Akashic Guitar effects PCB lookup
GAINLEVELTONE

125B · 3 knobs

PCB Guitar Mania

Crimson Device

Based on the Earthquaker Devices Crimson

Category
Overdrive· Germanium Overdrive
Controls
Gain · Level · Tone
Difficulty
Low
Price
€9.90out of stock

Heads up Builders widely report inconsistent quality from PCB Guitar Mania boards, and whether a given board works is a gamble. Read recent forum reports before ordering.

From the vendor

Project overview

Germanium overdrive that goes from a gritty treble boost, reminiscent of the Rangemaster, to a rattling overdriven sound reminiscent of a vintage Plexi turned to 11.

Introduction

One of the things that got many of us into this amazing adventure of pedal building is for sure the possibility to get in our hands many of those pedals that are almost impossible to get, like the legendary Klon or the KOT, and it’s a long waiting list. Among these, we can include the Crimson Device, a rare germanium overdrive inspired by an original creation by EQD currently discontinued.

This circuit’s anatomy is pretty simple; it starts with a JFET buffer that goes into a germanium transistor, two hard clipping germanium diodes, and a straightforward filter that reminds me of the one present in Proco’s Rat. The result of this combination is an open-sounding overdrive full of harmonics and raw grit that goes from raspy Rangemaster tone in the lower gain settings to the grit of a vintage Plexi when the Drive knob is maxed out.

This device works equally as well, with both humbuckers and single coils cutting through the densest mixes.

Controls

• Gain

• Tone

• Level

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.

Crimson Device – Building Docs

Crimson Device – Drilling Template

Schematic

The schematic is in the vendor's build document, page 5. Open the build document. No KiCad fragment has been drawn for this circuit yet.

Parts list 25 rows

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RefValueNormalizedTypeNotes
Resistors 9
R110K10k
R21M1M
R31M1M
R415K15k
R5470K470k
R668K68k
R72K22.2k
R815K15k
R91K1k
Capacitors 6
C1100n100n
C2100n100n
C3100p100p
C63n33.3n
C41u1u
C5100u100u
Diodes 4
D11n34A1N34A
D21n34A1N34A
D31N40011N4001
D41n58171N5817
Transistors 2
Q1J201J201
Q2OC139OC139
Potentiometers 3
GAIN250KBB250kPotentiometer
LEVEL100KBB100kPotentiometer
TONE25KBB25kPotentiometer
Jacks & sockets 1
J201Q1Q1