www.premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 143
Why go through the hassle of building your
own pedal? There are more than a few rea-sonably-priced off-the-rack options out there if
you’re looking for a modern clone. With building there’s so much room for error—a stray
drop of solder, a resistor mysteriously disappearing, paint smudging—yet there are enough
DIYers ready to take on the task to necessitate
a budding build-your-own kit industry.
Perhaps it’s the feeling that you’ve created part
of your signal chain, or the ability to design
a piece of your gear—maybe it’s just man’s
innate desire to put things together. We’re not
talking meticulous part selection and prototyping leading to your own original creation. If
you’re in that league, it’s best you skip past this
section. We know there’s a crowd that’s too
advanced for kits, but there’s an even bigger
crowd begging for a piece of the action.
Inspired by the beginner-to-intermediate level
go-getters, we’ve taken on three kits from
three manufacturers at three very different difficulty levels. From a paint-by-numbers, simple-circuit PCB project to a tool-your-own-board
and case (with room for your own tweaks), we
hope to guide the curious to the appropriate kits. In the following pages, you’ll find the
tools you need, the time it takes, and how
complex the project is—along with our (only
slightly biased) impressions of the final sound.
Tone Clone Pedals Retro Screamer
The Tone Clone Pedals Retro Screamer kit
is a reproduction of the Tube Screamer. The
kit arrived as an unfinished enclosure, circuit
board, pots, knobs, and components. Tone
Clone was kind enough to include separate
spools of blue and white wire and four sturdy
rubber feet to affix to the device when complete. It did not include instructions, but it did
provide an internet address so I could download and print them myself—no complaints
there, as it’s a great way to save paper if
you’d rather read them off a computer screen.
From my past experience in working with
effects, I was pleased to see that the materials were top notch. The thick, nonmalleable
circuit board had a nice weight and substantial feel, and it’s a higher quality than many
commercial pedals I’ve seen. Even the heavy
brushed aluminum enclosure was impressive. Knowing that you’re working with
quality materials is certainly a confidence
booster. If I were to suggest any improvement to the kit, it would be for better labeling of the parts. If you’ve ever built a pedal
from a kit, you quickly realize that matching
each component to the parts list is essential
to a problem-free build. Some of the diodes
used in the circuit were not clearly labeled.
I received two different types of diodes, but
I couldn’t match them up to the component
list because the writing on the parts was
so tiny. A bit of masking tape on the leads
with the values would’ve helped greatly. As
a matter of fact, that would’ve been helpful
on the capacitors as well, as they were also
difficult to read. In addition, the IC socket
was missing, an essential part of the circuit.
No worries, though—a quick trip to Radio
Shack and two dollars later, I had my part
and a nifty green LED to swap out for the
stock blue one.
After a thorough matchup of the components
with the parts list, I eagerly dove into the
build itself. The instructions wisely recommended that I start by installing the resistors, which are the most common type of
component in the circuit. It was really great
that Tone Clone split each step into a separate component-type install, resistors first,
capacitors second, and so on. This helps
eliminate a lot of confusion with placing the
wrong component in the wrong slot, and the
dreaded “finding extra parts leftover” scenario. There’s even a short segment on how
to align the parts neatly, for those who have
never attempted to solder in such close quarters. Honestly, one of the biggest thrills that I
get when I finish a pedal is seeing the board
complete. If everything is aligned perfectly
and geometrically, solder joints are perfect
and the wiring solid, I get an immense sense
of accomplishment, as if I’d just created a
work of art (in my nerdy eyes, a neat circuit is
actually quite beautiful).
The only major issue that I had in populating
the board was actually the biggest issue that
I had with the entire project, and it all came
down to one single component. During the
capacitor install section, each area where one
should go on the board is circled in a picture in
the instructions. One in particular, C12, didn’t
exist at all on the parts list, which just went
from C11 to C13, skipping C12 entirely.
Based On: Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer
Time To Build: 1. 5–2. 5 hours
Tools: Soldering Iron, Phillips-head
screwdriver, wire cutters
Price: $89.99
Complexity: 2 (out of 5)
