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Now that's wicked!


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Superb build Chris.  Great write up too, I'm going to have to revisit this.

That's awesome!

I have one of these from Lectric, I need to revisit the sound of this circuit.

sehr schoen! Nicely done.

Thanks guys, a great pedal that's been heavily modded in the boutique world but I think it stands just fine on it's own.

I had previously built the original version of the blue steel from Brian. It has been a mainstay on my board and become my go to overdrive with humbuckers. The added brightness, the more open texture of the drive, the more neutral mid-range and the touch sensitivity all make it a great base overdrive for me. So when he released the revised layout I had to build one.

The first thing I decided to do was to ditch the subs switch. As I usually use humbuckers with it, I find the the stock circuit has more than enough low end. Perhaps people using single coils might find that useful. I also prefer having as few controls as possible, so having the stock layout made sense. The updated SMD jfet footprint is great, like aion, and space saving. I also went with a relay bypass from @szukalski . With Brian's new standard layout I only had to swap the 9v and ground leads.

I love the sound of the pedal. I think it really shines with humbuckers. The looser texture of the drive coupled with the added compression of humbuckers makes for a very nice overdrive that cleans up well. I also think the added brightness of the circuit melds well with the darker nature of something like a Les Paul or 335. I really like boosting it with an OD-3 or SD-1 for some midrange punch.

For the enclosure I went with a matte black tayda box and UV print. I went with a new design this time and used Nightcrawler. He really pops and I'm really happy with how it came out. Being as Nightcrawler is German I adjusted the name. Fantastic pedal and another great layout from madbean pedals.

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Thanks for the response Brian. I primarily use the pedal with humbuckers and with the 1uf cap it felt a little more mushy and the 100n sounds better especially with darker guitars. With a tele its not as noticeable.

Hi Brian, I got a question about C2 on the blue steel. The stock value is 100n, and I don't recall seeing a mod that changes it to 1uf. I changed it on my original build to 100n and plan to do it stock on my 2024 build. Just curious as to your reason for making that cap that value? Thanks.

I've updated the store page with estimated times on when restocks will be in. A few of them I'm not sure so they are just listed as Sold Out. But, the vast majority will be coming in August and maybe through first week of September.

Also, I'm 2/3rd's the way through finishing the docs on this week's release. It's been a lot of work, and I also had to build the 7 new layouts, too. But, I'm shooting for Friday now. Saturday at the latest.

Heads up: Although the store will remain open there won't be any shipping July 24th-Aug. 4th.

thanks for the updates, and enjoy your time off Brian!

Will the blue steel be back in stock at any point soon?

Damn, if y'all don't like my builds you could just not comment like everyone else guess I'll just stop posting here again

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A double feature. I have been sitting on these boards since last summer with the plans to build them. I ordered the enclosures last fall. All the parts set aside since September. I finally got around to it. I have built both of these before but was tired of having to choose which one would be for bass or guitar so I now have one of each for my guitar and bass boards. LFG

The only real difference between the two circuits is the BBD IC. The Bf-2 uses the MN3207 and the HF-2 uses the MN3204. The 3204 has half the delay stages and therefore shifts the modulated frequencies higher and leaving lower frequencies unmodulated. This gives the HF-2 a more hifi integrated sound, and closer to a Mistress.

Both builds are built on the Brian's fraudhacker boards and are super quiet. For enclosures I used tayda 1590BB2 boxes with UV prints. Shout-out to Stompboxparts for always having me covered with ICs and my favorite 3pdt switches. For my video comparison I didn't want to just repost my old video and it gave me a chance to take my new interface for a test drive since my old one decided to take a shit after just over 2 years. Should you have the opportunity to find a mn3204 jump on it because the HF-2 should be built.

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Will the softi relay bypass be back in stock? I wanted a couple for a few projects at some point

I was going to make some joke about building progress and Zola's "stalling" line from the film, but I'm glad to hear you're doing better, bud. Didn't catch the 'rona but had my own medical to deal with, so I completely get the struggle. Hope the new year brings you good fortune and health.

Synth-adjacent stuff is intriguing. I think I've been so confident in my "I know what a filter sounds like" (and anything else that appears synth like) mentaitly I've never looked into something like this for guitar.

You're always pushing my effect lexicon to broader definitions.

Great build and report, sir.

Thanks Christian, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with this one.

Those guts are crazy clean and I'm digging the artwork. Reminds me of Max Headroom

Thanks Lucas, I'm always going for that pickdropper level of clean!

I'm still not building and getting thru the back log of builds I've finished but not yet posted. After a rough COVID battle and a stressful work/holiday gauntlet I'm attempting to get back in the groove. Here is a fantastic envelope filter from the late 80s. The Boss FT-2 dynamic filter is a VCA based filter that is the best filter I've used in a long time.

The build uses stacked boards and has an optional expression out for use with an expression pedal in manual mode for a more traditional wah experience. I opted to skip the jack because I would never use it. I was lucky to help do research on this simultaneously with the panacea boards and it was a lot of fun and a good Learning experience, being the boss guy has it's perks  The build is very simple and well thought out. How's it sound?

This is a very nice filter. It gives the smoothest and most consistent vocal like wah sound. Unlike the mutron or other filters, this doesn't have that distorted, synthy sound that feels like the decay wants to give out. It's more polite but that means it's more useable. The range of the knobs is great and means there is no unusable sounds and it's very intuitive to dial in. Also this has the best down envelope, and I hate down lol.

I went with a matte black enclosure with tayda UV print. I went with Armin Zola for the enclosure design. I also used a szukalski relay for the bypass. A very fun build that I will hopefully be able to incorporate into my playing as I traditionally struggle with this type of effect. So go build one.

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Looks and sounds great! I didn't think I'd ever want to work with BBDs again...but that demo has me reconsidering.
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Thank you, I think this is without a doubt the best analog delay project available. With numerous filter value options it can be tailored to what your looking for.

Oh man! Somehow I knew you'd pull this off before the end of the year. It does sound amazing. I need to build up that DM-3 first, but this is on the list too once I get ahold of a board. I really want to hear from someone who tries the Ibanez-style filters on their build so I don't tackle that decision point sight unseen (or sound unheard, I guess?).

I think  with the AD values for the filtering it will be a tad brighter. This is already a little brighter than a stock DM-2.

Hot damn those graphics look cool and TOTALLY capture the vibe of this thing.  Nicely done!!!  I'll get a chance to hear the demo once I get home today.

Thanks Gordy, I put some actual thought into this one lol. And just for reference the clock frequency on mine is currently set to 8.7khz

Eternity is indeed the perfect choice for this one. There are days I can't listen to most of their catalog, but The Bends is one I can get down on even when I'm down

Great work!

The bends will always have a special place in my heart ❤️

Hello Darkness my old friend. There is nothing like the warm dark repeats of an analog delay. The way they melt into each other and obscure into the background. This is my final build of the year and it was worth the wait. When Brian teased this I was intrigued and after talking to him about it I knew I had to build it. Brian labored over this build tweaking values in different circuit blocks to make it as close to perfect as possible and this is some of his best work.

The anamorph is a mashup of ideas. To me it's the perfect analog delay and ticks so many boxes. At its core it a DM-2 with the clock and modulation of the DMM, with many refinements along the way. It has stereo outputs, the most lush organic modulation, a modified clock circuit and higher headroom. The changes made to the compander maximize headroom along with the charge pump and 15v internal voltage. So how does it sound?

Glorious.

The best of both the DM-2 and DMM is on display at all times. The higher headroom of the memory man mixed with the darker repeats of the DM-2 make for a delay that is darker but never too dark and articulate without the hiss and noise floor. A better range on the feedback control. The modulation feels organic and doesn't feel like it was tacked on like the optical options. The option for tails or regular bypass is great to have internally since most people will set and forget. The stereo spread on this is nice and full sounding. Such an inspired sound.

The build itself was very straightforward and the clock changes not only made it cheaper but calibration was very simple. Excellent layout. I went with a cream tayda enclosure and UV print. For my graphics I went with Eternity as it truly represented the sound and feel of this pedal. I used the standard Boss font with the echo/chorus/vibrato ehx moniker to portray the beautiful collision of circuits. For the demo I used the pedal in stereo straight into my interface with the outputs panned left and right while using amp sims much to my distaste, but I don't have a stereo amp rig. Build this!

We doing a boty along with a eoty sale?