Dammit, too hard to resist the new MB Fulltone projects. Looking forward to these (I'm such a pushover). I can honestly say I've never had either pedal and given their iconic status I think I really should.
Also I didn't see any fanfare from the Aion camp but Kevin has new versions of the venerable L5 preamp project broken into a separate build for each channel. I've built the Clean version so far and can attest that while you aren't gaining anything from the original from a tone perspective (and this may be arguable) it's a smaller/simpler build that uses the 13700 for compression.
My take is that with Kevin's current direction using DC buck converters for power the build is way more pedal board friendly and the calibration procedure is dead simple if you have a decent meter and a tone source. To my ears the compressor sounds closer to my real L5 but again, maybe it's more of the calibration than the guts. Next up is the drive channel. I'd have a tough time not recommending either format, but if you go for the separate channels there's enough sonic difference that both should be in your cart. Just sayin.
I've been eyeing the L5 stuff too. I love the idea of parametric mids, especially for bass. Do you think the L5 would be suited to bass preamp duties?
Quote from: Aleph Null on December 07, 2022, 09:06:59 AM
I've been eyeing the L5 stuff too.
Me too. Been casually pondering building a small combo amp with the L5 clean channel board as the preamp.
Quote from: gordo on December 06, 2022, 06:26:38 PM
Also I didn't see any fanfare from the Aion camp but Kevin has new versions of the venerable L5 preamp project broken into a separate build for each channel. I've built the Clean version so far and can attest that while you aren't gaining anything from the original from a tone perspective (and this may be arguable) it's a smaller/simpler build that uses the 13700 for compression.
Damn, I'll have to check it out. I built an L5 and while I never found the clean channel particularly special (not that it was bad or anything, just kinda 'meh' IMO) I absolutely loved the drive channel. I'd love to have one as a dedicated distortion pedal, even more so if it runs on standard 9V DC instead of having to run a separate power adaptor just for the preamp.
Hmm... I've also been pretty much done with ODs, but I may relent based on your post. I wasn't impressed at all with the OCD, but perhaps another flavor could do me.
I'd have to think it would sound good on bass. The L2 was the dedicated bass model but not sure what the differences are. I'd think it would be cleaner than using a twin and that's roughly the voicing that the clean is going after. The drive channel has a bit more of it's own personality going.
I've got the drive board half done and looking into getting the artwork ready to laser a couple of Hammond black enclosures to match the other preamps I've done in Kevin's series.