Sawzall HM-2 EQ & Overdrive

From the vendor

Included is the Sawzall DIY PCB and the 3PDT (footswitch) PCB.

There’s a certain school of thought about the HM2 - that the secret to its trademark sound is more about the EQ and less about its distortion. The SAWZALL provides two ways to experiment with this concept:

(1) Set the switch to CLEAN mode (Toggle Left) and run whatever effect you’d like through the EQ, or even just run the EQ by itself into a dirty amp.

(2) Set the switch to DRIVE mode (Toggle Right) and engage a modified take on the Distortion+/DOD 250 circuit. The idea here being that if the distortion on the original HM2 was perhaps a little overbearing, or essentially just ‘on’ or ‘off’, maybe using a classic overdrive circuit instead would provide more flexible results.

* Please note that the GAIN knob is only functional in DRIVE mode.

All three EQ bands are at their stock frequencies when the Frequency knobs are set at noon. For the classic chainsaw approach: Dial all Frequencies at noon and all EQ Volumes all the way up. Experiment to taste.

In regards to the EQ - with the Mid EQ separated out from the Treble (on the original HM2 they were controlled simultaneously by the HIGH knob), and giving the Mid Frequency range a wider sweep - this EQ is actually capable of a good bit more than just the Chainsaw sound. You could simply choose to view it as an overdrive with an interesting EQ. And thus we arrive at the SAWZALL - dangerous yet flexible.

For a final note - in CLEAN mode the EQ is more or less at unity volume with the LEVEL knob all the way up. If you’re using the EQ to boost frequencies, this is a non-issue, but if you’re primarily cutting frequencies with the EQ, you may experience a slight decrease in volume in CLEAN mode.