My first 'proper' board...

skunkwerx

Thought I'd post a couple pics. Spent the afternoon cabling and velcroing and putting together my board. 
Well chuffed with it!


 

 
For anyone interested I'll list whats what  

The effect chain goes: Electro Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff Pi > Boss Tu-3 > Boss Oc-3 > Tone City Angel Wing. 
Into the front of me Boss Katana 50. 
Cables are Fender custom shop tweed jobbies, straight to right angle. 
Patch cables are Ernie Balls. 
Power supply is a Strymon Zuma. 
2 Boss Fs-5L footswitches for the Katana.
The board itself is a Stagg/Blaxx wooden pedalboard.

Slimbert

Nowt wrong with that!

Any particular reason for having the muff before the TU-3?

lovebuzz

an oddly very expensive power supply compared with the pedals.  long term planning?

skunkwerx

Slimbert said:

Now wrong with that!

Any particular reason for having the muff before the TU-3?

Cheers man! 

Well, haha not really come to think about it.. after hearing that Muffs are pretty much immune to buffers, I suppose it could go after! I havent experimented with it after the tu-3 yet to see if it sounds any different, or reacts to the guitars controls any different..

I think what I read was that it is fuzz faces etc that like to be first in the chain.. 

I’m still learning a lot so any advice is welcome! 

Kinda like the way it balances out, keeps the 2 boss pedals in the middle.. looks more pleasing lol! 

Slimbert

Generally, tuners go first in the chain for two reasons.

Firstly because of the obvious advantage to having a sometimes very long guitar lead go straight in to a buffer.

But secondly because when you're using your tuner, you ideally want a pure guitar tone being fed to the tuner. If you accidentally leave your muff on, you may not be giving the tuner the clean guitar tone it thrives on.

It doesn't mean your TU-3 won't work, just that it might not work at its optimum.

I've heard of people building boards based on aesthetics before. Thankfully, everyone learns functions comes first eventually!

UnclePsychosis

Isn't that Zuma serious overkill? 

skunkwerx

lovebuzz said:

an oddly very expensive power supply compared with the pedals.  long term planning?

Aye. Future proof. Its total overkill at the moment, but I didnt see much that could match the Zuma for its horsepower or number of outputs while still claiming to be as silent as the grave.. which it is so far. Figured it would be a decent investment with the freedom of more power sockets than I’ll need.. 

The voodoolabs iso 5 was in the runnings, then I discovered the Ojai, same as the iso 5 but with 500ma for each outlet.. 
I didnt fancy spending £150 on a supply to be left with 1 free socket though, and an external power box.. so like many things I spent outside my means to get the next model up.. 

I could have bought a cheaper supply for sure, but sometimes I just get fed up of spending multiple small amounts on stuff that doesnt work as well, if you know what I mean. 

So far though so good. Got a decent warranty and every strymon related issue I’ve seen has been dealt with by strymon pretty darn well.. I’m a sucker for peace of mind. 

Im eating plain basmati rice and scrambled eggs for the next 3 months though, and I’m not actually kidding haha. Mainly because I’m a fat fuck, but also because I’ve spent too much! 

skunkwerx

UnclePsychosis said:

Isn't that Zuma serious overkill? 

Totally! 

For now.....

lovebuzz

skunkwerx said:

I think what I read was that it is fuzz faces etc that like to be first in the chain.. 

I’m still learning a lot so any advice is welcome!

Fuzz Face and B/Muff are completely different animals.   the latter isn't even a proper fuzz, arguably.

JEPBLEP

Congrats on the neat board! Germanium-based fuzzes generally don't like getting fed a buffered signal, so yeah, but it's always best to just try different orders before locking down. I've found even stacking them in different order makes a difference.

As others have suggested - it's good to have the tuner in first, if not for accuracy to have a reliable mute stomp  

stickyfiddle

Looking good. The Zuma is obviously overkill but should be pretty much the only PSU you’ll ever need as you expand. Which you will...

”One of us.. one of us...”

GavRichList

slippery slope 

Octafish

JEPBLEP said:

Congrats on the neat board! Germanium-based fuzzes generally don't like getting fed a buffered signal, so yeah, but it's always best to just try different orders before locking down. I've found even stacking them in different order makes a difference.

As others have suggested - it's good to have the tuner in first, if not for accuracy to have a reliable mute stomp  

Isn't that a bit of a myth? I thought it's more specifically Fuzz Faces (both Germanium and Silicon) that don't like going after the buffer.  Having said that, they don't sound awful, just brighter and higher gain and more like a distortion than a Fuzz Face.

lovebuzz

Octafish said:

JEPBLEP said:

Congrats on the neat board! Germanium-based fuzzes generally don't like getting fed a buffered signal, so yeah, but it's always best to just try different orders before locking down. I've found even stacking them in different order makes a difference.

Isn't that a bit of a myth? I thought it's more specifically Fuzz Faces (both Germanium and Silicon) that don't like going after the buffer.  

Fuzz Faces - yes, both types but Ge.ones more so.

 It is often but not universally the case with Ge fuzzes generally. 

skunkwerx

This is going to be a stupid question... 

Is this Green Russian silicon or germanium, or neither? Lol... 

Having tried both before and after the buffered tu-3, I can’t say I heard any night and day difference.. but then again come to think of it I was using a guitar with emg actives, which is pretty much a buffer.. 

I think I’ll keep the Tu-3 first in chain now anyway, as I ‘think’ I heard a better overall tone that way. Unsure if my cables and pedals are long enough to need a buffer or buffered pedal first, especially as I was playing with the emgs.. but figured it can’t hurt right?

I tried plugging guitar direct to amp, and comparing the tone with running through my fx chain (with all effects off). 
Could have been no different mind. Sometimes I’m not sure what i’m hearing. 

The green russian sounds nice though. 
I’ve been using it just on the katanas clean channels so far. Might see how it does on a slightly more crunchy channel tomorrow. 

One of the clean channels I’ve set has tonnes of reverb and a bit of delay, too much reverb actually.. but anyway I kicked the russian on and got some lovely lead type tones. 

More experimenting tomorrow with it.
I usually stick to high gain, slightly scooped settings on the amp for all my distorted tones, so this pedal is quite different. Though I havent deviated from having its gain knob maxed out haha..  

JEPBLEP

Octafish said:

JEPBLEP said:

Congrats on the neat board! Germanium-based fuzzes generally don't like getting fed a buffered signal, so yeah, but it's always best to just try different orders before locking down. I've found even stacking them in different order makes a difference.

As others have suggested - it's good to have the tuner in first, if not for accuracy to have a reliable mute stomp  

Isn't that a bit of a myth? I thought it's more specifically Fuzz Faces (both Germanium and Silicon) that don't like going after the buffer.  Having said that, they don't sound awful, just brighter and higher gain and more like a distortion than a Fuzz Face.

I have done a lot of back and forth on placing my Sputnik and NG-2 in my chain and ended up buying a true bypass tuner just for them. The Sputnik has a bit of a reputation regardless of being, well, 'fussy' - but difference in behaviour (clipping, how it reacts to rolling off volume, etc) is pretty significant.

I'm wary there's plenty of airy-fairy fluff written around our beloved hobby and particularly gear, but this specific area I've tested and verified myself and has affected my board.

JEPBLEP

skunkwerx said:

This is going to be a stupid question... 

Is this Green Russian silicon or germanium, or neither? Lol... 

Having tried both before and after the buffered tu-3, I can’t say I heard any night and day difference.. but then again come to think of it I was using a guitar with emg actives, which is pretty much a buffer.. 

I think I’ll keep the Tu-3 first in chain now anyway, as I ‘think’ I heard a better overall tone that way. Unsure if my cables and pedals are long enough to need a buffer or buffered pedal first, especially as I was playing with the emgs.. but figured it can’t hurt right?

I tried plugging guitar direct to amp, and comparing the tone with running through my fx chain (with all effects off). 
Could have been no different mind. Sometimes I’m not sure what i’m hearing. 

The green russian sounds nice though. 
I’ve been using it just on the katanas clean channels so far. Might see how it does on a slightly more crunchy channel tomorrow. 

One of the clean channels I’ve set has tonnes of reverb and a bit of delay, too much reverb actually.. but anyway I kicked the russian on and got some lovely lead type tones. 

More experimenting tomorrow with it.
I usually stick to high gain, slightly scooped settings on the amp for all my distorted tones, so this pedal is quite different. Though I havent deviated from having its gain knob maxed out haha..  

If you can't hear a significant difference it shouldn't matter really - placing your tuner first is probably the wisest thing to do then.

I'm not even sure if your particular fuzz is germanium based, but was just commenting on why you'll see people putting fuzzes first in their chain, sorry if that was unclear!

Like I've said elsewhere, most modern fuzzes (germanium or otherwise) have been engineered to cope with buffered signals nowadays, but if the pedal sounds or behaves weirdly when placed after a buffered signal, this may be why.

lovebuzz

skunkwerx said:

Is this Green Russian silicon or germanium, or neither? Lol... 

4 silicon transistors is the norm for any EHX big muff model  (except the 'IC' big muff and its recent reissue)

some boutique companies'  big muff variants use germanium transistors instead, either in whole or in hybrid form.  

regardless, the big muff circuit is not normal fussy about buffer placement in the way that certain simpler 60s fuzz circuit often are.

kurtrowe2000

Good starter board. You definitely want your tuner first in the chain. 

I like the ambition with with the power supply but as someone earlier said, slippery slope. Once you start on that endless search for tone you will be swapping pedals in and out of your board quicker than something quick (tried to come up with a witty analogy but it was all too suggestive for a Sunday morning). My board is waiting for one more pedal to come into stock then it’s done, for now. But I must have bought and sold a good 10 other pedals in the process. 

Have fun fun and enjoy experimenting. 

skunkwerx

I need help for this addiction. 

The board now looks... well, different. 

You’re right, its way too easy to now buy effects knowing the supply is ready to rock! 

So, I bought a boss ds-1 because it was had cheap, and figured I could use some lesser gain more crunchy tones rather than using an amp channel for it.. 

Then I decided I really wanted the nano muff lol! I really like it. More fuzzy and gainy than the russian, but not as bassy. 

I think I need to move my octave to second in chain because when I play usually with it, I use it into the amps distortion and it sounds like what Im after. 

Currently if I use a muff or the ds-1 then into the octave, it all sounds a bit shite, and as if the speaker will blow lol!