortion. Interesting for different sonic textures.
  • PS-6: (out of production) - "Harmonist" multi-tonal pitch shifter and harmonizer with additional "hold down" feature for pitch swings.
  • RC-2: (discontinued) - "Loop Station" - build loops for practice or rehearsal. Considered "more immediate" than RC-3, no hiccups on drum tracks.
  • RE-20: (out of production) - "Space Echo" a dual pedal with the features of the old analog Roland RE-201 Space Echo. Includes both repeats and reverb.
  • TU-3 (2): "Chromatic Tuner" An LED/visual pedal based tuner with 'centered' or 'strobe' tuning modes for your instrument.
  • XT-2: (out of production) - "Xtortion" a distortion with controls as if paired with a fixed wah filter.

Breakfast Audio

(Built-from-PCB Pedals)

BYOC/Build Your Own Clone

(Kit Pedals)

  • 5-Knob Compressor (kit): (out of production) - Vintage Ross Compressor with additional BYOC-designed controls for attack, ratio, and tone compression.
  • 855 Drive (kit): (out of production) - Tube Screamer work-alike with twice the gain.
  • Amp Selector FX Router (kit): (out of production) - selectable between two different amps, or two different effects loops, or creating a stereo effect.
  • Armstrong Twin (pcb): (out of production) - combination of Dan Armstrong's Orange Squeezer and Green Ringer in a single pedal.
  • Bass Chorus (kit): (out of production) - An original BYOC design with a chorusing effect tuned for bass frequencies.
  • B.G. Fuzz (pcb): (out of production) - Clone of the no-longer-available AF-60 "BeeGee", a fuzz pedal by Roland prior to the creation of the Boss company.
  • Classic Compressor (kit): (out of production) - Vintage Ross Compressor with "extra special" vintage parts for enhanced compression.
  • Color Booster (kit): (out of production) - Clone of the no-longer-available Colorsound Overdriver. Goose it with 18 volts and it becomes the Colorsound Power Booster.
  • Envelope Filter Fixed Wah (kit): (out of production) - Similar to the MXR KFKQZ1(QZone). Envelope filter *and* fixed position wah.
  • Large Beaver (kit): (out of production) - Big Muff work-alike with four tone stack selections to create different muff tone textures.
  • Lazy Sprocket (kit): (out of production) - Clone of the famous but limited and out-of-production Boss SG-1 Slow Gear pedal.
  • Leeds Fuzz (kit): (out of production) - Clone of the infamous but now out-of-production Univox Superfuzz pedal.
  • Parametric EQ (kit): (out of production) - Pedal consisting of parametric tone controls for shaping bass, midrange, and treble frequencies.
  • Parametric Multiband Compressor (kit): (out of production) - Unique compressor pedal with parametric tone controls for both bass and treble.
  • Phase Royal (kit): (out of production) - An MXR Phase 90 work-alike with many additional controls for greater flexibility.
  • Soaring Skillet (pcb): (out of production) - A remake of the Ibanez FP-777 Flying Pan phaser and panner - so phasing and left/right panning.
  • The Swede (kit): (out of production) - A remake of the Boss HM-2, "Heavy Metal" distortion pedal.
  • Tri Boost (kit): (out of production) - select between three different boosts for different boost/overdrive textures.

Catalinbread

(Production Pedals)

  • Manx Loaghtan: (out of production) - Big Muff Pi with enhanced tone control.
  • Naga Viper: A silicon-transistor based treble booster with a couple of additional controls.
  • SCOD: (out of production) - Called the "Super Charged Overdrive", it's based on Orange's amplifier overdrive stack.
  • SFT: (discontinued) - An emulator of the older Ampeg SVT amplifiers.

Damage Control

(Production Pedals)

  • Demonizer: (out of production) - Modern high gain tube preamp with boost.
  • Solid Metal: (out of production) - Damage Control's highest gain tube distortion pedal; not a preamp.
  • Timeline: (out of production) - Tube-based multi-delay/repeat pedal.
  • Womanizer: (out of production) - Classic tube preamp with boost capable of JCM-800-style hot-rodded distortion.

DeadAstronautFX

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Abductor II (pcb): Echo with control for each of four delay chips, in addition to modulation effect.
  • Astro Flange (pcb): A flanger-filter with three-way modulation that can be toggled on and off.
  • AstroSim (2) (pcb): Vintage / modern cabinet simulator with additional headphone and XLR outs.
  • Black Triangle (2) (pcb): "Metal Overdrive". A version of a Tube Screamer with additional gain stage and clipping.
  • Dreamtime (pcb): Smooth delay with oscillator for trippy after-delay modulation.
  • Easydriver (2) (pcb): Overdrive pedal with ability to turn engage both soft- and hard-clipping.
  • EBE Delay (pcb): Small, and easy delay/echo with modulation added to the delay.
  • Faze Filter (pcb): A phaser combined with a filter effect that can be oscillated.
  • Skinwalker (pcb): High gain distortion with additional pre-gain boost control.
  • Skyscape (pcb): Chorus with additional modulation. We're not big on chorus, so this was big for us.
  • Timestream (pcb): Tiny reverb pedal can go from subtle reverb to smooth, wet hallways, to ragged self-oscillation.
  • TremShifter (2) (pcb): Similar to the Faze Filter, the Tremshifter is a tremolo effect combined with an oscillating filter effect.

DeadEndFX

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Amnesia (pcb): Pedalmaker Smallsound Bigsound made only 50 "No Memory" pedals - a modulated echo with envelope filter. We wanted one.
  • Andamento (pcb): Lastgasp Art Labs Tone Mosaique pedal replica. Effects go from ring mod to bitcrusher and include tremolo, and envelope filter.
  • Anubis (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-in-production Sunn O))) Life pedal by Earthquaker.
  • Atomic Duck (pcb): Recreation of the now-defunct Frostwave Funk-a-Duck resonant envelope filter.
  • Calypso (pcb): An expanded version of the currently available Spaceman Nebula phaser with additional waveforms and tap tempo.
  • Charonium (pcb): Remake of the no-longer-available Lastgasp Art Labs Misty Cave pedal. This reverb tends to highlights odd resonances.
  • Cosmo King (pcb): Clone of the unheard-of Royal Cosmo Wah; a Ring-mod with added vibe effect.
  • Definite Phase (pcb): A work-a-like clone PCB of the ProphecySound Systems Infinitphase. Amazingly unique phaser effect.
  • DEFX Superfuzz (pcb): A totally period-accurate recreation of an original Shin-Ei Superfuzz PCB.
  • Dekadent (pcb): The tiny Peavey Decade amp got love from Josh Homme as a "secret weapon" for his bass tones. This is it recreated in pedal form.
  • Enigma (pcb): Clone of the impossible-to-get Lovetone "?" Nameless Flanger.
  • Flange-a-Rama (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Ibanez Classic Flange FL-99.
  • Freq Tweq v.2 (pcb): This is a fuller-featured parametric equalizer than the Guyatone PS022, but uses the same circuit architecture. Original pedals are still quite affordable.
  • Fubble Wubble (pcb): Replace a standard crybaby PCB with this and we'll have our own rare Roland AD-50 Double Beat Fuzz Wah
  • Glenn (pcb): DEFX copy of the Spaceman Atlas III boost - but with the phase inversion switch available on the outside of the pedal...
  • Hooke (pcb): An actual, honest-to-God, old-style spring reverb inside a foot pedal.
  • Inchindown Redux (pcb): In its day, the Ibanez Soundtank line, including the EM5, was not held in high esteem. This EM5 copy, a tape echo, was actually pretty good.
  • Lola Phase (pcb): The $3,000 it costs to get one of the legendary Mutron Biphases WITH plug-able expression pedal is out of our reach. This DEFX version has the bells and whistles.
  • Ludwig II (pcb): A sleeker version clone of the effect that almost bankrupted the Ludwig drum company. Includes expression treadle pedal.
  • Moonstone (pcb): MrDigi2t and Cozybuilder at DIYStompboxes took liberties with imagining the unfinished combination of the very rare G.S. Wyllie Moonrock and New Moon pedals.
  • Mr. Multi (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Korg FK-2 Mr. Multi Wah (Wah/Phaser/Wah+Phaser)pedal.
  • Neofuzz V (pcb): Charlie Watkins' WEM Project V fuzz stopped being made more than 55 years ago. This 7-transistor fuzz was harder than anything else at the time.
  • Oiolossë (pcb): Oiolossë appears to mean "Holy Mountain" in Finnish. This is DeadEndFX's interpretation of a doomy Orange preamp.
  • Origami (pcb): Recreation of the no-longer-produced Wolftone Chaos fuzztone by Malekko Heavy Industry.
  • Pink's Clipper (pcb): An old New England hippie who calls himself "Pink Jimi Photon" has earned some notoriety on YouTube with his "Stupid Pedal Tricks". He designed this Overdrive/Distortion.
  • PLLone (pcb): Clone of the Schumann PLL - a crazy "multiplier" effect that also has drone and moment functions. Must be heard to be believed.
  • Pompei (pcb): Clone of the Synthi Hi-Fli, used by David Gilmour at his Pompei performance. Requires 2 treadled (wah) pedals to operate as expression pedals.
  • Reflektor (pcb): The DeadEndFX version of the "SIB! Echodrive v.2 - Red unit". Lush and warm delay due to 12ax7 tube driving input and output.
  • Shillelagh (pcb): We didn't have enough DEFX Superfuzz clones, this is the Lastgasp Art Labs take on the Superfuzz and may be the most extreme sounding.
  • Spectrum (pcb): Clone of the very rare and no-longer-available Holmes H-X6 Spectrum pedal.
  • Stretta (pcb): Cicognani SexyComp 76, but in a smaller format with ability to select any mix between compression and limiting.
  • String Ringer (2) (pcb): Clone of the "now-only-found-used" Lovetone Ring Stinger ring modulator.
  • Talkalizer (pcb): Front end of an EHX Talking pedal and Backend of a Colorsound Vocalizer. Vocal formant "YOY" sound controlled by a wah pedal.
  • Tatiana (pcb): DEFX describes this as the "rarest of the rare", it's a Schumann looper with selectable filtering and signal phase inversion for crazy sounds.
  • Terrahawk (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Hawk II Tonal Expander, a boost pedal with tone stack.
  • Tresonator (pcb): The no-longer-made Frostwave Resonator put into a wah pedal so the functions can be controlled with the treadle.
  • Trible (pcb): Big Muff. For some reason the idea of getting this and filling it with unobtainium components (like 2n5133 trannies) and putting it in a big enclosure seemed like a good idea.
  • Turbotrem (pcb): Last but not least for our attempts to get our own crazy Lovetone pedals, this is the DEFX Wobulator clone with all the associated controls.
  • Zuul (pcb): Guyatone PS-027 "Loop and Gate" pedal clone. Stopped being made a while ago. It's an A/B effects loop with built-in noise gate.

Honorable Mention:

  • Loop-D-Loop (2) (pcb): Not an effect pedal, but a useful too. Allows you to manipulate instrument and line levels to put pedals into an amp's effects loop (which typically only handle rack effects).

Delptronics

(Kit pedals)

  • Thunderclap (kit): emulates the old Roland TR-808 "hand-clap" sound. Boss originally released the HC-2 "Hand-Clapper" in 1984, but this is now only available second-hand.

Digitech/DOD

(Production Pedals)

  • Crossroads: (out of production) - Eric Clapton "multi pedal" that does everything badly. Ideal candidate for Bad Device Chain Challenge.
  • Distortion 555-A: (out of production) - A very poor-sounding distortion from the early 80s that we hunted down specifically for the Bad Device Chain Challenge!
  • Freqout: Digitech developed an anti-feedback circuit for some of their gear. So they had the brilliant idea to invert the function of this circuit into a "more feedback" pedal. Cool enough we're getting more than one.
  • Grunge: (out of production) - A distortion pedal that sounds a lot more like metal than "grunge". Many hate it. We think it's great.
  • Hyper Phase: (out of production) - A phaser with many additional features.
  • Luxe: (out of production) - Polyphonic detuner effect: 12-string emulation and chorusing.
  • Synth Wah: (out of production) - An envelope filter that has many additional features.
  • XP-300 Space Station: (out of production) - A treadle combined with multiple effects including synth, swell, and arpeggiation.

Dunlop/MXR

Dunlop

Dunlop ("Jim Dunlop") is probably best known for the Crybaby Wah-wah pedal, and owning the MXR and Way Huge brands. It was Jim Dunlop who saved the wah-wah pedal from the precipice of oblivion; purchasing the business and rights it from Whirlpool Manufacturing in the mid-1980s. Through his company, he kept the legacy and the effect going. Dunlop is also known for reissuing the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face and a version of the Roger Mayer-developed Jimi Hendrix Octavio effect. Dunlop also released a number of odd and one-off pedals (some we have!), but build quality has always been top notch.

(Production Pedals)

  • EP101 Echoplex: Derived from the Echoplex EP-3 Preamp, this is a solid state tone "sweetener".
  • JD4S Rotovibe (2): Treadle-controlled vibrato/chorusing (vibe) effect.
  • JDF2 Fuzz Face: Germanium fuzz face. Dunlop has their own germanium transistors made for this pedal.
  • JH1B Hendrix Wah (2): (discontinued) - Jimi Hendrix chrome top wah-wah.
  • JHF1 Hendrix Fuzz: Jimi Hendrix-tuned silicon fuzz face
  • JH-OC1 Octavio: (discontinued) - Clone of the Roger Mayer/TycoBrahe "block of cheese" octave fuzz.
  • TVP-1 Tremolo: (out of production) - Treadle-controlled and selectable tremolo, boost, or volume swell effect.
  • UV-1 Univibe: (discontinued) - Our Uni-Vibe is the model lacking the "vintage" switch. It's that old...

MXR

MXR is a brand that was started in the late 1970s. MXR obtained much of its notoriety by having been associated with Eddie Van Halen and his early artistic output. However, MXR has long been used and loved by many professional musicians. After MXR went out of business in the 1980s, the rights of the company were purchased by Jim Dunlop who has carried on the promise of MXR as a maker of premium analog-electronic pedals.

(Production Pedals)

  • CSP001 Variphase: (out of production) - MXR Phase 90 in a treadle where the sweep of the treadle determines the speed of the phasing.
  • CSP101SL Script Phase 90 (2): Updated version of the original MXR Phase 90 script version with LED.
  • CSP265 Bonamassa FET Driver: (out of production) - An overdrive pedal designed for Joe Bonamassa with active EQ.
  • EVH90 EVH Phase 90: MXR Phase 90 with a switch enabling either the Block-era or the Script-era phaser intensity.
  • EVH117 EVH Flanger (2): Almost identical to the M117R flanger excepting paintjob and a button to set the flanger to "Eddie Van Halen" mode.
  • KFK1 10-band EQ: (out of production) - 10-band led-lit graphic EQ with 2 outputs and custom Kerry King graphics.
  • KFKQZ1 QZone: (out of production) - This pedal is like taking a wah-wah and fixing the sweep of the wah at a certain spot and leaving it on.
  • M80 Bass DI+: - 2-channel direct-inject for bass with gate and balanced line-out.
  • M101 Phase 90: The ever-popular one-knob "Phase 90" Phaser pedal.
  • M108 10-band EQ: (discontinued) - 10-band led-lit graphic EQ with 1 output.
  • M109 6-band EQ: (discontinued) - 6-band led-lit graphic EQ with 1 output.
  • M117 Flanger: The original black MXR flanger with the attached power cord!
  • M117R Flanger (2): Reissue of the original pedal made famous by Eddie Van Halen and the song "Unchained".
  • M134 Stereo Chorus: A chorus effect with additional controls for wet volume and tone.
  • M169 Carbon Copy: An all-analog delay harkening back to the early days of analog, bucket-brigade delays.
  • M173 Classic 108 Fuzz: A silicon fuzz-face redesigned to include a buffer to allow greater versatility.
  • M182 El Grande Bass Fuzz: (out of production) - A classic fuzz design tuned to bass frequencies.
  • SF01 Slash Octave Fuzz: A fuzz pedal combined with both octave up and octave down.

Way Huge

(Production Pedals)

  • Swollen Pickle: Way Huge take on a Muff-style fuzz with maximum tone alteration capabilities.
  • Atreides: Jeorge Tripps took the 1970s EHX EH1600 mini-synth (Van Halen, "One Foot Out the Door") schematic and made a pedal out of it.

Effects Layouts

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

Used elsewhere:

Electric Druid

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

Electro-Harmonix

(Production Pedals)

  • Analogizer: Short analog delay combined with overdrive to "soften" or "analogize" an otherwise digital signal.
  • Attack Decay: Envelope-controlled volume-swell pedal. Swells the volume when a note is struck for violin-like tones.
  • B9: Multi-organ simulator, emulating sounds of the Hammond model B9 organ.
  • C9: Another multi-organ simulator, offering additional organ sounds.
  • Double Muff: (discontinued) - Older-version of two cascaded Muff Fuzz units housed in the older, folded-sheet metal enclosure.
  • Germanium Big Muff: Double pedal with overdrive and distortion, each side offering voltage starve and woolly sound of germanium transistors.
  • Holiest Grail: (out of production) - Possibly the most flexible and customizable analog reverb ever made. Very rare.
  • Metal Muff: This is the first "full" Metal Muff with Top Boost.
  • Ravish Sitar: Pedal which adds additional drone notes to your playing, like a sitar.
  • Ring Thing: Multi-feature ring modulator with auto-shifting ring modulation, pitch shifting, and 9 presets.
  • Small Clone: The "classic" Electro Harmonix chorus effect. Older effect in the classic sheet metal EH4800 enclosure.
  • Small Stone: (discontinued) The famous phaser housed in the older folded sheet metal EH4800 enclosure.
  • Small Stone: XO Version of the EH4800 (small die-cast box) Small Stone. Also known for use in ground loop testing instrument cables.
  • Stereo Pulsar: Analog tremolo with controls for shaping of the tremolo wave, not just the tremolo intensity.
  • The Worm: Combination fixed wah / phaser / vibrato / tremolo; fixed wah can be changed with expression pedal.

EHX Tube Pedals

  • Black Finger: (out of production) - Multi-control vacuum-tube powered compressor.
  • English Muff'n (4): Two 12AY7 tubes powered with with full voltage make this a 100% tube-driven preamp. Our new favorite tube pre-amp mod platform.
  • Hot Tubes: (out of production) - The "other" EHX Hot Tubes pedal. This is another pure tube preamp one with 2 full-voltage 12ax7 tubes.
  • LPB 2ube: (out of production) - Tube-driven "LPB" boost pedal. Two 12ax7 tubes each powering separate channels with both volume and gain boost.
  • Tube Eq: (out of production) - 3-band frequency equalizer with middle frequency having parametric tone controls.
  • Tube Zipper: (out of production) - Combination tube-driven envelope filter and distortion pedal.
  • Wiggler: (out of production) - Four different styles of vibrato (Leslie, Hammond, Vox, Wurlitzer) and vacuum tube-generated amplitude-modulation tremolo.

Fuzzdog's Pedal Parts

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • 1978 IC Big Fluff Pie (pcb): Yet another version of the IC Big Muff, this version by Fuzzdog.
  • Alluring Echo (pcb): Yet another modulated tape delay emulator. We bought this without realizing it's a clone of the original Keeley Magnetic Echo. We'll likely never build it.
  • Big Fluffy Pie (pcb): A version of the Big Muff by Fuzzdog tuned specifically for Bass.
  • Black Ash Fuzz (pcb): Earthquaker Devices version of a Tonebender but with vintage and high-end parts. No longer available so we'll try to give it a go.
  • Brain Bomb (pcb):
  • Broon Sauce (pcb):
  • Buffered Pickup Sim (pcb):
  • Cab Sim ROG Condor (pcb): The Runoffgroove.com designed speaker cabinet simulator for direct recording.
  • Cream Fluff Fuzz (pcb): A clone of the Frantone Cream Puff Fuzz. We bought this PCB when Frantone had stopped making the Cream Puff. She has since resumed.
  • Dirt Dessert (pcb): A work-alike of the Crowther Audio "Prunes and Custard". A distortion that generates additional odd-order harmonics.
  • Doom Scum (pcb):
  • Droid Fuzz Arpeggiator (pcb): Decided to get this because we have a spare (and obsolete) HT8950 integrated circuit. Inspired by the Death By Audio "Robots" pedal.
  • Eight Two Zero (pcb): Maxon's 820 Overdrive pedal was a reaction to the Klon Centaur. We want to see how close this is to the original.
  • Engineer's Thumb (pcb): Valve-Wizard's notes have been translated into a PCB for a quality compressor put into a working pedal form.
  • Exploder Fuzz (pcb): Fuzz Face variant with a transformer added in order to load the input to prevent the wah-wah issues that can occur with Fuzz Faces.
  • Fat-Ass Blooper (pcb): Blend pedal to mix effect and clean signals to maintain Bass oomph. Building in a phase inverting buffer to match phase for blended effect.
  • Fuzz Raw V1 (pcb): Death By Audio 7-transistor fuzz. (Building to compare with PCB Mania's Death By Fuzz I)
  • GimpFX Ultr-Fk (pcb): A work-alike of the MountainKing Electronics Megalith Fuzz. This is a big, crushing fuzz pedal.
  • Graphic Fuzz (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Earth Sound Research Graphic Fuzz. Another crushing fuzz.
  • Green Citrus (kit): Matamp designs are usually low-gain, however, this amp-in-a-box is a high-gain Matamp "Green" amp emulator.
  • Harmonic Percolator (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Interfax HP-1 Harmonic Percolator. Original Percolator is a favorite of Steve Albini.
  • Heavy Screamer (pcb):
  • HF Modulator (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Jen HF Modulator. A spacey, lo-fi tremolo/ring mod/bit crusher.
  • Just the Meat (pcb): "JTM" as in a Marshall JTM amplifier. This is a workalike of the Lovepedal JTM pedal.
  • Liquified Feline (pcb): This is a copy of the controversially-named (and now sold-out) Steel Panther "Pussy Melter" distortion.
  • Manky Fruit Fuzz (pcb): And yes, another IC Big Muff, but this version uses a single larger IC and LEDs.
  • No-Tube Driver (pcb): The BK Butler Tube driver pedal but with the tube replaced in the circuit architecture by an LM301AN integrated circuit.
  • Nuclear Muff (pcb): A Big Muff, but with a Baxandall (more accurately "James") tone stack in order to smooth out fizziness that can be overbearing in other Big Muff circuits.
  • Orange King (pcb): A clone of the now-discontinued Earthquaker Devices Monarch distortion pedal.
  • Orange King v2 (pcb):
  • OVD-1 (pcb):
  • Reasonably Good Mangler (pcb): Clone of the now-discontinued (and rather unobtainium) Dwarfcraft Devices Great Destroyer.
  • Recurring Nightmare (kit): This modulated/lo-fi/arpeggiating delay uses a the XR2206 integrated circuit for some extra functions. Inspired by the Death By Audio Echo Dream.
  • Repeater (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Vox Repeat Percussion. A 60s tremolo device with a metronome-like quality.
  • Sonic Tight'un (pcb): a clone of the "out of production and no longer available but highly-vaunted" D*A*M Sonic Titan.
  • Spooky Mids (pcb): a work-alike of the JHS "Haunting Mids" pedal. We wanted to see if this could be used to replicate the famous Furman PQ3.
  • Sunny-T Extreme (2) (pcb): A work-alike of the Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold with AMZ Presence Tonestack.
  • Tight White Drive (pcb): A near-clone of the MXR Distortion+ with a third control for 'Weight' to filter out, or boost bass frequencies.
  • Two Dozen Silvertones (pcb): A Silvertone 1484 amp-in-a-box amplifier emulator from the "Eighty Seven Percent - De Stijl" schematic on Freestompboxes.com.
  • Verb Engine (pcb): A clone of the Death By Audio Reverberation Machine. We will not make this available until DBA discontinues their pedal.
  • War Pig (pcb): A work-alike of the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra. Black Sabbath "Vol. 4" in a box.
  • Warp Sound (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Vorg Warp Sound. Distortion with a built in envelope filter. Haunting tones and a Thermionic favorite.
  • Wolf Computer (pcb): A clone of the long-out-of-production Mellowtone Wolf Computer fuzz pedal.

Used Elsewhere:

  • Sunny-T Extreme (pcb): A second Sunny-T (power amp) to add to Guitar PCB Sunn-T (preamp) to make full Amp Emulation.

General Guitar Gadgets

(Kit pedals)

  • BMP Civil War (kit): Big Muff with the "Civil War" version tonestack and component mods.
  • BMP GGG-Tuned (kit): Big Muff with the General Guitar Gadgets choices for tonestack and components.
  • BMP Green Russian (kit): Big Muff with the "Green Russian" version tonestack.
  • BMP OpAmp (kit): Big Muff with distorting opamps instead of transistors, the sound made famous by Smashing Pumpkins.
  • BMP Rams Head (kit): Big Muff with the "Rams Head" version tonestack.
  • BMP Triangle (kit): Big Muff with components conforming to the sound of an original "Triangle" Big Muff.
  • BrassMaster (kit): Clone of the out-of-production Maestro BrassMaster Bass effect pedal.
  • Bronx Cheer (pcb): PCB-only of the Bronx Cheer effect by Tim Escobedo. Buzzy-sounding, but not quite a fuzz.
  • BSIAB2 (3) (kit): Brown-Sound-In-A-Box-2, excellent high-gain distortion pedal developed by DIY'ers.
  • CB1 (pcb): Clone of the Electro Harmonix LPB-1 signal booster. We got this to try explore some LPB-1 modifications.
  • ITS8 (kit): Ibanez Tube Screamer 808 clone with additional modifications available.
  • Klon Centaur (kit): Replica of the "Best Overdrive in the World" Klon Centaur.
  • MBB (kit): Replica Marshall Bluesbreaker Overdrive. Additional mods and a Wampler exploration to take pedal into King-of-Tone territory.
  • Mini Mixer (kit): A simple four-channel mixer in a pedal-sized enclosure.
  • Orange Squeezer (kit): Clone of the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer.
  • Rodent (pcb): We bought this to rebuild our existing Rat2 into better "Rat".
  • Scrabbler (2) (kit): Clone of the out-of-production Ampeg Scrambler.
  • TOCT (kit): Tyco Brahe Octavia clone. We spent way too much time describing this since it's going into a different pedal.
  • GGG Custom Wah (2) (pcb): Customizable wah-wah pedal with 5 tone settings and 2 switchable inductors.

Honorable Mention:

  • Headphone Amp (pcb): Like it sounds, not even really a pedal - for practicing at home. We doubt anyone wants to rent this.

God City Instruments

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Bass Brutalist (pcb): Overdrive derived from the original Brutalist Jr. but tailored for basses.
  • Socialist Jr. (pcb): Highly modified version of the original "Brutalist Jr." DIY distortion.

Nick Williams Series

All of these circuits were designed by Nick Williams of Dunwich Amps in collaboration with Kurt Ballou, owner of God City Instruments. Nick is an online acquaintance and over the course of a few conversations, we tried to get Nick to agree to allow us to be the West Coast assembler for his (since discontinued) Dunwich Amplifiers. Oh well...

  • 6-Knob Compressor (pcb): Nicholas E. Williams own original compressor design.
  • Apostle (pcb): Interpretation of a Matamp/Orange design reimagined in jfet transistors for the tubes.
  • Bass Overdrive (pcb): High-gain bass overdrive inspired by the Boss ODB-3 with additional controls.
  • CTB (pcb): A boost, a distortion, and a fuzz, all in parallel with unique controls, to be mixed as you please!
  • HM-2_v.NW (pcb): Redesigned Boss HM-2 (Heavy Metal) with additional controls and clipping options.
  • MT-2_v.NW (pcb): Redesigned Boss MT-2 (Metal Zone) with radically expanded frequency controls.

Grind Customs FX

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Fluffgirl (2) (pcb): (out of production) - a "bouncy" envelope filter, inspired by the EHX Bassballs.
  • Goat v3 (pcb): (out of production) - a throaty overdrive modeled on the original Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, this one's been pushed into full distortion.
  • Machette (pcb): (out of production) - a combination of Tim Escobedo's "Ugly Face" and a low-frequency oscillator (LFO).
  • Ultrastoner (pcb): (out of production) - a big muff circuit tuned to be a "doom machine".

Guitar PCB

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • 4-Track Fuzz (pcb): Replicates the "smeary" sort of overdrive sound from a 4-track cassette recorder.
  • American Fuzz v3 (pcb): (out of production) - Workalike of the Mosrite Fuzzrite Fuzz pedal. Very splatty.
  • Apollo Tremolo (pcb): A reworking of the Tremulus Lune tremolo.
  • Dr. Rock v2 (pcb): (out of production) - A distortion in the vein of a goosed 1980s Marshall (JCM-800) amplifier
  • G-02 Animal v1 (2) (pcb): A workalike and G-PCB's take on the Pete Cornish G2 pedal.
  • Mastodon Fuzz v2a (pcb): A workalike of the ZVex Wooly Mammoth Fuzz pedal.
  • MoWah v3 (pcb): GuitarPCB's own take of a W ah-Wah pedal circuit.
  • OMG Mongoose Fuzz v3 (pcb): (out of production) - A re-imagining of the "purple rocketship" distortion by Roger Mayer.
  • Paramix v4 (pcb): A serial- or parallel-mixing pedal and controller.
  • Sriracha Fuzz (kit): Bought this because it's such a great-sounding fuzz.
  • Sunn-T Preamp (pcb): A reimagining of the Sunn Model T preamp and associated tonestack.
  • Tone Tweq (pcb): A T-M-B tonestack pedal for tone shaping your end signal, or other specific pedals, as desired.

Used Elsewhere:

  • Sunn-T Preamp (pcb): A second Sunn-T PC board to be paired with Sunny-T Extreme from Fuzzdog. We're calling it the "Sunn-T Total Eclipse".

Ibanez

  • NU Tube Screamer: A Tube Screamer using the new Korg "NuTube" fluorescent 6P1 vacuum tube amplification unit instead of the classic JRC4558 opamp.

Jeds Peds

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

JMK PCBs

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Blue Warbler 2 (pcb): Envelope-controlled Vibrato and Tremolo.
  • Expandora (pcb): Clone of the no-longer available Bixonic Expandora.
  • Hoodoo Drive (pcb): JMKPCBs swears this is the best-sounding overdrive they've heard. We'll give it a shot.
  • Level Up (pcb): Drive/Octave/Boost.
  • Modulay (pcb): With "noise" and "warble-speed" minipots, we're gonna put this delay into a treadled Wah enclosure.

Korg

(Kit pedals)

Lectric-FX

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Altered State (pcb): Replica of the long-since discontinued Maestro Phaser PS1-A. (Seems like perfect candidate for intelligent switch from PedalPCB).
  • Bloodstone (pcb): Repro of the EHX Bad Stone. Includes true bypass, auto/manual, and phase/vibrato switches.
  • Celeste Chorus (pcb): Updated for modern parts and standards, including hot pickups, this is otherwise a direct clone of the Electro Harmonix Clone Theory chorus.
  • Countdown (pcb): The unobtanium of the A/DA Final Phase circuit as released in 1979.
  • Dandy Horse (pcb): Reproduction of the vintage EHX Echo Flanger circuit, a 4-in-1 effect producing chorus, flanger, fixed flanger filter and double track delay effect
  • DC-Echo (pcb): Reproduction of the Echo 600, an EXTREMELY rare EHX pedal from the very early 1980s.
  • Downtown (pcb): Replica of the extremely rare EH-5950 Deluxe Octave Multiplexer, the 5 knob version, from the late 1970s.
  • Flintlock (pcb): The Classic A/DA flanger circuit, adapted to use the more common MN3007, or MN3207 BBD Chip.
  • Flyleaf (pcb): From the 1977 EHX Zipper™ envelope follower, adapted for true bypass and a trimpot for adjusting bypass unity
  • Mongrel OD (pcb): A transistor pushed into fuzz by a hot signal level from an operational amplifier (integrated circuit).
  • Old Chap (pcb): A clone (updated for currently available parts) of the no-longer-available Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger. Candidate for Madbean Roadrage 18v charge pump.
  • Pork Rind (pcb): A silicon transistor "Superfuzz" with additional octave up effect.
  • Soy Sauce (pcb): Bass subharmonic synthesizer and low-end enhancer from the vintage 90’s DOD Meatbox.
  • Zirconia (pcb): The Zirconia is an optical compressor with a tilt style EQ, EQ-bypass toggle, and an internal Hi Cut switch. Designed to provide a smooth sound.

Madbean Pedals

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Archibald (pcb): A remake (with more controls) of the BK Butler Tube Driver (with 12ax7 tube!).
  • Bloviator (pcb): (out of production) -A clone of the BBE Sonic Maximizer effect.
  • Blue Steel (pcb): The Boss BD-2 Blues Driver with enhanced controls
  • Bumblebee (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Baldwin Burns "Buzzaround" pedal.
  • Burly Bear (pcb): An updated or "fixed" (it sounds much better) Ibanez FZ-7 Fuzz.
  • Charlatan (pcb): Madbean's implementation of an Electro-Harmonix XO Worm pedal, a multi vibrato and tremolo.
  • Current Lover (pcb): Remake of the out-of-production 70s Electro Harmonix pedal Attack Decay volume swell.
  • Dragonbeard (pcb): A clone of the out-of-production Bixonic Expandora.
  • Dragon Hound (pcb): Madbean's licensed VFE pedals combination parallel Overdrive and Distortion blend pedal.
  • Edgelord (pcb): Remake and enhancement of the Ibanez SB-7 Bass Synthesizer; unique enough from other filters to deserve a build.
  • Exploder (pcb): A tweaked version of the Ampeg Scrambler (Called "Eggsploder" by Madbean, but we're not big that name).
  • Flabulanche (pcb): (out of production) - An original Overdrive/Compression pedal by Jon Patton.
  • Freekout (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the discontinued Electro Harmonix Frequency Analyzer.
  • Fuzzy Britches (pcb): Another remake of the long-discontinued Jordan Bosstone.
  • Gas Tank (pcb): A remake of Chunk Systems no-longer-made Brown Dog distortion with clean blend for bass.
  • Glitchee (pcb): Distortion combined with octave, and sub-octave down with the addition of a dynamic filter over the whole thing.
  • Green Bean (2) (pcb): A clone and rework of the ever-popular Tube Screamer.
  • Harbinger TWO (pcb): A Univibe built into a Wah-treadled pedal.
  • Honeydripper (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Colorsound Diphthonizer.
  • Junk Trunk (pcb): Chunk Systems no-longer-available "Agent 00-Funk" envelope filter with special hook-in for the Madbean Gas Tank.
  • Karate Shop (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Systech Harmonic Energizer.
  • Laureate (pcb): Madbean's take (he adds an additional control) on the Nobels ODR-1 Overdrive.
  • Mandroid (2) (pcb): (out of production) - Originally a pitch-shifter project by Dean Hazelwanter hosted at GGG. Popularized by Death-by-Audio's "Robot" pedal.
  • MeatQlaw (pcb): Colorsound Power Boost noted for huge gain increase and good for feeding into overdrives or tube amps.
  • Mysterioso (pcb): A clone of the sometimes-available-sometimes-not Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive.
  • Naughty Fish (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Mutron V envelope filter pedal.
  • Peacekeeper (pcb): (out of production) - An original JFET-based distortion from Madbean Pedals.
  • RangeMaster (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Dallas Arbiter RangeMaster in a pedal housing.
  • Rough Cut (pcb): An amalgamation of the variations/mods of the Diamond Compressor for guitar.
  • Rustbucket (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Electro Harmonix Attack Decay pedal.
  • Sharkfin (pcb): (out of production) - A clone of the out-of-production Maestro Filter Sample and Hold pedal.
  • Tone Virus (pcb): It is part suboctave generator, oscillator, monophonic synthesizer, harmonizer and all-around noise maker.
  • Total Recall (pcb): A clone of a vintage Electro Harmonix Memory Man delay in a smaller form-factor.
  • Weener Wah (pcb): A wah-wah based on the Clyde McCoy, using older-style axial electrolytic capacitors for a vintage sound.

Mask Audio Electronics

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Iommic Boost (pcb): This is a "classic" treble booster, Range Master style, with an additional FAC controller to select for frequencies to be boosted.
  • Shattered Glass (pcb): This is a "State Variable Filter", which we will discuss in the pedal article, put into a pedal form. Super Tone Control, basically.
  • T-Amp (pcb): Per Mask, this is uses poweramp ICs to emulate vintage Sunn tones; appears to be an exact clone of the EQD Acapulco Gold. Maybe we can add a volume control.

Maxon

(Production Pedals)

  • CP-101: Compressor.
  • DS-830: Distortion Master.
  • OD-9: This is the original Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer w/ true bypass.

Moonn Electronics

(Built-from-PCB Pedals)

  • 14X32: Version of Catalinbread Naga Viper with toggle to select between 2 different transistors for boosting.
  • Aglio e Olio: Clone of the Montarbo Sinfhoton (an out-of-production Italian fuzz/muff style w/ separate tone controls but no gain control).
  • Antique Wave Disruptor: A clone of the no-longer-produced v.1 of the Soundwave Breakdown. Uses reversed transistors for crazy-ugly fuzz sounds.
  • Knut: Analog bit crusher effect. Makes a ringmod / drone type of sound depending on setting.
  • Love Yourself In Every Way: Hemmo's Bass Fuzz but allows you to swap out resistors, diodes, and transistors. 2592 different possible settings.
  • More Than A Walkman: Runoff Groove's "Mockman". This is a recreation of the distortion generator created by Tom Scholz of Boston.
  • Mud Tosser: Clone of the no-longer-available Earthquaker Devices Dirt Transmitter (fuzz face with bias and tone controls).
  • Schwurbel: This is Tim Escobedo's "PWM" fuzz pedal with the inclusion of a low frequency oscillator. Makes a fuzzy wow-ow-ow-ow sound.
  • Tryhard: Tim Escobedo's "Idiot Wah" that uses a light-sensing resistor for sweeping the filter instead of a potentiometer.

Morpheus

(Production Pedals)

  • Droptune (out of production): needs the 1.2 software update - we have the update, we just need to load it into the pedal.

Music PCB

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

Nobels

(Production Pedals)

  • ODR-1: The "sleeper" overdrive. Loved by Nashville artists. Has also been equated with the Soundgarden sound.

OL Circuits

(Kit pedals)

  • Dr. Watt (kit): Emulator of the distortion and tone stack of the HiWatt DR-504.
  • Flipster (kit): Emulator of the distortion and tone stack of the Ampeg Portaflex.
  • Orange Peel (kit): Emulator of the distortion and tone stack of the Orange OR-120.
  • Slow Century (kit): Emulator of the distortion and tone stack of the Soldano Lead Overdrive 100.

Honorable Mention:

  • Tube Cricket (kit): Beavis Audio Research's 1-watt tube amp made real, not really an effect pedal.

Parasit Studios

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

PCB Guitar Mania

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Amazing Booster (pcb): Jfet Boost.
  • Amped S-Bass (pcb): Emulation of the Ampeg SVT amplifier.
  • Appetite for Distortion (pcb): An emulation of Slash's Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555 amplifier head.
  • Atom Boost (pcb): Full Class-A amplified Boost. Transistor build modeled off integrated circuit.
  • Black Sun of Doom (pcb): Emulator of the Sunn Model T Preamp. Includes extended tone stack, mods, and an LPB1 Booster.
  • Bulgarian Fuzz (pcb): Per PCBMania - "Originally from a Bulgarian electronics magazine from the 80s and never produced as far as we know". Germanium.
  • Clockwork Orange (pcb): Emulator of the Orange Graphic Mark II amplifier.
  • Death by Flaming Ring (pcb): Workalike of the no-longer-available Death by Audio Flaming Lips Space Ring with additional "meltdown" mod.
  • Death by Fuzz I (2) (pcb): Fuzz pedal based on Death by Audio Fuzz War, ver 1, with 7 transistors.
  • Death by Fuzz III (pcb): DBA's Death by Fuzz (4-transistor) uses multiple DIP switches. This pedal uses toggle switches instead.
  • Dwarf Destroyer (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Dwarfcraft Devices "The Great Destroyer"
  • Electric Lover (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available EHX Electric Mistress Flanger.
  • Engl Preamp (pcb):
  • Fuzz-Phase (pcb): Soviet-styled Fuzz and Phaser combination pedal. PCBMania to reveal base inspiration.
  • Green Lemon (pcb): Emulator of the Green Matamp GT120MV amplifier.
  • Green Octaver (pcb): On/Off "Green Ringer" clone. Octave effect for 12th+ fret. No controls.
  • Hyperion Fuzz (pcb): Fuzz pedal worked up by PCB Guitar Mania to try and clone the Boss FZ-2.
  • JCM-800 PreAmp Simulator (pcb): Like the PAL-800, this is a Marshall JCM-800 preamp remade in JFET transistors in place of 12ax7 tubes.
  • JFT Phaser (pcb): Soviet-inspired original PCB Mania design phaser with phasing and solid state distortion.
  • Kheiron Klon (pcb): Klon circuit with multiple options selectable via PCB-mounted DIP-switches.
  • Lemon Bass (pcb): Emulator of the Orange AD200B MkII bass amplifier.
  • Lemon Rockverb (pcb): High gain JFET preamp emulator of the Orange Rockerverb.
  • Mad Blue Delay (pcb): Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay, to be put into treadled Wah to control speed of oscillation with foot.
  • Poly-Phase (pcb): Clone of the original and no-longer-available large box EHX Polyphase.
  • Power Engl (pcb):
  • Samurai Sword (pcb): Keeley Katana Boost.
  • Slava Ukraine (2) (pcb): A clone of an older Soviet style multi-function (wah-fuzz-tremolo) pedal with uniquely Ukrainian pedigree.
  • Soldado Preamp (pcb): A two-knob pedal build with the sound of a Soldano Super Lead Overdrive 100 (SLO-100).
  • Soviet Drive (pcb): A copy of the old Soviet "LEL'DD" pedal, this offers both 'drive' and distortion with a distinctly Soviet tone.
  • Soviet Phase (pcb):
  • Sunn Beta Lead (pcb): Emulator of the Sunn Beta Lead amplifier.
  • Uberknall & Amp Tone Stack (pcb):
  • Uberknall Preamp (pcb):
  • Vandal from Hell (pcb): Randall RG-80/RG-100 distortion Preamp.
  • Wolfgang 5051 (pcb):
  • Zombie Choir II (pcb): Fully DIY-community designed chorus effect.

Used Elsewhere:

  • Amazing Booster (pcb): Half of the Harmonic Boost Build.
  • Camber EQ (pcb): 6th tone control circuit. For testing w/ different preamps.
  • EQ Development Pack (pcb): 5 different tone circuits. We're putting them all put into a single enclosure for testing w/ preamps.
  • Green Octaver (pcb): Keeping one of these set aside - it might be useful in another pedal...
  • Samurai Sword (pcb): Half of the Time Machine Boost build.

PedalPalFX

(Production Pedals)

  • JCM Emulator Pal 800: (out of production) - Marshall JCM-800 preamp emulator (Distortion).
  • Plexi Emulator Pal 959 v2: Marshall JMP-1959 (Super Lead) preamp emulator (Distortion).

Pedal PCB

(Built-from-PCB pedals)

  • Acid Rain Fuzz (pcb): A PedalPCB original fuzz design. We're always interested in unique and interesting-sounding pedals.
  • Aphrodite Overdrive (pcb): Remake of the out-of-production ProAnalog Devices Manticore V2.
  • Argentum 1212 Overdrive (pcb): Silvertone Amp emulator in a box.
  • Backfeeder (pcb): Clone of the Boss DF-2 Super Feedbacker and Distortion. We're gonna try to put this into a Wah. We think it'd be cool to sweep the pitch of the feedback effect.
  • Black Tiger Boost (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Tiger Boost by Mr. Black Pedals. Combined Op-Amp and Transistor boost.
  • Bolide Distortion (pcb): A preamp emulator of the ENGL Powerball tube amplifier.
  • Boogie Monster (pcb): Mesa Boogie preamp emulator in a pedal. Unknown who came up with first pedal design.
  • BuGGFX Daydream (pcb): Officially licensed PCB for the BuggFX Daydream arpeggiating echo.
  • BuGGFX Raincoat (pcb): Muff-inspired distortion but without using clipping diodes or limiting resistors. Different tone control, so not a muff.
  • Buzz Tone Fuzz (pcb): Circuit revival of the old and long out of production, and now expensive Selmer Buzz Tone pedal.
  • Chaos Machine (pcb): Remake of the no-longer-available Earthquaker Devices Interstellar Orbiter.
  • Clandestine Preamp (pcb): The Chase Tone Secret Preamp with different transistor than our Effects Layouts version.
  • Cleric Fuzz (pcb): Recreation of the JPTR FX "Warlow" which is possibly the fuzziest (velcro territory) opamp Big Muff variant.
  • Closed Circuit Booster Limiter (2) (pcb): Not a "limiter", more a tone sweetener, lifted from the 1970s Schaefer Vega wireless system.
  • Deflector Reverb (pcb): A PedalPCB original design using an FV-1 chip for digital Reverb generation/emulation.
  • Double Pendulum (pcb): A "dual" or stereo harmonic tremolo, meaning two separate harmonic tremolo circuits that are allowed to interact with each other.
  • Duocast (pcb): Would have preferred to purchase the original Hudson Broadcast pedal, but this had an additional control feature that sucked us in.
  • Golden Falk Overdrive (pcb): New circuit architecture for a Marshall Plexi-in-a-box pedal.
  • Kickstart Distortion (pcb): Motley Crue licensed a pedal? We bought this thinking it was original only to be gobsmacked to find someone made a pedal for Motley Crue.
  • Low Tide Modulator (pcb): A clone of the Fairfield Circuits Shallow Water chorus/modulation pedal. A lo-fi, hiccup-y kind of effect.
  • Lycan Overdrive (pcb): Done in what PedalPCB describes as a collaberation with Highwind Amplification, this appears to be a workalike of the Highwind Direwolf distortion pedal.
  • M800 Overdrive (pcb): Clone of the very PAL-800 JCM Emulator that we have as a pedal for rental. We got this PCB as an experiment to see tone-wise how close to the PAL-800 we could get.
  • Mean Green Metal Machine (pcb): This is a clone of a Mike Fortin-modified Ibanez OD-808 Tube Screamer. Much heavier than a standard Tube Screamer.
  • Mercurial Boost (pcb): Remake of the out-of-production Catalinbread Varioboost. Said to be the Boss Metal Zone tonestack + Boost in a pedal.
  • Mojito Deluxe Overdrive (2) (pcb): Pedal PCB original design. Labelled as an overdrive, the schematic suggests something heavier.
  • Mystery Machine (pcb): This is a copy of the not-often-available Magical Mystery Box™ circuit (and its "Brilliant" channel) of the JMI(Beatles)-era Vox Supreme/Defiant/Conqueror solid state amps.
  • Parasite Wah (2) (pcb): Clone of the no-longer-available Tycho Brahe Parapedal Wah-wah.
  • Pharmacist Overdrive (pcb): Remake of the Aclam Dr. Robert, a pedal emulating the sound made famous by the Beatles, The Vox UL730 amplifier.
  • Quarantine Fuzz (pcb): Boneyard Edition. Read Chuck D. Bones's posting on his own implementation of the Quarantine Fuzz(BuGGFX Raincoat) and just had to make our own. Cheers.
  • Radium Springs (pcb): PedalPCB original circuit using an FV-1 chip and emulating three flavors of Fender spring reverb.
  • Skeptical Buffer (pcb): Clone of the 29 Pedals Euna line driver. The claim is that the Euna is made with "better parts". We're skeptical.
  • Son of Ben Preamp (2) (pcb): Emulator of the preamplifier found in Benson tube amps.
  • Sorcerer (2) (pcb): Clone of the impossible-to-get Wizard distortion from Castledine.
  • Sproing Deluxe Reverb (pcb): Spring reverb pedal with tremolo and gain control to compensate for volume loss with tremolo effect.
  • TearJerker Wah (pcb): Multiple setting-capable for adjusting to desired wah effect.
  • Thermionic Deluxe (pcb): Pedal PCB's biggest PCB - dual channel distortion with separate tone stacks, not unlike a modern high-gain tube amp.
  • Tyrian Distortion (pcb): Revv G3 Purple Channel Distortion with different tone stacks.
  • UniCab (pcb): Emulation of multiple speaker cabinets. This will be interesting.
  • Unison Double Tracker (pcb): An original Spin FV-1 design with two de-tuners and time sweep, or detune and modulation to the detuning.
  • Valhalla Distortion (pcb): Emulation of the preamp on the Diezel VH4
  • Viceroy Overdrive (pcb): This is a cleaned up "remake" of the Orange Preamp with all mods recommended by noted breadboard stud and pedal modder Chuck D. Bones (who frequents the PedalPCB forums).

Honorable Mention:

  • Intelligent Relay Bypass Module (20) (pcb): Soft momentary footswitch for Active/Bypass toggling like the Incandenza, but using a latching relay for lower power consumption.

Peterson

(Production Pedals)

  • StroboStomp II: (out of production) - This is a "simulated strobe" instrument tuner with additional guitar and bass sweetenings.
  • StroboStomp Classic: (out of production) - Another "simulated strobe" instrument tuner with additional guitar and bass sweetenings.

ProCo

(Production Pedals)

  • Fat Rat: Same as the Rat pedal, but also has switches for "Mosfet" and "Fat" which change the diodes used to clip the signal.
  • Rat II: Currently, a standard Rat II distortion pedal. We have modification plans for this.
  • White Rat: An all-white Rat pedal from a Japanese retailer called "Ikebe". We thought the reverse of black-on-white for a Rat it would be fun.
  • Whiteface Rat: (out of production) - Reissue of the 1985 "whiteface" Rat that had an unusual black-on-white faceplate label. 100% stock.
  • You Dirty Rat: Our plan is to actually use the USA-made guts of this to modify and create a "sleeper" Rat II pedal.

Retro-Channel

(Production Pedals)

Rullywow

(Built-from-PCB Pedals)

Skreddy Pedals

(Production Pedals)

  • P19: Pink Floyd "The Wall"-tuned Big Muff.
  • Pig Mine: (out of production) - Tight and aggressive fuzz/distortion.
  • Zero: (out of production) - Sounds like a cranked up, distorted, high-gain amp.

Subdecay

(Production Pedals)

  • Variac: (out of production) - Pre- AND Power Amp Tube distortion emulation pedal.

SushiBoxFX

(Built-from-PCB Pedals)

  • Ambassador: Tube Pedal. 2-channel preamp based on the rare and now exceedingly expensive Matchless Hotbox pedal.
  • Black Eye: Tube Pedal. SushiBoxFX says this is based on the (rare and now exceedingly expensive) SLO Supercharger pedal by Soldano. We have a Supercharger so we'll compare.
  • Lab Rat: Tube Pedal. A Proco Rat reimagined to incorporate a high-voltage vacuum tube into the output buffer for more saturation.
  • Diplomat: Tube Pedal. The Diplomat is based on the EF86 channel of the Matchless DC30.
  • Particle Accelerator: Tube Pedal. The Particle Accelerator is based on the Alembic F-2B, itself based on the Fender Dual Showman preamp.

TH Custom

(Built-from-PCB Pedals)

  • 3-Band Parametriq EQ (pcb): 3-Band Parametric EQ. Different architecture from BYOC Parametric EQ.
  • AC-Sim 1.1 (pcb): Tone sweetener to help an electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar.
  • Cruz Driver (pcb): JFet version of the Tube Driver including Baxandall tone stack.
  • The Devil (pcb): Low-frequency focused high-gain overdrive based on the no-longer available "Vulcan Overdrive" pedal.
  • Merlin's Equinox II (pcb): Merlin Blencowe (Valve Wizard)'s attempt to build a non-Belden-unit based reverb effect.
  • Merlin's Glassblower (pcb): Super-Wonderful (+27 dB Gain) Boost from Tube Guru Merlin Blencowe.
  • Merlin's Small Time (pcb): Delay (with tails, Merlin considers it non-negotiable that tails must carry on and fade).
  • Merlin's U-Boat (pcb): Monotonal octave-down generator with superior tracking.
  • ROG Ginger (pcb): Runoff Groove's amp emulator of a SB15 Portaflex by Ampeg.
  • ROG Supreaux-Deux (pcb): A PCB true to the Runoff Groove "Supreaux-Deux" circuit meant to emulate the Supro 16-series.
  • ROG Thor (pcb): Runoff Groove's amp emulator of a Marshall Super Lead modified by THCustom for tone controls.
  • ROG Tri-Vibe (pcb): Runoff Groove's go at a simplified Univibe.
  • ROG Umble (pcb): Runoff Groove's circuit architecture for the enigmatic Dumble Overdrive Special.
  • Tube Driver (pcb): Clone of the discontinued Butler Tube Driver pedal.
  • Valv-e-tizer (pcb): Tube-powered pedal in a stripped-down version of the Tube Driver.

Honorable Mention: (Built-from-PCBs)

  • 1-Band Parametriq EQ (pcb): Add to an effect to enhance or cut a single frequency.
  • 10W Power Amp (2) (pcb): Each of these can supposedly can power 2 16-ohm speakers. We'll see!
  • Headphone Amp & Stereo Sim (2) (pcb): A headphone amp that includes a separation echo between left and right to simulate a stereo effect on a mono out.
  • MadBox (pcb): Splitter-Blender signal routing device.
  • Mini Headphone Extension (3) (pcb): This is a "headphone out" with volume control that can be serve as a standalone headphone amp, or installed as a parallel out to any PCB effect signal out.
  • Parallel Mixer/Splitter (pcb): This appears to be like the Paramix from GuitarPCB. Handles multiple routing options. Building this unit to compare if one is better than the other.
  • Pro-cessor (pcb): Device to enable mixing based on different frequencies.

Throbak

(Production Pedals)

Zoom

(Production Pedals)

  • G2: This thing is actually a pretty lame multi-effect that should probably be played alone by someone with an electric guitar while practicing. Nothing about this pedal is wonderful, and we'll not be renting it out, unless by special request because you've convinced us it has some kind of super-secret tone sauce that none of the rest of the world (or we) are aware of.

Miscellaneous Pedals

(Different types of pedals or pieces of pedals!)

These are one-off pedals, that are pet projects from individuals or companies looking to make an extra dime or two from the pedal bubble. They're grouped here because they're not attributable to any particular builder and chances are that if and when these pedals go sideways, that there will not be any "support" or "warranty" or "restock" available to get them up and going again. This shouldn't be such a concern as this effectively represents the actual state of the rest of our pedal catalog. We might be able to get additional, new, or replacement PCBs for pedals that break down, but it's also possible that the availability of the through-hole style of parts necessary in order to build or rebuild such pedals will also be gone.

  • Chinese "Klon" (enclosure only!): We happened to find and buy a couple of enclosures with full Klon dimensions and contours from a Chinese provider. We bought one silver without any control labels printed on it, and another in gold with the control labels and the fetching centaur on it). We will not be putting any Klon-clone circuits into these enclosures to try and counterfeit real Klons, but will be putting in different circuitry entirely. This is just for fun. If a cool pedal comes out of it, so much the better.
  • Destiny Behemoth (pcb): Got this from hanging out on the PedalPCB forums and being fortunate enough to see the posting for the PC board, being able to get one of the 20 made. Made by "dkpedals" (find him on Youtube), this is combines an amp emulator, cab sim, effects loop then reverb to DI and headphones. Convenient and portable bit of kit for practicing and DI recording.
  • Diablado Reverb (pcb): Got this PCB from a guy on the "diypedals" subreddit for a FET-based reverb with spring tank. We've been unable to determine if this is a pure clone of the SurfyBear reverb. At the least we'll be getting the Surfybear Reverb pan made specially for SurfyBear by Accutronics, just in case. In fact, we'll most likely get multiple spring tanks that can be hooked into this so it'll be possible to choose between different tanks and sounds. Given even more consideration, it would probably be really cool to just put all different kinds of reverb tanks into a single enclosure to allow a musician to select between the tanks.
  • Fart Pedal (full pedal): We joined the Kickstarter to help bring the Fart Pedal to life. While this is a fun and practical joke style pedal, it's also a small-run production pedal. You can find demos on YouTube.
  • Harmonic Boost (pcb): An idea to combine the Effects Layouts Speaker Cranker and PCB Guitar Mania Amazing Boost (JFET boost) PC boards into a single pedal with a sweep pot to mix the two boosts with each other.
  • ROG 3-Legged Dog (pcb): The sound of this distortion pedal keeps seducing me into building it, but until recently I have been too intimidated to either etch a PC board or design one in Eagle and send off for fabrication. Resolved to stop being a chicken and ordered a set of CD4049UBE chips in order to build. Might build and sell extras? Undecided.
  • Rooms (full pedal): From Death by Audio, we wanted to get one for a long time because this is such a uniquely cool effect, despite being a digital effect.
  • SLO Supercharger (full pedal): By Soldano Amplification, this is the pedal version of the preamp in the 100-watt Soldano SLO 100. Firebreather!
  • Stack in a Box (full pedal): Washburn distortion pedal. Stack-in-a-box is the first recorded pedal to cascade multiple gain stages, like an amp, for a more pleasing distortion tone.
  • Time Machine Boost (pcb): This is a dual boost pedal, offering the ability to toggle between germanium, Effects Layouts Strider, and jfet PCB Guitar Mania Samurai Sword boosts. This is what we understand to be a clone of the no-longer-available Keeley Time Machine Boost but we want our own tweaks, including 1968, 1973, and 1978 tones.
  • Tube Drive Rock 301 (full pedal): Guessing this is a 1990s (because of the "edgey" knob names) tube overdrive pedal from Tube Works. Kinda groovy because it's triangle shaped. Need to get some good sounds outta this before anyone will likely want to rent it. This is a physically heavy pedal, so it probably drives the internal tube at full voltage.
  • Westbury W20 (full pedal): "The Tube". A thrift-shop find, we thought this pedal would be rarer than it is. Google search shows that RG Keen (Geofex) traced it a while back. The PCB inside has Guyatone printed on it. Appears to be exactly the same pedal as the The Guyatone TD-1. Seems this pedal might not be all that rare after all...

Other Pedal Stuff

Power Adapters

Pedals to be fixed

  • ISP Decimator - needs factory fix
  • Thermionic-Modified Rotovibe (True Bypass + altered LEDs)
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