Madbean

About Madbean Pedals

Madbean's projects are organized into series, including the Standard Series, and each project page carries a build document listing the effect type, the circuit it is based on, the build level, the enclosure, the controls, and the terms of use. The same terms appear across the catalog: purchased circuit boards may be used for both DIY and small commercial operations, the PCBs themselves may not be offered for resale or as part of a commercial kit, and peer to peer re-sale is fine³.

Alongside effect PCBs, Madbean sells utility boards. The SSBP is a bypass board available for the Standard Series and other upcoming Madbean projects³, and the SSABP is an alternate bypass board that works with 16mm pots, Lumberg 1/4" Compact mono jacks, a slim 2.1mm DC jack, a standard 3PDT footswitch, and a 5mm LED, with an optional 2" ribbon cable for easy hook-up⁴.

How Madbean projects work: PCBs, build documents and BOMs

Each Madbean PCB is fabricated with two copper layers, a top and bottom, and grounding is done through copper pours instead of traces, which is how the boards keep ground connections short and low impedance⁵. Build documents spell out the parts list down to individual resistor and capacitor values, and the shopping list points builders to suppliers; for example, the 14mm24 project links its pot part from Small Bear Electronics' clear shaft pots page.

Supporting material includes a step-wise pictorial build guide that demonstrates how to build one of the 1590G projects, using the Moar as the example⁶. For circuit designers, the ProtorigJR24 is a PCB-based prototyping rig with breadboards, switches, jacks, and probes, with a BOM covering everything from 4k7 resistors to SPDT slide switches and a probe and clip, and it can be expanded to include as many breadboards as you want⁷.

A typical build, in the order the documents present it:

1. Order the PCB and source the parts from the BOM and shopping list.
2. Populate and solder the board, choosing through-hole or surface mount parts where the document allows it.
3. Drill the enclosure to the project's template.
4. Wire the off-board parts: jacks, DC jack, footswitch, and LED.
5. Set any trimmers, such as bias or feedback adjustments, per the build document.
6. Ask questions on the madbeanpedals forum if something does not work.

Delay projects: Total Recall, Degenerator24 and Dragonfish

The Total Recall is Madbean's analog delay project based on the EHX Deluxe Memory Man, originally released in 2015. The updated version is closer to the outward appearance of the original Memory Man and carries all of its features, adding the Direct Out option and the overload LED that the 2015 project lacked. It requires either a 1790NS or 1590XX enclosure⁸.

Whereas the 2015 version required a 24vDC supply, the updated project only requires 18vDC at 100mA. The circuit is still positive ground, so that 18v tap must be fully isolated⁸.

The Degenerator24 is an original design: a PT2399 delay with envelope driven modulation, using a "sound to light" circuit in which an LM386N-3 lights an LED that controls a light dependent resistor in parallel with the delay control's stopper resistor. Two clipping diodes in the repeat path clamp self-oscillation and add a tape saturation effect at high repeat settings. Madbean describes it as "very sweet sounding and will mix well with other instruments/band volumes"¹. Its BLOOM control sets the modulation sensitivity, from no modulation counter-clockwise, to subtle blooming around 9 to 12, to pitch bends up to a half step down or more clockwise. The 2024 version moved to the Standard Series with a new PCB layout and no significant circuit changes; it draws about 38mA and is rated Intermediate¹.

The Dragonfish is a compact, analog-voiced PT2399 delay with modulation, based on a Madbean original design whose lineage is very similar to the Tonepad Rebote 2.5 with different values, plus added modulation and tweaks. TIME covers around 50ms to 600ms, RPT goes from one repeat to infinity or self-oscillation, and RATE and DEPTH give a full complement of LFO modulation, from slow chorus to what the build document calls "a ridiculously fast choppy one." It fits a 1590B enclosure, draws about 22mA, and is rated Intermediate⁹.

Distortion projects: Oxford (Nobels ODR-S)

The Oxford is a DIY distortion project based on the Nobels ODR-S, rated Intermediate and built into a 125B enclosure. Its active Baxandall style BASS and TREBLE controls allow boost or cut, and the MIDS control ranges from mids scoop to mids boost by way of a gyrator. The circuit uses a 2n5457 at Q1 (through-hole or the surface mount MMBFJ201 or MMBF5457), 2n3904s at Q2 and Q3, and 4558 op-amps, drawing about 9mA. It is compatible with the SSBP and SSABP bypass boards¹⁰.

For the clipping diodes at D3 and D4, the document calls for AA112 germanium diodes but notes that "The AA112 diodes are not readily available and it appears later units used 1n60P germanium diodes as a sub"¹⁰. Other germanium types work in those positions.

Octave fuzz projects: Wolfshirt (Foxx Tone Machine)

The Wolfshirt is Madbean's take on the Foxx Tone Machine, an octave fuzz rated at Beginner build level in a 1590B enclosure. Compared with the original, the SUS and VOL pots were changed from linear to audio taper and the octave switch became an On/Off/On SPDT: the down position shorts D2 for a highly compressed tone, and the non-octave mode lifts half of the phase splitter for a smoother, darker tone. Madbean describes the result plainly: "The fuzz is thicker and the octave up is more prominent. Basically, a bit of a face melter"¹¹.

As with all analog octave-up generators, the Wolfshirt is monophonic: it does not do chords well and creates odd harmonics, but it cuts through for lead and single note playing. The build document recommends 2n3565 transistors for Q1 through Q4 for subbing flexibility, and the Standard Series port changed the coupling caps back to the 10uF electrolytic used in the stock pedal¹¹.

Support through the madbeanpedals forum

Every Madbean build document points builders to the same place for help: "Technical assistance for is available via the madbeanpedals forum. Please go there rather than emailing me for personal" support¹². That policy is consistent across the catalog, from the Oxford and Woodshed to the Imp, Cosmopolitan, and the delay projects^101314151617. For a builder stuck on a bias adjustment or a wiring question, the forum is where Madbean intends those questions to be asked and answered.

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