GuitarPlayer
May 14th, 2009, 10:54 PM
Here is my first ever pedal build. It is a General Guitar Gadgets Rodent (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=26), which is a ProCo RAT replica as most or all of you know. I ordered and installed a NOS LM308N (http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=204) IC Op-Amp from Small Bear Electric to make it an authentic reproduction. I also opted for the large enclosure box since this was my first build and I wanted the extra room for my fat fingers to move around in there.
Special thanks to JD at GGG who is awesome to deal with and provided fast shipping, as well as curteous responses to my emails.
I haven't had a chance to give the pedal a good work out because it is now late in the evening here. But the quick test drive did reveal some very gnarly distortion :D
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0003.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0011.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0008.jpg
It was a fun build. I recommend it to those interested.
GreatGretsch
May 14th, 2009, 11:01 PM
Very cool!! Nice neat work!
I had a Rat a while back. I used it with my Blues Deluxe. They have been around for a long time and are still going strong.
araT
May 14th, 2009, 11:18 PM
That looks awesome GP! I used to love my ProCo Rat :) I hope you have many hours of fun with it!
MGllm
May 15th, 2009, 07:58 AM
Rodent! that's funny. Looks v good
coolbus18
May 15th, 2009, 12:29 PM
I love the Rat Fink decal. I just visited their site(GGG) and their prices are great. Now to convince my wife that I need(yes need) a marshall blues breaker. Nice work. Thanks for the resource.
GuitarPlayer
May 18th, 2009, 07:41 AM
I have finished building two more clone pedals. An MGV Marshal Guv'nor and a Vintage Fuzz Face.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0008mf.jpg
The MGV was the most work of the three because of the 5 pots and extra switch. You can see from these gut shots that there is a lot of wiring in the MGV. It sounds fantastic with my Strat or Tele through a DRRI.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0006mgv.jpg
The Vintage Fuzz uses NOS NPN germanium transistors for that authentic/original sound. It's fuzzy! :p
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/5e3/misc/pedals/IMG_0001_F.jpg
DevilYouKnow
May 18th, 2009, 01:05 PM
nice job. love my LM308 early 90's Vintage RAT. It's been doing the trick for more than 15 years.
JohnnyCrash
May 18th, 2009, 01:32 PM
I have finished building two more clone pedals. An MGV Marshal Guv'nor and a Vintage Fuzz Face.
The MGV was the most work of the three because of the 5 pots and extra switch. You can see from these gut shots that there is a lot of wiring in the MGV. It sounds fantastic with my Strat or Tele through a DRRI.
The Vintage Fuzz uses NOS NPN germanium transistors for that authentic/original sound. It's fuzzy! :p
How do you like your Guv'nor?
I built one from scratch onto perfboard, yours makes me wish I saved myself some trouble and just bought the PCBoard! HAHA
Here's mine:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q162/AshCaster/Guitar%20Effects/Guvnor/guvnor.jpg
So far the Guv'nor is the most flexible OD/Dist I've ever used. Great sounds from blues to metal.
I love my germanium driven Rangemaster clone, TS808 Tubescreamer clone (the only one I've done on PCBoard so far - and it was much easier HAHA), and Mosfet Clean Boost builds - but I'd love to know more about how the old classic RATs and Fuzz Faces sound...
How do RATs and Fuzz Faces sound compared to TS808's etc?
GuitarPlayer
May 18th, 2009, 02:59 PM
How do you like your Guv'nor?
I built one from scratch onto perfboard, yours makes me wish I saved myself some trouble and just bought the PCBoard! HAHA
So far the Guv'nor is the most flexible OD/Dist I've ever used. Great sounds from blues to metal.
The ready to solder PCBs are excellent and inexpensive too. Scratch build would have been a PITA. I can populate the PCBs fairly fast now. At a leasurely pace it only takes about an hour.
I haven't had a lot of playing time with the three yet, primarily because I've been so busy building them the last few days and when I'm finally ready to play it is late and I can't make much noise. :)
However, of the three, the Guv'nor is my favorite at this point. It has an excellent tone and having TMB pots is very helpful!
I love my germanium driven Rangemaster clone, TS808 Tubescreamer clone (the only one I've done on PCBoard so far - and it was much easier HAHA), and Mosfet Clean Boost builds - but I'd love to know more about how the old classic RATs and Fuzz Faces sound...
How do RATs and Fuzz Faces sound compared to TS808's etc?
One of these days I'm going to try and record some clips to demonstrate the tones. All three have a different and useful sounds for various classic rock distortion, high gain, etc. I'll be using all three on my pedalboard for years to come. :D
The ESV FUZZ was just a bit too dark. Somebody at a stomp-box builder's forum (is it ok to mention other forums by name here?) suggested a capacitor across lugs 2 & 3 of the volume pot. If you noticed the gut shot of the FUZZ in my earlier post, the lugs on the pots are soldered directly into the middle of the PCB (L3 L2 L1 in the middle of the board are the volume, before I added the cap) so I simply soldered a 100pf cap there and bingo! Took out a little bass, but not too much. The added brightness is perfect to my ear.
Cheers!