FX Builders and Geeks: Which type of pedal is hardest to clone and build?

Gassage

Not brand or model, but type.

it seems to me that dirt is relatively easy, mods are hard and delays maybe easier?

How much harder is it to build from ground up?

What are the reasons?

And, would I be right in saying a Vibe is pretty much the toughest to get right?

Adam_MD

Anything analogue is doable though you have to sub modern equivalents for old obsolete transistors sometimes.  It's really digital delays, reverbs etc which aren't doable.

Like you said drives are pretty easy to build but delays/modulation can be more difficult as they often need to be biased using an audio probe.  

juansolo

Modern digital stuff is pretty much a no go area. As soon as programming enters the equation you cannot clone the code because that is both awkward and against the law. Now I know some builders aren't as bothered about such things, but ripping someone elses code will get you into bother.

Fuzz, depends. Old Germanium fuzzes are easy on paper, but few people make them well due to a couple of things. Sourcing good transistors is a 'mare, and most people don't measure and bias them properly. Silicon stuff is much less variable so much more painting by numbers.

Vibes/Trems, depends. Again old school ones with bulbs and LDRs can require a bit of faffage. It's not always a case of just throwing the right parts in there. Ones using vactrols are easier, again because they're more consistent.

Delay/Reverb, depends. Analogue delays are not quite as bad these days because Xvive have started re-manufacturing the MN3005 BBD. But then they're also a bit of a shit to set up and very manual in that respect when it comes to building. Analogue delays tend to take a bit more effort to get right. PT2399 digital delays are easy enough. As are reverbs as they mostly used a Belton Brick in there which makes life easier.

Flangers. Almost always a pain in the arse. Lots going on inside those. Depending on which depends on how much trimmer twiddling is required. Usually the hardest to build.

Phasers.  Anyhting that requires FET matching is just a faff. LM3700 stuff is easy, but can be noisy.

Chorus. Not a big issue. Can be a prob getting some of the older ICs these days.

OD. There's a reason they're the most prolific boutique effect. Piece of piss.

Distortion. Depends. JFet ones can take a bit of biasing/matching to get good results from. But most stuff is pretty easy.

As for what's easiest to do from scratch. FET boosters by a million miles. Simple circuit. Most dirt isn't that difficult. Delay/Reverb, there are only so many ways to do things. Trem/Vibe, same sort of thing, but there are other options. Phasers start to get a little more complicated, but again, most ways of doing them have already been done. Flangers... Fucking flangers man. They're evil.

http://juansolo.co.uk/stompage/images/ada-i.jpg

ThePrettyDamned

Wis for that guy but I understood nuffin 

Makes sense that boost/od is easiest. I've made a few, and piece of piss sums it up. 

Danny1969

Most overdrives are just an opamp with clipping diodes ... it amazes me that guitarist don't think anything of paying over a ton for one but it's also kind of handy as I've started making them  

Then again a simple overdrive is the kind of effect you use constantly whether some of the modulation stuff is only on the odd song .. so even expensive overdrives are value for money in terms of cost per usage 

ICBM

I think also overdrives and boosters are the easiest to convince buyers that tiny, almost (or completely) indistinguishable nuances are "night and day" improvements.

With modulation pedals it's what it *does* which sets them apart, and its harder to sell them on the basis of tiny tone differences. Although vibes do seem to be a partial exception to that.

Octafish

I'm a bit of a noobie to pedal building. The hardest one I've done so far is the Mictester Really Cheap Compressor. It's an optical compressor so whilst it wasn't hard to build I had to faff around with LEDS/LDR for a bit, was quite fun though and very satisfying when I got it working right.

I've made a germanium fuzz, I bought four transistors and all had quite low leakage and three were a good match, it sounds good to me at least. The Phase 45 wasn't too hard either, although I only had to match two transistors for that. I'm looking to build the Harbinger Vibe soon and guess that might be a bit of challenge what with the lightbox etc.

lasermonkey

I made an eight stage FET phaser back when FETs were cheap and plentiful. It was cheap enough to buy a bag of a hundred and sort through them.
Not something I'd want to try now!

jimification

Juansolo: Great reply, very interesting... Are through-zero flangers more tricky than standard flangers? - you hardly ever see those but it's a very cool effect.

fftc

How about compressors?
No compressor kit on the bitsbox site so I'm wondering if it's because they are a mare?

juansolo

jimification said:

Juansolo: Great reply, very interesting... Are through-zero flangers more tricky than standard flangers? - you hardly ever see those but it's a very cool effect.

Oh hell yes! There's a very good reason you only ever see them in digital form. Shit load going on there.

https://www.mrblackpedals.com/blogs/straight-jive/6622058-positive-negative-and-through-zero-flanging-probably-more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-flanging

Octafish

fftc said:

How about compressors?
No compressor kit on the bitsbox site so I'm wondering if it's because they are a mare?

Depends. I built a Dyna Comp and it was pretty straight forward, not much different to building an OD like a Tubescreamer - a bunch of resistors, caps, transistors and an IC. I just finished the Mictester Really Cheap Compressor  which is an optical comp and although it's a smaller circuit than the Dyna Comp, getting the LEDS and LDR to work correctly took some work.

juansolo

Yep they go from simple like a love squeeze to bloody complicated like a Cali.

lasermonkey

My first ever DIY project was a 2-channel 1176LN clone. That was a lot of fun!

earwighoney

@juansolo's post illustrates why frequenting this forum can be such a delight.  

Thank you for the informative post. 

ThorpyFX

@juansolo great post. I agree entirely, Simple fuzz drives me up the wall......but I do love it so. Delays just take so much time and effort...... 

jackio

juansolo said:

http://juansolo.co.uk/stompage/images/ada-i.jpg

I was told to never put metal in a microwave