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I love how EHX touts the "boosted power rails" in the marketing copy. Brilliant! 

If anyone gets a pass on the question of the morality of cloning, it's EHX.

Amen! EHX and ProCo and Ibanez/Maxon, for sure.



People just don't like it when a "big" company "rips off" a small company. When it's the small guy doing the same, they call that a "faithful recreation". 

If there is a vacuum in the market, fill it if you can (and if you want to). Especially if somebody else drops the ball in the dumbest and most public way possible. Sweep the leg!

It used to be that a pedal company was either an innovator or a duplicator. Looks like EHX is broadening their scope from just the form to include that latter as well. And why not? Prove yourself with innovation, then backfill with duplication.

Post some clear photos of both sides of the board. It might be something that can be done "remotely".

Just to throw in on a related thread...

As with almost everything I build, I wanted more gain than the stock Grease Gun circuit is set up for. So I changed R7 to 100K to give it a bit more sustain and compression at max gain.

You are a BEAST, dude. 

Happy birthday to my partner in boutique crime. 

That, my friend, is a very tidy build.

I have an etched board all built up, but not boxed. I need to get on that. 

Score! I just ordered another 250 myself, even though it is total overkill for my stockpile.

You other guys better get on it in a hurry!

(Mouser owes me a referral fee)

I just read through this thread to see if my views had changed from 2012 through right now, on the eve of launching a pedal company with my partners madbean and pickdropper...

Nope.    I still stand by my comments, even though my financial stake in the pedal business is now radically different.

*pats self on back*

If you want to keep the transistor beta at the same general levels as the vintage parts, check out the SS9013.

It's a very un-fancy looking TO-92 plastic package transistor. But, the gains are between about 90 - 120. And they are still readily available. And they are CHEAP.

I've built several Fuzz Face and Tonebender MKII with them, and I think they sound as good as any other silicon tranny.

However, they are now marked for "end of life", so I would suggest stocking up soon. I've been buying them in quantity every time I make a Mouser order, and now I've got certainly more than I can ever reasonably use in my lifetime.    Mouser has about 6500 left as of just now. BYOC also has a large stock of them, but the pricing is much higher than Mouser (as one would expect). The other bigger suppliers don't seem to have them still in stock.

On quick glance, it looks like either of the two pads I circled are where the V+ would go. I'm pretty sure that is right.

I generally agree that if something is vintage and working, leave it alone. Germanium trannies are still pretty easy to find (and with full leads). Or at the very least, pull the old ones and replace with low-gain silicon so it still works.

Damn, somehow I missed this thread! 

Thanks to everyone who bought a PCB pack or a high-priced pick. 

I second the desoldering gun suggestion. Mine has changed my life. 

http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_808.html


Regardless of your IC woes, a dedicated (quality) desoldering gun will make thing so much easier when prototyping. I don't even socket most passives anymore because I can pull one out in about 5 seconds. I can take out an IC in maybe 15 seconds, and it's clean and totally usable again.