The Chunk Systems Brown Dog is a bass effect pedal that produces a driven, distorted signal alongside a clean one, with knobs to blend the two. It sits in the bass pedals world as a drive unit in the same family as overdrive pedals and distortion pedals, and it carries an envelope jack that lets it talk to Chunk Systems' Agent 00FUNK envelope filter.1
Controls and how they work
The Brown Dog's front panel mixes a drive section with a clean blend and a noise gate1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clean knob | Sets the level of the clean signal; at maximum with the dirty knob at minimum, only the clean signal is heard1 |
| Dirty knob | Sets the level of the driven signal, blended against the clean side1 |
| Gate | Cleans up the sound; the only way to get a fully clean sound is with the gate at maximum1 |
| Drive | Sets the amount of drive; with the gate at 0 and drive at maximum, the pedal can whistle a lot1 |
| Clipping toggle | Switches between SOFT and HARD clipping modes1 |
The clean and dirty blend is the heart of the design: rather than replacing your clean tone with distortion, the pedal lets you keep as much of the untouched signal underneath as you want, which is why the design appeals to bass players who need low-end definition under drive1.
HARD mode has a volume drop on original production units. A builder who put an original Brown Dog on the bench confirmed that R17 is definitely 100k there and that the unit does have a volume drop in Hard mode.1
The R17 question
The schematic the stripboard layout is based on carries a typo. As the layout's author explained: "the schematic this veroboard is based on has a typo. R17 (the 100k resistor in the bottom left) should be 10k, not 100k." Fitting 100k causes a huge volume dropoff in the dirty signal when switching clipping modes, which is the same symptom heard on original production units. The layout was corrected after the typo was reported.1
The published layout also included a position marked D3 for a polarity protection diode that the author did not include, so builders should not go hunting for a missing part there.1
Connecting to the Agent 00FUNK
The Brown Dog has an envelope jack used to connect it to the Chunk Systems Agent 00FUNK. On the layout, the sleeve of that jack goes to ground, and it is wired as a mono jack with no ring. That link lets the two Chunk Systems pedals work together, with the envelope signal passed between them.1
What builders and players said
The stripboard layout on Guitar FX Layouts drew build reports from several contributors, and one verified build came back with a verdict that covers both audiences: "Verified. Great pedal. Sounds really good with guitar as well as bass."1
So while the Brown Dog is tagged as a bass effect, it is not strictly a bass-only design. Guitar players after a blended clean-and-dirty sound can use it on the same terms.1
Videos
Guitar World
bassfuzzcom
STOMPBOXSONIC
Questions
Is the Chunk Systems Brown Dog only for bass?
No. It is tagged as a bass effect, and that is the audience it was designed around, but a verified build on Guitar FX Layouts was reported to sound really good with guitar as well as bass. Guitarists looking for a blended clean and dirty drive sound can use it the same way a bass player would.
What does the clean and dirty blend do on the Brown Dog?
The Brown Dog has separate clean and dirty knobs that set how much of each signal you hear. With the clean knob at maximum and the dirty knob at minimum you hear only the clean signal, and the opposite setting gives you only the driven signal. In between, the two are mixed, which lets you keep low-end definition under the distortion.
Why does the Brown Dog lose volume in Hard mode?
On original production units the volume drop when switching to Hard mode traces back to R17. The schematic the stripboard layout is based on carries a typo: R17 should be 10k, not 100k. With the wrong value fitted, the dirty signal drops off sharply when the clipping mode is changed. A builder who checked an original on the bench found R17 is definitely 100k there, and that unit also has the volume drop in Hard mode.
What should R17 be on the Brown Dog build?
10k. The schematic the veroboard layout is based on has a typo marking R17, the resistor in the bottom left of the board, as 100k. Fitting 100k causes a huge volume dropoff in the dirty signal when switching clipping modes. The layout was corrected after the typo was reported.
Can the Brown Dog connect to the Chunk Systems Agent 00FUNK?
Yes. The Brown Dog has an envelope jack used to connect it to the Chunk Systems Agent 00FUNK. On the stripboard layout the sleeve of that jack goes to ground, and it is a mono jack with no ring connection.
Sources (1)
- Guitar FX Layouts: Chunk Systems, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2024-01-10