Hi,
been away quite a time and thought, it would be a good idea to read some good old stuff ;D
Meanwhile, I built 2 tube amps (an 18w TMB, a 5W Madamp-high-gain-diy-project) and some EVH Frankencaster clone and had the urgent need of buying an overdrive pedal, which was boutiue stuff / hand-built by a guy who died a few month ago (Famous amp builder Tube Thomsen, Germany, RIP).
He built some pretty awesome tube amps, and this pedal had been "created" for Marcus Deml, a german guitar slinger (his signature pedal).
The pedal itself sounded pretty neat, nice blue box with cut-out script, pretty well built.
Well, all was gone when I opened it up, to have a look inside. Some standard pcb, small wires, nothing special with it - hand-soldered....ok....
I took a closer look at the pcb and wondered, why there was something erased on it (look at the pic). 2 days later I went shopping on a german diy-website and found the pcb (100% proof). Where the original one had the web adress written on it, mine had been worked on. The parts were exactly what was offered as a diy-kit (ok, 4 parts / values had been changed). It really sucked, because I paid 200 euros (approx. $250) for it - btw, the whole diy-kit sells for about 30 bucks. Just a TS clone, btw.
The rsp was about $440!!!!
I was quite shocked, buyin some parts for less than 40 Euros and gain about 1000%! Ok, boutweek, it´s the usual way...
I placed some ebay auction and sold it without any loss - bought it on friday and was sold on sunday :o ! That´s why I´m happy to be back around here!
Here´s a pic!
(http://www.mattejat.de/inn.jpg)
So, if you were offered this pedal, tell me and I will sent you the bom.
After all, I will build this fx - but this time, myself.
Thx to all of you guys (and especially Brian) for all the stuff I learned, being around here ;)
Yup, that's a musikding board. Good job on unloading the pedal.
yeah musikding! So is it a fake, or was a renowned amp maker knocking out kit build pedals as boutiques?
George
I'm curious about that too. I've heard of people doing this, but this seems so blatant. To charge that much for it seems a crime... but if there is a market...
Quote from: hammerheadmusicman on March 22, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
yeah musikding! So is it a fake, or was a renowned amp maker knocking out kit build pedals as boutiques?
George
Just got a jolt. How many things do I pay waaaay too much for because I'm not in the know ???
There are worse ways to be ripped off. Look up Dan's Data review of the EMPower Modulator. (tl;dr? $295AUD extension cord.)
I don't think this is particularly uncommon in the Bootweak world. Certainly when it comes to ODs.
Quote from: hammerheadmusicman on March 22, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
yeah musikding! So is it a fake, or was a renowned amp maker knocking out kit build pedals as boutiques?
George
Unfortunately not a fake. It has been sold by a official seller of Tube Th. products, inside the original Box, signed / dated by Nils himself. He´s still got 2 of them left - now, I know why ;D
I think it´s the real deal, because the parts / values had been changed. The 1590bb was worked out accurate - so I think, that was the expensive part of the pedal. The soldering of the pots and the in and outs is also very sturdy and not cheap (look at the ground-bus).
here´s a pic of pedal and case...so, this is the real deal, imho.
(http://www.mattejat.de/ttscream.jpg)
Quote from: juansolo on March 23, 2013, 03:35:16 PM
I don't think this is particularly uncommon in the Bootweak world. Certainly when it comes to ODs.
Well this might be, but I´d really expected that the parts had been changed, to some quality stuff. This is just, what you can buy at musikding.de, nuthin changed.
I´m not trying to complain about the manufacturer, because he hand-built some holy-sh** amps, but some more enthusiasm (right word??) would have been nice.
regards
It's fair enough to build a TS derivative. Everyone has done it. But to build a kit from musikding and sell it for that much is absurd!
Out him on Freestompboxes, and thegearpage if you feel like going that far.
Building from kits is one step too far; in my mind it borders on fraud.
Quote from: midwayfair on March 23, 2013, 05:49:17 PM
Out him on Freestompboxes, and thegearpage if you feel like going that far.
Building from kits is one step too far; in my mind it borders on fraud.
Guy died though, so he won't be doing it anymore.
it is a step too far, but i think you should put it on the other forums, people deserve to know what's happen, it's almost a scam!
Quote from: small fish on March 23, 2013, 04:32:03 PM
Quote from: hammerheadmusicman on March 22, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
yeah musikding! So is it a fake, or was a renowned amp maker knocking out kit build pedals as boutiques?
George
Unfortunately not a fake. It has been sold by a official seller of Tube Th. products, inside the original Box, signed / dated by Nils himself. He´s still got 2 of them left - now, I know why ;D
I think it´s the real deal, because the parts / values had been changed. The 1590bb was worked out accurate - so I think, that was the expensive part of the pedal. The soldering of the pots and the in and outs is also very sturdy and not cheap (look at the ground-bus).
here´s a pic of pedal and case...so, this is the real deal, imho.
(http://www.mattejat.de/ttscream.jpg)
Quote from: juansolo on March 23, 2013, 03:35:16 PM
I don't think this is particularly uncommon in the Bootweak world. Certainly when it comes to ODs.
Well this might be, but I´d really expected that the parts had been changed, to some quality stuff. This is just, what you can buy at musikding.de, nuthin changed.
I´m not trying to complain about the manufacturer, because he hand-built some holy-sh** amps, but some more enthusiasm (right word??) would have been nice.
regards
Off topic I know, but I didnt want to start a separate thread to ask, but the ground bus you mention, is that the metal wire grounding the backs of the pots. If so, does it make much difference? Is it the same principle of using shielded cabling but applied to pots?
Quote from: jimilee on March 23, 2013, 06:20:36 PM
Quote from: midwayfair on March 23, 2013, 05:49:17 PM
Out him on Freestompboxes, and thegearpage if you feel like going that far.
Building from kits is one step too far; in my mind it borders on fraud.
Guy died though, so he won't be doing it anymore.
That´s my thought about it, after all....
I attached the schematic with the changed parts. Maybe someone´s interested in that.
(http://www.mattejat.de/schemtt.jpg)
Quote from: Hangingmonkey on March 23, 2013, 06:33:47 PM
Quote from: small fish on March 23, 2013, 04:32:03 PM
Quote from: hammerheadmusicman on March 22, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
yeah musikding! So is it a fake, or was a renowned amp maker knocking out kit build pedals as boutiques?
George
Unfortunately not a fake. It has been sold by a official seller of Tube Th. products, inside the original Box, signed / dated by Nils himself. He´s still got 2 of them left - now, I know why ;D
I think it´s the real deal, because the parts / values had been changed. The 1590bb was worked out accurate - so I think, that was the expensive part of the pedal. The soldering of the pots and the in and outs is also very sturdy and not cheap (look at the ground-bus).
here´s a pic of pedal and case...so, this is the real deal, imho.
(http://www.mattejat.de/ttscream.jpg)
Quote from: juansolo on March 23, 2013, 03:35:16 PM
I don't think this is particularly uncommon in the Bootweak world. Certainly when it comes to ODs.
Well this might be, but I´d really expected that the parts had been changed, to some quality stuff. This is just, what you can buy at musikding.de, nuthin changed.
I´m not trying to complain about the manufacturer, because he hand-built some holy-sh** amps, but some more enthusiasm (right word??) would have been nice.
regards
Off topic I know, but I didnt want to start a separate thread to ask, but the ground bus you mention, is that the metal wire grounding the backs of the pots. If so, does it make much difference? Is it the same principle of using shielded cabling but applied to pots?
That´s just the way you´ll wire pots inside a tube amp. So it´s kind of a proof to me, that this has been built by someone, who wanted to do a prof job. The in / out jacks are plastic, the 1590bb was laquered inside, so that will be the best way to keep the things grounded.
But no, I would use shielded cable - where it belongs. The ground bus is used, where you want to connect several points to one star ground (ok, instead of a star ground). As said, usually done in tube amps.
Not all amps are wired that way. You can't do it if you use stainless steel backed pots, for one, plus other grounding schemes may be used (star grounding, buss ground on the board like Ceriatone, larry style grounding from the Metroamp forums...)
For me I don't really have a problem if someone is selling built kits. I've seen plenty of people on forums ask, can someone build this echo base for me, just as an example.
Where in think it crosses the line is erasing the name of the board manufacturer, an passing it off as something original to up the price. That is just selling bull IMHO.
I mean just say it's a tube screamer with tweaked values an great build quality. The dudes name along would probably up the price enough.
Quote from: jimilee on March 23, 2013, 06:20:36 PM
Quote from: midwayfair on March 23, 2013, 05:49:17 PM
Out him on Freestompboxes, and thegearpage if you feel like going that far.
Building from kits is one step too far; in my mind it borders on fraud.
Guy died though, so he won't be doing it anymore.
Probably died while laughing... all the way to the bank. 8)
Quote from: aballen on March 24, 2013, 02:06:49 AM
For me I don't really have a problem if someone is selling built kits. I've seen plenty of people on forums ask, can someone build this echo base for me, just as an example.
Where in think it crosses the line is erasing the name of the board manufacturer, an passing it off as something original to up the price. That is just selling bull IMHO.
Yep, that´s it. as long as you "build up" some fx and not consider them as your own, it´s ok. I´d compare it to the often sold so called "Keeley mods". They´re sold as "style of Keeley" or "built after Keeley", but his name is still mentioned (of course, not in every shop). Is this case, the pedal seems invented and / or designed by the guy himself (to be honest: maybe some thick gooping would have helped to cover the pcb), which is not true. That was dissapointing to me (and of course the money spent...).
so, if you see me in the shop next time, opening the pedals with my Leatherman-tool, it´s just to see...ehem...where the battery is connected ;D