Articles from December 2023

Aion FX - New Releases, 11/24/23

Eight brand-new traces and PCBs, plus an updated Honey Bee

Today we’re releasing eight (!) all-new traces with full tracing journals. Each of these is a never-before-seen schematic, and we have new PCBs available for each of them. We’ve also got an updated Honey Bee project with some …

Tracing Journal: Keeley Compressor Plus

The Keeley Compressor Plus was first released in 2017 as an update to their classic 4-knob compressor. Here’s a video demo from Andy Martin: Compared to the earlier version, the input gain (anti-clipping) control has been removed and …

Tracing Journal: Catalinbread Octapussy

The Catalinbread Octapussy was originally released in 2012. It was modeled after vintage transistor octave fuzzes like the Octavia. Here’s a demo: They compare it to the Octavia but claim it’s an original design. There are only a …

Tracing Journal: Xotic SL Drive

Today we’re releasing two new Xotic traces. The Xotic SL Drive is a miniature drive pedal that was released in the summer of 2013. It was designed to emulate the tone of an overdriven Marshall Super Lead (hence …

Tracing Journal: Xotic EP Booster V2

The second Xotic trace releasing today (alongside the SL Drive) is the EP Booster. It’s a fairly simple JFET booster modeled after the preamp of the Echoplex tape delay pedal. Here’s a demo video from Mike Hermans: The …

Tracing Journal: Amptweaker Tight Fuzz

The Amptweaker Tight Fuzz was first released in 2012, a year after the Tight Metal and two years after the Tight Drive. It was James Brown’s take on a classic transistor fuzz, but incorporating his characteristic design style …

Tracing Journal: Amptweaker Tight Drive

Next up we have the Amptweaker Tight Drive. This is the very first pedal from Amptweaker, the pedal company founded by amp guru James Brown, designer of the legendary Peavey 5150 amplifier among many others. Released in 2010, …

Tracing Journal: Catalinbread Silver Kiss Mk. 2

The Catalinbread Silver Kiss was first released in 2007. It’s a more traditional overdrive than their other offerings, but with the addition of an active 3-band EQ. Here’s a demo from Gearmanndude: The discussion at Freestompboxes first began …

Tracing Journal: Stamps Drive-O-Matic

Next on the bench is the Stamps Drive-O-Matic. Built by Robert Stamps of The Amp Shop in LA in the mid-1990s, it was a very early example of a boutique pedal, all hand-built in small quantities. Despite this, …

Tracing Journal: Revisiting the Original Honey Bee FSB Trace

While reviewing the Honey Bee Overdrive circuit for the updated Procyon V2, we spent some time digging to see if we could determine why there are so many different versions of the circuit—not just component variants, but actual …

Tracing Journal: Cornish GC-1

This is the third of three new Cornish traces we’re posting today alongside the NG-3 and P-2. The GC-1 was released in 2021 to celebrate Pete Cornish’s 45 years in the music gear industry. Here’s a demo of …

Tracing Journal: Cornish P-2

The second of three Cornish traces releasing today is the P-2. Here’s a demo of it in action: The P-2 was one of Pete Cornish’s earliest designs, dating back to 1981 when it was created as an updated …

Tracing Journal: Cornish NG-3

Today we’re releasing new traces of three Cornish pedals. First up is the NG-3, a variable-bias silicon fuzz that can go from class A (typical smooth fuzz tone) through class B (gated fuzz) to class C (“velcro” sound …

Six new projects: Mu-tron III, Nobels ODR-S, Slow Gear and more

We’ve got six brand-new projects releasing today! Lumitron – Mu-tron® III The very first commercial envelope filter effect, first released in 1972. View Project → Arcturus – Nobels ODR-S A variation of the more famous ODR-1 with a …