Benzin VH4 SMD

About The Pedal Creators

Everyone can build excellent boutique guitar pedals. Everything we do is to make that experience more accessible and user-friendlier. The Pedal Creators series are the best and easiest to build PCBs ever. Including most resistors and capacitors already soldered on board as SMD components, leaving the key values for you to experiment and craft your own tone. Now you can build a pedal you are proud of in less than an hour without any previous experience. What are you waiting for to become a Pedal Creator?

Project overview

Based on the formidable high-gain tone of the VH4 tube amplifier, the Benzin VH4 Pedal delivers all the high-intensity distortion you can handle. Specifically based on the VH4’s Mega channel, the VH4 Pedal starts with wide-ranging controls for Gain, Treble, Middle, and Bass. Essentially, the Benzin VH4 Pedal puts one of the most revered metal amp channels on your pedal board.

Introduction

Unlike traditional overdrive stomp boxes, the VH4 Pedal is a true preamp that delivers an authentic representation of its namesake – real Diezel tone – not emulated, not modeled, but sincerely reproduced. The entire signal architecture is faithful to the original: Bass, Mid, Treble, and variable Deep and Presence controls allow you to tailor the uniquely Diezel Overdrive character. The command found in the Gain control gives a player everything they will ever need with lower gain settings producing the classic Diezel sparkle and chime to saturated mid-gain sounds, to scorching Diezel leads by cranking it all the way up.
As close to the original VH4 preamp, the VH4 pedal can be used as either an overdrive or as a standalone preamp to feed into your amps power section. What players take away by going direct into the power amp is all the dynamic, unfiltered Diezel tone by simply plugging into your amplifier’s clean channel. Two outputs are provided, with the first intended to connect to the front of a guitar amplifier and the second allows for a connection to a line-level power amp or power section of your amp via the Effects Return.

Controls

For further analysis on this circuit take a look at this thread on Free Stomp Boxes Forum.

For any technical questions regarding this build don’t forget to check out our Facebook Group and our forum at Free Stomp Boxes.

Benzin VH4 – Building Docs

Benzin VH4 – Drilling template