Silicon Fuzz Face

Here is my latest and probably my last build of 2010. It`s a silicon fuzz face! Powdercoated enclosure from Banzai. It`s a "blem" so it has some cracks and dents. Didn`t do too much out of the decal on this one but it came out kinda cool. Awesome pcb from BYOC. No mojo parts what so ever but sounds awesome! Q1 is a 2N2222(120hfe) and Q2 is a 2N3904(150hfe). I liked this transistor combo the best. It`s not that "nasty" but more smooth. Love it! A pair of 2N2222s also sounded pretty cool in there. I`ll be making more fuzz pedals for sure! Here she is... Purple Face!

Merry Christmas and a Fuzzy New Year!

I`m thirsty, can I get a Humidifier please?

Listen to your guitar and get a humidifier before winter sets in. The air gets drier during winter months. As we turn up the heat to keep warm this also removes alot of moisture. Humidity is water in the air and is described as a percentage. The ideal humidity level for a guitar is somewhere between 45-55% relative humidity. If the humidity level gets too low it can create problems such as cracks, neck twisting etc. You don`t want it too high either! Hi-end acoustics made out offsolid woods need extra care.

The easiest way to take proper care of your "baby" is to get a "soundhole humidifier". I can highly recommend the Planet Waves Acoustic Humidifier GH. I`ve been using this one for years and it is great! You fill it up with water(distilled) and place it between the strings of the guitars soundhole. To get the most out of a humidifier like this you should keep your guitar in its case when you`re not playin` it. That way you`re creating a little controlled environment for your guitar. A Humidifier needs to be refilled once every week or so. At the moment I`m using the Oasis Humidifier. The cool thing about that one is that it tells you when it needs to be refilled. Cool, huh?

I would also recommend you to get yourself a Hygrometer. With a hygrometer you can keep an eye on the humidity levels in your home, or inside the guitar case.

There`s lots of info on Humidifiers and how to care for your guitar out there. Google is your friend. I wish you a humid winter!

The Crackle Okay

Here`s my latest. It`s a "Crackle Okay" boost. Google it and you`ll figure out what this is... Made it on a pice of vero board. Low on parts but lots of boost! If you crank it you`ll get a nice crunch going. This thing can really push your tube amp into some rockin` tones! It crackles when you turn the knob..but that`s okay!

Orange Squeezer with mods

Squeeeeeeze it! Here`s a Orange Squeezer compressor I finished up yesterday. Etched the pcb from the layout over at tonepad.com. It`s got a toggle that switches between two output capacitors. Stock, and one more suited for bass. The pot is a 100k instead of the original 10k. Used a NE 5532 in this one, but haven`t tried out any other ones yet. Sounds good and not at all noisy. I`m quite pleased with the paintjob. Now I only need to learn some chicken pickin`...

EA Tremolo

This cool little project was published many years ago in an Australian electronics magazine. It has become a favorite amongst the many do-it-your-selfers out there for its vintage tones and moderate parts count. It`s the EA Tremolo!
So, nothing fancy.. The pcb is from BYOC. Have had it for quite some time. There is a new version out now. Parts I sourced myself. And of course it had to be yellow.. Sounds vintage & warm. No radical tones, just nice and juicy tremolo. There is an internal volume trimpot. I`ve set it to unity, but if you`d like a boost`just turn it up! Had to bend a couple of caps a little to get the box closed up, but that`s no biggie. Super sweet sounding tremolo! Build yourself one of these if you`d like some vintage voiced tremolo on your pedalboard.

Happy Easter!

Review: EHX Nano Series Clone & Small Stone

A Small Clone and Small Stone in a smaller package, that`s cool, right? Lets check em` out!


First we have the Nano Clone. A compact chorus pedal for less the money than its bigger brother, the classic Small Clone. The Nano series pedals compact size is a nice feature. We all know how big some of those old Electro Harmonix pedals can be. So, that`s nice!


Features:

-True Bypass

-Rate knob

-Tough and compact die-cast chassis

-Powered by 9 volt battery or Boss style negative center power supply

-Red status LED


Sound:
So, how does this tiny wonder sound like? It sounds good! Super easy to dial in classic chorus sounds with the single rate knob. Nirvanas "come as you are" sounds just right.. BUT! Yes, this seemed almost to good to be true. This pedal is noisy as all hell! When on the white noise/hiss is just too much! When bypassed this pedal also suffers from "clock noise". A ticking noise that increases in speed as you turn the rate knob. Ah, man!


I opened up the pedal hoping I could fix the problems with a mod or two. No sir! The nanos are smd components all the way. Only a few caps are regular size. Bogus!! The main problem for all the noise issues are most likly the cheaper low voltage MN3207 chip. Original Small Clones uses the MN3007 witch is a much better chip with better specs. Changing the chip means changing some of the tiny smd components etc..that`s something I`m not gonna attemt. Oh, well...



Like:
-compact size
-easy to dial in good sounds


Don`t like:
-Noisy!
-Bleeding "clock noise" when bypassed


Yay/Okay/Nay:
-EHX really shouldn`t be selling this pedal, it is WAY to noisy! It`s a Nay!





The Nano Small Stone. Same compact size as the nano clone. Rugged and clean looking.


Features:

-True bypass

-Variable rate controll allows slow and smooth to rapid edge frequenzy sweeps

-Color switch adds Q and thins the moving comb filters

-Tough and compact die-cast chassis

-Powered by 9 volt battery or Boss style negative center power supply

-Red status LED



Sound:
Again, esay to dial in nice sounds from just a hint of effect to over the top thick phasing sweeps. The color switch is a nice feature. One side is thicker than the other making it nice for single coils. The other side is more clear with a more pronounced shifting effect. Better suited for darker sounding guitars. Really nice sounds... BUT! Not again... Oh, boy! There is a slight "click" noise at the end of the each sweep. If you listen for it you can clearly hear it. With the color switch in the "fuller" mode it`s not that bad. And..with the pedal in bypass mode, there is the same "clock noise" as the Nano Clone. It increases in speed as you turn the rate dial.


The nano small clone also uses smd components. :(



Like:
-Compact size
-Easy to use
-Good sounds
-Color switch is nice for "tuning" it to work with your guitar


Don`t like:
-slight"click" noise at end of each sweep
-Bleeding clock noise when bypassed


Yay/Okay/Nay:
-This pedal ain`t half bad. Sounds good. But the noise issues are anoying. Barely gets an...Okay.


To sum it all up:
I would not buy these pedals without trying them out first. They have issues for sure. The bleeding "clock" noise when bypassed really ain`t fun.

Changing pickups/electronics on your Semi-Acoustic

It can be a pain in the... But after googling a bit I found a clever way of doing it. Here`s a video from mojotone.com. Makes working on your semi-acoustic a little easier. Enjoy!

Here a pic of my Hamer EchoTone after getting some new GFS Dream 90 pickups.