Mary Cries the wind

[Bogner]

I like the look of that Peterson tuner.

I almost bought one of the vintage model 400’s off the old man I bought my MiniMoog and RMI from, but he wanted $500 for it.


… and I had already spent $200 apiece for the Moog and Rhodes.

Those Old Peterson's Are Great To Have Around. I Have Used Mine Forever.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Those Old Peterson's Are Great To Have Around. I Have Used Mine Forever.

I’ve always wanted one.

 

[JasonE]

I have one of the original Strobo Stomp pedals. I also have a full size mechanical strobe that I have had for a good while as well as a Strobo + HD that I have also had for a good while. I keep the mechanical strobe on my recording desk so I can have good accurate tuning before I start recording something. I also have been doing guitar setups on that desk.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

I have been thinking and this is it. I wondered why nobody put a mid sweep on an OD pedal like is used in analog mixwers. This would really help tailor it to your amp and whether you wanted to push the mids a bit or keep them more flat.

20 or so years ago, when I spent more time in pedal forums than anywhere else on the net, I had this idea. I thought it was an original idea... I had a friend helping me design the circuit. It had 3 clipping options and two gain ranges but the real reason I had the idea was to put a true parametric mids control on it. A "full one" with sweep, Q and level! We were actually going to build a few, send them to some of the big name reviewers for some street cred, then go into production. I was convinced it would be THE best OD pedal ever because... low or high gain, 3 clipping choices, and of course, complete control over where your mid boost was, how wide it was, what frequency it was centered at, and how much of a boost.

After over a year of talking and actually doing some circuit layout, we discovered that someone had done the sweepable mids control on an OD pedal many years before... apparently it never really caught on so they quit making it.

Here is the good part of this story... BYOC recreated this as a kit, given how great the idea of sweepable mids was, and as of the last time I looked, was still making the kits. Here's a link to their clone of the original (Pearl) and some potential mod ideas.

BYOC Parametric Overdrive

 

[JasonE]

20 or so years ago, when I spent more time in pedal forums than anywhere else on the net, I had this idea. I thought it was an original idea... I had a friend helping me design the circuit. It had 3 clipping options and two gain ranges but the real reason I had the idea was to put a true parametric mids control on it. A "full one" with sweep, Q and level! We were actually going to build a few, send them to some of the big name reviewers for some street cred, then go into production. I was convinced it would be THE best OD pedal ever because... low or high gain, 3 clipping choices, and of course, complete control over where your mid boost was, how wide it was, what frequency it was centered at, and how much of a boost.

After over a year of talking and actually doing some circuit layout, we discovered that someone had done the sweepable mids control on an OD pedal many years before... apparently it never really caught on so they quit making it.

Here is the good part of this story... BYOC recreated this as a kit, given how great the idea of sweepable mids was, and as of the last time I looked, was still making the kits. Here's a link to their clone of the original (Pearl) and some potential mod ideas.

BYOC Parametric Overdrive

That sounds like pretty much what I have been thinking about. I would want the EQ to be active so it can really sculpt the tone. I will have to take a look at this kit. Have you built one of them?

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

That sounds like pretty much what I have been thinking about. I would want the EQ to be active so it can really sculpt the tone. I will have to take a look at this kit. Have you built one of them?

No, I keep thinking I'll get one but haven't. I built a parametric mids pedal that is not an overdrive, just a para EQ, and that's fun to play with. But I built that one probably 15 years ago. I "may" still have the circuit layout for that one.

 

[László]

Nice! The Koji is still in the current lineup. I had a Riot years ago. It was very well made. It just wasn't the drive for me at that time. I have looked at a couple of the reloaded drives they made but have not pulled the trigger on any of those to date.

Pettyjohn has a drive that really intrigued me. It is the Gold MKII. I have been mulling over what I really would like in a drive pedal to make it the perfect drive for me. I have been thinking of drawing it up and getting some PCBs made and building it. Then I saw that Pettyjohn built something similar to what I have been thinking and this is it. I wondered why nobody put a mid sweep on an OD pedal like is used in analog mixwers. This would really help tailor it to your amp and whether you wanted to push the mids a bit or keep them more flat. I also thought about wanting to be able to select soft and hard clipping so you can tailor the sound of the drive itself. I don't think their pedal does that.

The Kokoboost has a mid-sweep. I put it ahead of the overdrive pedals on my board; it's there when I need it.

The Gold pedals are kind of Marshall-in-a-box. They sound great in the demos, but since I have the HXDA, which is essentially a Plexi or two, I don't need it.

If you decide to order from Pettyjohn and they're still offering the discrete op-amps and other upgrades, I think they're worth the extra dough. YMMV of course.

 

[László]

I have one of the original Strobo Stomp pedals. I also have a full size mechanical strobe that I have had for a good while as well as a Strobo + HD that I have also had for a good while. I keep the mechanical strobe on my recording desk so I can have good accurate tuning before I start recording something. I also have been doing guitar setups on that desk.

I still use a Strobo Stomp for bass. It's not on the pedalboard because it's heavy, and I have it set up with one of their bass presets. But I run bass direct.

The model on my board is set up with a guitar preset.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

If you decide to order from Pettyjohn and they're still offering the discrete op-amps and other upgrades,

Did they specify what op-amps they are using on this option? I'm not quite as up on this as I was a few years ago but the Burr-Browns were the best then. I've upgraded several of my pedals with them and (pro tip for those who don't know this) many pedals have socketed op-amps so you can literally pull one out and plug another one in to try. I've upgraded several of mine by using Burr-Browns

 

[watelessness]

sweet!

 

[Bogner]

I’ve always wanted one.

Get One Man! You Will Love It!!

 

[László]

Did they specify what op-amps they are using on this option? I'm not quite as up on this as I was a few years ago but the Burr-Browns were the best then. I've upgraded several of my pedals with them and (pro tip for those who don't know this) many pedals have socketed op-amps so you can literally pull one out and plug another one in to try. I've upgraded several of mine by using Burr-Browns

Pettyjohn's pedals come stock with Burr Brown chips, the upgrade is to a Dual 990 discrete opamp. Most of the PJ pedals I have on my board were ordered with upgrade options. They sound great. I think it cost around $100 extra for the discrete opamps.

Here's a spec sheet on a dual 990 op amp; these aren't cheap. The parts cost for this op amp is 40-50 bucks. It's real-deal, studio grade stuff. PJ is known for the high quality innards in their products. That's why they sound good, I guess.

http://www.johnhardyco.com/pdf/990.pdf

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Pettyjohn's pedals come stock with Burr Brown chips, the upgrade is to a Dual 990 discrete opamp. Most of the PJ pedals I have on my board were ordered with upgrade options. They sound great. I think it cost around $100 extra for the discrete opamps.

Here's a spec sheet on a dual 990 op amp; these aren't cheap. The parts cost for this op amp is 40-50 bucks. It's real-deal, studio grade stuff. PJ is known for the high quality innards in their products. That's why they sound good, I guess.

http://www.johnhardyco.com/pdf/990.pdf

that explains the large upcharge for the chip. If the chip costs that much, normally the cost difference would be $100 or so anyway, but that is not compatible with standard op-amp pin out, so the normal style op-amp sockets won't work... meaning the circuit would have to be redone and a different layout used just to use this chip... if they are using a standard pinout config Burr Brown as standard.

 

[László]

that explains the large upcharge for the chip. If the chip costs that much, normally the cost difference would be $100 or so anyway, but that is not compatible with standard op-amp pin out, so the normal style op-amp sockets won't work... meaning the circuit would have to be redone and a different layout used just to use this chip... if they are using a standard pinout config Burr Brown as standard.

Yes, it's a different circuit board.

Here's something interesting as well: A 990 dual op-amp is made up of several components, it's not a chip. Which is why they call it a discrete op-amp I guess.

Discrete op amps are used in high end recording consoles, etc. I can't explain why they sound different from a chip, I lack the technical expertise. But the gear that uses them does have a different sound, and I like it an awful lot. I don't know of any other pedals that go to this length to get their sound, but they're probably out there somewhere!

The drawback is that they use significantly more power; when I first got one, it seemed like there was an intermittent. I was running several pedals at 18 Volts instead of 9 with my Voodoo Labs power supply. Pettyjohn told me that the pedal was drawing too much juice, and to go 9 volts with a couple of other pedals. That did the trick.

They also said that the Cioks power supplies don't seem to have that problem. However everything sounds great with the Voodoo Labs at this point, so I'm good until I have to add another pedal. At that point I'm going to have to go with a Cioks. I've used all the power taps on this one anyhow, so I'd have to do that regardless.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Yes, it's a different circuit board.

Here's something interesting as well: A 990 dual op-amp is made up of several components, it's not a chip. Which is why they call it a discrete op-amp I guess.

Discrete op amps are used in high end recording consoles, etc. I can't explain why they sound different from a chip, I lack the technical expertise. But the gear that uses them does have a different sound, and I like it an awful lot. I don't know of any other pedals that go to this length to get their sound, but they're probably out there somewhere!

The drawback is that they use significantly more power; when I first got one, it seemed like there was an intermittent. I was running several pedals at 18 Volts instead of 9 with my Voodoo Labs power supply. Pettyjohn told me that the pedal was drawing too much juice, and to go 9 volts with a couple of other pedals. That did the trick.

They also said that the Cioks power supplies don't seem to have that problem. However everything sounds great with the Voodoo Labs at this point, so I'm good until I have to add another pedal. At that point I'm going to have to go with a Cioks. I've used all the power taps on this one anyhow, so I'd have to do that regardless.

Yep, that all makes sense. They'd have to redo the circuit layout for this chip IF the other one is using the more common pinout that's used on most other pedals IC's. I read the spec sheet you linked and one other doc on it, and yes, this is at a different level than even the good ones that are normally used. It's much larger, and it's design would certainly need more power, and offer benefits that come along with it. I've never seen that level of IC used. That's definitely way "next level" design for a pedal!

 

[László]

Yep, that all makes sense. They'd have to redo the circuit layout for this chip IF the other one is using the more common pinout that's used on most other pedals IC's. I read the spec sheet you linked and one other doc on it, and yes, this is at a different level than even the good ones that are normally used. It's much larger, and it's design would certainly need more power, and offer benefits that come along with it. I've never seen that level of IC used. That's definitely way "next level" design for a pedal!

Their stuff has a unique sound. I'm not saying "better," because that's subjective. But they're not your typical guitar pedals. I think of them as "nicerizers," that is, texture and color boxes of the first order.

Take their overdrives as an example: If players are expecting something like a KOT, tube screamer, OCD, or even Klon, PJ overdrives might not fill the bill - the sound is a bit unexpected unless you've listened carefully to the demos.

On the other hand, if you've got a great amp, and want to hear the amp pushed and colored in certain ways, but still sound like that amp, I haven't heard anything I like more. All of my other overdrives left the building after I got these, and their EQ and preamp/boost pedals are also fantastic.

But again, they behave far differently than a typical OD.

Meanwhile it's after 3 AM here and I'm farting around on the internet because I'm stoked after watching some good football games and can't sleep. I need to organize my time a little differently! Maybe that'll be my new year's resolution. hmmm.