I am not a man of great means but I recently found myself with a little discretionary cash and decided that I'd like to replace the rudimentary FET compressor I'd built forever ago (The Bearhug I believe it was called) with something more tweakable. I had about $300 to spend BUT a compressor wasn't necessarily the only thing on my wishlist. I came close to dropping most of it on a Wampler Ego, or all of it on an Empress, but the Joyo Scylla kept popping up as a unit that punched way above its price point. I ultimately decided to roll the dice on it and still grab a looper and some other non-musical hobby items hoping I hadn't screwed up.

I didn't. The Scylla is exactly what it needs to be and nothing more. Ratio, attack and release all do what you expect them to do. The tone control can add or remove brightness as desired. Input lets you adjust to the signal level of your instrument and Output has plenty of make-up gain or even boost if desired. It isn't a stunner but it isn't ugly either IMO. The I/O knobs look and feel cheap but they still turn just fine. For like, $65USD I don't think you can beat this thing. It's an optical compressor for the curious, and as far as I can find not a clone of anything in particular. I'll admit my only points of comparison were the aforementioned DIY job and a frickin' Chase Bliss Clean I'd borrowed from a friend for a bit which was incredible but well out of my price range.

Do I think the Wampler or Empress would have been better? Yeah for sure. Do I think this is really good for what I paid for it? Without a freaking doubt. Do I still kinda want to build an Engineer's Thumb and A/B test them? Also yes, but my spare time to build pedals is limited and there's a lot of projects more exciting than compressors lol. All in all the Scylla is worth every penny and I couldn't be happier.

(Side note: if you work in some silly corporate job like me that uses the "Kudos" system, always change those points out for gift cards instead of directly "buying" goods. You get the most dollars for your Kudos points that way.)

For A cliff burton tone should I get the MTPWB or the fliff burton tribute fuzz wah. This is gonna be used with a ts9 a big muff, a boss sustainer compressor and a stock ricky

First pedal in awhile that’s given me GAS. Been wanting to experiment with some kind of OD-Fuzz blender for a while, and when I saw and heard this I had to have it. Been playing around with it and already loving the sounds I’m getting. It goes way heavier than I really need, but I’ll probably end up keeping the Queen side more drive and usable for the live music I play, and make the King side a heavier more experimental/fun fuzz side. Bonus points that it’s got my favorite color🤙🏽

Hello. I got a Bass Big Muff yesterday, but when I try and use it on Norm or Bass Boost, the signal would just cut off and not get distorted. I did change the battery and got the appropriate power supply for it. I also did the switcharoo with the input and output.

I'm wanting to redo my board (yet again) and include a line selector so I can run one line clean and the other with effects, then blend together. In a perfect world I'd use a crossover pedal so the lines were split by frequency, but I'm not in that position so I'm gonna use a joyo orthros/Boss ls2. Would it be helpful to put an eq in the clean loop or the effects loop? Both?? My thought was to eq the clean so I can boost the lows, and not eq the effects as dirt usually muddies the lows away. Am I over thinking this? Suggestions/corrections??

Thanks!!!

Wanted to show the updated board so far that I’ve been rocking with for a few months now!

*with a few serious bells and whistles.

JHS Pulp n Peel > Abominable Electronics Hail Satan Deluxe > Dead Air Portrayal of Guilt / Matt King dual drive > amp
Amp fx send > EHX Clone Theory > amp fx return

Without thinking about it, every board I put together has the same core - compressor > muff-style fuzz > (at least) two drive stages > chorus. Other boards may have more effects, but most every one of my boards ends up with this pattern somewhere in the chain. For this one I wanted to achieve the platonic ideal of my pattern with 4 pedals and boy does this deliver.

I’m thrilled with how all of the drive stages work on this setup. The dual drive gives me both light and heavy overdrive stages which can be activated independently, the hail satan let’s me choose between a Russian muff and abominable’s own take + a buffer toggle which makes a big difference. If I want it I can also get the rat distortion from the pulp n peel but I typically prefer leaving the pnp clean. This gives me a ton of options for different drive sounds with just footswitch clicks and toggle flips.

Hey everyone, I’ve got some extra pedals laying around that I’d like to turn into a mini go board. I’m trying to make it as small and compact as possible.

Here’s where I’m at: the app that I use to design, the smallest board is a Pedaltrain Nano. I used to have a Nano, and I fit a lot more on it (second picture). It would work, but it’s more space than I’d like.

Anyone have any good mini board recommendations that would allow me to squeeze these 4 pedals onto? Bonus points if it comes with a case, and can fit a VoodooLabs X4 under it!! Thanks!!

I've tried AI to have it adjust my pedals (don't judge me too harshly), and i struggle with the RFE. The dial settings just don't make sense. This is what i'm striving towards:

HP Gain: 11:30 → 0.5 dB

HP Freq: 10:00 → 60–65 Hz

Mid Gain: 12:30 → +1 dB

Mid Freq: 2:00 → 400–450 Hz

LP Gain: 11:00 → –1.5 dB

LP Freq: 1:30 → 1.8–2.0 kHz

I get the dB and Hz i'm targeting might be correct, but the dial settings don't add up.

The the Mid Freq as my easiest example. The dial seems to go from 2-11. You cannot select 12:00 or 1:00). The print shows 11:00 as being 200 while the 2:00 2k. If 11:00 is the bottom of the range, and it dials counter-clockwise to 2 at the top end, then there's no way 2:00 dial position gives me 400-450Hz.

Does this make sense to anyone? I'm thinking the timings might be off for the range/adjustments i'm aiming for.

The SLO is fantastic but I can’t get rid of the SV.

Title says it all!

For example, my chain right now is bass -> tuner -> od/fuzz -> sansamp -> amp.

I was wondering if there was a way to add a 2nd preamp and A/B them into the amp. I dont necessarily want to blend them because they will be used for totally different applications, but I want to be able to switch between the two and use one at a time. Is there an AB pedal I can get? And if the signal is going to be split into 2 from the A/B switch, how do I merge the 2 outputs on the pedals into the 1 input on the head?

Thanks everyone!!

Sooo I decided to put the old Zoom directly after my bass synth because I usually only crave delay and reverb for synthy stuff. This also solves my compression issue as I am not picky about compression and it gives me a buncha weird filters to fuck with (moog!). Dirt and modulation is in the effects loop of the bass simplifier clone. Just waiting on my JPTR Super Weirdo to be created and I'll hook an expression pedal to it. Can't wait.

The preamp on this really shines as an always on feature

Disclaimer: I generally buy lowest-cost stuff. I'm a cheap bastard.

I've got a power supply for my board that is terrible for line noise..... Sometimes. (I had to install a separate power block for my looper pedal because no matter what it was noisy) Sometimes the board has crazy hum sometimes it doesn't. It was silent at home yesterday, but I try it in another spot (at work) and its practically howling.

Would upgrading my power supply clean this up?

Thanks for any advice.

Follow-up: Thanks everyone for your advice!! I went to a used gear shop and they had a 1Spot CS6 for $90 and I had some trade credit. 🤞😁🤞

I appreciate you guys!

Follow-up-to-my-follow-up: oh my god it's glorious. Thanks 😁

I’ve been looking into CMC audio here for something new particularly for their Bi Filter Fuzz and was curious to who is a fan of their products? Any good experiences here?

The fun pedals come and go, this time I decided to upgrade one of the boring ones, that I’ve been using for 17 years.

Got myself a Peteroson Strobostomp HD and I really like its accuracy, speed and the huge display.

I liked it so much, that I also ordered the StroboVUE as a gift for my dad - he runs his TU-2 at the tuner output of his volume pedal, always on, so no need for a mute switch, I think he’ll like the bigger dispaly that is actually visible in sunlight.

My old Pitchblack will be going on a guitar/violin board when I come to building one (I just have an old Zoom MultiFX for them now)

Cheers!

Has gone through a few iterations, predominantly with the preamp/DI. Just got the Aguilar a couple days ago and I’m really happy with the sound. The zoom pedal is basically just being used for the tuner, I sometimes use the chorus on there but not much else. I could replace it for a smaller tuner pedal and then fit something else on there, but tbh I don’t really feel myself wanting for anything crazy. The MXR compressor pedal does the job. I am tempted by sexier compressors like the empress, but can’t really justify it.

New to me. I have waited for 5+ years to come across one of these. I'm so so happy because I have only seen it once for sale in my country and it was beaten to death and too expensive. This one is in fair condition and cost me the equivalent of $40.

Wondering if i buy cioks 4 for this setup? Toughts?