MAS Effects Mimir's Well Partial Kit

The MAS Effects Mimir's Well Partial Kit is a partial DIY kit for building the Mimir's Well guitar pedal, a multi-effects unit from the same maker. Where a full kit would have the builder assemble everything, this one does the hardest soldering for you: the PCB arrives with the surface-mounted FV-1 DSP IC already soldered in place, and the kit includes a screen header and a pre-programmed display microcontroller¹². The rest of the build, the through-hole components, wiring and final assembly, is left to the builder.

MAS Effects priced the partial kit at $89². The shop listing also shows a regular price of £92.00, with tax included¹.

What is in the kit

The kit is built around a PCB with the FV-1 DSP IC pre-soldered, which removes the surface-mount soldering that stops many builders from attempting DSP-based pedals. The screen header is also included¹. MAS Effects describes the kit on its main Mimir's Well page as the "$89 Partial kit with pre-soldered surface mount DSP chip, pre-programmed display microcontroller, and more"².

What the kit does not include is the enclosure. MAS Effects sells that separately as a 1590XX enclosure, pre-cut and pre-drilled for the partial kit, so the builder does not need to drill holes for the screen, switches and jacks. The maker notes that the screen rests entirely behind the cutout⁴. The enclosure was listed at £27.00⁴.

For builders who want to start from scratch, MAS Effects also sold the bare Mimir's Well PCB on its own, with EEPROM sets available separately⁵.

The FV-1 chip

The FV-1 is a surface-mounted DSP IC, a programmable digital signal processing chip that runs the pedal's effects algorithms. Because it is a fine-pitch surface-mount part, hand-soldering it is the trickiest step of a build like this, and the partial kit exists largely to take that step out of the builder's hands: the chip arrives pre-soldered to the PCB¹.

The FV-1 loads its programs from EEPROM memory, and MAS Effects supports that side of the pedal with add-ons. Additional patches can be purchased for $1 each, in banks of 8⁶⁷, sold as Bank of 8 Extra Patches for Mimir's Well EEPROM sets at £8.00⁷. Buyers are not limited to MAS Effects' own patches: the sets can be loaded from a master list of FV-1 programs, or from the buyer's own bin or hex files⁷. A Custom FV-1 EEPROM is a related route for builders wanting their own program sets.

Versions and availability

Everything in the Mimir's Well line is currently sold out. The partial kit itself is listed as sold out¹, as are the finished pedal in both its finishes⁸⁹, the bare PCB, the pre-drilled enclosure, and the Bank of 8 Extra Patches sets¹⁰⁸¹¹.

Two things are worth knowing about versions:

• The partial kit's listing pictures are out of date. MAS Effects notes that the PCB is now blue, and the TFT screen has a white bezel and a different ribbon than what the photos show¹.
• The finished pedal has gone through several generations, and MAS Effects states that buyers receive the newest one⁹.

How the partial kit compares with the alternatives

MAS Effects offered the Mimir's Well in three build levels, and the differences between them come down to how much of the work is already done:

The finished pedal's pricing shows a split between its two finishes: Matte White (MW-1) at £331.00 and Midnight (MW-2) at £358.00⁶⁹. The sale price of £358.00 matches the Midnight finish⁶.

For a player deciding between these routes, the partial kit sits in the middle: far less money than the finished pedal, far less risk than the bare PCB for anyone not set up for surface-mount soldering, and the enclosure can be bought pre-drilled so no metalwork is needed²⁴¹².

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