BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

in my experience having played 2 different BBOD v1 and one BBOD v2 I noticed a sizeable difference between the V1's. It seems as though each BBOD may have its own character. One of the ones I played was quite warm and touch sensative with plenty of gain on tap. It sounded fantastic and it probably the most "amp like" pedal I have ever played. That one is on my board and is my favorite pedal. The other V1 was less gain and thinner sounding. The V2 I played didn't have all that much more volume on tap and sounded good, but not as organic feeling as my V1.

I used a Les Paul through all sorts of amps (Orange, Fender, Marshall, Bogner...) and got similar results.

I had a BBOD some years ago. Although it was really good, other BJFs gelled better with my voxs. Would love to try one again though.... at 12v!

Mine just came back last week and I have not yet had any real time with it. I agree with others that it seems to react differently depending on your amp. In my current set up, the few moments I had it on, it seemed a little bright. That said, I also tend to feel that the BBOD is a better when loud kind of pedal. I will be sure to run it at 12v and see what happens with this amp.

Funny that cajone talked about trying to get other pedals to sound like it. They guy who borrowed it from me was pleading with me to sell it to him, because he loved it, but also because he couldn't get anything else to sound quite like it.

Some interesting discoveries tonight -- will report tomorrow when I have some time.

hawaii121 wrote:Funny that cajone talked about trying to get other pedals to sound like it. They guy who borrowed it from me was pleading with me to sell it to him, because he loved it, but also because he couldn't get anything else to sound quite like it.

That has been my experience with the BBOD I kept. I actually owned a few of these at one point including both version 1 and 2. Some were really beat up and some were pristine. In the end, one really stood at as it just seemed much more a part of my amp. It's not that the others were bad, one just seemed a bit more like that perfect vintage bluesy rock tone that I always here in my head. I sent it out to Cliff and heard some of his initial thoughts yesterday, so I can't wait to hear his opinion once the duat settles.

So as musicsoma said, I have his BBOD right now. I ran them side by side for a while to see the similarities and differences. For reference, mine is SN #166 (or thereabouts) and his is SN #85. While it is clear that they are both the same circuit they do have unique and different sounds (like two different shades of the same color). The difference was mostly in the EQ of the two pedals.

#166 is definitely more upper mid focused and less bassy. #85 has a bit more bass and less top end and gain and is generally smoother and fuzzier. The most frustrating part is for the life of me I cannot dial out the differences with different knob settings on the two pedals. They sound fundamentally different in their EQ no matter where I set the volume, drive or tone. My favorite setting on #85 was not possible with #166 and it's driving me nuts. It's like the two pedals are voiced for different guitars. My BBOD (#166) seems like it'd be better suited to humbuckers with the slightly cut bass and boosted treble/upper mids and additional gain. It's also clearer and not as woofy and fuzzy which would seem to me like it would be suited to higher output pickups (higher than the vintage single coils I play). The EQ of #85 seems like it would muddy up with humbuckers due to the fuzziness, bass and woofiness with my single coils. However, since I play single coils pretty much exclusively musicsoma's is more suited to what I'm looking for (fuzzier, woofier, bassier). Also, I'm a bit of a fuzz nut so I dig the fuzzier tones anyway.

Sooo now I'm on the look out for one with a SN around #85. I wish the circuits weren't gooped so I could figure out what (if anything) was different electronically between the two as I'd modify the circuit in a heartbeat to get mine to sound like musicsoma's. It's not that mine sounds bad at all -- it's really 98% the same as his. However, that 2% makes a noticeable difference in how they react when played. I think the truly "better" pedal could be either one depending on your rig, ears, etc. but for me I just liked his more and I liked it so much that I am now (hopelessly) trying to search for another with a similar SN as I don't think there's anything I can do to pry it away from him.

Sooo if anyone has one with a serial number around #85 I am very interested

Yup - parts tolerances ... thing is cajones there may not be another one exactly like that one. Even at 1% tolerance, that 1 adds up thru 20 or 30 parts and then some of those parts are 5 and 10 % tolerance - you should be able to get pretty close by moving the pots, but some things are just going to slightly vary .... this is why I stress to people if they find one that sits perfectly with your rig, hang on to it, even if you get bored with it, because you may not be able to replace it as easily as you think ~ or at all .....

Yeah, it's pretty crazy how that works out. I picked up that BBOD from this1smyne a while back when I first started getting into Bjorn's pedals. I have had quite a few people after that particular pedal, but I just can't bring myself to part with it for fear of never finding another quite like it. It is bumped and bruised, has toured the world, and still sounds like the ideal blues tone I hear in my head.

cajone5 wrote:So as musicsoma said, I have his BBOD right now. I ran them side by side for a while to see the similarities and differences. For reference, mine is SN #166 (or thereabouts) and his is SN #85. While it is clear that they are both the same circuit they do have unique and different sounds (like two different shades of the same color). The difference was mostly in the EQ of the two pedals.

#166 is definitely more upper mid focused and less bassy. #85 has a bit more bass and less top end and gain and is generally smoother and fuzzier. The most frustrating part is for the life of me I cannot dial out the differences with different knob settings on the two pedals. They sound fundamentally different in their EQ no matter where I set the volume, drive or tone. My favorite setting on #85 was not possible with #166 and it's driving me nuts. It's like the two pedals are voiced for different guitars. My BBOD (#166) seems like it'd be better suited to humbuckers with the slightly cut bass and boosted treble/upper mids and additional gain. It's also clearer and not as woofy and fuzzy which would seem to me like it would be suited to higher output pickups (higher than the vintage single coils I play). The EQ of #85 seems like it would muddy up with humbuckers due to the fuzziness, bass and woofiness with my single coils. However, since I play single coils pretty much exclusively musicsoma's is more suited to what I'm looking for (fuzzier, woofier, bassier). Also, I'm a bit of a fuzz nut so I dig the fuzzier tones anyway.

Sooo now I'm on the look out for one with a SN around #85. I wish the circuits weren't gooped so I could figure out what (if anything) was different electronically between the two as I'd modify the circuit in a heartbeat to get mine to sound like musicsoma's. It's not that mine sounds bad at all -- it's really 98% the same as his. However, that 2% makes a noticeable difference in how they react when played. I think the truly "better" pedal could be either one depending on your rig, ears, etc. but for me I just liked his more and I liked it so much that I am now (hopelessly) trying to search for another with a similar SN as I don't think there's anything I can do to pry it away from him.

Sooo if anyone has one with a serial number around #85 I am very interested

Mine's #167 I think and your description of #85 fits it pretty nicely. Maybe a comparison next time I'm in Austin?

Donner wrote:Yup - parts tolerances ... thing is cajones there may not be another one exactly like that one. Even at 1% tolerance, that 1 adds up thru 20 or 30 parts and then some of those parts are 5 and 10 % tolerance - you should be able to get pretty close by moving the pots, but some things are just going to slightly vary .... this is why I stress to people if they find one that sits perfectly with your rig, hang on to it, even if you get bored with it, because you may not be able to replace it as easily as you think ~ or at all .....

I never heard differences in the same pedal like this until now. This is my first time with a BBOD and it's an excellent pedal. I don't usually bond with overdrives - not sure why really but nothing has really stuck other than fuzz pedals (and the SYOD's which are both gone now ... ). I will keep looking for BBOD's now. It's really a killer pedal and sounds like nothing I've ever played. I thought I might be able to get close with the Skreddy Screwdriver but the bottom end on the Skreddy is always way too fuzzy and present. It's like the Skreddy is a fuzz that can do lower gain where the BBOD is an OD that is fuzzy around the edges.

So anyway, I actually spent more time with the two BBODs and found a setting I like a lot in the one I have. It's almost like these pedals have sweet spots rather than being great everywhere (although they are good everywhere -- just better in certain settings). The sweet spot on mine is lower in gain and brighter. The only reason I still prefer musicsoma's is that his is fuzzier and darker. Damn that last 2%.