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Favorite Effects You've Built in 2012?

Started by Effectsiation, December 06, 2012, 02:55:12 PM

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madbean

Nautilus was probably my favorite. I have many more least favorites (prototypes) that caused a lot of frustration. I also enjoyed the meat sphere.

raulduke

I'd go for the nautilus as well. It's the most fun to play for sure.

The multiplex is also a really really cool DIY project.

snz728

Really like the Boneyard

Built my first veros this year:
Really like the Okko Diablo from Sabro--boost was not necessary
Catalinbread RAH--big Zep fan so...

Tortured by my first phase 90--lots of difficulties--but like it

Not satisfied with Si tonebenders: built  Mictesters and Retrochannel both sound ok but not found "it" yet

Might do a Natutilus for a friend's bass after xmas

gordo

Built a ton of cool stuff this year but my faves are, in order:

Current Mistress. I set it to a slowly moving and fairly shallow sweep. It's as close as I can get to faking a Ty Tabor sound.

Afterlife. Is it possible to get a Vox even creamier sounding? Yes, yes it is...

Aristocrat. OK, I built this before 2012 but I didn't really like it. I modded it with tweaked tone controls and fiddled with different chips. No go. Then, for some reason I put it back on my board and it's been seeing regular duty since. Who knows, maybe my hearing is going...  In the meantime I'm digging a few boards out of the "limbo" basket like the Rump Roast to get another audition.

Smoothie. How can you not like a Phase 45 that's so tiny?

Karate Shop. I passed on buying a slightly used SHE in the 70's for $35 because I thought it was a one trick pony. It is, but what a trick! I kick this in to thicken solos from time to time (like a Schenker cocked wah) or just to make sure the sound guy is still awake.

For 2013, I'm going to etch an Egghead and a Cave Dweller dub and put in an order for a Nautilus (I have a drawer full of triggered filters I don't like so I'm hoping this does it) and a handful of other wanna-builds.
Gordy Power
How loud is too loud?  What?

v00d00blues79

Of all the pedals I've built so far this year my top five are:

1. Nautilus - effing love it!
2. Yellow Shark - my go to dirt box right now.
3. Dirtbag Deluxe (MN3005)
4. Sea Urchin - this is left on almost always.
5. Sunking - another almost always on pedal for me.

I'm really looking forward to the new projects coming out this coming year!  I can't decide what to build, so it looks like its a one of everything kind of situation.

Andy

pryde

Top builds out of 34 total pedals this year:

Madbean:
1. Boneyard. just love it even though it was troublesome
2. Weener wah with wipple
3. Mangler with CV7112 germaniums. Wow.

Non Madbean:
1. Prototype Rig (thanks to jkokura tutorial)
2. Ropez (Ross) Phaser with depth mod. Best phaser I have heard ever (so far)
3. Rub-a-dub Reverb. Super great, thanks Josh!

Most looking forward to:
1. Lowrider. on deck!
2. Kingslayer
3. Stage Fright. curious to see if it will topple the Ross.

Micpoc

All of them!  :)

Easy to say, as I'm not particularly prolific.  ;D

Afterlife compressor
Hotcake overdrive
Double Flush tremolo

Still debugging my Pork Barrel (seems to be LFO bleed), and have yet to finish and box up my Current Lover and Multiplex, but if I get around to those before December 31, I'll add them to the list.

Stomptown

Madbean: Neutrino (burst version)

Although the Smoothie is a close second, the Neutrino is now my go to overdrive and has replaced the Tonepad 808 clone on my board. I love the dark nature of the neutrino and it sings with my LP custom.

1776: Multiplex Echo Machine

This was definitely my favorite build this year. I'm still working out the bugs on the modulation board I added and I left town the day after I finished so I haven't been able to sit down and play with it much at this point. Regardless, I enjoyed all aspects of this project and I think my wife is glad that it is finally done with!

Worst Failure of 2012: Ego Driver (Mad Bean)

This one is currently in my box of shame. Luckily I built another and it works.

Build I'm Most Looking Forward to in 2013:

I really want to build an envelope filter but I haven't taken the time to see what's out there. Right now I am also looking forward to finishing the Shoot at the Moon Tremolo I picked up off Jeremy from Tenwatt.

alanp

I started making pedals in Jan 2012, so all my pedals are fair game for this thread!

Wins:

Number one has to be the LaVache (Sylvanis on mine.) It's low gain, which is perfect for me, but if I want to push my luck I can stomp the Boost on for a bit more loose roar.

I really really liked the Dirtbag for a few months, but lately it's been noisy as hell. I think I need to rebias it or something, I just can't be bothered. The Multiplex has completely replaced it as my go to delay -- digital, so no noise on that front, sounds great, flexible enough to let me play with the settings but not so flexible that I get lost and give up.

The Kingslayer... early days yet for me (I play once a fortnight at church, the other week I'm on sound desk to give the other guy a break from it), but I like the sound of it.

Loophole is kinda like a Linux live bootcd for me. I don't use it often, but it's the mutt's proverbials when I do. I'm not handing over the kind of money the NZ shops asks for a looper, so it works well for me.

The Collosalus sounds AMAZING. Even with the whine from the CPA chip. Definite win once I replace that. I've gotten around it, kinda, by riding the stomp switch and only having it on when people are singing to drown it somewhat.

Meh's:

Lowrider. I want to like it, but I don't play funk and I don't finger cleanly enough for it. I think my original idea was to use the 2x Down as a lazy man's bass guitar, NOT funk.

Dub Ed. Cavedweller: I don't know why, but it can't touch the Multiplex for 'vibe'.

Current Lover: Sounds too 'metallic', compared to the Collosalus' 'lushness'. I get the feeling it would be happier in a cabinet with a VCO, VCF, and a keyboard in front of it.

Orange Squeeze: Maybe I'm just utter rubbish at setting the bias. I built two of these and neither really get a lot of 'on time'.
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
- Terry Pratchett
My OSHpark shared projects
My website

timbo_93631

My Faves
Many MkIII Tonebenders (Pastyface etched boards) with NPN germaniums.  So killer, and no pedalboard hassles.
MKII with NPN Germaniums, so hard to quiet down but when I got it tamed it was magic.
Rub-A-Dubs, so simple, so good.
Pi/4 (Smoothie) Really really love the smoothie.  After trying to love a Bad Stone clone and always finding it too over the top for anything but "Black Hole Sun" covers, a Phase 45 is just right for me.
Rej's Dist+ done as OD250 with OA1160's or Bat41's two different but great sounds.
Standard Fuzz (see mention below)
Darkside with all the mods to brighten things up and OA1160's as well.
PICOFuzz a Ge/Si hybrid one knob fuzz variant, build report forthcoming.  Something special bout this one...

Meh
Custom built Escobedo Jawari Sitar Fuzz by request.  Why? Why would you want your guitar to make that noise?  Just chokes everything I like about playing into a lo-fi super gated octave mess with horrible tracking to boot. 
GGG Tubescreamer, a repair job, just generic sounding, no depth.

Failures
I only butchered one build this year, but not to the point of absolute non-working devestation. You can read my Tech Help thread in JMK PCB's subforum to get the whole story but I roasted some solder pads on the PCB from soldering/desoldering the transistors umpteen times until I got low gain enough devices in there and thne had to bend legs to make jumpers to the next component down the trace.  I love the pedal, and really love the enclosure (my first etch), but the underside of that board is fugly.
Sunday Musical Instruments LLC.
Sunday Handwound Pickups

jkokura

Ok, so I finally got through my build list and here's the list:

Favourites
Custom Wah (Madbean Weener) - This thing was a slick build! I love the mojo cap setup. My build report is still forthcoming, I'm waiting on a name plate from Rej.
Glitz (Glitch Computer) - This was a project that was long in the works, but awesome in the end. Scott covered the enclosure with fabric for me, and I'm so grateful and impressed. Helps that the circuit is a rocking, quirky, fun pedal. Not sure how to use it live in a P&W context though...
Moon Lander (Lunar Module Clone) - Wow this fuzz rocks! Silicon fuzzy goodness, and I couldn't expect to use anything else for leads right now. Build report is forthcoming as I haven't had time to finish it. Dave finished the enclosure for me on this one in return for some PCBs, and again, I'm both grateful and blown away at the artistic ability people around here have! Watch for the PCB release on this one
Fuzzy Muff (Muff Fuzz Clone) - Dang this little circuit is fun! From Boost to OD to Fuzz, this is one crazy fun circuit! Watch for Curtis' modded build report, you can do a lot with this circuit. I haven't boxed mine yet, but I will.
Super Happy OD (Sweet Honey OD clone) - This is by far my favourite overdrive right now. I consistently use typical Dual Op Amp ODs like the Timmy, the Son-of-Screamer types, and a Sunking on my board, and this one is just kicking butt right now. Pick up a PCB if you're looking for something new, I hope you won't regret it
Calling Jonah Comp - Just a Ross Comp, but I was super stoked with the way that client build turned out.

That's just some of my favs. I have many more, and just about everything I've released in the PCB shop has been a really enjoyable circuit for me.

2013 Anticipations
Nautilus - I'm so stoked for this one, just waiting on some parts
Zero Point - cannot be released soon enough
Multiplex - I'm late to getting this one off the ground, mostly because I made a mistake getting my graphics printed
Boneyard - I'm so stoked about the graphics I've got ready for 2 different Boneyard builds
Tap Tempo Modular Delay - This has been a process trying to get these PCBs ready, but they're on their way now!
Pedal Sync - I'm starting to work out a programmable bypass unit using these chips, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Engineer's Thumb/Blue Warbler/Boiling Point - These are going to be AWESOME PCBS!!!!

I don't think I have any duds from this year actually. I've had some frustrating builds, and some frustrating supplier issues, but that's nothing I can't handle.

Jacob
JMK Pedals - Custom Pedal Creations
JMK PCBs *New Website*
pedal company - youtube - facebook - Used Pedals

juansolo

Juan's awards 2012

Favorite Bean Board  - Kingslayer. Always liked the Klone and this came along and was just better in every way.

Favourite non-bean board - Tough one this so I'm just going to give it to Josh on a whole. The optotrons are magnificent. The Rub-a-Dub is the best DIY reverb I've heard and the Multiplex just came alone and rocked something different and awesome.

Favourite Vero - Been a light year for me on vero. But Merlin's Engineers Thumb I think was the standout. Really nicely laid out and with board mountable pots. Cracking compressor too.

Biggest fail - Not sure I've had any outright failures in 2012. It's been a good year with most things I've built being good enough to warrant sticking in a box.

2013 look forwards

More new and awesome stuff to build ;)
Gnomepage - DIY effects library & stuff in the Stompage bit
"I excite very large doom for days" - playpunk

ch1naski

Noob question....I've seen Jmk mentioned in the thread...
What is it?

Don't try. d3rpalicious.
one louder.

jkokura

No worries, I've only recently been producing PCBs. New site is coming, but for now...

http://www.jmkpedals.com/JMK_Pedals/JMK_PCBs.html

Jacob
JMK Pedals - Custom Pedal Creations
JMK PCBs *New Website*
pedal company - youtube - facebook - Used Pedals

icecycle66

#29
JMK is a dude.
Also known as jkokura or Jacob.

Madbean forum: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?board=26.0
Website: http://www.jmkpedals.com/JMK_Pedals/Home.html

My favorite build of 2012?

All of them! ;D

This is my first year of building.  If I had to pick it would either be my first, a Macheen, or my minis (because they were hard).