1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

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Nick
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1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by Nick »

Demo to listen to whilst you ambiently scroll through the images:



I grabbed this thing off eBay a few months ago (along with a super-duper early Rangemaster Treble Booster). I had been sucked back into play WoW during lockdown, and I was busy doing an old favourite dungeon (Slave Pens, on heroic difficulty), with my new Dwarf Priestess, when said fuzz + booster units pinged on my radar. My teammates ingame were very understanding when I explained why I had to pause the dungeon run for a few minutes.

This is the younger of the two known versions of the silver wedge-shaped Pep. Whoever put these things together had an annoying habit of sticking a big blob of solder over the date code on the the level pot. Graham owns a very similar unit, and apparently the digit for the year is just about visible on the pot in his unit, placing that one in 1966. Even though mine has a lower serial number(?), I've also guesstimated it as being from 1966, based off that information from Graham's.

It's a pretty fucking crude sounding pedal, even after some careful trimpot adjustment to loosen it up. The response is quite gated and farty, and it sounds best when boosting an amp, but I'd guess that a guitar with humbuckers might work better too (unfortunately it's just me n' my Squier Tele here). There's a certain charm about these early, awful-sounding boxes that I can't help but find endearing. The challenge in getting it to sound half-decent, via playing techniques, is fun!



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Also, seeing this thing side-by-side with my earlier (still broken) germanium Pep - with the faceplates actually being different sizes - makes me now speculate that the pedal from 'Paperback Writer' sessions was germanium after all :smashed:

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jreeves47
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by jreeves47 »

really nice!

it seems to me this wedge design is really similar to the one Roger Mayer used for the octavia
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Bigfoot2000
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by Bigfoot2000 »

Sounds fucking brutal!
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innerflight
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by innerflight »

:freakout:
’brutish in character but not thug like’
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simonm
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by simonm »

sounds GREAT to me! but that trimpot slider thing is just weird.
i haven't ever looked into the Si Pep - what transistors are in there?
Handmade, high-impact, great-looking radical queer germanium fuzz. A different approach to 1960s-inspired fuzz pedals, no clones, check them out at https://goodfuzzysounds.com or on YouTube https://tinyurl.com/GFS-YT
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Nick
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by Nick »

simonm wrote: Mon Sep 14, 2020 11:11 pm sounds GREAT to me! but that trimpot slider thing is just weird.
i haven't ever looked into the Si Pep - what transistors are in there?
The slider is so worn out and unstable and filthy, that I've vowed never to touch it again, as long as the pedal seems to at least sort of work...

Transistors are BC107. The circuit is pretty much the same as the germanium one though, so much so, that - unless there's a funky transitional version that we haven't yet seen - they apparently used the same PCBs for a while (the .01uF styroflex cap is marked as a resistor on the track side).
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vanguard
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by vanguard »

You are a master Hunter, my friend. Great work!
https://blackstrapelectrik.com/

Has anyone seen an Englishman called Gavin?
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jerms
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by jerms »

hey Nick are the gutshots of your germ unit floating around on here somewhere?? look like mine?? looking at pots on my germ pep it has 11-4 as the code... a year earlier than your silicon unit... wish i could give your early one some TLC!
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Nick
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by Nick »

jerms wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:04 am hey Nick are the gutshots of your germ unit floating around on here somewhere?? look like mine?? looking at pots on my germ pep it has 11-4 as the code... a year earlier than your silicon unit... wish i could give your early one some TLC!
Aye, dumped it earlier this year:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22618

My germanium Pep is pretty much identical to yours, as far as I can tell. Just has a few cosmetic differences (namely the faceplates and transistor insulation), and it also curiously wasn't fitted with a battery holder either (but the hardwired cable is wrapped in a loop inside the enclosure, leaving room for a snug battery). Does your Pep have a rubber tread underneath? I'm unsure whether the material on my germanium pedal is original, because it extends too far out at the back, and prevents the pedal from hinging open...

The date code on the fuzz pot of my germanium pedal reads 12-4 (and the date code on the level pot is, again, unreadable, lol), but because of the funky faceplates, I'd wager that it predates yours. I think my germanium unit just needs a new battery snap, but it seems like the (non-original) one that's fitted atm was soldered in quite aggressively and might have ruined the track, because I can only get a reliable fuzz sound out of it by hooking power up directly to the next parts along in the circuit. That said, it still doesn't sound as good as yours in your demos! :hmm:
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fever606
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Re: 1966 WEM Rush Pep Box (silicon version) [PORN DUMP]

Post by fever606 »

Rad rad rad! I had a Ghost Pep Box briefly but didn't jive with it... your video is making me reconsider that!
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