The Plimsoul Clone

The builds of 2024 continue and the Plimsoul is the latest to be completed. Essentially, in the off season, I was searching for any circuit that could even loosely be associated to the word "blues". I've become more of a blues player as I've gotten older, and lets face it, since my body and fingers don't work the way they used to. I do find blues connects with me though, and I greatly enjoy playing blues guitar, so I figured I wanted as many guitar pedals as possible to give me multiple options for blues tones. One circuit that had been on my radar for a while was indeed the Plimsoul, but I felt it was a bit more distortion than bluesy, but tagboard effects description has the word bluesy in it twice, so that's all it took to convince me it was worth a try.

As far as the build, well, it was going fine until I remembered that it was suggested in the comments of the layout to substitute one of the three A100k pots for an A10k. I decided to go with a C10k as it was the only 10k I had on hand, which works just fine. Luckily it was an easy situation to rectify, once I found out which pot it was. It's the sustain pot by the way. I was a bit anxious about wiring the dual pot for stage two control, because I'm always anxious about wiring dual pots, but that turned out just fine. Once it was all soldered up it was time to test it.

At first the circuit didn't work properly. All I got was a stuttering sound when I played the notes on my guitar. My first tactic is always knifing the gaps, so I took my xacto knife and slit between the rows and tested it again. That did the trick, and the circuit came to life. After testing it a little bit more this circuit did surprised me as it's one that offers quite a bit of flexibility. Is it bluesy? It can be. It can also be a boost, or an overdrive all the way to a distortion. I enjoyed this circuit more than I thought I would, even though I've not really played around with it too much. I pretty much tested how much drive it offers, then engaged stage 2 and left it full tilt as a distortion. Now that the Plimsoul is done what the next build will be is up in the air, but whatever it is will be the 90th build.

Now the Timmy Post!

My Timmy clone was born the same day as the revitalization in my life, but that's the other post. This is all about the Timmy! I was excited to build this circuit because I had heard so many good things about it. So I put everything together and on a nice Tuesday I built it. It was a super simple build. The issue however is I can't find any 4559s, so I used a 4580 instead. I'm still debating whether it sounds anything at all like a Timmy. It's not a bad circuit, and it had plenty of options for tonality, but whether it sounds like a Timmy is still up for debate.

I'm really digging transparent overdrives and that's one of a million reasons why I wanted to build a Timmy clone. I chose the V1, which suits me as well as any other, so I'm not too concerned with what makes them all a little bit different. This is the one I built; this is the one I own, and will use. I'm still uncertain what the internal dip switches do, but it's something I'll learn about over time. There's really not much more to say.

Other than the Timmy being the 88th total build, and the fact I still have 7 more confirmed builds and a few sitting on the outer cusp of consideration I might get to the goal of 100 builds before I know it. The Plimsoul, Menatone Blue Collar, a Klon Buffer, another Naga Viper clone, two Cornish clones and an EQD Zoar are all on their way, bringing the total up to 96 once these are done. I do plan a Diaz Texas Ranger clone, as well as another Texas inspired clone both of which bring the total up to 98. The two final circuits will really need to be something important, and believe me, I bet they will be. I just don't know what they will be yet.

I Didn’t Have Ambulance Ride to the ER on My 2024 Bingo Card, Until I Did!

As some of you may know I suffer from anxiety. It's a disorder that sometimes can not be properly looked after. This year started out with some really bad symptoms to the point I filed to get medical insurance and once I did the real mental fuckery started. Symptoms started to appear that were very concerning, and knowing now I could take care of them made it impossible for me to ignore. However, covid locked me in this mental box that anxiety took control of and made it seem if I left the property I would immediately die in the worst possible way. How does one combat this? Internally, mentally, and eventually they feel like they're drowning with no way of reaching help.

So I decided to try and shake off the horrible way I woke up this morning and build the Timmy clone circuit, which went really well. Once it all was soldered up I brought it inside to test and immediately my skin began to crawl, my body was trembling and my internal alarms were on full alert. But I can't leave the property! I'll die! If I don't take care of whatever is setting off this anxiety, I'll die! Damned if I do, damned if I don't. The option was literally taken out of my control when, suddenly and without warning I simply stopped breathing. I've had anxiety and panic attacks, but this was a completely different beast. This sucked the oxygen right out of me and left me feeling the cold fingers of the Reaper upon my arms, directing me away.

911 was called, and after a brief sit outside the team came over and started taking my vitals. Obviously in a panic things weren't perfect, but things weren't alarming, or so they didn't let on anything was alarming. I was then transferred to the ambulance and awaited the horrible death anxiety had promised should I try to leave the property. As you may be guessing, because I'm writing this entry, it was all bupkis! I was loaded into the ambulance, the vitals guy kept an eye on everything and we talked the whole ride about my life, my anxiety, my hobbies, and even my lost love from Mexico. What stays with me though is how he kept looking at the EKG and saying I have a beautiful EKG, and it slowly got better as we rolled along the way to the ER.

I felt far more calm than I thought I would throughout the whole process, which was surprising, but a welcome change from what anxiety said I should feel. Transitioning from Ambulance to ER was immediate and everyone was there to greet me. My vitals were constantly checked, blood was drawn and everything was underway. I was even given some kind of drug, whose name I already forget, that quieted all the intrusive thoughts in my head. Although my numbers aren't 100% perfect, at least now I know what I need to work on with my PCP.

Listen, if you're having chest pains and shortness of breath, don't simply chalk it up to anxiety, unless you've been to the Dr or ER and you've been cleared time and time again. This isn't anything to mess with, and although mine turned out to strictly be inside my head, for someone else it might not. Do yourself a service and burst through that mental block like I did and give yourself much more life to live. Believe me it's worth living!

The Crap Fuzz [Re]Build

Back on New Year's Day I tried to get an old Bazz Fuss circuit going again, and failed. I figured this was a fairly decent Saturday so I took the time to try again, and still failed. The board was coated with solder, and there was really no way for me to clean off enough solder to prevent bridging, so I decided the next best thing was to scrap the old board and use a new one. It took literal seconds to cut the board, cut the traces and solder everything up. Once all was said and done, it now works! Horribly! I mean, it's horrible.

I strictly stuck with using the parts I had in the original, so instead of a 2N3904 I used a BC546, with pinout adjusted, so it's not biased correctly. It's fuzzy, it's gnarly, but it's really not anything useful unless it's full blast. The circuit works and that's really all I was after. I just wanted to resurrect a very old circuit that I built many years ago, but never gave any real notation to. Now this little circuit, as horrible as it truly is, has a birthday (or more a rebirthday I guess), and it's written in my build log. This brings my total circuits built to 87 officially noted circuits. Remember, that's both pedals and a few amps, but 87 total nonetheless.

The problem now is I still have 8 builds planned for the year, bringing me to a total of 95, once those are completed. As I stated in my last entry, about building, I need that nicely rounded, even 100 total. I don't want to build a bunch of Bazz Fuss circuits, or buffers, or other simple builds just to pad it out. I want circuits that truly mean something to my building history. I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll do my best to come up with something.

Fallout 3: Heading Back Into the Wastelands

Of all the Fallout games I've played, Fallout 3 is my favorite. That's not to say Fallout 4 or 76 aren't good games, it's just I've not been able to play them, yet. Last year a dear friend actually purchased Fallout 76 for me, but thanks to Bethesda's "What Bug?" policy, it locked me out of playing the game indefinitely. I've not been able to catch Fallout 4 on sale, so I think that's the only Fallout game I don't actually own. Throughout the past few years all off the others, with the exception of 4 and 76, have been given away by Epic Games, which is nice of them. This has given me a chance to reconnect with Fallout 3, which I originally played on the PS3.

Last year I tried a failed attempt at finally getting into Elder Scrolls Oblivion. I generally like Bethesda's open world games, but Oblivion just didn't play that well, and Morrowind's "Whoops, you didn't hit them this time, try again!", even though I smashed them in the face with my weapon, policy completely turned me off. These are all simply me problems, but Fallout 3 feels like a pretty decent game with its own bugs, but it's rare that I encounter them. The slow grind of getting started, getting established and finally getting things done was a bit of a hassle, but once I was there I started to have a pretty good time, again.

Now, here is the real meat and potatoes of this entry. When I was a child my class went to on a field trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. There were a lot of fun things to see and explore and learn, but one thing haunts me to this day. The fucking Woolly Mammoth! They have a life size Woolly Mammoth inside the museum, and when I went it was in a dimly lit corner. Imagine young me walking into a new room, filled with wonderment and happiness, only to be stopped in my tracks instantly when faced with a gigantic Woolly Mammoth recreation. It ruined the rest of my field trip, and like I said still haunts me to this day.

Those of you who have played Fallout 3 have already put the puzzle together and are probably laughing to themselves, while others are still wondering what I'm talking about. In Fallout 3 there is the Museum of History, and everything is fine as you enter through the lobby. Things change as soon as you move past the lobby and into the first display room where the skeletal remains of a T-Rex have come crashing to the floor, but on the other side of the room is a full size, upright Woolly Mammoth! Even in video game form it freaks me the hell out! Instantly I recall the feeling of my younger self and try to face my fear, but it still freaks me the hell out and I just leave the room.

Aside from past trauma, I can finally visit the Lincoln Memorial. This one doesn't freak me out because it's not like a 30 foot tall Abe Lincoln is going to try and make me his lunch! Well, a stuffed Woolly Mammoth wouldn't either, but I'm pretty sure my DNA is still at least 50% Neanderthal, so it makes sense to me. For some reason in my first playthrough I didn't get to this part of D.C. and I don't remember why. I explored a great deal of the wasteland, but for some reason never reached this part. Now that I'm established, roaming the wastelands freely and enjoying my time there, I think I'll go off and do some DLC stuff to mix it up. Fallout 3 is a great game, and I appreciate that Epic Games has given it away, at least a few different times, so that I could get back out there and relive the experience I enjoyed so much the first time around.

A Touch of OCD - Version 3 That Is

Way back in 2021 I built a Danelectro Cool Cat Drive clone, which itself is supposedly a clone of the Fulltone OCD. I actually really like the Cool Cat Drive clone that I built, but there was always a nagging inside about what an OCD clone would be like. Well, thanks to the folks at Tagboard Effects I decided to find out. The V3 seemed to be the most popular, so that's what I went with. I gathered all the parts and waiting for another sunny day. That day came, so I got outside and soldered it up.

The day actually started out with me finishing the Mockman. Yeah, yeah, I know. I only put it into the enclosure, but I didn't bother wiring it up when I wrote the entry a little while ago. Sorry if you feel like I fibbed to you, but if you've read any of these entries you'll know I hate wiring. Anyway, I finished up the Mockman, put together the OCD V3 and it was time to test them. As with every pedal I was worried it wouldn't work, but the OCD fired up immediately. I put a little gain into it and it sounded really good. I dimed the gain and it sounded even better! Fiddled with the tone control to make sure it works, and I flipped the switch to make sure it worked, which they both do. What a great circuit! How does it compare to the Danelectro clone? I'll test that later.

Now it was time to test the Mockman. Everything worked as expected with it too, thankfully. It had been so long since I played this circuit I forgot how much I liked this one too. The mods I made to it are well worth the added functionality, so I'm glad I did. It's all housed up and ready to rock. Which makes me feel bad for the two builds from 2022 that still need enclosures, but they'll get them at some point. As far as the future is concerned, I added a small build to the roster just because. I built a buffer before, but there seems to be a mystique about the Klon Buffer, so since it's such a tiny little build I figure I may as well build one, just to see what it's all about.

With the addition of the Klon buffer that brings the total builds left to seven. Oddly enough that's how many I've already built this year. So, that leaves me with a bit of an issue. I've built 86 circuits, I have seven left to build, that leaves me at a total of 93 builds. We can't have that shit! No no, we need a nice, rounded 100 builds total if we're going to stop building. But how am I going to add seven more builds to the list? I have no clue yet. I know I'm really close to 100 already, if I count all the Bazz Fuss circuits and the blend circuits I've built but not bothered to add to the built list. Regardless, I want to reach 100 circuits for myself, and then maybe I'll start building simple fuzz pedals to help fund putting all my circuits into enclosures. Either way, I know I have to hit 100 total, dated builds. That's my goal!

The Silly Way My Pedal Builds Got Started

As I was pacing this morning, waiting for my lunch to finish microwaving, I looked over at a tin of coffee and started to wonder what pedal I could stuff inside that tin. This reminded me that it was Christmas 2019 and an empty peanut tin that got this whole ball rolling. You know, me building pedal circuits. I had been wanting to build pedals since the mid-2000s. I know I've mentioned this before, but I came across the BYOC website and wanted to try building pedals, but for some reason the video game hobby won out and that's where my money and time were committed.

After Christmas 2019 I took the peanut tin and imagined building a fuzz circuit to fit inside, as the roundness of the tin, in a way, reminded me of a Fuzz Face. I remember drawing out the control placement on the bottom and puncturing it with my x-acto knife, taking extra care to not break the blade or puncture myself in the process. Although not perfect it did the trick, and to me it looked like a little Fuzz Face. I put potentiometers in the holes and knobs on top of them. I was proud of myself, because it felt like I had really done something. I basically just mutilated the bottom of a peanut tin and put potentiometers in it, that's really all I did.

I looked at that tin for a week or so and finally decided to throw together a fuzz circuit to put in it. I searched for the easiest fuzz to build, which turned out to be the Bazz Fuss, and on January 1st 2020 I slapped my very first circuit together. It was a massive learning experience as I used parts I had laying around, only to find out about pinouts! The transistor I originally used wasn't compatible with the layout, so I changed things around and eventually got sound out of it. That's where I learned about biasing, which I didn't do to my first fuzz circuit because I was too excited that it ended up working at all. It's still really poorly biased, but that's the way I'm keeping it.

As of right now I'm 85 circuits deep into this journey, give or take a few, and I'm still learning, but the peanut tin that started it all is long gone. I could replicate it with any old peanut tin, but I would rather its memory live on unsullied as the inspiration that finally pushed me over that edge to actually commit to building circuits. I've learned a lot, I've had a lot of fun, but I'm still not confident enough to build my own circuits from scratch. I've tried to come up with some ideas, but nothing ever felt right. Who knows, just like the peanut tin finally inspired me to build circuits, maybe something else will come along and inspire me to build my own circuit design. It could happen!

Happy Birthday to Myself!

Since today is my birthday, it will be a double feature today. I decided that today was a nice enough day to get outside and solder, so I did. I recently received a restock on some parts from Tayda, so almost every single one of the planned builds have everything they need to be completed. There is one outlier that needs a few parts, but other than that everything else I planned to build is ready to go.

I spent the morning debating what I wanted to build. Should it be the OCD clone? The Plimsoul clone? The Timmy clone? The Way Huge Overrated Special clone? Ah, that's the one! Initially I wanted to build something small, but I decided to knock the Overrated Special off the list because I've really been wanting this circuit done since I saw the layout months ago, and it's one of the bigger builds I have planned. With the decision made I grabbed my stuff and setup outside.

With 13 links to solder in, it felt like this circuit was going to take all day, and possibly more. Once the resistors started to go on everything came together pretty quickly. I really like my order of operation now, because it makes things feel less daunting as they're being put on the board. Once it was all said and done I soldered it in the little test box and tested it. Fucking - awesome! This circuit sounds so good! I believe it's meant to sound like a Dumble, but either way it's so good! The volume pot had a bit of a hiccup at first, but I think I've managed to work that out. Not sure if it's fixed or just waiting to screw up again next time I try to play it. Hey, I'm happy! It's not easy turning 41, but here we are.

Getting Old: A Gift to Myself

Everyone ages. It's a sad reality that sometimes sets in far too late for most of us to do anything about it. Some tend to go through what is called a Midlife Crisis, and to combat their internal struggle they compensate by making major changes in their lives. Whether it be a change in location, shift in life direction, or making a large purchase they would have otherwise never dared, most tend to go big with their life-altering outburst. As we age, most of us, tend to mature and grow. I've found myself looking back wondering where all those years have gone, sadly only to realize just that - those years are gone.

When I turned forty I realized I've been so wrapped up in being me, that I never took the time to get to know myself. While I understand what foods, music, movies, video games, hobbies, etc. that I enjoy, I never really got to meet myself and explore the depths of who I am as a person. Even though many people say forty is the new twenty, there's simply no telling how true that might be. So while I would love to purchase a genuine 1959 Gibson Les Paul, a Marshall stack and parade myself around doing Blues gigs at everyone's backyard party, I can't. That doesn't mean I can't do something for myself though.

Almost ten years ago I thought I was getting married. Although no date was set, the question was asked, the promise was made and dream was living in my consciousness every single day. As I truly believed this was happening I wanted to be the best possible me for her sake, so I tasked myself with reaching out to my ex-girlfriends and asking them what it was I did right, what I did wrong, and why they cared about me. This might sound like asking for trouble, but the answers I received back were quite comforting, and oddly enough they were mostly the same. I realized why someone could love me, what I did right, but also I now knew what I needed to change to be a better me for the woman who I truly hoped would forever be by my side.

Sadly, that choice wasn't up to me, and eventually that dream faded in her mind. I thought I was crushed then, but the process of aging never ceases. As the hopes and dreams continued to live in my head, I had to remind myself that just isn't happening. I'm getting older. I'm losing time. By now I thought all my dreams would have come true, and it would be nothing but happiness. Every day I am acutely aware that my existence is temporary, and I'm nowhere near where I want to be. So again I tasked myself with asking many of my friends who I was when they knew me.

I asked friends I hadn't spoken to in years. I tried to seek out as many as I possible could and asked them: "Who was I when you knew me?". Again I found many of the answers quite comforting, and many answered almost entirely the same. So as I face life each day, I realize one of two things. Either people are completely full of shit, or maybe, just maybe, there is a chance I am a special person to many people around me. The cynical side of me wants to believe people are merely answering in their best interests, saying what they think I want to hear. The other side of me doesn't believe people I've not spoken two in years would even bother to make up such lies, let alone say nearly identical things and express to me some of their favorite memories of us together.

I never knew what my legacy would be, but now, as I face the unknown, I realize I've made truly deep connections with people. I've fostered events throughout my life that have yielded life-long, positive memories for others. Deep down I feel all anyone truly wants is to be remembered. To know that we've done something good with our lives, and made things a bit more positive in our absence. In more recent times I thought perhaps my guitar pedal circuits would serve as a bit of a legacy, but my connections with the people around me are far more important. Again, I would love to own a 59 Les Paul and play every backyard party and blues festival that requires my services, but I can pretend to do that. I could never pretend to have truly made long lasting connections with the people around me. That had to happen for real, and apparently it has.

So maybe if you're feeling confused by life and all the constant shifts against what you feel is your best interests, or best attempts to right the ship, try this. Reach out to people you've not spoken to in years. Ask them who you were when they knew you. Express your favorite memories together and listen to theirs. Maybe even apologize to someone you've wronged and feel guilty about what you've done. Because just like I was promised we would be married by now, nothing would ever tear us apart; nothing is assured. Life has a funny way of making us feel like a singular speck of dust in a universe of dirt. If you ask, I'm sure you've made an indelible mark on someone's life somewhere. Listen, you do you, but it's worth a try.

"Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together." - Red Green

Box'an the Mockman!

I know the title is a bit of a stretch, but work with me here. Anyway, this is just a quick update that the ROG Mockman that I built, and modified finally has its forever enclosure. I really loved this circuit's distortion and I've been so busy working on building more circuits that I've totally neglected the fact there are a ton of builds that need enclosures, and every circuit I build will need an enclosure themselves. Enclosures are going to be the most expensive part of this endeavor, but I knew that going into it. Regardless I still have a few builds to get done this year.

Since this is the distortion section of the Tom Scholz Rockman, I decided to follow the same color scheme with my build. I'm glad this one is finally housed, because this was the last build from 2021 that needed an enclosure. I still have two circuits from 2022, not to mention all the ones I built last year. Out of all the circuits I built last year a few were amps, and a few others were already housed, but the large majority still need enclosures. I do plan to get the Faux Analog Echo housed up, because I like it so much, then I need to focus on getting enclosures for the homeless circuits from 2022.