VFE Pale Horse

[gordo]

Got the Pale Horse done and I'm in the process of etching a faceplate and I can box it up.  This one was a big challenge but only because I buggered up a few things going in.  My drill template must have shifted because I had the whole main board too low in the case and there isn't a lot of room between it and the switch board.  I spent some time with a round file to resolve that.

I had better luck with 7/16" holes for the jacks.  The jacks spec'd in the mouser BOM have a little lip around the outside plastic washer that sits proud of the case if you use anything smaller.  It also gives you a bit of wiggle room to stuff the board in.

I had a ton of power issues until I figured out that the .1uF PWR cap on the IC pin 8 side wasn't making a good connection.  I tore the crap out of the board trying to dig it back out.  It's all good but was a bugger getting under the pots to get at it.  I was getting a gated sputtering sound (yes I socketed the 5484) and with the drive below about 75% the pedal would go silent.

In the end the board looks like a deep fried turd but the pedal sounds REALLY nice.  I'm not a fan of the board mounted jacks and dc but the switching is excellent and it's pretty cool having a board that can be configured for any imaginable power situation.  You can set the input impedance to make the pedal much more responsive to guitar knobs if you play that way (I do), and the range of sounds from the tone controls is pretty impressive without being overly sensitive.  Nice sounds to be had at all gain ranges.

[thesmokingman]

as someone who's had to de-solder those jacks on an old school tremolo (with RoHS solder no less) to get at the pads for a defective relay, I definitely sympathize

[gordo]

And the Pale Horse.  I'm out of black pcb stock and only had 2 of the BLMS 1590B's so I think I'm over my black phase.  This features a completely trashed circuit board but it works and is stable so it's a keeper.  The faceplate saved my butt because the 1590 looks like swiss cheese underneath it.

[BrianS]

Another great looking etch. 

[Boba7]

That looks great!!

The Pale Horse is such a great overdrive.

[bluescage]

Great looking! Nice etch!

[wgc]

Love to see such a great looking build that almost went off the rails..!  nice stuff Gordo.

[tcpoint]

Really nice build.  I love the etch.