www.zachweeks.com

"MATTY" Overdrive Pedal
D.I.Y. Project Resources


Quick and simple video demo


I made this page to provide a history and D.I.Y. build info for the "Matty" D.I.Y. project, a fantastic overdrive/boost with great EQ control.
Scroll down to the bottom for build documents.
Last updated: December 7th, 2020


Photo of the PCB itself


I built the first "Matty" pedal back in 2015 for my bandmate Matthew Politoski when we were in a band together called Animal Flag because he wanted a straightforward yet versatile overdrive pedal. I had been modifying and building pedals for about a year or two at that point so I decided to build a readily-available tagboard layout of the classic Timmy pedal for him. This was one of the first "complex" pedals (well, "complex" for me at the time) I built so it came out looking pretty bad and wasn't very reliable! Although I did an extremely sloppy job assembling it and used the wrong component values,  this abomination somehow lasted over five years of touring all over the world and it ended up on various Animal Flag recordings as a signature part of Matt's sound.


The original, non-functional "Matty" pedal from 2015.

When it finally died, Matt asked if I could fix the pedal but I decided it would be easier to do a fresh PCB layout for it and assemble it to be bulletproof. I was able to transplant almost all of the components (keep in mind, some were the wrong values) from the original 2015 tagboard pedal (plus the LED and knobs! nice touch!) into the new 2020 "Matty" pedal so it would be more of a "restoration" than a fresh build.


The new, much cleaner "Matty" pedal from 2020.

I must clarify that I take NO credit for this circuit. Paul Cochrane is apparently a great person and if you have the cash, you should absolutely buy a pedal directly from him. He offers advice on how to modify his pedals as well as unparalleled support.


Build Documents:

Please send me an email if you have any questions: me@zachweeks.com

You will also need one 125B/1590N1 enclosure, one DC jack, two 1/4" jacks, LED hardware if you chose to use a lens/mount, and one 3PDT footswitch. Those parts are not listed on the BOM.

You can also use this alternative partslist/BOM to build a pseudo-Vemuram Jan Ray as it is ripoff of the the stock circuit with some component changes. The Lovepedal Amp11 is also very similar and can be built on this PCB.

That being said, PLEASE NOTE that this PCB is NOT FOR RESALE & NOT MANUFACTURED FOR PROFIT!! IT EXISTS FOR D.I.Y. PROJECT PURPOSES ONLY!! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!! PLEASE DON'T BE A JERK!! 

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