DIY Mutron Octave Divider Clone released

[hogan]

BYOC cloned a Mutron OcDiv. It's just released so i've obviously never used one but their products are topshelf. I'd bet this is pretty good
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/dividedoctave

No affiliation, no dog in the fight.

[waldo041]

thanks Hogan, been waiting for this release!

peace,
waldo

[jeffm725]

me too, just ordered mine.... it looks like they nailed it, keeping the whole original circuit intact but adding some nice features like true bypass and the Max1044 charge bucket so you can use a single , standard 9v negative tip power supply. that is a fair price for it too I think. More than most other byoc's but this is way more involved than a standard pedal.

I have been waiting for them to do a Mutron 3 clone........I think they could knock that out of the park and the circuit board at GGG is on the money but not a kit and the instructions are very hazy. I have built a ton of pedals, and the mu 3 board from GGG is my white whale and has been sitting on my bench for 4 years as I never can get it right!

[erock]

I just pulled the trigger on that one as well. Thanks for the head's up

[tigerstrat]

If I didn't already have the Octron in my pedal board, I'd be all over that like stink on a pig.

[claytushaywood]

for the more DIY inclined (or the poorer of us)- they are actually offering the board only sale option at BYOC again. the mutron is $20 (which is higher than usual- but i'm sure reasonably so) I wish I was at the point i could just throw an extra $100 to get the full kit. lots of nice parts of this board, completely metal film components? I wonder how accurate that is to the original... I thought my first byoc kit had carbon comps and ceramic discs for a reason (to be true to original) anyways its funny how the instructions arent released but the picture of the board is available and all the big chips on the board have not too legible numbers on em! anyone know what those big chips are?
Very cool that byoc is offering this! those guys are awesome! if you're interested in some of the pcb's that byoc, ggg and tonepad dont make. theses guys got the "ODC obsessive drive compulsion (or something) and a super hard on along with some other clones of modern boutique stuff check out
http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/webstore/

also just found this rad looking company--- now this is what i'm talking about! sourcing old school components and tagboard kits!! http://www.pigeonfx.com/kits.html

[WilliamC]

Oh man this is going to be a GREAT week!

Mutron Octave Divider ships Monday
PRS Santana III arrives Tuesday
New granite counter tops hit the kitchen Wednesday

Now... just have to schedule something for Thursday and Friday.... maybe I should, like, practice or something.

jeffm - I feel your pain... I have TWO semi operative GGG Mutron III clones on the shelf.

[erock]

anyone else finish theirs yet?

[jkstraw]

erock that looks great man! Love the paint/graphics - it came out really well.

The million dollar question - how does it sound?

[erock]

I didn't get to play with it very much, I also modded a 78 Dist+ and ran into issues with that (added a true bypass switch, and threw together a power adapter for it so i didn't have to run on a 9v, this there is a cap issue) but here's what i found
1) it works first time no issues, I suspect it will catch fire tonight
2) it is awesome, and it actually sounds like the clips i've heard of the mutron

i need play around with it more, but I am going to get the dist+ on the bench and try to figure out what is going on with that.

oh and thanks about the paint, I had a few issues with it, Mainly the clear coat reacting with the paint a little but, but no big deal there. I think that came out well.

[erock]

Got the dist + fixed, it was just the foam needed replaced after 33 years. I am just glad it wasn't something it did.

Anyway, the octave divider is awesome, I am still playing around it with, but it is a lot of fun.

Get out there and build them!

[wolftigerrosebud]

Think it would be possible or advisable for someone with no experience with this sort of thing to try building it? Must admit, all the tiny resistors and caps are kind of intimidating.

[strumminsix]

Think it would be possible or advisable for someone with no experience with this sort of thing to try building it? Must admit, all the tiny resistors and caps are kind of intimidating.

These BYOC projects are very straight forward if you know how to solder. If you don't, I'd suggest asking friends cuz I bet someone you know can give you a 10 minute lessons and a few things to test with! After that, I'd go for it!

[erock]

Think it would be possible or advisable for someone with no experience with this sort of thing to try building it? Must admit, all the tiny resistors and caps are kind of intimidating.

I am slightly colorblind, and have big issues with trying to read codes on resisters. especially these ones because they are so damn small. I just got my multimeter out, and tested for resistance, and I put them all in then soldered them, and followed the directions, and had no issues.

just go slow, if you run into frustration, walk away from it for a bit, and if you have issues, go onto BYOC's forums, and ask questions.

oh you do have any experience soldering? It might be good to try to tackle a small project first just to get an idea of what you need to do in soldering before messing up a $120 project (though the mess ups can be fixed, but i wouldn't use it as a learning experience) They use to have a confidence booster kit, which would likely be a good first thing to tackle before stepping up (though you can order both at the same time )

[jeffm725]

Think it would be possible or advisable for someone with no experience with this sort of thing to try building it? Must admit, all the tiny resistors and caps are kind of intimidating.

Just finished mine, sounds spot on! Kicked my Boss OC-3 out of the rack!

as far as building this with no experience. I would order a different,easier BYOC kit first and complete that. Then tackle the MU OCtave.

It is not the toughest BYOC build ( I have done the Analog delay and Graphic EQ, the AD was a BITCH) but it is more involved than most and not recommended for a first timer.

I would recommend the 250+ kit for a first timer. It can be made into either a DOD 250 (Yngwie!) or a MXR Distortion plus, just by swapping a couple components. It is a low parts, inexpensive, smooth first time build and you end up with a Jerry pedal!! After doing that, you should be able to tackle the Octave