MOD Kits Persuader Deluxe

The MOD Kits Persuader Deluxe is a vacuum tube overdrive pedal that arrives as a kit you build yourself. MOD Kits DIY, the kit arm of Mod Electronics, designed its kits to give both novice and experienced musicians the opportunity to build their own amps and effects¹. The circuit is a Darlington preamp pushing cascaded triode vacuum tubes into distortion, so the overdrive character comes from real tube stages rather than diode clipping².

The kit is a soldering project rather than a finished pedal: all you need to provide are hand tools, a soldering iron and solder³. The enclosure comes pre-drilled and all the necessary parts are included, along with instructions³. The maker rates the build difficulty at 4².

A tube overdrive pedal you build yourself

The Persuader Deluxe was introduced in August 2013 as a pedal kit, announced by MOD Kits DIY as a vacuum tube overdrive³. Guitar World's launch coverage described it as a kit where the builder provides only hand tools, a soldering iron and solder³, and Guitar Interactive Magazine reported that a pre-drilled enclosure and all parts are included¹.

The circuit topology is the heart of what makes it different from most overdrive pedals. The maker describes it plainly²³¹:

In practice that means a solid-state Darlington preamp stage feeds the tube stages hard enough to clip them, so the distortion is generated in the tubes themselves. The pedal runs on a 9V battery, and a 9-volt adapter can be purchased separately for longer lasting operation¹.

The kit sits alongside a simpler sibling, the Persuader, which is built around a single JJ 12AX7 tube and ships as a pre-drilled die-cast aluminum enclosure with all parts and instructions⁴. Premier Guitar reviewed that original Persuader and described it as essentially a tube preamp in pedal form, with Volume and Gain controls to shape its tone, where the 12AX7 operates in starved plate mode, pushed by a solid-state gain boost circuit⁵. That review also noted the Persuader's circuit relies on a tag-board, point-to-point build⁵.

The four included tubes

What set the Persuader Deluxe apart at launch was tube swapping. Guitar Interactive Magazine reported that four dual triode vacuum tubes are included with each kit: a JJ 5751, a Chinese 12AX7B, a JJ 12AU7 and a NOS US-made 12AT7, which can be swapped to create a wide range of tones¹.

According to Guitar World's launch coverage, the tones range from just a hint of break-up with the JJ 5751 to over-the-top crunchy distortion with the NOS US-made 12AT7³. Guitar Interactive Magazine reported the same range¹.

Tube swapping in this family of circuits is well documented. In Premier Guitar's review of the original Persuader, swapping the stock 12AX7 for a lower-gain 12AT7 gave the pedal more headroom and imparted a glassier sheen to the midrange and top end, while a Groove Tubes Mullard ECC83 reissue darkened the tone considerably, nudging the Persuader into the realm of classic-rock fuzz⁵. That review's overall verdict on the original kit:

The same reviewer added the caveat that the pedal was not the right choice for players who need "a more modern overdrive"⁵.

Boost switch and power

The Persuader Deluxe carries a boost switch. Both the maker and the launch press describe it the same way²³¹:

That makes it a two-voice pedal: the base setting for lighter overdrive, the boost switch engaged when you want more gain and a firmer low end. The original Persuader, by contrast, offered Volume and Gain controls to shape its tone⁵.

Power comes from a 9V battery, with a 9-volt adapter available separately for longer lasting operation¹. The pedal is true bypass, and an LED indicator lights up when the Persuader Deluxe is engaged and not in true bypass mode³.

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