For the Vox lover in all of us, Bearfoot FX has created the Emerald Green Distortion Machine- a pedal which captures the chimey, crunchy essence of the AC series amps and provides a faithful simulation of the Vox tone through a variety of amps. Used through a Vox, this pedal acts as a booster driver to really push your amp into sonic heaven. The EGDM Distortion and Voice controls are interactive and used together will take you from the low, clean tones of an AC all the way up to the screaming tone of a cranked Vox. The EGDM is extremely responsive to picking dynamics and your guitar’s volume knob.
Bearfoot FX is the brainchild of Bjorn Juhl of BJF Design and Donner Rusk of Donnerbox. Every pedal is handpainted and no two are exactly alike. The pedals now ship with a plain, unpainted bottom plate to help ensure the most secure contact with adhesive Velcro for use on pedalboards. Bearfoot FX pedals are handmade in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Cancel my plans... clear my calendar. Shit just got real.
ReplyDeleteFo realz!
DeleteI love that Petty demo! Perfect.
ReplyDeleteIvIark rules !! Thanks so much for the great stuff you do -
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming I could substitute another NPN germanium transistor with hfe > 80 for the 2n1308. Or is there something magical about the 2n1308, other than being what Bjorn used?
ReplyDeleteHey, IvIark, there seems to be a disagreement between the two board views as to the cut placements.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd re-copied over my last version, now done. It would have still worked though, I just repositioned some of the cuts
DeleteYou are THE MAN!
DeleteOne thing about this, socket the 22uF at the germ source. That value isn't positive and has been inferred from something similar. But may need tweaking.
DeleteHi Mark, Could you please specify which one of the elco's is the one that I should socket. I cannot locate the 'germ source'.?
ReplyDeleteI have ordered the parts and seperately ordered the 2n1308 from the UK. I hope it'll be in the Netherlands soon so I can start building!
It's the 22u attached to the emitter of Q2, but having checked a gut shot I'm fairly confident that 22u is correct
DeleteThanks. Really appreciate that you help everyone here and I'm enjoying your designs almost every time I'm playing!
ReplyDeleteMy board is ready except for the 2n1308 that I have to wait for to arrive. Is it correct that treble pot lug 3 is not used?
ReplyDeleteNo it's not used
DeleteThank! Waiting sucks!
DeleteMy 2n1308(and a spare) has arrived. Unfortunately I am not getting any working effect signal. I have checked all my cuts, wiring and knifed between my copper tracks and double checked my component placement. A also tried the spare 2n1308.
DeleteWhen I put in the 2n1308 in a certain way when I turn on the effect there is a good guitar sound but it is the same as the true bypass signal. When I put it in in another way I am getting a loud hum and storm like sounds and a very weak CLEAN guitar sound in the background.
Unfortunately I don't know what the exact pinout of my 2n1308 is so I just tried different ways of putting it in the socket.
I did notice that the middle pin of the 2n1308 appears to be directly connected to the metal can of the transistor while the two outer pins appear to be isolated from the metal can by some black substance. Maybe this helps determining the pinout? When I try the pin-out of the link below the above mentioned problem is not solved.
Deletehttp://ibm-1401.info/2N1308-.jpg
Not sure which make you have, but assuming the pin out is similar to the Texas Instruments 2N1304 I have (NPN), if you are looking at the underside of the transistor (i.e. with the pins upwards) there is a little tab to the bottom left, the pins form a triangle with the point at the top. The pins are (from the left) E B C with B being at the top of the triangle.
DeleteThanks dbat69. That would be the same pin-out as in the picture I linked in my previous post. That one doesn't work for me and when I turn the transistor 80 degrees that also does not work.
ReplyDeleteI meant 180 degrees, sorry.
ReplyDeleteMy 2n1308 are these:
ReplyDeletehttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160930847192&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123
I made a mistake after all. Checked again and 2 rows where mistakenly connected by excess solder that I somehow missed during knifing.
ReplyDeleteIt works fine now! To me it only sounds like a Vox with guitar volume rolled back, drive pot in the lower range and the volume on the effect turned up. But while not sounding like a Vox in other settings, it does sound good in those also.
The Voice function is very subtle by the way.
Guess this can be verified. Thanks!
A collection of my builds that I would like to share. Down on the upper right is the Emerald Green Distortion Machine:
ReplyDeletehttp://i61.tinypic.com/ncxdac.jpg
I meant 'down on the far right'..
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome collection, thanks for sharing the pic. Don't Hammond sell their products in Holland? :o)
DeleteAnd I didn't notice your verification, that's excellent. Top job buddy!
Thanks mate! I also use Hammonds haha. But I like to keep 'em cheap and I got most of the housings in the picture for under 3 Euro in second hand shops. Some are more but I got those to have something different.
ReplyDeleteI built this one today and it sounds great. the only error is that lug 1 & 3 on the voice control should be swapped, since it should have more low end when rolled CCW, plus the taper is much more even that way.
ReplyDeleteThanks John, lugs swapped
DeleteGreat pedal! I popped in an AC127 and it sounds awesome :)!
ReplyDeleteI love this one, and it sounds great with a bass too (and with no mods!).
ReplyDeletei'm using the specified 2N1308 (NOS TI with gold leads) and I couldn't be happier with it.
pics below:
http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/BJFE/EGDM-01.jpg
http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/BJFE/EGDM-02.jpg
Some 2N1308 are on their way, so i´ll give them a shot. I really like the BJF/MP stuff, and i built almost all of them..... :)
ReplyDeleteI built this pedal to the original specs and LOVE IT!! It is a pretty straight forward build and It sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI have a question, the original Emerald Green can take 9v to 18v. Can I plug a 18v into it without frying it? Is it buit on the exact same schematics?
ReplyDeleteThanks
No problem there. Please report back about the sound at 18V... :)
DeleteJust thought I'd add that yes it's no problem but only if your caps are all rated above 18v
ReplyDeleteIf you used 16v or lower caps then they will probably burn up
To be totally right, the only cap that shoulb be 25v rated is the 100uf one, all the rest can be 16 or even 10v with no problem.
DeleteThe 100uf cap is the only one that wilh have to manage 18volts, the other ones will deal with a way lower voltage.
J.
I own both the BJFe and BearFoot versions of the EGDM. There's a marked difference between them. Donner told me the BF uses a quieter germ tranny. There may be other differences, but I wouldn't know. Anyway, the BF version is indeed quieter. Both produce a high pitch hiss, but the BJFe also produces a considerable "rushing" noise in the mids that's not there in the BF. Also, the Voice control is much more effective on the BJFe. The BJFe sounds a bit more scooped in the mids with a bit more low end, while the BF is peakier in the mids. Through my AC15HW1X, and highly prefer the BJFe. It's my main dirt. NOTHING sounds like it, not even the BearFoot version.
ReplyDeleteI just finished this build and it is incredible! There isn't a bad setting on it and it just sounds great.
ReplyDeleteJFETs + germanium transistor + BJFE = greatness
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz176/Dub-T-123/58DC3C33-74A2-4C6F-9491-2741F0ACE400_zpsft9m87hn.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz176/Dub-T-123/89C5A16B-1E59-455F-B01C-2F277086EAB8_zpsuvf6fpop.jpg
Great looking build Mr T, thanks for the pics
DeleteThanks for the layout Mark. With only one link this is a joy to build
ReplyDeleteI've come to the same conclusion as Zick. With my guitar's volume rolled back a bit, the sound is pretty spot on to my ac30. Otherwise it sounds like a distortion pedal, but a really really fun distortion pedal!
Overall it's a super fantastic build. Highly recommended
And here's a little clip I recorded of this pedal
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/m2dJG7ZDARY
I had it turned up all the way so it's kindof making my iPhone mic go all squishy, but hey I just wanted to show you guys that it works :P Maybe I can trade this pedal in for some guitar lessons :0
Sounds great too! :o)
DeleteCan anyone link me to a schematic? (thought i'd asked before but I can't find my comment...)
ReplyDeleteI've been searching, but my google-fu must be weak
DeleteI have used one 2N2222A because I could not have thought 2N1308 and all the rest that I have tried had profit too much small, not if it sounds just as the original one but I like and sound very well, thank you lvlark!!
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteCan someone post his voltages together with the transistors used?
Thanks in advance.
Built this again today. I didn't like it the first time, and I think it shows how important the 2N5952s are - in my first build I couldn't find any so used 5457s. It sounded ok but not as wonderful as this new one does with 5952s. I wish 5952s were easier to find because they seem to be vital in some builds.
ReplyDeleteWith a Strat this pedal goes from almost clean to way dirtier than I need. So thanks for your layout - it works a treat.
If I want to use a silicon transistor instead of the germanium one. What would I have to modify?
ReplyDeleteIn the layout above, the only thing connected to Q3's gate is a 47nF cap. Shouldn't there be a resistor from the gate to ground? I see a 1M next to the 100uF cap, but it's on the wrong side of the 47nF capacitor to do Q3 any good. I can't believe that this is how Bjorn designed it.
ReplyDeleteIve seen another layout with a 470k from q3 gate to ground. I built this layout sans the gate resistor and it sounds okay. I csnt find a schematic to confirm. Did you build it? I may add a 470k later to compare...
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