BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

....This is for the latest round of Research on the SYOD.

Post your reviews and research here.

Be honest and thorough - context and detail are everything - lay out your rig and your surroundings and any other pertinent details.

Other owners of previous SYODs are encouraged to join in as you have had them for awhile and may have some helpful info as well.








and as always: have fun

Ok research says Im a super dork !!!!
Turns out I put a SY 2 in an SY 1 box so Cajone5 got 2 SY2

AND that also means someone got 2 SY1s and we will have to have a little switcheroo .....


DOH!!!!!!!!!!!

Check you r pedals when they arrive - of course Murphys law says it will be Hawaiis since that would be least convenient

i can't wait to hear some demos and read some reviews. the SYOD is a GREAT pedal, i only got to play an early one back in 2007......but it has haunted me since then. i REALLY dig the SYOD, but the SHOD sort of cops some of the SYOD vibe....

get some demos posted guys!

bobby d

After spending a few hrs with them yesterday, I was hoping I wouldnt look down and see two V1s after reading this Now that would be a great psychoacoustics experiment.



Recorded a lot of clips yesterday, will hopefully do some more today and get some thoughts together on these.

After playing for about a couple of hours here's my conclusion. Sorry I am not set up for recording any clips at this time.

I am playing through a 1962 Fender Vibrolux, 2 Sommer grindy cop beast 15' cords, 1 lava patch cable. Guitars: Tele, Strat and Firebird-w/p90's.

SYOD v1:

Lots of sparkle holds up to its name. With the treble know between 8 and 9 O'clock it seems to be at unity with the tone of my amp. I find with the Tele and Firebird that if I go past 11 o'clock on the treble it gets too bright. On the Strat I will set the treble at about 8 O'clock. It has an open sound and does not seem to create any congestion when engaged. It is great at pushing my MH, HBOD DLX, LGW and the SYOD v2 due its open nature. So far I like it better than the v2 except it’s a little to bright when using my Strat. The v1 seems to have more gain. Probably about 20% more gain that has a sizzle kind of quality.

SYOD v2:

Great Rhythm pedal. Very smooth and as Donner puts it, is more of a daily drive. With the treble know between 1 and 2 O'clock it seems to be seems to be at unity with the tone of my amp. With the treble knob cranked all the way it gets bright, but not quite bright enough for my tastes. It seems to have about 20% less overdrive compared to v1.

These are definitely two different animals. The v1 reminds me of a more open and less mid heavy Model H with less gain on tap. The v2 reminds me more of a HBOD with more overdrive, less sag and a wider tone range. Using the v2 as a rhythm and then pushing it with v1 for a high gain cutting lead is the sing.

This is just a brief review and I will experiment more. My guitar with humbuckers is currently in the shop. Once I get it back I will post how both pedals react with it.

OK. I'll go first, I put a lot of time in with these this weekend. More superb work by Bjorn as you would expect. My fingers hurt...

OK first off - Killer killer job on the finish Donner! Nice sandy/sparkly finish and striping. Gorgeous pedal and fantastic job there.


My setup-- Gibson Les Paul R9, Mesa Electra Dyne 1x12. This amp and guitar are bass heavy. Used bridge pickup with full vol/tone knob settings. One lava mini elc connecting them, and two EA Forte cables for connecting guitar/amp. I had previously tried V2 and **LOVED** it. Here's my take now that I've tried both side by side.


What they have in common : These both sound (as the name implies) very much like a pushed Fender, like a cranked Deluxe. Both have the same dynamics we've all come to expect from Bjorns drive pedals, cleaning up well with soft touch and/or lower guitar volume. The treble knobs seems to act as its name implies as well, but the key here is that unlike many "treble" or "tone" knobs, these are very usable in almost the full range. the one exception would be V2, below say 10:00 its just too bassy for my rig. Both pedals sound great even with the Treble knob fully CW. Both pedals do have more volume when the drive is cranked... on most of my other BJFe drives the volume is constant as you vary the drive. Not a bad thing, just worth noting



V1 : This pedal IMO is great for single note leads, very forward and prominent upper mids.. to my ears anyways . Felt like it had more gain but I think this is psychological and has to do with the "edge" from the high end. For double-stop licks, or chording in the upper frets, there is a certain up front searing quality that goes along with this. But not annoyingly so.. I dig it, but it might be much with a bright amp and/or a strat. Even when dialing DOWN the treble knob, it still has nice edge and brilliance to it, and the in-your-face upper mid focus of it is not dialed out. One bent note up to E in the high registers gave me goose bumps it sounded so good. Also noted slightly more noise also compared to V1 at similiar settings. For heavier palm muted style rhythm, it felt right at home... felt like a more "modern" aggressive sound in this pedal. I kind of think this is a bit like the SHOD with the focus cranked up. Quick attack, an "in your face" type of sound. Full chords can sound a bit unclear and shouty...
BOTTOM LINE:This pedal suits my rig best for leads and more recent 80s/90s rock rhythm. Searing blues licks roll out deliciously. Is deliciously a word? Anyways..


V2 : Far more rounded, warmer, and smoother.... even with the treble all the way up it did not have the "focus" that V1 had. Id find use for this more in rhythm work, chording, or a more traditional 60's overdrive type of tune. Single notes dont quite have the sting that they have in V1. Felt like a lower gain pedal but I think this is due to the fact that there is less upper mids, and is more psychological. The gain is in actuality quite similiar... some psychoacoustics at play perhaps with the change in upper mids. Feels like a more tame pedal when playing, smoother sounding. Probably more useful for more styles in general, as it doesnt have quite as much aggressive feel to it... I can see this fitting quite a few different styles easily.
BOTTOM LINE:This pedal suits my rig best for a wider base, general classic rock sounds, felt RIGHT at home playing Skynard, ZZ Top, Eagles...



I did not yet try any stacking - thats next.

Here are some YouTube clips, tried to get some full chords, riffage, single note bends, etc etc... Enjoy the demo friends!

Looks like Mikepick posted as I was writing mine up, and had extremely similar comments without viewing each others reviews. How cool is that?

Great minds think alike

bsic wrote:Looks like Mikepick posted as I was writing mine up, and had extremely similar comments without viewing each others reviews. How cool is that?

Great minds think alike

What a trip! My throughts exactly. Yeah I think that are experience was quite similar. The v1 is definetly more agressive and in your face, while the v2 is more mellow.

I would like to see a v3 that is voiced right in the middle of these two pedals. With a little bit more gain on tap than the v1 has.

mikepick wrote: I would like to see a v3 that is voiced right in the middle of these two pedals. With a little bit more gain on tap than the v1 has.

After having tried both myself, I can say that that comment is right on! A pedal that could be voiced with more bite without sounding overly bright or harsh on my rig would definitely be the best of both worlds. That being said, these comments do reaffirm that the v2 is certainly the most "universal" pedal of the two. While it does compromise on the edge and aggressiveness of the v1, it brings its own character to the table. It is more of a chords/rhythm kinda pedal. I love using it to push the MH though

hey BSIC private video is private pretty please allow us to view your hard work on that demo

Thanks