Train Crash 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?

The Pedal creators – key features:

• Easy to build, no previous experience required. It’s like Lego for musicians.
• Fast assembly, finish a pedal in less than an hour. Play your favorite record and enjoy the ride along.
• 100% mistake-proof. Even my grandma can build one while she cooks.
• Build your own boutique pedal. Experiment with different values and make the pedal you always dreamed of.
• Easy to scale. Turn your passion into a money-making machine.

Project overview

All aboard! Here comes the Train Crash!

Train Crash is here, and it is a magnificent Tranwreck-style overdrive that you can add to your signal chain without the hustle of carrying around another amp. This solid-state analog circuit will be the best friend with the volume control on your guitar, going from whispers to screaming leads and anything in between.

Introduction

Train Crash allows you to sculpt your tone with three standard knobs (VOLUME, HI-CUT, GAIN) and additional four switches (CAB, PRESENCE, VOICE, BRITE).

Like in your typical overdrive unit, you control the overall loudness with the VOLUME knob. The HI-CUT pot allows you to cut some high frequencies post-overdrive, which works great for amp tuning. The GAIN control lets you set the desired input gain of the pedal.

Now that we are done with the meat and potatoes, let’s get to the fun part – the switches. You get four of them. The first one is the CAB switch that enables you to choose from a flat response, a mild low-end boost (2×12″), or an extended low-end boost (4×12″). Next in the line is the PRESENCE control, which allows you to select one of three options for your post-overdrive high-frequency response – UP for maximum boost, MIDDLE gives a flat response, DOWN provides the darkest sound that pairs up great with bright sounding amps. After that comes the VOICE switch that lets you choose between traditional voicing (T position) and a more modern British type (M position).

Last but not least comes the 3-way BRITE switch, which controls the pre-overdrive high-frequency boost. The UP position is the maximum boost you can get, and it suits humbucker pickups the best. The MIDDLE position turns off this part of the circuit, leaving the response flat. The DOWN position boosts highs just a little bit, making it the best choice in a situation when you want to add only a tiny bit of sparkle to your tone.

Train Crash is your perfect solution if you are already in possession of an amp that you love but would like to easily add a Trainwreck-style overdrive to your arsenal.

Don’t be late; we are departing now!

Controls

• Gain
• Volume
• Hi-cut

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

Train Crash SMD – Building Docs

Train Crash SMD – Drilling template