Looking back at 2013 and some custom builds.

Last year I started selling pedals on eBay to see how it is to sell pedals to people I don't know in person. It was a bit of a tryout to see if I would like it to build batches of the same pedal, or if I should just keep it as a hobby for myself and sometimes for friends.
I really enjoyed last year! I met really cool people, discoverd new bands that otherwise I would have never heard of and had really great feedbacks on the pedals that I have built. I have sold them mainly in Europe, but also a couple overseas. At the end of 2013 I have sold almost 50 pedals which is not a bad start.

So for this year I will continue with ElectricMonkeyFX and take it step by step a bit further. I'm planning on building a website, doing demo video's and make everything look a bit more professional in general. Still I haven't set up a "pedal line" yet, so I will just keep trying different pedals this year. I will continue building Big Muffs anyway because I still think everyone should own one.

In the beginning of this year I also did some custom builds. One was a Ampeg Scrambler clone with an added booster stage, volume control and jacks on the top. The other one was a Violet Ramshead Big Muff clone with a black/yellow theme.

OK that was it for now.... But I will write soon because I have finished a "new" pedal!

-Mark

CUSTOM BIG MUFF

CUSTOM AMPEG SCRAMBLER

The Eraser

A few months ago I was working on an Ampeg Scrambler clone and even built a couple. But since I'm always working on different projects at the the same time and enjoyed the long light days of the summer, I almost forgot about it. But now, with the winter coming and the days getting darker and darker again, I'm re-looking at some projects that I was working on and listen to them with a pair of "fresh" ears.

So what did I do with the Scrambler... well, not that much. I changed the second transistor by going through my tansistor collection to find the one I think sounds best in this circuit. It happened to be one of the really cool metal can ones :-) I also changed the bias a bit to give it slightly more sustain. Still, this is not a fuzz you should buy for endless sustain. That is all.
I also experimented with boosters at the end (a populair mod) and something to give it more drive in the beginning. But then I was thinking that most people already have pedals on their board to do that job for them, which is why I decided to keep it basic, just like the original.

This pedal sounds cool as a stand alone on guitar and bass, but unlike most other fuzz pedals, this one really sounds best when placed bit later in the effect chain. Drive it with a distortion, tubescreamer or whatever and you will hear the real potential of this pedal. Going from a straight on fuzz to weird octave up wild fuzz sounds.

I have built a couple of them and I will do a couple more. I'm going to sell them as auction on eBay so grab yourself one ;-)

Also, I'm working on something really cool (at least that is what I'm thinking) which is on my breadboard right now... almost finished.

Oh and of course some pictures.

-Mark

New member to the family.

I guess I'm not doing that good as a blogger... I really keep telling myself to post at least once a month, but I never take the time to sit back behind my computer and share with the outside world what I have been doing.

Anyway, there is a new member to the family. Next to "The Barbarian" I'm now also building "The Destroyer". This one is based on the Violet Ramshead Big Muff for as far I think it sounds or should sound. The problem is that EHX was not really consistent in using the same parts in the same unit... I haven't been able  to lay my hands on an original one yet, and then you still hope you have a good sounding one. So this one is based on and tuned like I think it should sound.

I also have bought a Univox Super Fuzz not long ago. So when I have a bit more time I will start cloning it and see what kind of tricks I can pull on it. My idea is to make a really versatile padal out of it. But again, first I need to find more time for it, so it will be something for the future;) I should have called my "company" Mudhoney since most of the times I'm building Big Muffs and Super Fuzzes...

-Mark

Discount

I'm starting to get more and more orders and sales via eBay. So many that I have a hard time to keep my pedals in stock... and I only have two models. For me it is just something I do in the evening and weekends to relax and feel good by knowing there are people using and enjoying something I have built. At the moment I don't even have time to work on some new projects which eventually could become new models.

Anyway, you can also order pedals direct from me by just dropping me an email at: electricmonkeyfx@gmail.com I can't promise the pedal will be in stock (I'm doing my best to) but I can tell you when it will be. You  pay me when the pedal is ready to ship and if you changed your mind, no problem I will sell it to someone else;) I even give a discount of 5 euro on the eBay price. Hey, if I don't have to pay my eBay fee I can give those 5 Euros back to you.

-Mark

New names.

I never have problems thinking about which pedal to build next. Searching on the internet for interesting schematics or finding interesting old Fuzz pedals on eBay inspire me for my next builds. If I find or build something I think more people should own, then I build a couple and sell them. If I don't like how they turned out, they end up in a drawer where most of the time they stay for good.

What I do have a problem with though is finding names for them...When we drive back home with my band or when we are on tour we have a few favorite subjects we like to talk about. Like music/bands, cartoons we used to watch, toys that we used to (or still) have and movies, in particular bad action and horror movies. During one of these conversations it came to me that I should inspire myself to the movies that I used to love when I was a kid. Guys like Schwarznegger, Stallone, van Damme and Bronson where my heroes.

I have now two pedals that I will keep building for a while. Of both of them I own the original, and since prices of vintage Fuzz pedals are going crazy, I feel like I have to build them so that everyone can afford one. I just change some small things that I think are missing or just make more sense to me in the sound or function.

The "Green Muffin" will now be called "The Barbarian" and the "Fuzz Machine" will now be called "The Fuzzinator".

-Mark

Pink-Eye

Normally I don't build the Evil-Eye on request... I like to keep it as my little project that I build as an eBay-only, but last week  I had a request for a pink version of the Evil-Eye and it was too tempting not to do it.
A while ago I had bought a huge stash of NOS parts and I have played with these components in the Evil Eye. Sometimes they are a bit brighter and sometimes a bit darker, just depending on my mood and whatever cool parts are coming out of the drawers ;)
On this project I have also been working on some "new" things that have been on my mind for a while.
First of all, I gave the circuit board a nice matching color with the outside... I know that a pedal is a box of which you don't see the inside, but for me it's always really important that everything looks nice and tight also where you probably will never take a look at. No wonder whenever I buy something new, the first thing I do is always screwing that something open to check out the inside. Second, I moved the DC input to the top which I will do with more models if I have enough space. Third, I have bought a really nice wire, a bit thicker than normal. Its thickness doesn't change anything as far as the sound is concerned, but for me it just makes things look a bit nicer:)
The guy who ordered the pink Evil Eye loved its looks and really digged the sound. In a nutshell, he is happy and that makes me happy too.

At the moment I'm still playing with the Bee Baa Fuzz circuit. I've stripped it down to just the Fuzz part and tried to make it sound even better. I didn't really like the Tone control in this unit, so I'm trying different ones to improve this circuit. The sound is already so huge and doomy that I'm not even sure if it is safe to use at loud levels;)
I hope I will be able to start building some prototypes of this unit real soon. In the mean time I can start thinking of a name and the looks, who knows maybe pink...

-Mark

 

Green Muffin

OK I haven't blogged anything for longer then I wanted. So what have I been doing? First of all I have been on tour with my band in the UK. We played some really cool shows, met really nice people and saw some cool bands. I've also learned that next time I have to bring some finished pedals with me on the road if I want to put up my sales a bit more;)

Then I have been working on some new projects. I had a great review on one of my Evil Eye pedals. The guy was about giving up on fuzz pedals for him but was curious about my version... Turned out that he loved it. So first thing I had to do after coming back home was building another one and putting it on ebay;)

I also got my hands on an original Tall Font Big Muff complete with the original wooden box, battery cover and most of its paint. So for me there was no choice but building another Big Muff clone to compare my version to the original. I added one of my favorite mods to it (well it's not mine but you know what I mean) by adding a mid knob to it. The sound with the mid knob pointing at the N of gain sounds really close to the original. But by boosting the mids you are now able to cut trough the band mix and being heard.

I always loved Big Muff's for their sound (and hated the mid dip) but when I learned about the circuit itself and all the mods you can do with them (I think I have tried them all) I loved it even more. So if you are looking for a certain Muff of any era with any mods that you think are needed for you, let me know.

Talking about Big Muff's there is one frustrating me to clone... The opamp version. I think I have a pretty good clone of it, but I also own an original. The sound of the original is so much richer but I can't figure out why. Every now and then I start working on it again, comparing every part and trying to capture that rich sound... Really, there is some magic in an original opamp Big Muff.

Next planned project is starting to play with the Bee Baa circuit:)

Anyway, I'm on vacation right now and will be for another week;) So if I'm slow in answering emails its because I'm relaxing somewhere without wifi. But I will be checking my inbox every now and then;)

-Mark