OffsetGuitars.com

I clicked this thread genuinely expecting to find something like this (even though I've apparently already posted here before):



Monday morning, eh?

I love to give my sound a little kick with a clean boot. Sometimes a sneaker just won't cut it.

Of late, I'm really liking the solidgoldfx BC108 and BC183 I picked up a few weeks ago. They seem to paradoxically provide very nice and distinct tone shaping options and breakup enhancement while not stepping on the character of the guitar or amp too overtly.

I'd love to grab one of each of the 5 or 6 one knob boosts they've made based on the demos, they all seem like they'd provide really useful options for subtle but at the same time really transformational boost.

Sid Nitzerglobin wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:52 am

Of late, I'm really liking the solidgoldfx BC108 and BC183 I picked up a few weeks ago. They seem to paradoxically provide very nice and distinct tone shaping options and breakup enhancement while not stepping on the character of the guitar or amp too overtly.

I'd love to grab one of each of the 5 or 6 one knob boosts they've made based on the demos, they all seem like they'd provide really useful options for subtle but at the same time really transformational boost.

Yeah. It would be fun to have a few more to swap around.

Definitely a rabbit hole though.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 8:05 pm

Sid Nitzerglobin wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:52 am

Of late, I'm really liking the solidgoldfx BC108 and BC183 I picked up a few weeks ago. They seem to paradoxically provide very nice and distinct tone shaping options and breakup enhancement while not stepping on the character of the guitar or amp too overtly.

I'd love to grab one of each of the 5 or 6 one knob boosts they've made based on the demos, they all seem like they'd provide really useful options for subtle but at the same time really transformational boost.

Yeah. It would be fun to have a few more to swap around.

Definitely a rabbit hole though.

Totally true, aside from being able to adjust amplitude, they basically are what they are and I'm finding there are some combos of amps/guitars/pedals that really love one or the other of them and a few that don't really like either of them. That being said either of them seem to have been awesome sounding w/ I'm guessing 60-75% of the combos I've tried them out w/ so far.

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

The main beef I have with my Pigtronix Class A boost is the damn switch noise though. I wish I understood this a little better, because I don’t want to replace it with anything else unless I know for a fact it won’t have this problem. The boost sits between two buffered pedals (TU-2 and AD-80) and usually the pop gets less annoying after a few clicks of the footswitch, but it’s always there.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:04 am

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

You could just get the Channel 2 from Zvex.

fortytwo wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:46 am

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:04 am

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

You could just get the Channel 2 from Zvex.

I ended up getting a HBE Uno Mos (two knob version) today. I guess what I wasn't expecting is it's kinda noisy at extreme settings. Buzz with the gain cranked and hiss with the volume cranked. The sweet spot sonically for me seems to be about 10 o'clock on both, and there it's pretty quiet.

It's a little toothier/more rawk sounding than my Class A Boost though, and the switch is quieter.

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

I haven’t and I haven’t looked at the BYOC site in ages, but I think it’s actually based on the Frank (edit, it’s Jack) Orman MOSFET Boost, which, incidentally is where Zachary Vex got his whole idea of stacking MOSFET stages from. So, the SHO would actually be inspired by/loosely based on the MOSFET boost, not the other way around, as long as it doesn’t “crackle.”

Or, if you want to build a SHO clone and you don’t think “Crackle is OK,” then just find an Orman AMZ-MOSFET Boost schematic and build that instead!

fuzzjunkie wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:50 am

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

I haven’t and I haven’t looked at the BYOC site in ages, but I think it’s actually based on the Frank Orman MOSFET Boost, which, incidentally is where Zachary Vex got his whole idea of stacking MOSFET stages from. So, the SHO would actually be inspired by/loosely based on the MOSFET boost, not the other way around, as long as it doesn’t “crackle.”

Or, if you want to build a SHO clone and you don’t think “Crackle is OK,” then just find a Frank Orman MOSFET Boost schematic and build that instead!

Interesting. I didn't know the whole story clearly. Crackle is fine with me.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:07 pm

fuzzjunkie wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:50 am

Anybody play with the BYOC Mosfet Boost? From what I understand it’s a SHO with variable gain, which sounds pretty awesome.

I haven’t and I haven’t looked at the BYOC site in ages, but I think it’s actually based on the Frank Orman MOSFET Boost, which, incidentally is where Zachary Vex got his whole idea of stacking MOSFET stages from. So, the SHO would actually be inspired by/loosely based on the MOSFET boost, not the other way around, as long as it doesn’t “crackle.”

Or, if you want to build a SHO clone and you don’t think “Crackle is OK,” then just find a Frank Orman MOSFET Boost schematic and build that instead!

Interesting. I didn't know the whole story clearly. Crackle is fine with me.

I looked at the BYOC schematic and it is a SHO clone as it uses two 1n402 diodes where the Orman design uses a single zener diode, that and the biasing method is basically the only difference. It’s funny that rather then call it a SHO or Orman clone, they say it’s based on the same circuitry the SHO is based on, which is the Orman, Jack Orman though, not Frank like I posted earlier. The Catialinbread Super Chili Picoso is another AMZ MOSFET boost clone.

I'm still within 30 days on Uno Mas and I think it's going back. It's just too dammed noisy in my setup (something that wasn't apparent when trying it in the store). Each control introduces its own flavor of noise. Matching settings and bringing them up and down together is the only way to mitigate the noise and to set them differently doesn't result in sounds that are usable enough to pay the noise penalty.

Sigh.

Well, I think I may have found the right match, at least for now. I swapped the Pigtronix Class A Boost out for the Creation MK 4.23 that was on my other board and I’m liking the Creation a lot better. Lower noise floor, very slightly brighter, and more complex sounding. My one complaint is because there is a truly silly amount of boost available setting a level where I actually want it is pretty touchy.

I’ll probably move the Pigtronix to my bass board where the the switch noise won’t bother me since that boost is always on.

Now to fill that open spot...

Got to play with a Union Tube & Transitor More recently. I wanted to hate it, but honestly it sounded pretty good. What put me off of it was the ridiculous amount of gain. Who the fuck needs 40 dB of boost to push a tube amp? It makes setting a reasonable level at the lower end of the range really touchy. I have the exact same complaint about the Creation, but new it's half the price of the Union and comparable in quality. If I'm gonna spend $300 on a pedal it had better be perfect.

I was waffling about grabbing a Custom Audio Electronics MC401 for my second guitar board, but ended up finding a reasonable deal on a Heavy Electronics Ascend (V1). I’ll try that and the Pigtronix between my 2nd guitar and bass boards and see what works best where. Either way a smaller form factor boost on my bass board will free up room to cram in an overdrive which I’ve found myself wanting for a few songs.