Ultimate "dirt pedal" kit from BYOC??

[duhvoodooman]

It just might be! BYOC's new "Crown Jewel" kit goes on sale today, and it is quite the piece of work. I built a beta kit (same as the commercially available version) a couple of weeks ago, and this is the most versatile boost-overdrive-distortion pedal I've ever played through. The range of tones on tap through this thing is truly amazing. It also includes a very cool new feature for BYOC kits--six different modular boost circuits that simply plug into a couple of sockets on the main PCB. The kit comes with your choice of one boost module, and the others are available for $10 each (except the treble boost at $20 due to the costly germanium transistor in that circuit). Rather than trying to describe all of the features here, refer to the BYOC Crown Jewel product page for a full run-down. Available in 8 snazzy colors, including my personal favorite, the purple one shown below. Kit cost, including a painted & silkscreened enclosure, is $140. And if any of you are interested in getting one but you aren't a DIY'er.....well, you know who to send a PM to!

 

[duhvoodooman]

Here are a couple of videos from BYOC showing the Crown Jewel in action. The first compares the CJ to ten different "famous" dirt pedals and shows how it can be dialed in to closely achieve their sounds. The second demonstrates the various boost modules, both on their own and in combination with the the pedal's drive circuit:

 

[tjcurtin1]

Sounds like they should have called this 'The Kitchen Sink' pedal...

 

[Jimi75]

That pedal sounds pretty good...nice crunchy tones and transparency.

 

[piebaldpython]

Wow.......what a pedal. Can you explain the 3-way Mid-Q switch a bit and how it helps your tone? Did you find it useful or just fluff?

 

[duhvoodooman]

Can you explain the 3-way Mid-Q switch a bit and how it helps your tone? Did you find it useful or just fluff?

Sure can, and there's no "fluff" about it. AAMOF, it's one of my favorite features of the pedal!

The mids control is parametric--it uses the M.Freq pot to set the frequency center-point for the mids control (gain) pot, and the Mid Q toggle switch to select the width of the frequency band (narrow, wide, or in-between) that the mids control pot affects. If you've never used a pedal with parametric frequency controls, this may be kind of hard to visualize, but it gives you some really cool tone-shaping flexibility that standard tone stacks just can't do. Say for instance, your guitar's overdriven tone is competing in the mid-range of the mix with some other instrument; with a standard mids control, you could make your mids louder, but the interference with the other instrument is still there. Using a parametric control, you could shift the frequency center-point of the mids control up or down to give a better separation of the two tones. You could also play with the effective width (Q) of the control pot to see if you can bring the tone "forward" some more. Conversely, you could also use the control to roll the mids off in a particular frequency range to give a desired "scooped" tone.

You might find this YouTube video useful in understanding parametric EQ concepts:

 

[piebaldpython]

Thanks for the info......and YouTube explanation. haha Sent you a PM.

 

[piebaldpython]

The Crown Jewel has a lot of knobs on it......full EQ plus the para-metric MIDS EQ. So the thought occurs.....could the Crown Jewel be used as a pre-amp if one just had a power amp and cab??

 

[duhvoodooman]

The Crown Jewel has a lot of knobs on it......full EQ plus the para-metric MIDS EQ. So the thought occurs.....could the Crown Jewel be used as a pre-amp if one just had a power amp and cab??

I can't see why not, but I ran it by Keith at BYOC for his input. His comment:

"Yeah, sure. As long as the Pre amp input of the power amp is ok with an unbalanced signal with an impedance of <100k Ohms. Which it probably is. I can't promise that it will be a good pre amp. I don't see why it wouldn't, but he can certainly try it out. It's not going to blow anything up."

 

[piebaldpython]

Hi Guys......I went and ordered a BYOC Crown Jewel built by DVM. A quick review......Very, very nice pedal. Kind of a Swiss Army Knife pedal in that there are lots of combinations and so it's just a question of finding what suits your tone. Am very happy that I got the Electra booster.....a boost unlike anything I have in my arsenal, so that was fun. In point of fact, the Electra (a mildly gritty boost) really shines when you use it with some mild clipping. Back to the Swiss Army Knife comment.......it takes the place of probably 3-4 pedals and so if one is cramped pedal-board wise, it makes a great addition. The EQ is excellent and the Mids Q helps to get you into the mix if you are having difficulty in that area. Will see how it plays with the Mad Professor Simble Drive. Haven't tried it as a pre-amp yet, just enjoying a fabulous new pedal.

 

[duhvoodooman]

Glad to hear you're happy with the pedal, Steve--it is indeed a "Swiss Army Knife" for boosted, overdriven and distorted tones. BYOC has hit it out of the park with this one, no exaggeration! Keith doesn't call it his "Crown Jewel" for nothing!

If anybody else is interested, my offer still stands: an expertly built & thoroughly tested KILLER pedal for just the kit price of $140, plus shipping costs. That includes one boost module, but you can add others for more tonal variety for $10 each ($20 for the treble boost module because of the expensive NOS germanium transistor it uses). You can think of it this way: you pay for the kit cost & shipping, and I build it for you FOR FREE!! Where else are ya gonna get a deal like that???

P.S. Keith has 5 more boost modules in the works, just announced on the BYOC forum today: Green Ringer style octave-up, Orange Squeezer-based compressor, Modified Fuzz Face a la the Thomas Organ Fuzz Wah, Soft Clipper (clipping section of the Tube Screamer), and Hard Clipper (clipping section of the Klon Centaur). So soon you will have ELEVEN different choices for boost modules to install in the Crown Jewel's boost stage! This pedal just keeps getting better.... :rockya

 

[duhvoodooman]

The 5 additional boost modules were announced today, though we really need to drop the "boost" from the description and just call them modules. Here's Keith's statement from the announcement e-mail:

I know we labelled the second channel on the Crown Jewel as a "boost", but boosts aren't the only thing you can stick in there. Introducing 5 new modules for the Crown Jewel boost channel:

• The Fuzz Module - based on the fuzz circuit from the Thomas Organ Fuzz Wah which was just a modified silicon Fuzz Face, but with more aggression and sustain than your typical Fuzz Face. Internal trimmer bias. Use your guitar's volume to control the fuzz level.
• The Mimosa Module - based on the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer. You've all probably built one of these as a standalone unit. Now you can have an OD/Compressor combo
• The Soft Clipper Overdrive Module - just the overdrive section from the Tubescreamer. No tone control. No input or output buffers. Just the Silicon diode soft clipping section of the circuit. Internal trimmer allows you to set the maximum distortion. Use your guitar's volume to control the amount of drive. Use it as a boost or a second stackable overdrive.
• The Octave Up Module - based on the Dan Armstrong Green Ringer. A dirty octave up that excels at pairing with overdrives, distortions and fuzzes. Dial in shockingly convincing Superfuzz sounds with this module!
• The Hard Clipper Overdrive Module - just the overdrive section from the Klon Centaur. No tone control. No buffers or dry blend. Just the Germanium diode hard clipping section of the circuit. Internal trimmer allows you to set the maximum distortion. Use your guitar's volume to control the amount of drive. Use it as a boost or a second stackable overdrive.

The Crown Jewel just keeps getting better. Want a great gain pedal with an on-board compressor? Or a fuzz to stack with the overdrive stage? Or an octave-up by itself or in combination with some dirt? They're all possible now....

They're all just $10 and you can see 'em here: https://buildyourownclone.com/collections/crown-jewel

 

[piebaldpython]

The Crown Jewel gets reviewed by Premier Guitar mag and is a WINNER! Gotta say that I love mine.
https://www.premierguitar.com/artic...&utm_campaign=PGN - 080517&utm_term=PG Weekly