Homebrew overdrive

Project overview

Inspired by JHS Moonshine v2. Non-transparent overdrive, featuring a clean blend that adds all the sparkle, breadth, clarity, and individual string definition you need. The Homebrew attempts to follow the traditional recipe of one of the most famous green overdrives out there but delivers much stronger results. This pedal features an internal charge pump that doubles your 9v input into 18v.

Introduction

Homebrew, Moonshine, Rakjia, call it as you, but you’d definitely enjoy getting drunk on this overdrive. When I read for the first time about this pedal, I felt it was indeed one of the very few TS-based pedals that were bringing something new on the table that the market was actually asking for.

JHS addressed many of the common complaints about the classic TS pedals, like the lack of clarity and loss of bass, which they solve through 2 creative add-ons, a clean blend, and a charge pump. The first one split the signal between overdriven and clean, keeping the bass response and clarity intact. Simultaneously, the charge pump boosts the volume while adding headroom by operating the pedal at 18v from a simple 9v power supply.

The Diodes toggle also adds versatility on the pedal, allowing you to switch between silicon diodes and red LEDs. In the original unit is a 2 positions SPDT, but we suggest you to try a 3 position SPDT, so you can have the “No diodes” option in the middle, giving you even more volume and clarity.

This pedal will be definitely that addition you were looking for on your board, great for stack before and after other drives or fuzzes, versatile enough for people who want to tickle their tube amp, metal players who want to tight up and boost their town, or even to use it as a standalone dumblesque overdrive.

Controls

• Drive
• Level
• Tone
• Blend
• Diode Toggle

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.

Homebrew – Building Docs
Homebrew – Drilling Template