Some of you already know BYOC for their DIY kits for famous effect pedals.
But lately, BYOC created an own overdrive pedal that might be able to set new standards.
The Crown Jewel is probably the most versatile overdrive, booster, distortion and fuzz pedal ever invented.
This is why I would like to present it here.

Construction

The BB aluminum enclosure of the Crown Jewel is a bit higher and lacquered in classical high-gloss black. All jacks are situated at the front side.
The true bypass switches work clickless via relay.
Besides the familiar pots for level and gain, the Crown Jewel also provides several setting options. It allows to adjust treble and bass as well as the mids (parametrically!).
Via M.Freq you can choose frequencies that can be boosted or lowered by using the mids pot. A switch allows to choose between 3 different types of the Q Factor (means the range of the mid boost).
The Presence knob enables the user to soften the signal by adjusting the gain.
The type of clipping can be configured freely via a 3-position-switch. Thus, you will get the chance to choose between LED or silicon (softclipping) or/and silicon or germanium (hardclipping) or to combine both. Of course, you can also deactivate all clipping options and use the OP amp as an overdrive.
The pedal runs on 9V power supply and it is possible to increase the power internally to 18V.
On the left side of the pedal you will find a level pot and allows to choose between booster and fuzz. The circuit is built up in a way that the gain of the silicon fuzz is maxed (just like a fuzz ought to be adjusted) thus, it does not need a gain pot. An additional switch allows to arrange the boost/fuzz in front of or after the overdrive.

It becomes clear why BYOC created such a pedal: It allows to choose between almost all mod options of the usual overdrive pedals via freely accessible toggle switches. Thereby, you can easily adjust it to your very own ideas of a perfect sound.

Sound

The Crown Jewel offers the infinitely variable adjustment of uncountable sounds: from a clean boost to an overdrive, from a distortion to a fuzz. There is definitively no lack of gain but nevertheless, the pedal can also create a really clean boost.
With the tone pot at 12 o’clock, the tone control is almost neutral. The Presence pot is a feature that really makes sense and ought to be added to many other overdrives too. By using it, you can sharpen the clean boost in a certain way, thus it becomes more defined. With more gain you can make the sound somehow softer and darker.
Treble and bass do pretty effective what they are supposed to do.

In the second part of this review, you will learn more about the special mids pot of the Crown Jewel and I will also give some useful hints how the create certain sounds.

Click here for the second part of this review.