madbeanpedals::forum

Hey guys,

I'm piecing some info together for a pedal video i'm going to be recording soon "Top 10 most cloned pedal effects", something a bit different for the channel, and ive been thinking about this topic.  I was wondering what do you guys think is the pedal  most cloned from the choices above.  The ones you see talked about, build reports for, etc etc. The choices are my, well, top 9. 

I may change a couple of those done the track but i was curious to see what people thought.  And perhaps if there are any obvious, popular effects i missed?

So i should say, this relates to DIY builders, not commercially copied.  Also when i say "fuzz face" it incorporates all variants of the fuzz face (silicon germanium etc).

Let me know what you think.
Cheers

I'd say Big Muff. People usually build a Fuzz Face, a Klon, a LPB-1... but they also usually build at least two Muffs, since there is such an ungodly variety of Muff circuits.

Surely it would have to be equal between the Tubescreamer, Big Muff, with the Gov'ner a distant third...

I think the fuzzface. It's very popular as a first build, presumably because newbies can't believe how simple it is for such an iconic circuit. DIY forums carry hundreds of threads about the 'face - Ge vs Si, biasing, hFe recommendations, oscillation at max gain, popular mods etc etc. Also, despite having half a dozen fuzzes on my pedalboard I still always get the breadboard out when the schematic for a "new" boutique FF-based pedal comes to light to try out these new tweaks.

I agree with Alan, I've built a few Big Muffs for myself. It also seems to be the most common build as a present/product for family, friends, friends of friends, band mates etc etc

I've made more muffs and klons than anything else. Muffs for the variety, klons because everybody bought into the hype and wanted one.

Quote from: chromesphere on September 13, 2018, 05:27:28 AM




So i should say, this relates to DIY builders, not commercially copied.  Also when i say "fuzz face" it incorporates all variants of the fuzz face (silicon germanium etc).

IMO the Fuzz Factory is a Fuzz Face variant. By far i've built and sold more Tubescreamers than anything else on that list.

I chose "other", because of the Wah. Pretty much every version of the Wah you can think of is a clone of the original, patented Thomas Organ design (even the holy grail Clyde McCoy is a pretty much a clone, not the original design). The shear number of Wah clones by various builders and manufacturers out there is staggering to consider. But, I guess the pedal that inspired individuals and companies to clone it even to the point of fraud, means nothing. It's not even on the radar. Whatever. I guarantee there are more Wahs on pedalboards and gear setups than any of the pedals on the list.

I would put my money on the Big Muff, because even clone pedals that aren't big muffs probably have a BMP tone stack.

I'd say it's varied depending on the time, in the early 90s of DIY, the fuzz face and tube screamer were probably the big builds and big muffs hadn't quite got the following they do now and vintage units weren't commanding the high prices they are. Now it's probably between the fuzz face and big muff depending on the music style of the builder... older guys are probably still going for the fuzz face but younger builders go for the big muff as a lot of their pick of the month boutique fuzzes are based on it.

Quote from: chromesphere on September 13, 2018, 05:27:28 AM
Hey guys,

I'm piecing some info together for a pedal video i'm going to be recording soon "Top 10 most cloned pedal effects", something a bit different for the channel, and ive been thinking about this topic.  I was wondering what do you guys think is the pedal  most cloned from the choices above.  The ones you see talked about, build reports for, etc etc. The choices are my, well, top 9. 

I may change a couple of those done the track but i was curious to see what people thought.  And perhaps if there are any obvious, popular effects i missed?

So i should say, this relates to DIY builders, not commercially copied.  Also when i say "fuzz face" it incorporates all variants of the fuzz face (silicon germanium etc).

Let me know what you think.
Cheers

Put any thought into asking Madbean, BYOC, etc. what their highest selling projects are?

Quote from: Frag Magnet on September 13, 2018, 10:47:09 PM

Quote from: chromesphere on September 13, 2018, 05:27:28 AM
Hey guys,

I'm piecing some info together for a pedal video i'm going to be recording soon "Top 10 most cloned pedal effects", something a bit different for the channel, and ive been thinking about this topic.  I was wondering what do you guys think is the pedal  most cloned from the choices above.  The ones you see talked about, build reports for, etc etc. The choices are my, well, top 9. 

I may change a couple of those done the track but i was curious to see what people thought.  And perhaps if there are any obvious, popular effects i missed?

So i should say, this relates to DIY builders, not commercially copied.  Also when i say "fuzz face" it incorporates all variants of the fuzz face (silicon germanium etc).

Let me know what you think.
Cheers

Put any thought into asking Madbean, BYOC, etc. what their highest selling projects are?

Thats sort of "trade secret", i dont think they should share that information.

I figured since it seemed everyone was on the Centaur train it would be the Klon. But, thats just recent years.. I think the BMP is pretty high up there.

Maybe we could design a hybrid klon tubescreamer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: jimilee on September 13, 2018, 11:53:18 PM
Maybe we could design a hybrid klon tubescreamer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

...using germanium transistors and a BMP tone control?  :D

Brain does have 3 different Muff boards for sale. 

Honestly I say probably the Muff because there are so many variations. You could build dozens. Where as the TS has changed almost not at all since it was first made.

I'd guess the Rat has a place on this list as well.

The Rat!  Thanks Mat, overlooked that one.  I have changed option 9 from LPB1 to Rat, cheers

A bit lower on the list, but still somewhat relevant, would be the OCD (progeny of the Voodoo Labs Overdrive).

I mean, Juansolo has two webpages for Fuzz -- Fuzz (Muff), and Fuzz (Other) !

 I would say the Big Muff, Tube Screamer,
And than the Klon.

Are you asking the most cloned circuits that are boutique or big-boy commercial pedals? Or are you asking which is the most popular for DIY builds? I took it to mean the former, but I think others who have chimed in are answering the latter.

As Scruffie says, it depends on the era of pedaldom. The early days of boutique was all about Tubescreamer and Fuzz Face. Then Rats got hot for a while. Then Tonebenders. Muffs got hot (and still are), and of course there have been a stupid amount of Klon clones.

Rebote 2 is another one that got done up with 800 different names and paint jobs. And secondarily, the Deep Blue Delay (which itself is derivative of the Rebote 2, albeit with some very clever improvements).

Right now, I'd say Muff is still king of clones in the commercial space.

I think the list is solid, but I'd add the Bluesbreaker + variants (King of Tone/Morning Glory) -- provided, of course, you think it's different enough from the TS to merit it's own mention.  (I think it is.)

I would maybe add the Dyna Comp/Ross Comp, too.  And possibly the Rangemaster.

Bazz Fuss

interesting question!

yeah i was gonna say, i think there would be a fair chunk of people who build one effect to try it and that's it, housed in any random enclosure - and that's maybe a transistor boost, bazz fuss, electra distortion?

of people who get a kit or a proper enclosure type setup, i think big muff

acapulco gold would have shot up the charts recently

Given the amount of variants and half-gussied "boutique" reboots, I can't help but feel like the Muff is the winner in terms of pure proliferation; few DIY people build one Muff and call it a day, and most companies (and PCB manufacturers) provide at least a couple different styles of Muff on their rosters. The landscape is plastered with little mods, from the Creamy Dreamer, Hoof Fuzz, Skreddy Mayo, Swollen Pickle, and Muffuleta to that crazy military-grade deal that ThorpyFX makes. There are even whole subcategories of Muff: the op-amp Muff, the Muff fuzz, dual Muffs, multi-Muffs, germanium muffs, etc.  I can see an argument for the Tube Screamer and the Fuzz Face - both can be (and have been) tweaked endlessly, and both are on most guitarists' Baby's First DIY Build/Pedalboard lists. But the Muff is almost less a single pedal than a category of pedal. Hell, people even borrow chunks of its circuit (see: the tone section) to make other pedals more versatile. There are bits of Muff all over most modern pedals. And fuzz folk often obtain/build three or more kinds of Muff; I don't see that quite as much with the Screamer or the Fuzz Face.

Nonstarters for me: Klons are cloned ad nauseum, but aren't tweaked with enough regularity to be a contender. Same with the Rat, honestly. A sleeper might be the SHO, actually - it's an easy build, and it's certainly my favorite boost (excepting the EP, which I love for its buffer). But I can only think of a few commercial clones of it?

Thing is though, 90% of all overdrives out there are basically modded Screamers, the remaining 10% are either Blues Breakers or Klons. Since almost every guitar player has an overdrive, but not always a fuzz pedal, I'd say the Screamer still takes it.

Quote from: vizcities on September 14, 2018, 07:16:33 AM
A sleeper might be the SHO, actually - it's an easy build, and it's certainly my favorite boost (excepting the EP, which I love for its buffer). But I can only think of a few commercial clones of it?

Probably a few reasons for that. Z.Vex is notoriously peevish about their circuits, and even without a legal foot to stand on they tend to get very annoying if they think their circuits are being copied. Plus, there are "better" mosfet boosts out there, Sans Crackle. Why bother with the "oh its broken" tech support calls when you can just clone Jack Orman's boost and be done with it.

Sean from Lovepedal called and asked me to vote for the Electra Distortion.

Quote from: reddesert on September 14, 2018, 05:12:40 PM
Sean from Lovepedal called and asked me to vote for the Electra Distortion.

HAHA was thinking the same thing!

Quote from: selfdestroyer on September 14, 2018, 09:25:07 PM

Quote from: reddesert on September 14, 2018, 05:12:40 PM
Sean from Lovepedal called and asked me to vote for the Electra Distortion.

HAHA was thinking the same thing!

Ah but the Electra distortion was never a pedal! Its clones may be, but the title specifies "pedal effects", and that circuit was just shoved into a guitar's body cavity!

/ultimate_pedant  8)

Quote from: somnif on September 14, 2018, 10:20:35 PM

Ah but the Electra distortion was never a pedal! Its clones may be, but the title specifies "pedal effects", and that circuit was just shoved into a guitar's body cavity!

/ultimate_pedant  8)

You can totally step on a guitar.

/punker

Quote from: alanp on September 14, 2018, 12:35:49 AM
I mean, Juansolo has two webpages for Fuzz -- Fuzz (Muff), and Fuzz (Other) !

This is true ;) I like a big muff me.