The Coda Effects Jan Ray clone is not a commercial pedal but a documented DIY build: a homemade copy of the Vemuram Jan Ray overdrive, made by the author of the Coda Effects blog so that other players could follow along1. The author built the pedal on veroboard, the perforated board style common in the DIY community, using the scheme from the website Guitar FX Layouts1.
Where the circuit comes from
The interesting part of the build log for most players is the lineage. The Coda Effects author traces the Jan Ray circuit back to the Paul Cochrane Timmy, a transparent-style overdrive that has inspired a wide family of pedals and clones2. That matters if you are deciding between building this and buying: the clone aims at the same territory as the Jan Ray and the Timmy, an overdrive that keeps the character of the underlying amp tone rather than reshaping it. If you want the commercial original, that is the Vemuram Jan Ray page; the Timmy itself is covered under overdrive alongside the wider field of similar circuits.
The two documented builds
The blog records the project in two stages, which is useful if you are choosing how to build one yourself:
| Build | Date | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veroboard build | March 2015 | Veroboard (stripboard) | The original write-up of the clone1 |
| 1590B PCB build | November 2015 | Coda Effects PCB in a 1590B enclosure | A later, tidier version of the same circuit3 |
This page documents a hobbyist project, not a product. There is no maker's specification sheet, list price, or power specification for the clone itself; those details live on the pages for the pedals it is based on.
The Golden Hour version
The blog also covers a later Golden Hour version of the build, which swaps the op amp, the integrated circuit at the heart of the overdrive's gain stage3. Op amp swaps are a common way DIY builders tailor a clone's clipping and gain character without changing the rest of the circuit.
Videos
R.W.
MSMWorkshop
R.W.
Sources (3)
- Coda Effects, Coda Effects, 2015-03
- Guitar FX Layouts: Vemuram Jan Ray, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2013-03-07
- Coda Effects, Coda Effects, 2015-11
