Quote:
Originally Posted by czech-one-2
...the US Dream...pretty hot distortion pedal...sounds clearer and can get heavier, better for sure.
Kind of reminds me of the Barber Dirty Bomb that I used to have but never quite bonded with. This thing sounds like the Suhr Riot clips that I've heard but of course I've never owned one so cant accurately say its a clone...
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The Dirty Bomb is a Marshall Shredmaster Derivative, and the Riot is kind of a grafting of Marshall Guv'nor and Shredmaster, but with a single tone control like the Guv-derived Crunch Box.
The Shredmaster sounds "tight w/o being metal" (despite its name) because the signal is routed through "additional" op amp stages that are used primarily for signal recovery and EQ shaping. So for something with "that tight snap" and a low end that won't go to pot, it has the basic template that is good to build off of.
The Guv'nor never even had the gain that the Shredmaster did, but the LED clipping allows for that open and more airy "Marshall sound." The toggle on the Riot switches between shunted diode clippers that are 1N34A, 1N4148, or LED combinations, IIRC.
Even if someone doesn't play "proper metal," they may appreciate the Riot-type circuit if they use alternate or dropped tunings. I just don't personally like some of the "harmonic squeak" that some of those tight distortion design gets. I don't know how else to explain it other than Zakk Wylde gets that "squeak" whenever he does his note vibrato, and it isn't what I would really call a "metal sound," either.
BTW - someone mentioned the SMT dissing? The actual Riot is almost entirely SMT. Only stuff like the antiquated 1N34A's are thru-hole components!
I tell ya - it seems that ProCo and Marshall "wrote the book" when it comes to righteous distortion - so many of these distortion pedals are built off that foundation.
Edited to add - I had another gander at the Riot schematic, and it is more similar to the V1 Guv'nor than I remembered it being. Biggest differences are:
- "more TS'ish op amp" - a JRC4580 (the Crunch Box uses a LM833, which is also TS-ish)
- singular tone control - so no "insertion loss", and there is a unity gain output buffer - won't add more gonzo, but will bring the level back up to...unity!
- 3 different clipping diode settings:
- 4 germanium 1N34A's in a series/parallel setup
- 2 silicon 1N4148's in series, in parallel with a BLUE LED
- 2 red LED's (stock in the V1 Guv'nor)
So given the price, we now have a Guv'nor derivative that is cheaper than the Dano Daddy-O. Since it is tighter sounding, it should be more popular, much like the Crunch Box is.