Fireaxe - boss fa-1 preamp

[Thewintersoldier]

Greetings and salutations, this week I'm revisiting my second build of the fireaxe, a fantastic take on the boss fa-1 preamp. The first one I built some time in 2021 and I had someone reach out to me after posting it on IG and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Luckily this was a giveaway board and I had a second one and I had to build this up again.

The fa-1 was originally a preamp made with a belt clip and was made to stay on all the time. The edge is probably the main reason this became a wanted circuit. Regardless of the edge's use of the effect, it's fantastic and it's lack of conventional housing and switching is probably why it didn't catch on the first go round. The bass and treble EQ section is pretty powerful and can give some nice tone sculpting. The added subs switch is great for use on bass, the clipping switch and addition of the master volume knob allow you to use it as a low gain drive as well, which has a more open breakup less like a traditional soft clipping opamp overdrive. I really like to use this to give my blackface amp more of a box type chime.

A simple straightforward build. Matte black tayda enclosure with UV print. Beta Rey Bill with storm breaker in a monochromatic black and white color scheme. If you are looking for something a little different then this is something I would definitely check out as it can be used for multiple applications, sounds good on bass too, and low parts count.

[jessenator]

Smooth work as always, Chris!

This circuit is interesting. I've heard the old pros talk about it, but haven't heard it in use—well, isolated anyway. Sounds like a nice pre to have on a board. And maybe that's the magic, you don't notice it until it's not there.

Good to know about the bass. I know it's probably the point, but the reason I don't pick up my J-bass as much as my active one is the lack of a decent pre gain. Might be a good candidate with some simple, decent EQ.

[jimilee]

You're absolutely killing it.


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[WonkoTheSane]

Looks awesome and clean, nice work.

[Bio77]

Super clean, Chris    That white on black is badass. 

[gordo]

Crazy, I had the same thing happen.  I built this thing and the first person that saw it HAD to have it.  I don't think it even got more than a few weeks on my board.  Lovely job.  Damn I gotta get my photo skills together.