BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

Well I'll at least add my initial impressions with the twins...

Gear: American SSS Strat into Retro Channel RR1 - amp set clean

My comparisons will mostly focus on one vs. the other but I'll do my best to tie in any other common pedal or sound references I can think of. Also, while each can do boost, OD, distortion, and fuzz I'll focus on what I thought they did best...

SYODv1
The BJFe version of this pedal was was my favorite distortion unit for a while. It's brighter, more aggressive and has higher headroom than SYODv2. I spent very little time with it in boost and OD territory but it could certainly have some minor use there for me. Most of my time was spent trying to dial in the distortion tones I missed from the BJFe. I was close but I'm still not hearing the same EQ as I remember but memories change so who knows. I recall the BJFe being more aggressive and "sparkly" / clangy in the upper mids and treble. The Bearfoot seems to be more smoothed out in that register. It's almost like the BJFe had more low mids post distortion (so it doesn't woof out). However I can say the distortion tones still sound nice. They are bright and clear without the super aggressive clang of the MH. There is a good amount of drive on tap but not as much as the MH (from memory) and definitely nowhere near what the CH2 has to offer (IMO of course ).

It maintains headroom and clarity in the upper strings even with higher distortion settings although I found the sweet spot hard to nail down as it's over a very small portion of the pot sweep for me. OD & Boost seem to occur from fully CCW to around 12-1 o'clock. Then distortion kicks in around 1-3 but the "sweet spot" for me was right around that 2-3 range. Beyond that it got more saturated and lost some of the headroom and clarity which is the reason I like the pedal. With the mids knob cranked it gets into woofier fuzz territory which I didn't spend much time with. I generally ran the treble around 9-12. Also it seemed to sound best with the mids and treble knobs in similar positions. My favorite thing about this pedal is doing full bar chords (not power chords) and hearing the top notes ring out

Approx favorite setting...
Volume - 10:00
Gain - 2:00-3:00
Mids - 10:30
Treble - 10:00


SYODv2
Very nice smooth overdrive. Didn't spend much time with it as a boost or distortion as, due to the additional compression and smoothness of the breakup, it performed best for me as an overdrive. Great bluesy tones, especially on the neck pickup. Not as aggressive and rough around the edges as the v1 -- definitely a more smooth and refined version of the circuit. It sounds great for those fatter neck PU sounds. As far as comparing it to the BBOD -- I didn't get the raw fuzzy vintage sound out of the SYODv2 that I LOVE in the BBOD. It definitely plays in a similar gain range but the SYOD is more compressed and smoother.

With the mids knob maxed this one gets fuzzy as well. It gets woofier and woolier than v1 but I didn't spend much time checking this setting so don't have much more to add there. In OD land it integrates very well with everything and feels like a part of your amp. Not artificial or added over top of your tone but more integrated with it. Very nice as an OD and it will be a hard choice for me whether to keep both the SYODv2 and BBOD on the same board as they both cover the same gain ranges for me with different amounts/types of compression, smoothness/hairiness, and EQ. Hmm...

Approx favorite setting...
Volume - 10:00
Gain - 1:00
Mids - 11:00
Treble - 10:30


SYODv1 > SYODv2
Due to the complementary nature of the two pedals (they are revisions of the same circuit) they sound great working together. I didn't spend much time with this but just wanted to note that the clarity of the v1 > the smoothness of the v2 can give some great higher gain lead tones.


That's all for now -- need to keep tweaking to get these the way I like them. Curious now whether there has been further revisions to the circuit beyond the BJFe twin research batch... Seems to me I remember each one sounding sounding different in BJFe form although there's that fourth variable parameter now in the pre-distortion mids. I will keep tweaking and trying to find that spot where they sound like the 3 knob pedals did. Hoping it's in there somewhere as they were pretty much perfection for me as they were set before. And the mids knob is a great addition for variety (can make this thing super useful as a boost and a fuzz which the 3 knob pedals didn't cover as well) but it's making it harder for me to dial in the tones I'm after. All that said -- I am treating it as a learning curve and am sure I'll get it sorted soon... just gotta do a little more of this and a little less of this





Edit -- wow... I need to learn to simplify and condense my thoughts. I'll save that effort for the next round.

Great stuff guys, keep it coming.... and dont be afraid to post your experiences as they evolve, thats almost more interesting and useful than waiting until youve completely sussed it out ....

Some notes...

Yes BJ at some point reduced the treble on SY1 as very few people ever took the treble control over 1 oclock, and it was off putting to some ... he has made some of these post research and as the Saffron Yellow ODs... so like with the BearFoot HBOD its the same as the current latest SYs ..... no it does not sound exactly like my early BJFe SYOD either ... it still has the headroom without the headache

the M control actually comes from the way BJ origianally built the DRD ~ it was a three knob but what the M control does was attached to the drive pot and worked in reverse ---- so you had more low mids at low drive and as you brought up the drive the low mids were reduced and it kept the sound from farting out..... so now by having the M separate is does all sorts of things like turning towards fuzz land as you crank the drive and feed it more lows .... but really its there to tighten up the hi gain sound by reducing the lows,,, and beefing up the low gain sound by upping the lows a bit .....but there is also fun to be had taking it off road...

and as mentioned with very low or no dirt it is a defacto EQ , so you could use one for a drive sound and the other for a pre or post EQ booster/afterburner...

keep em coming, thats what research is for ...... ( and you may have noticed the pic of the boxes for the 4 knob DRD on the facebook page which is in the pipeline)

Exploring the extreme settings on the SYOD V2 M control is how I was able to hear Cliffhanger and BBOD -- the first and last 15% of the knob. I would totally agree that OD land is in the middle 70% or so. The rawness/fuzziness was not the case on the V1, for whatever reason -- strictly OD and slightly beyond there.

I kind of wish the V1 had a bit more output. I see the V2 as having a decent advantage there.

Cheers.

New favorite setting for distortion tones...

SYODv1...

V - 10:00
G - 2:00
M - Fully CCW
T - 10:30-11:00

Setting up the SYODv2 like this (might be slightly off as it's from memory) is a close contender for a similar tone...

V - 10:00
G - Fully CW
M - 10:00-12:00
T - Full CW

I might have to pull the looper off the board to make room for some extra drive pedals as I'm not sure I'll be able to decide between them

I'd love to be able to afford both but can't so.... Could anyone tell me which they think would be better into a el84 based amp? It's a Tex Bernie amp. I don't use high gain so am more interested in how these are at low to medium gain and also clean boost.
Thanks.

zzpotato wrote:I'd love to be able to afford both but can't so.... Could anyone tell me which they think would be better into a el84 based amp? It's a Tex Bernie amp. I don't use high gain so am more interested in how these are at low to medium gain and also clean boost.
Thanks.

I would recommend the V1 for lower gain on a el84 based amp. It is a warm, rich drive that can brighten up with the treble control as needed.

Cheers.

rockeroo wrote:

zzpotato wrote:I'd love to be able to afford both but can't so.... Could anyone tell me which they think would be better into a el84 based amp? It's a Tex Bernie amp. I don't use high gain so am more interested in how these are at low to medium gain and also clean boost.
Thanks.

I would recommend the V1 for lower gain on a el84 based amp. It is a warm, rich drive that can brighten up with the treble control as needed.

Cheers.

That's the way I was leaning. If anyone is selling their V1 out of the research pairs, send me a PM.

Am I delirious, or is anyone else getting Fuzz tones with the M knob maxed on the SYOD V2?

Donner?

rockeroo wrote:Am I delirious, or is anyone else getting Fuzz tones with the M knob maxed on the SYOD V2?

Donner?

Mids knob on both maxed makes them fuzzy and the v2 definitely gets fuzziest -- you're not crazy at all. Since you're adding the low mids pre-distortion it overloads and gets woofy and fuzzy at high settings. Personally it's not a sound I'm after but it's certainly in there so you're definitely not crazy

rockeroo wrote:Am I delirious, or is anyone else getting Fuzz tones with the M knob maxed on the SYOD V2?

Donner?

Absolutely - especially with p90 guitar, V2 gets into fuzz territory pretty easily when I push M knob, or D/T combination. Not so much with V1 until M is totally maxed.