The BSIAB2 circuit (Brown Sound in a Box 2) was my favourite distortion during school. The cool thing was; if you wanted one, you just had to build one. Or know somebody who would. The circuit was designed by Ed Guidry, similar to works by Jack Oran and Aron Nelson.
Back in the day, it was one of the highest-recommended builds on the forums. Forums were a thing. Many would suggest that this design was the original precursor to many of the "high gain amp" pedals that came out in the '00s.
It has a tonne of gain, and can dial in a fat bottom end to make a big amp sound. Some pedals claim to "stack well" together, but the Brown Sound can also be a "stack" all by itself, as it cascades three gain stages. This circuit also responds excellently to rolling back the instrument volume knob. It stacks best with other drive pedals running into the input.
Distortion is achieved by overdriving Fairchild 5457 field effect transistors (FETs), being the closest solid-state relative to vacuum tubes. Diodes are not used for distortion.
This build uses a hybrid mix of both surface-mount (SMD) and through-hole assembled components. Why go SMD on this one? A while back, Fairchild stopped producing the through-hole versions of some of our beloved, once common parts, such as the 2N5457, and the J201. The market quickly filled with counterfeit parts. The building community adapted to accept using the known SMD versions, rather than trying to hunt new-old-stock versions through non-reliable distributors. Those parts numbers are now being reproduced at a premium price by different manufacturers.
The SMD versions is, after all, the exact same transistor, however packaged in a different way which is more convenient for machine handling and assembly. In that fashion, the SMD resistors used are selected for lower noise than common through-hole versions. The SMD multilayer ceramic power filter capacitors have superior performance characteristics over the common electrolytic tube capacitors, as well as not suffering from limited shelf life associated with electrolytic. This makes for reliable circuit which can perform consistently for a long lifetime.
Audio capacitors used are polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyester.
This is built in a small-footprint Hammond 1590BS enclosure.
Warranty & Returns
All New products are covered by the manufacturers new warranty. Please check their website for the length of warranty and warranty conditions. If an item you receive is faulty get in touch with us ASAP. Second Hand products come with a 4 week warranty from us. If there is an issue let us know ASAP! This covers normal use and does not cover accidental damage, misuse, wrong power plugged into it, modding, water damage or any other damage caused by mistreatment. Just treat it nice and all will be good!
Shipping
We send A LOT of packages every week so don't worry about the shipping side of things!
We've never lost a thing and your awesome new gear will be packed up really well to avoid any damage in transit.
If your order comes in before 2pm we will ship it same day. Most of the time we pack things up all the way to 4pm so just call if you need it to leave same day after 2pm.
We ship mainly with Australia Post but may use a courier depending on location and size of the package.
Free Post ships with Australia Post standard and expected shipping times are between 4-6 business days depending on location. It will be longer to outside of metro and rural areas.
Express Post will usually be with you next business day in metro areas of QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS. WA will take 2 days to metro and extra days after that to out side metro and rural areas.
Everything we ship has a tracking number with the exception of some power cables and smaller envelope packages. You will be emailed tracking once your order has been shipped!
Videos
The BSIAB2 circuit (Brown Sound in a Box 2) was my favourite distortion during school. The cool thing was; if you wanted one, you just had to build one. Or know somebody who would. The circuit was designed by Ed Guidry, similar to works by Jack Oran and Aron Nelson.
Back in the day, it was one of the highest-recommended builds on the forums. Forums were a thing. Many would suggest that this design was the original precursor to many of the "high gain amp" pedals that came out in the '00s.
It has a tonne of gain, and can dial in a fat bottom end to make a big amp sound. Some pedals claim to "stack well" together, but the Brown Sound can also be a "stack" all by itself, as it cascades three gain stages. This circuit also responds excellently to rolling back the instrument volume knob. It stacks best with other drive pedals running into the input.
Distortion is achieved by overdriving Fairchild 5457 field effect transistors (FETs), being the closest solid-state relative to vacuum tubes. Diodes are not used for distortion.
This build uses a hybrid mix of both surface-mount (SMD) and through-hole assembled components. Why go SMD on this one? A while back, Fairchild stopped producing the through-hole versions of some of our beloved, once common parts, such as the 2N5457, and the J201. The market quickly filled with counterfeit parts. The building community adapted to accept using the known SMD versions, rather than trying to hunt new-old-stock versions through non-reliable distributors. Those parts numbers are now being reproduced at a premium price by different manufacturers.
The SMD versions is, after all, the exact same transistor, however packaged in a different way which is more convenient for machine handling and assembly. In that fashion, the SMD resistors used are selected for lower noise than common through-hole versions. The SMD multilayer ceramic power filter capacitors have superior performance characteristics over the common electrolytic tube capacitors, as well as not suffering from limited shelf life associated with electrolytic. This makes for reliable circuit which can perform consistently for a long lifetime.
Audio capacitors used are polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyester.
This is built in a small-footprint Hammond 1590BS enclosure.
Warranty & Returns
All New products are covered by the manufacturers new warranty. Please check their website for the length of warranty and warranty conditions. If an item you receive is faulty get in touch with us ASAP. Second Hand products come with a 4 week warranty from us. If there is an issue let us know ASAP! This covers normal use and does not cover accidental damage, misuse, wrong power plugged into it, modding, water damage or any other damage caused by mistreatment. Just treat it nice and all will be good!
Shipping
We send A LOT of packages every week so don't worry about the shipping side of things!
We've never lost a thing and your awesome new gear will be packed up really well to avoid any damage in transit.
If your order comes in before 2pm we will ship it same day. Most of the time we pack things up all the way to 4pm so just call if you need it to leave same day after 2pm.
We ship mainly with Australia Post but may use a courier depending on location and size of the package.
Free Post ships with Australia Post standard and expected shipping times are between 4-6 business days depending on location. It will be longer to outside of metro and rural areas.
Express Post will usually be with you next business day in metro areas of QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS. WA will take 2 days to metro and extra days after that to out side metro and rural areas.
Everything we ship has a tracking number with the exception of some power cables and smaller envelope packages. You will be emailed tracking once your order has been shipped!
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