Aion will have 25 new projects in 2018

[aion]

Looking forward to the option for board mounted relay bypass.

The standard soft-touch AMZ/Coda variety?

[bsoncini]

I might be in the minority here but I kinda prefer 1590b with side mount jacks. My feet are too big to have so many pedals tightly packed especially when I'm busy playing a show. (I hate 1590a even more)

Will they still fit in 1590b's? Especially now that I recently noticed the pcbs are available from musikding

[playpunk]

Looking forward to the option for board mounted relay bypass.

The standard soft-touch AMZ/Coda variety?

That would be seriously awesome. I just used relay bypass in a pedal for the first time and it rules. Silent, etc. It would increase reliability and would still be flexible for multi builds.

[aion]

I might be in the majority here but I kinda prefer 1590b with side mount jacks. My feet are too big to have so many pedals tightly packed especially when in busy playing a show. (I hate 1590a even more)

Will they still fit in 1590b's? Especially now that I recently noticed the pcbs are available from musikding

125B is larger than 1590B... are you thinking of the 1590G? That's the one that's smaller than the 1590B. These are all going to be slightly larger than the current 1590B ones, but with top mounted jacks they actually come out to be more space-efficient than the 1590B. For most of the projects in this new format, you could forego the battery and use side-mounted jacks though if that's your preference.

[bsoncini]

I might be in the majority here but I kinda prefer 1590b with side mount jacks. My feet are too big to have so many pedals tightly packed especially when in busy playing a show. (I hate 1590a even more)

Will they still fit in 1590b's? Especially now that I recently noticed the pcbs are available from musikding

125B is larger than 1590B... are you thinking of the 1590G? That's the one that's smaller than the 1590B. These are all going to be slightly larger than the current 1590B ones, but with top mounted jacks they actually come out to be more space-efficient than the 1590B. For most of the projects in this new format, you could forego the battery and use side-mounted jacks though if that's your preference.

Oops. Said majority meant minority. No I meant 1590b with side mounted jacks. As in the smaller one but with side mounted jacks they take up a bit more room than a 125b with top mounted jacks.  The enclosures are cheaper too.  Maybe im just too clumsy with too big of feet to precisely aim my feet while playing guitar with 15 tightly packed pedals. Looks good for an Instagram photo though.

But you are right. Most other pedals I've built that are made for top mounted jacks in 125b I've put side mounted jacks in.

It probably wouldn't be a problem if all the pedals I have built weren't side mount. But it's annoying hooking a side mount pedal to a top mounted one with the small jumpers. Not to mention most pedals in the history of pedals have side jacks except for recent boutique pedals.  So maybe it is just habit.

I know you don't do many modulation pedals bit I always wonder how the top mount guys run their wires around Lfo's and such When there isn't input/output wires on the top.

Not trying to criticize btw. Just feel the top mounted people are much more vocal.  Anyway dont wanna derail this. Back on topic. If you put out a pedal I want to build I will still build it.
Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to see what you come out with. 

[Space Monkey]

125b with top mount jacks is great. 

[somnif]

You absolute madman, you made an HM-2 board. Time to break out the 20$ Crate amp and shred....

[Zigcat]

He just released some of the 125b boards. They look cery nice and include a bypass breakoff board. Maybe I need an HM-2...

[Zigcat]

Oh yeah, there's a sale too.

[aion]

Yep, 20% off everything through the weekend, and I ended up getting 6 new ones done in time for the sale. I'm really proud of the HM-2, and the updated Refractor (Centaur) should turn some heads since it's the first DIY project to correctly implement the buffer <-> true bypass switch from the KTR. Enjoy

[oip]

just got the email last night, awesome stuff!  and yeah.. been waiting for the HM-2.  i have zero need for it but also a pressing need for it.  will grab the refractor as well i think.

[Rockhorst]

I'm really proud of the HM-2

If you want to boost your sales to crazy amounts...just mention David Gilmour using the pedal in the 80s and you can start living of the interest of your profits

(p.s. I send you two PMs a while ago)

[somnif]

The HM-2 is wonderfully awkward, I love the stupid thing.

Contemplating modifying one. The math puts the gyrator peaks at about 87 Hz, 959 Hz, and 1279 Hz. Those last two overlap one another quite a bit, and are tied together on the same "Hi" pot. Playing with the gyrator values to put the middle peak around 500hz (and adjusting the high band to around 1150 to cover the ground lost) would give one the ability to tame the ridiculous mid-scoop the pedal has.

One could also alter the Distortion pot scheme to a set up similar to that on the HM-3 (short pins 2-3) or even just change the values a little (like the FX56 did) to deal with the impedance ratios, just to give the pot some actual usefulness beyond "on" and "off".

Of course, these would be somewhat intelligent, which is the exact opposite of what the pedal is supposed to be...

[drog_trog]

i've never tried the HM-2,  i was going to order the grind customs Helvete project but never got around to it.

[somnif]

i've never tried the HM-2,  i was going to order the grind customs Helvete project but never got around to it.

Its fun, in its own way. Use something with mid-powered humbuckers (the Swedes these days swear by Gibsons but the pedal destroys all tonal definition so all you need is fairly quiet with decent output) and the cheapest amp you can lay hands on. Grow your hair out and shred like its 1990.

The album that made it famous used a dirt cheap Ibanez (X-series I think? Mid-80s explorer and flying V ~clones) with low tier EMGs, running into the HM-2 (or DS-1 for the middle channel) into a 40W Peavey 1x12 combo. Same sorta set-up any high school metal head can afford. Hell, even today 30 years after the fact you can find all the parts OTHER THAN THE HM-2 for next to nothing on Reverb or Ebay. Only the pedal has seen any sort of price inflation.

But the pedal was decided to be the Mojo factor, and as such has become a collectors item.

It is ridiculous and stupid, but can be fun to tool around with. Seeing people try to fit into a rig with 5k$ Gibsons and a wall of Marshals and getting that "magic" tone just makes me giggle. In all honesty its a "bad" design from the Boss engineers, and could have been EASILY improved to make it usable in more contexts, but there you go.