First, a quick history of overdrive pedals. Boss got the ball rolling in 1977 with the OD-1, one of the first pedals in their now-famous “compact” series, and the first proper “overdrive” pedal – before that, they were all called “Fuzz” or “Distortion”. This pedal was part of the three releases that started the series, […]
This page collects together just the information you need if you’re intending to build one of the Electric Druid effects pedal/stompbox projects. For each pedal, you only really need the construction guide, which includes the full bill of materials (BOM) and a wiring diagram for the PCB in the enclosure. We also provide a […]
For this post, I’d like to take you through the process of designing a pedal, from initial idea to completed PCB and pedal. Everyone has their own way of doing this, so I thought it might be interesting for people to see the way that I work on something like this. Pedal (or Synth) design […]
The Digitech DOD PDS-1550 was a member of the 1980’s Digitech “Dual pedal” range. It’s a pretty weird thing, and that’s partly why I’d like to take a closer look at it here. During my analysis of this pedal, I’ve discovered its dirty secret. Let’s get one thing out of the way early on though […]
The Boss MT-2 Metal Zone distortion pedal is one of the most complex drive pedals there is, and has probably the most sophisticated (and least understood!) tone control circuit on any mass-market pedal. It’s also quite a divisive beast, with some loving it, and others hating it. It’s a great pedal for modifications – easily available, […]
