BYOC - Swollen Pickle Clone - with Samples

[grygrx]

Swollen Pickle (pedal of legend):


BYOC Swollen Pickle Clone:



Controls:

• Left - Volume
• Top - Rotary Tone Stack Selector
• Bottom - Sustain
• Right - Filter/Tone

Details from Ebay:

"Start with a spot on swollen pickle clone with a matched quad transistor array, true bypass, LED, 2.5mm negative tip DC adaptor jack, and Neutrik jacks in a small 125b size enclosure. Then add a 4-way rotary switch to select the voicing of the tone knob.

1. Position 1: Mid Scoop (stock) You know it. You love it.
2. Position 2: Flat Mids A more natural voicing
3. Position 3: Mid Hump Standout and be heard.
4. Position 4: Tone Knob Bypass Pure unadulterated tone. Takes the tone knob out of the signal path.

The whole spectrum is covered here. Each position get progressively louder simply because less signal is getting cut. Position 4 (tone knob bypass) adds a huge volume boost because you are lifting a passive tone stack."

Views and Considerations:

My perspective comes from Bass. I dabble with the guitar, but mostly I'm looking for a machine that will perform on the low end of the specturm. Whenever possible, the low B will make an appearance

I've never used a Way Huge Swollen Pickle, despite my general obsession. I've heard it live a few times, and the it really helped spawn my love of fuzz, and effects in general. I've DEFINTELY spent enough cash on fuzz pedals to buy a couple of them even at current market prices. I went through a fuzz binge (pic) a while back and walked out with an EHX Little Big Muff. This pedal was eventually knocked off the throne by my current king of fuzz which was my first Swollen Pickle clone, the badly named "Black Pearl Distortion"as made by one "Mr Sage". He has made a few small runs of these pedals over the last few years, and I have one in a fancy special edition box (pic) .

While surfing ebay (always a hazardous affair for me), I stumbled upon an auction for a BYOC version of the Pickle apparently made by Mr. BYOC himself. Fortune smiled and snapped it up for a more than fair price.

External Examination and Evaluation Critera:

First thing to notice is the smaller enclosure than used by the original Swollen Pickle and the additional rotary switch. The switch is what tempted me to explore another clone pedal, because it does have (as it's forfather the Big Muff also has... a significant mid scoop) which can sink you in a mix. Pedal sounds great in recording, doesn't aways cut the mustard live. Frankly a mid-switch option has been tempting me towards another clone called the Wren and Cuff Pickle Pie... but as fate has dropped this pedal to my doorstep.

Since I've not got a Pickle to compare to, I will make all references comparing the BYOC to the Black Pearl, which rumor has it is pretty damn close to the Swollen Pickle. I've covered some of this in a previous review of the BP.

"I was quite pleased with the final result, and sent it to a Way Huge aficionado for some serious A/B testing. He put my prototype up next to (pic)both of his Swollen Pickles and told me that it absolutely nailed that Pickled sound. It's always great to have an expert's opinion when you can't do the A/B testing yourself" (Old Harmony Central thread on the topic )

Thoughts and Samples:

Each of these first samples have three 'rounds'.

• The first round is a Little Big Muff (LBM), trying to get as close I can to the Pickle sound I selected.
• The second round is the Black Pearl Distortion (BPD)
• The third round is the BYOC Pickle, attempting to get the same sound as the BPD

Three rounds compare 'Low'

Three rounds compare 'High'

I was able to dial in pretty close to exact (if not actually perfect) sounds from both the BPD and the BYOC Pickle, with the LBM just wandering around alone as a point of reference and I wasn't able to find a close sound so I did the best I could. The difficulty in achieving equality between the two Swollen Pickle clones is more of knob manipulation than anything else. I find the BPD to be fair easier to dial in with it's big friendly knobs. One of the knobs (sustain) on the BYOC Pickle is actually reversed from the BPD which made trying to match sounds all the more problemtic.

Here is a couple of samples of 'standard pickle' sounds playing a riff. I cranked the knobs one way, then the opposite.

Lastly we have a me noodling around while messing with knobs, switching the tone stack, and generally trying to sound like ass (or just amazing) and milk a little knowledge out of her. Some of these lines are actually cliping on the top end pretty bad while recording.

Conclusion:

Very nice pedal, sounds like my other pickle clone but with some added flexibily. If my wife won't cry herself to sleep without the BPD (since I always get rid of the pretty things she likes), I'll likely ditch it and keep the BYOC. I've already talked to an artist friend of mine about doing up a box for the bare metal BYOC to appease the fairer sex in my home. My only concern is that is seems just a little more difficult to dial-in the BYOC compared to the BPD, but the same range of sounds is available in the stock 'mid-scoop' mode. Position 2 - 'Flat Mids' seems like a great band setting, while mid-hump and bypass modes just offer more, including some unusable, settings. The sustain knob in paticular can be used to find "dead spots" (at least on bass) in some of the new modes, but more options are almost always good, even when some of those options suck.



If there are any questions I can answer or the desire for specific additional samples, let me know.

[grygrx]

My puppy 'pickle' looking pretty damn swollen after learning the hard way to leave the sleeping pitbull's ears alone.

[Adam Barkley]

Sounds very similar to my Pickle Pie.

[eshears]

So now the question remain, when is BYOC going to add this to their lineup? Or build just one more, you know, for me...

[grygrx]

Originally Posted by eshears

So now the question remain, when is BYOC going to add this to their lineup? Or build just one more, you know, for me...

I sent the seller a question on that exact subject.

[Stu L.]

It's just a modded BYOC Large Beaver with the new rotary tone option. Look for it sometime this month. I know I am.

[grygrx]

Originally Posted by Stu L.

It's just a modded BYOC Large Beaver with the new rotary tone option. Look for it sometime this month. I know I am.

You sure?

The Large Beaver doesn't really do the Swollen Pickle thing does it?
He also had two others up for sale when I purchased it..

Ram's Head Era Big Muff Clone w/ 4-way Voice switch

Swollen Pickle Clone w/ 4-way Voice switch

and there was a Triangle Era Big Muff Clone as well.. (can't find the link) (which is what the Beaver is normally advertised as.

There must be some other difference.

[SnakeAnthony]

Originally Posted by grygrx

My puppy 'pickle' looking pretty damn swollen after learning the hard way to leave the sleeping pitbull's ears alone.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww......

[Stu L.]

Originally Posted by grygrx

You sure?

The Large Beaver doesn't really do the Swollen Pickle thing does it?
He also had two others up for sale when I purchased it..

Ram's Head Era Big Muff Clone w/ 4-way Voice switch

Swollen Pickle Clone w/ 4-way Voice switch

and there was a Triangle Era Big Muff Clone as well.. (can't find the link) (which is what the Beaver is normally advertised as.

There must be some other difference.

I've been reading on it, and the Clone site has clipping mods to make it a Pickle. I've yet to do it, but I think a Beaver will be on my Christmas list in the event that it comes available in time . Join up and ask some questions over at BYOC, those guys are almost as cool as us

[eshears]

Originally Posted by grygrx

I sent the seller a question on that exact subject.

So, I e-mailed the seller as well. He said that kits for this pedal will be available on BYOC soon!

[squarewave]

Thanks for the review!

[Stu L.]

E, they're supposed to be out this month.

I just completed a trade for a Beaver board, and will be building my own soon. From what I read today, the Pickle is not too far from a Muff. The tone stack has a few changes, as does the clipping section. Of course the tone knob on Grygrx's is new, and not on the Pickle.

I may build mine to clip like a Pickle, and have a tone switch to go from Pickle scoop to a boost or at least flat mids. We'll have to see what kind of mood I'm in that day

[ZombiCrow]

Has the BYOC v. Wren and Cuff Pickle Clone debate been had yet? I'm just wondering which of these awesome clones I should be throwing all my hard-earned fuzz-dollars at.

Or should I be considering the MI Audio Neo/Ge fuzz instead? What a can of worms this all is... Someone get back to me, I'm hungry for fuzz!

[grygrx]

Originally Posted by ZombiCrow

Has the BYOC v. Wren and Cuff Pickle Clone debate been had yet? I'm just wondering which of these awesome clones I should be throwing all my hard-earned fuzz-dollars at.

A had a Pickle Pie on loan a few weeks back from David Wilson, and my opinion is they sound basically the same, but that the BYOC version has more options available because of the four position tone stack (as opposed to the 2 position mid switch on the Pickle Pie).

Originally Posted by ZombiCrow

Or should I be considering the MI Audio Neo/Ge fuzz instead? What a can of worms this all is... Someone get back to me, I'm hungry for fuzz!

Good fuzzes, but slightly different beasts from the pickle clones. Neo is smoother, GI is angrier. The Neo also runs on the opposite polarity from most boss style effects, which means you either have to use a battery, single power supply, or isolated power supply like the PPII.

[SnakeAnthony]

Can someone explain to me what makes the difference in the Muff/Pickle thing? As in, what components did Way Huge alter in the standard Big Muff to end up with the Pickle?

[Mingus Addict]

As far as I can tell the difference between a Pickle and a Big Muff is the same as the difference between a Russian Muff and a US Muff. They are based on the same schematic and could be built on the same board, but the choice of capacitor and resistor values is what really sets them apart. Some people believe that the quad transistor array used in the Pickle is important to the sound but I'm skeptical that using four separate transistors couldn't accomplish the same tone. The Pickle also has better power filtering which is a minor improvement found in many muff clones. I'm planning to try and build a pickle clone using a GGG big muff kit. The only real problem this will present is that I won't be able to use the quad transistor chip on the GGG board. I don't really believe that's a big deal though as I said before.

[SnakeAnthony]

Originally Posted by Mingus Addict

As far as I can tell the difference between a Pickle and a Big Muff is the same as the difference between a Russian Muff and a US Muff. They are based on the same schematic and could be built on the same board, but the choice of capacitor and resistor values is what really sets them apart. Some people believe that the quad transistor array used in the Pickle is important to the sound but I'm skeptical that using four separate transistors couldn't accomplish the same tone. The Pickle also has better power filtering which is a minor improvement found in many muff clones. I'm planning to try and build a pickle clone using a GGG big muff kit. The only real problem this will present is that I won't be able to use the quad transistor chip on the GGG board. I don't really believe that's a big deal though as I said before.

Thanks Mingus. Not to be nit picky, but any specifics on the capacitor and resistor values. I'm having some thoughts of maybe swapping these things out in my Muff clone just for poops and giggles to see how I dig on the Pickle vibe.

[naughtry]

Does anyone know if the BYOC Swollen Pickle is available yet?

Pickled Beaver Mod Kit
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/beaver.html

is the parts kit to pickle a large beaver the same thing as the pedal posted here or is there a whole separate pedal kit on its way?

[ZombiCrow]

I have a pre-built (I know, I know, but I want things NOW) BYOC Pickle-Modded Beaver on the way. Hopefully it will throw me into fits of happiness when I plug it in. If not, who wants it? Haha. I'll let you know what I think as well, if anyone cares.

PS: I was listening to the new NIN "Ghosts I-IV" and there are some good bass tones. Whether it's Swollen Pickle like With Teeth supposedly had, couldn't tell you.

[Stu L.]

Originally Posted by naughtry

Does anyone know if the BYOC Swollen Pickle is available yet?

Pickled Beaver Mod Kit
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/beaver.html

is the parts kit to pickle a large beaver the same thing as the pedal posted here or is there a whole separate pedal kit on its way?

Yes, the kit to pickle the beaver is the same as the pedal mentioned above. If you look at the instructions on the BYOC site, they tell you how to, and what to do, to install the extra kit.