Build Your Own Clone Orange Distortion

This is an effects pedal kit which comes in the form of components with a PCB. The instructions are found online at www.buildyourownclone.com. It is a clone of the DS-1 distortion pedal from Boss using the Toshiba TA7136P chip found in the original 1980's DS-1 pedals. It also comes with an extra potentiometer which can be used to control the pre-gain boost stage.

It also comes with the parts to do lots of modifications including clipping diode modifications and changing the tonal characteristics.

UTILIZATION

The building of this pedal was quite simple as the BYOC instructions are well explained and the circuit board is well laid out. The pre-drilled case makes it very easy to build as it reduces the amount of off board wiring.

I find this pedal quite easy to set up to get a good sound out of it. My main problem with the utilization of this pedal is that some of the knobs have a limited range, I think this could be sorted out by experimenting with pots with different tapers and/or values.


SOUND QUALITY

I used this pedal with my Squier Duo Sonic guitar and Epiphone Valve Junior Amplifier and while it does sound much better than the stock DS-1 pedal it's still not amazing. I changed the clipping diodes to LEDs to provide a more middy distortion and the mod to reduce the shrill highs but I still found it quite harsh due to the treble frequencies.

I find the pre gain knob helps this pedal be a lot more versatile than the stock DS-1 pedal and the true bypass is more preferable to me as I'm not a fan of the tone coloration that the Boss version imparts on my tone.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall I think this is a good pedal and but it won't be a pedal that I keep for my personal pedal board. The LEDs for the clipping section allow this pedal to give a very good marshall like distortion.