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I have no idea if these pots are actually situated in the power amp section of the circuit

They are generally in the feedback loop of the power amp. Although, Mesa has been known to use a simple treble rolloff circuit and call it "presence".

Regardless, these little Peavey micro heads (VK, 6505, Classic) look great and certainly fill a niche. Congrats on your NAD!

The notch on the silkscreen on the board indicates pin 1. If you use a socket (and you should), the notch on the socket should match the notch on the silkscreen. Many pcbs will also use a square solder pad instead of round for pin 1.

I performed a mod to mine to bring it more in line with the Recto circuit. That mod is documented here. It helped tame the gain (still a lot available). No problem with stability or oscillation either.

If there is no notch on the chip, then the dot indicates pin 1.

I suppose you're aware of Bill's health issues. That's not an excuse for poor business practices, but just an acknowledgment of reality.

Regardless, the easiest mod is the TwinStack mod described on his site here. With the stock tonestack, you can never turn the bass off as the mid pot, even at full ccw, keeps plenty of bass intact. By adding the jumper, you convert the tonestack into a more typical BF style, and when you turn the bass full ccw and mids down, the bass is gone *poof*.

If you find, after the mod, the speaker is still too woolly, check out the WGS G12C or Eminence Legend 1275. Both very affordable.

The Kotelnikov is cool. It sort of reminds me of a GML compressor in that, even with moderate amounts of compression, it has me scratching my head, wondering "is this thing on?"

Let me add another freebie to the list: VladG's Limiter 6. Yep, it's got a lot of knobs and switches, but there are examples/tutorials on YT to help you grok it. Really amazing "mastering" plugin, all the more so as it's free.

If you're going to drop that much coin on an amp, by all means get the blues. They are loud, warm, sweet and perfect in the AC30. I think greenbacks do better in closed-back enclosures, but even there they still have a certain bark or rasp that you can't dial out. Just my .02, YMMV, etc....

You'll need a make-before-break switch or relay. That's not what we typically encounter in pedal building with the usual suppliers. You may have to look at Mouser, Digikey, Newark, Farnell, etc.

There's also the Ilitch back plate system. I believe Ilitch is the actual mfg of the Suhr product.

Mojotone has recently introduced their "Quiet Coil" strat pickups, which they claim greatly reduces noise without using a dummy coil. Maybe they're internally shielded, or split into two coils? There's also the Zexcoil pickups with individual coils per pole piece, but they look unusual and definitely non-vintage, if that matters.

With true bypass, you wouldn't need Q9 and Q4, the FET switching. Q8 (or Q10) would then be redundant and could be eliminated. Also, everything after the volume wiper could go, too. Then you're left with 4 FETs, 1 BJT, and one dual op-amp. So, yeah, it could be a simplified OD3.

Yeah, provides a path to ground for the displacement current through the coupling cap C8 on the positive cycle, so that the charge on the right side of the coupling cap stays near zero. On the negative cycle, it doesn't have to overcome a stored charge on C8.

Just wanted to give a heads up and nod to my buddy Curt who makes these mini, roller volume and expression pedals. I thought some of you guys might find them useful. No affiliation except friendship (no, I don't get a commission).

http://www.classicaudiofx.com/

A 100ka should help with the taper if you're willing to take another swing at it.

Yes, your x2u is a type of interface, and it doesn't need your soundcard for recording. Not sure how you are monitoring back though. It looks like there is a headphone jack on the x2u. Are you using that, or your soundcard for monitoring and playback?

SM57 would not be my first choice of mic I would use for acoustic guitar, unless you were going for a tough, strumming tone. I would look into a pencil condenser, probably one of the cheaper chinese units available like the CAD GXL1200. You'll get much more gain and clarity out of it (and probably hear a lot of sounds in your recording environment that you don't usually notice).

If you don't have an acoustically treated room, you can at least create a somewhat deadened recording zone by hanging up quilts or blankets either directly on the walls, or stretched over mic stands around the periphery. It's easier to add "room" to your sound via reverb plugins, than trying to take the "room" out of your recording.