kowloon walled bunny (KWB)
Back in the late 90's, Russell Hall of Pound, WI (now of United Sons of Toil) introduced me to the Ross Distortion pedal. Soon thereafter, I found out that the Ross Distortion, the DOD Overdrive 250, and the MXR Distortion + were all essentially the same circuit. They all had aspects about them which I enjoyed, but they also had aspects that I found displeasing. I got it into my head to someday make my ultimate version.
In 2007 I found myself with Scott Evans and his three Distortion + pedals. He liked one unit much more than the other two. After diagnosis, we found that a clipping diode was broken in the pedal that he preferred. That inspired me to create the ultimate circuit for both Scott and me. I used big coupling caps to let through the low end that Scott uses in his band Kowloon Walled City. I used the chip that I liked. I put the diodes on sockets so the user can voice their own clipping. Most importantly, I added the Clip knob to adjust the amount of "broken-ness" of one of the clipping diodes. The result is the Kowloon Walled Bunny; an elegant take on the standard rock distortion.
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