Forum bro-built pedals....

JB_From_Hell

JB_From_Hell

Jomo's Nimions
Anybody looking for pedals to be built or modded, shoot a PM to joelap.

I just got a May Queen OD from him. It's a treble boosting overdrive, shooting for Brian May's tone. First off, while I don't know what kind of metal the enclosure is, but it feels indestructable, and weighs less than a Boss pedal.

It's built from a www.runoffgroove.com schematic. I'm not really trying to play Queen stuff with it, but it does "We Will Rock You" very well. My Demon-loaded Kramer sounds great, but this thing really came to life when I plugged the PAF-loaded LP into it (for those who don't know, it's one of the first SGs, before they called them that). Very good classic lead tones with the neck pickup and the tone rolled down. EXTREMELY sensitive to volume knob adjustments... backing off to 6 gives a fattened, boosted gritty tone. It's also got a blindingly bright green LED indicator, a very solid feeling switch, and a knob that just screams mojo.

If sounding badass isn't enough, have you ever seen a more badass looking pedal?

mayqueenpedal.jpg


In the next day or two, I should be getting two Boss DS-1s that he modded for me. Both are from indyguitarist.com mods, which have been modded further by Joe. First is the Tube Emu, which Joe tells me sounds very modern Marshall/Mesa Mark series, and the second is the Acid Blues, which he claims is less gainy than the stock DS-1, but a superior booster to either the SD-1, or TS-9.

Needless to say, I CANNOT wait to hear them!

I should also mention.... Joe's prices are "Dude, are you smoking crack" low :smokin:
 
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Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

Spanks for the sweet review. When you mentioned you got the pedals I thought u meant the DS-1's. They'll be in in about another day or two probably.

And FWIW, I've developed my own mods so I'm not doing indyguitarist mods to peoples pedals anymore, although I will admit that the mods I tailored on my pedals are based off of their mods. I'm not looking to turn this into a business or anything though; just a few here and there's for you guys on the forum and for some people on campus here.

:banana:
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

That's great man. I have been tons of stuff lately!! It is sooooo fun!!
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

The DS-1s came in today. Aesthetically, the only difference between these and a stock one is the Tube Emulation-modded pedal now has a yellow LED. Soundwise, though.... wow.

The Tube Emu modded pedal sounds soooooo much better than it did stock. Joe was right, it does sound very much in the vein of the Mesa Mark series. Very crunchy, tube-like sound. It's still obviously a distortion pedal, but it's much warmer, fuller, and less buzzsaw-like than the stock DS-1. If you like the basic DS-1 sound, but just want it to sound better, this is a great mod. I've got it in front of the Mesa Dual Rectifier head model on my V-Amp2, with the model's gain set at about 9 o'clock, and the gain almost dimed on the pedal. Extremely tight, modern metal tone. By "modern metal", I do NOT mean Linkin Park or Disturbed, but Arch Enemy or As I Lay Dying. It actually sounds a lot like a Krank.

The other one is called Acid Blues, which is an extremely fitting name. It's got less gain than a stock DS-1, and works VERY well as a boost, as you would use a Tube Screamer. It's been a few years since I had a TS-9, but this pedal sounds much fuller and warmer than I remember the Ibanez being. I haven't played this one as much as the Tube Emu, so I'll write more later.

Again, huge thanks to Joelap. Like I said before, his prices are excellent, and his turnaround time is unbelievable. I mailed the DS-1s last saturday, and here they are, 6 days later, in my hands. You CANNOT beat that! :D
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

:) Thanks man. I'm glad you're digging them.

The good news is that with the little bit that I had my hands in your DS-1's, I found some settings for my own "mod" so to speak that I really liked.

When I was messing with Chops' Blues Driver, I found a sound that was VERY similar to the STP Core album, just a little buzzier. I was so floored by how close it sounded unintentionally with the right settings, I turned my back to my solid state piece of sh*t amp and just listened and wow, I thought to myself with a few tweaks I could make this blues driver go from SRV to STP. And that's the basis for the BD-2 "Core" mod I'm working on with the BD-2 I've got on the way.

Again, I'm glad you liked the pedal.
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

joelap said:
Spanks for the sweet review. When you mentioned you got the pedals I thought u meant the DS-1's. They'll be in in about another day or two probably.

And FWIW, I've developed my own mods so I'm not doing indyguitarist mods to peoples pedals anymore, although I will admit that the mods I tailored on my pedals are based off of their mods. I'm not looking to turn this into a business or anything though; just a few here and there's for you guys on the forum and for some people on campus here.

:banana:
Click to expand...

Good luck with the side business Joe.I've pretty much stopped doing the pedals(Got bored with it)....:13:

Hopefully you'll be doing your own mods in the DS1 and not reverse engineering other folk's mods buddy? Not that it really matters I guess!
 
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Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

Anybody know where to look for a good chorus pedal schematic?

Also, where do you pedal builders usually order your parts from?
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

I am intrigued by the BD-2 Core mod. JB, if you do get it done, please tell us about it here.
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

STRATDELUXER97 said:
Good luck with the side business Joe.I've pretty much stopped doing the pedals(Got bored with it)....:13:

Hopefully you'll be doing your own mods in the DS1 and not reverse engineering other folk's mods buddy? Not that it really matters I guess!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I hit a rough spot cash wise towards the end of the summer and told JB I'd do his two pedals for the indyguitarist mod and Chops's BD-2, but theres were the only ones. Part of my reason for doing them was to be able to experiment with my own mods since I didnt have a DS-1 or BD-2 to experiment with.
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

STRATDELUXER97 said:
Hopefully you'll be doing your own mods in the DS1 and not reverse engineering other folk's mods buddy? Not that it really matters I guess!
Click to expand...
He's not really reverse engineering anything. He in no way tried to pass off the Indyguitarist mods as his own, and described very explicitly that he's already evolving them into something of his own. In all truthfullness, are most successful products not an improvement on an already existing one?

Anyway, Joe's also got a cool thing going with a wah mod, where he's trying to get a fat modern sounding wah, something most folks doing mods totally ignore. After getting his May Queen and the two modded DS-1s, I can say that all my pedals will be going to him for tweaking, at least until I have a circuitboard class or two under my belt :) Even then, I'm looking forward to bouncing ideas for pedal mods back and forth with him.
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

JB_From_Hell said:
He's not really reverse engineering anything. He in no way tried to pass off the Indyguitarist mods as his own, and described very explicitly that he's already evolving them into something of his own. In all truthfullness, are most successful products not an improvement on an already existing one?

Anyway, Joe's also got a cool thing going with a wah mod, where he's trying to get a fat modern sounding wah, something most folks doing mods totally ignore. After getting his May Queen and the two modded DS-1s, I can say that all my pedals will be going to him for tweaking, at least until I have a circuitboard class or two under my belt :) Even then, I'm looking forward to bouncing ideas for pedal mods back and forth with him.
Click to expand...

Well I say best of luck to you all.....No need to explain or justify anything...It's a free world and I've focused energy on other things now anyway! Not a problem at all for me..I had a great time doing pedals for a ton of you,alot more than I ever thought possible,but I've given up all interest now except for myself or immediate friends! All the best to you Joe...Carry the torch! LOL
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

joelap said:
Yeah, I hit a rough spot cash wise towards the end of the summer and told JB I'd do his two pedals for the indyguitarist mod and Chops's BD-2, but theres were the only ones. Part of my reason for doing them was to be able to experiment with my own mods since I didnt have a DS-1 or BD-2 to experiment with.
Click to expand...

He's not really reverse engineering anything. He in no way tried to pass off the Indyguitarist mods as his own, and described very explicitly that he's already evolving them into something of his own. In all truthfullness, are most successful products not an improvement on an already existing one?
Click to expand...

I recall doing some of my own mods for Joe and that was my only point...A DS1 and a wah(I think) quickly comes to mind...Again,it's no big deal to me anymore!


I say no need to explain anything Joe...Best of luck with it! It was fun,but I got burnt out with it after awhile actually!

It's pretty much motorcycles first for me these days...Guitar and all related is second(Right now anyway)...After my family of course....LOL

I really don't see myself being on the forum that much anymore,but you guys are all great and it's been fun....
 
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Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

STRATDELUXER97 said:
I recall doing some of my own mods for Joe and that was my only point...A DS1 and a wah(I think) quickly comes to mind...Again,it's no big deal to me anymore!


I say no need to explain anything Joe...Best of luck with it! It was fun,but I got burnt out with it after awhile actually!
Click to expand...
Yep, first a DS-1 and then a Vox 847. But that wah has been through so many changes in the past year +, and I ended up selling the DS-1 before I even knew how to open up a boss pedal.
at any rate, I wasnt really planning on doing this, only for that month while I recouped some cash.
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

joelap said:
Yep, first a DS-1 and then a Vox 847. But that wah has been through so many changes in the past year +, and I ended up selling the DS-1 before I even knew how to open up a boss pedal.
at any rate, I wasnt really planning on doing this, only for that month while I recouped some cash.
Click to expand...

Joe! I'm no longer doing mods for anyone except myself and the guys in my band! It's all good and I'll lose no sleep over it..."Really"....All I said was to do your mods,learn your own ideas,and don't just copy "all" of everyone else's mod ideas...I came up with some of my own stuff and copied some also...

I'm totally over doing the pedals these days,so go with it and enjoy yourself! You were always really nice to me and a forum brother and that hasn't changed on my end..
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

JB From Hell....

Sorry about hi-jacking your thread....Joe and I had a pretty good relationship all along...Wasn't trying to come across as only being negative...

I'll go back to hiding and riding my new motorcycle again! :banana: :laugh2: :fingersx:
 
Re: Forum bro-built pedals....

STRATDELUXER97 said:
All I said was to do your mods,learn your own ideas,and don't just copy "all" of everyone else's mod ideas...I came up with some of my own stuff and copied some also...
Click to expand...
No need to apologize about hijacking or anything, but his first post in the thread made it pretty apparent that he's coming up with his own mods, and pretty early on in the game, too.

I'm currently an EET (electronic engineering technology) student, and part of the reason was to learn to do pedals and amps. I completely intend to start off doing some "by the book" mods, then swapping out stuff here and there, until I get a handle on what resistors/capacitors/etc.... do what.
 
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