Poll
Question: Prebuilt or Homebrewed? Which have you been using?
Over the past month or so, I've been finding that I prefer using my Marsha Valve boost in front of my Marshall rather than one of the prebuilt overdrives I own, SD-1 or ZW-44. I don't know what it is, but I just prefer how it pushes the front end of my amp. Granted, the amp has plenty of built in overdrive, but my booster really adds the perfect amount of extra omph to make the tone really sing.
So, that being said, which do you prefer using in your arsenal or have been using more of? Prebuilt or homebrew?
Depends,
Some DIY pedals have been real keepers, and some not. Most sound good, just are not for me.
Some DIY pedals, I'll never part with. After 20+ builds, I'm rebuilding and tweaking specific pedals for my sound. I still haven't built the perfect fuzz. But I have built some keepers.
Rebote-2 delay (just needs an effects loop), tremulus lune (need to build a lite version in a smaller box), TS-808 with 1N4001 and 1N914 for clipping is really good, and the fOXX Tone Machine is excellent for octave.
For instance, the EasyVibe sounds really good for a vibe pedal, just not me. But I have one if ever needed.
I still need a awesome fuzz, I've built some good (or ok) ones, just looking for awesome now.
-brian
It is a very cool thing to know how to do this. We have a vast quantity of groovy stuff at these various sites, so many solutions, and tons of great info. We can make in a day what other drooling gearhead fanboys will fork out over $500 (US) for. The DIY movement will hopefully help the guitar from becoming the overly homogenized sound that I hear on American rock radio. However, there are a few units out there that are too complex/use rare components/impractical for a DIY project. For those, I'd save myself the frustration and go out and buy one.
My first homebrew pedal (I drew the schematic, it's not a copy), my Potentia overdrive, is on my pedalboard and I think it's here to stay. :wink:
Hmm... This IS a kinda funny place to ask that.
Tho one of my favourites is a tubescreamer with asymetric clipping and a switch for extra boost. That makes it about 80% pre-built clone +20% homebrew, I guess.
All pedals I'm using now are either modded or built by me .... My goal is to use mostly Melanhead pedals with a few store bought that I don't need to build or are too much trouble to build ... I just ordered a Diamond Memory Lane analog delay, only one with tap tempo ... :)
When I built my TS808 clone I found it sounded better than my TS808 Reissue, more transparent and nicer bottom end ... I guess it's because of the better quality parts I used ... They're pretty close though ;)
I use wah cases and wah board modded.
I have probalby 22+ effects pedals, almost all have seen numerous mods.
Soon after a few OD/Fuzzes were built, None of the 'factory' dirtboxes compared, and they 'disappeared'.
I do have a non functioning DS-1 I might mess with...
I have another 87 boards in a scrap pile :shock: .
All built here, except I use an Art Proverb.
I doubt whether I'll ever build a delay based pedal.