Well, this is what happens when I sit down with a cup of tea to try and relieve some stress.
After making the "Scotch tin distortion" a few weeks ago and selling it to donate the money to ASRC, I thought about trying to find some tins similar to that vintage one, but, I couldn't find any anywhere.
I'd found the Scotch Tape tin in a second hand shop and instantly thought it would make a cool pedal enclosure. Kinda like a Fuzz Face.
It was easy to work with, had built in battery access and was a great size for putting nearly any of my pedals in. Unfortunately, it was the only one there, or anywhere else that I could find.
I searched online for bigger tins but these smaller ones seemed to be the only ones available. These are like you see hair product, or shoe polish in and aren't big enough to fit most of my pedals in WITH a battery, which I don't normally use but figurered these are probably more "stand alone" pedals and should just have a battery.
I ordered a box of ten and when they turned up I put them aside for a time when I could sit down and just stare at them ...
Well, I was sitting at my bench staring and I thought I'd try and fit something into one of these small tins. After working out the battery was going to take up A LOT of the room, I realised I could only fit a one pot (knob) pedal into one of these, which meant, my boost.
I use this circuit for most of my boosts like the Tatanka, the Tone Boost and the Teenage Fanboost but each has different values and specs. I use a very similar "circuit" with my point to point boosts, but of course, without the PCB.
Once I'd worked out what was going to go in it, or in fact, what could go in it, it all came together very easily.
This is a full linear boost with lots of gain and biased to break up and add grit to your amps front end and will work with guitar or bass.
My idea was to keep one of these little pedals in your hardcase, or leads bag and if you get to a gig where you're borrowing gear, and need a little .... push, you could just put this on the floor and turn it on.
It's tiny enough to fit in your pocket (or the pocket of your softcase) and just use when/if you need it OR if you only have a little corner on your overcrowded pedal board, this might just fit in ?
The battery will last ages as it's a VERY low current draw circuit and the battery is easily changed in about 15 seconds as the bottom just screws off for access.
I've used recycled card to protect the circuit/signal from the battery and supported the stomp switch with a big steel washer, and kept it close to the edge, for maximum strength. The tin is thin and fairly flimsy in the centre, but quite strong on the edges where your foot will be pushing.
The knob just adds volume/gain. You plug it in and go.
Who knows. If people want these I can make 'em ? Maybe Tone can do some artwork and I'll do a small round plate for the top. If not, it took my mind off things for an hour and gave me a cool little toy to put in the shop for people to try.
