NPD x2: compressor and distortion (can anyone ID these?)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:32 pm
A buddy at work gave me two pedals he described simply as 'green lumps' and didn't know what they did or even if they worked properly. They certainly are green lumps...the 'military surplus' look to the enclosures is quite cool actually:
I genuinely have no idea what these things are, beyond them being DIY kits. They DO work, although because the 9V sockets are so deeply recessed I've had to use batteries.
The single knob box is I think a compressor because there's a huge volume jump and the pick attack is all spongy. The innards look like this:
I think one of those components is a red LED, but it doesn't seem to light up!
Who knows.
The other is a distortion (despite the enclosure labelling the gain knob as 'depth'). It's very splatty and farty, with another huge volume jump. TBH it sounds like shit, but with the one-knob compressor in front of it the fartiness disappears and it sounds pretty decent. This is what the inside looks like:
The chip is labelled UA741TC. Going on that, a quick Google suggests that it's a clone of either a Distortion+ or a DOD 250 overdrive...I'm leaning towards the latter but I'm no expert when it comes to PCB layouts. Any guesses there?
So yeah. Two semi-useful pedals that sound almost usable if used together. And as long as I have a couple of working 9V batteries lying around. I might be able to get a couple of clips recorded later if anyone's interested.
I genuinely have no idea what these things are, beyond them being DIY kits. They DO work, although because the 9V sockets are so deeply recessed I've had to use batteries.
The single knob box is I think a compressor because there's a huge volume jump and the pick attack is all spongy. The innards look like this:I think one of those components is a red LED, but it doesn't seem to light up!
Who knows.The other is a distortion (despite the enclosure labelling the gain knob as 'depth'). It's very splatty and farty, with another huge volume jump. TBH it sounds like shit, but with the one-knob compressor in front of it the fartiness disappears and it sounds pretty decent. This is what the inside looks like:
The chip is labelled UA741TC. Going on that, a quick Google suggests that it's a clone of either a Distortion+ or a DOD 250 overdrive...I'm leaning towards the latter but I'm no expert when it comes to PCB layouts. Any guesses there?
So yeah. Two semi-useful pedals that sound almost usable if used together. And as long as I have a couple of working 9V batteries lying around. I might be able to get a couple of clips recorded later if anyone's interested.