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Duane & Dicky in a box. Missing link peacock overdrive schematics

Drayve85

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Jan 30, 2019
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So I’m really interested in this pedal, but not the price point so much. And, I don’t know what kind of circuit it is. Is it unique? Is it just a modded Tubescreamer, Bluesbreaker, OCD??? Idk! I’ve been looking online for some schematics or even just a circuit analysis, just to see what it is under the hood really. All I came up with was goose eggs. Anyone have any info? Schematics?? Would be much appreciated!!! Thanks.
-Drayve
 

MeHereNow

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Aug 13, 2009
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677
It's a Zendrive circuit with an added switch to select between BAT41's and 2 red LED's for clipping.
 

Drayve85

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It's a Zendrive circuit with an added switch to select between BAT41's and 2 red LED's for clipping.


that’s kinda what I’ve found also, but I’m still not sure on the “magic capacitors”. I know they’re supposed to be PIO caps, but don’t know specifics. I’m only trying to find out because I’m on a starving artists budget, and I could definitely afford a BYO pedal than the price tag for a peacock. Not looking to try to steal the dudes thunder for monetary gain. Just for my own Duane & Dickey tone fanboy love affair.:dude: I know I can prolly get that same tone from other pedals or combos of, but this pedal has really tickled my fancy. If anybody has it, and would be willing to send me a pic of the guys of theirs or something, that would be great! Again, not looking to exploit the circuit for any monetary gain, trust me I know how difficult it can be to make or alter your own circuit. And, if I was in the position to be able to afford one, or all three, of his pedals, I would definitely rather buy from the source..... maybe secondhand after reading about his customer service and wait times on the builds.

thanks,
Drayve
 

MeHereNow

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677
Well, the zendrive actually is a Tubescreamerish circuit without a buffer and mosfet/diode clipping.

I built some pedals on vero, including a Zendrive, King of tone, the Josh Smith Tchula, and all with parts out of tv's, adapters, old 80's radio and anything else i could get resistors/pots/caps out of, just for fun and to see if i could do it.
My homebrew Zendrive (in an old tolexed Dunlop Powerbrick casing and wiring like a birds nest) sounds so close to an original Hermida/Lovepedal Zendrive in a 1 0n 1 comparison with my friend's original that he almost felt emberassed by my "ZenScrap'nBitsJunkDrive"
Point is, if i change a couple of values in that existing circuit, add some clippingswitch or a different IC, slap a funky name in hip letters and a picture affiliated to some genre/artist/magical or mythical creature on a sparkly enclosure.. then i'm a boutique builder an can charge boutique prices..:hee

"magic" resistors/diodes/ etc etc just aren't magic... a cheapass massproduced chinese metalfilm cap of 22nf will give the exact same value as the expensive made-by-hand-in-a-limited-quantity-only-1-run-with-fairydust in it 22nf cap..
 

Drayve85

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I agree! There’s no such thing as “mojo” and any pedal, guitar, amp, etc. can be replicated. To a certain point though. But, that’s a whole other can of worms. I didn’t believe in the differences in tone caps until I tried it. I’ll go to the grave believing that. I believe there are tonal differences in the various ways capacitance is produced. Not saying all the fairy dust and unicorn farts are true, but some of it isn’t bogus. I’m just wondering what the value of the PIO cap that the builder raves about is, and where it goes. I am gonna build a zen drive, and maybe play with some of the values in the tonestack to see what I come up with. Thanks for the replies!
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
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Contact Missing Link, Mark seems like a nice guy and is interested in building his brand. He offered me a great deal on a few of his pedals (which I have yet to accept) if I would do a YouTube video demoing them for him... perhaps he will extend the same offer for you, allowing you to get the Peacock (or Black Hearted Woman or Statesboro) at a discount. Might be worth a shot... :salude
 

Taco

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Mar 5, 2020
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I'm really interested in the Peacock and Statesboro pedals as well- but I'm also wondering what the difference is between those and the TS9 I already have.

The few demo videos of the Peacock I've seen sound killer though.

If anyone has thoughts or experience with these I'm all ears.

BTW- this is my first post :dude:
 

Nick-O

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I have one. The hype is pretty true if you are trying to get ABB honk tones, it does that. I use it for that in particular. I usually use just the amp, but this nails it without adding a whack of gain.
 

TM1

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You guys do know that they used Brown Fenders in the studio, Not Marshall’s. So buying one of these pedals Is only part of the equation.
 

duaneflowers

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You guys do know that they used Brown Fenders in the studio, Not Marshall’s. So buying one of these pedals Is only part of the equation.

The Peacock Overdrive aka Fillmore East in a Box has nothing to do with their studio recordings. :salude
 

Nick-O

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Aug 12, 2015
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The Peacock has more to do with the speaker and the characteristics of the JBL 120. You might not like it, but it works. I only have one pedal other than reverb, this one, and it is for that added honk that my Marshall isn't getting all the way on its own. Don't hate until you have tried it. Like DF said, it has nothing to do with the studio tone, it is the Filmore tone, and nothing more.
 

Taco

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Finally received my Peacock overdrive and spent the better part of the afternoon fooling around with it. I'm playing my SG '61 RI (57 classic pu) through a Deluxe Reverb RI and a '57 Custom Champ RI- holy shit, this thing nails the Duane Fillmore tone to a T. So stoked with this thing, it's almost a fuzz-OD hybrid sound, depending on where I set it at.

I just wish it came with a manual- I'm not sure what the 3 way toggle switch does. I mean, I HEAR the changes, just not sure what the intent was with it. Guess I'll email them.
 

renderit

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Nuff said:


And for those who complain aboot the price they made a mini!:

 
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TM1

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The Peacock has more to do with the speaker and the characteristics of the JBL 120. You might not like it, but it works. I only have one pedal other than reverb, this one, and it is for that added honk that my Marshall isn't getting all the way on its own. Don't hate until you have tried it. Like DF said, it has nothing to do with the studio tone, it is the Filmore tone, and nothing more.

oh, so despite the fact that Duane used Cerwin-Vega ER-123's mixed with Celestions in his cabs. Of course the ER-123 was built to mimic the JBL. It was Gene Cerwiniski's version of the D-120 with a ceramic magnet.
Dickey used JBL's ever since I can remember seeing him.(1969)
 

Nick-O

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oh, so despite the fact that Duane used Cerwin-Vega ER-123's mixed with Celestions in his cabs. Of course the ER-123 was built to mimic the JBL. It was Gene Cerwiniski's version of the D-120 with a ceramic magnet.
Dickey used JBL's ever since I can remember seeing him.(1969)

No sir, I am not disputing any of that. Keep in mind please, I use no pedals except reverb. I am not into all that, but there is something in this pedal that makes my amp bark like ABB...or like a JBL with the same pick attack etc. I don't understand electronics and never have, but this pedal I use for the early ABB stuff and it works. I saw ABB for the 1st time in 74 and I have read all about what they believe Dickey and Duane used for gear for ages, facts and fiction...but I can't afford nor find a CV and have tried JBLs on and off most of my adult playing life. They just have a sound, and whoever this chap is making the pedal has found another route. .02¢
 

Bluespower

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Feb 26, 2003
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Finally received my Peacock overdrive and spent the better part of the afternoon fooling around with it. I'm playing my SG '61 RI (57 classic pu) through a Deluxe Reverb RI and a '57 Custom Champ RI- holy shit, this thing nails the Duane Fillmore tone to a T. So stoked with this thing, it's almost a fuzz-OD hybrid sound, depending on where I set it at.

I just wish it came with a manual- I'm not sure what the 3 way toggle switch does. I mean, I HEAR the changes, just not sure what the intent was with it. Guess I'll email them.
I am tempted to buy this pedal!
I picked up a deluxe reverb Reissue and clipped the bright cap and replaced the speaker and pulled the normal channel Pre Amp tube. I love the amp for rhythm guitar but the lead tones are not saturated enough. Kinda irritating actually. I want to keep the amp but want that great Fillmore tone. Glad to hear it works on the DRRI. Have 5 great amps and 5 great guitars but love the weight of the DRRI, so I want to keep it. and gig with it
My Fulltone Full Drive 2 which works with everything doesn't seem to work with this amp.
Advice?
 

Drayve85

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DONT BUY THAT PEDAL! For one, the dude that runs MLA is a known con artist and crook. Second, that pedal, along with all his others, are all hype and repackages of well-known circuits. Since I started this thread I’ve looked at this pedal a lot and read reviews and forum threads. That certain pedal is just a Zendrive with a couple different capacitors on a switch. There are pics of the early models of the Peacock Drive that show the ‘guys’ of the pedal, and it’s just a Zendrive circuit on veroboard. I can show you the pics and the site that he got the vero layout from!lol if I were you, I’d build my own Zendrive, like I did, or have a pedal builder make you one. It’s a very simple circuit that does sound great, but definitely NOT worth the $200+ that MLA is charging!
 

Bluespower

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Too late,
I found a used one for 130. yesterday. Im hoping it solves my OD problem with the DRRI amp.
I'll report back, and thanks for the heads up on the MLA pedal guy.
 

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
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DONT BUY THAT PEDAL! For one, the dude that runs MLA is a known con artist and crook. Second, that pedal, along with all his others, are all hype and repackages of well-known circuits. Since I started this thread I’ve looked at this pedal a lot and read reviews and forum threads. That certain pedal is just a Zendrive with a couple different capacitors on a switch. There are pics of the early models of the Peacock Drive that show the ‘guys’ of the pedal, and it’s just a Zendrive circuit on veroboard. I can show you the pics and the site that he got the vero layout from!lol if I were you, I’d build my own Zendrive, like I did, or have a pedal builder make you one. It’s a very simple circuit that does sound great, but definitely NOT worth the $200+ that MLA is charging!
Hi! First off,I know for a fact the Duane and Dickey never used pedals except for Dickey's use of an old Vox Wah in the early days. There's been a rumour of Duane using rewound pickups for ages, but I've never seen concrete proof. And knowing the ohm readings of Duane's pickups it doesn't seem likely to me.. This is where we'd need Joe Dan and Twiggs's input, but it's impossible to raise the Dead to ask questions. I know Dickey's amps were stock, but not sure if Duane's had been re-worked or not. I'd have to look at Derek's 50 watter as that use to belong to Duane. I wonder if Paul Smith would give out the changes on Derek's as he's been in Derek's amp...
 
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Drayve85

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Hi! First off,I know for a fact the Duane and Dickey never used pedals except for Dickey's use of an old Vox Wah in the early days. There's been a rumour of Duane using rewound pickups for ages, but I've never seen concrete proof. And knowing the ohm readings of Duane's pickups it doesn't seem likely to me.. This is where we'd need Joe Dan and Twiggs's input, but it's impossible to raise the Dead to ask questions. I know Dickey's amps were stock, but not sure if Duane's had been re-worked or not. I'd have to look at Derek's 50 watter as that use to belong to Duane. I wonder if Paul Smith would give out the changes on Derek's as he's been in Derek's amp..
Nobody is questioning any of that. We are talking about less expensive pedals to equate a specific tone so we don’t have to spend thousands on vintage, or custom shop gear for a certain tone.
 
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