Pixel Drive

Massive Marshall in a Box sound from a pretty small circuit.

This FET-based beast will get you a huge range of Marshall-style tones, from the pleasing break-up of an 18W through to the classic rock crunch of a JTM45.

The board-mounted toggle switch will give you a bass-boost, so even at lower volumes you can create some serious bottom-end punch.

The kit is supplied with vertical-mount pots which have round shafts, so you'll need set-screw fitting knobs.

You will need a multimeter to tune this circuit. You *could* do it by ear but it's not recommended.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components, pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is only available with full kits, and can take a battery if desired with footswitch positioned 22mm higher, closer to the controls. Knobs are not included.

Inspired by: Plexi Drive

Difficulty: Medium

PCB size: 50 x 36mm

Knobs required: 3

Enclosure: 1590B

Power and Signal pads match the Direct Connect 3PDT Daughterboard

Check Specials for powder-coated enclosure availability.

Download INSTRUCTION PDF

Product Code: PixDr

Product Condition: New

Kit type* Allow for battery?* Ribbon connector?* FET Type* Pre-built (UK Only)?*

£36.00 inc. tax

£30.00 ex. tax

? Tax based on United Kingdom.

Customer Reviews

5 review(s) posted (write review)

Great low/mid gain marshall sounds
"This unit sounds great through my Fender deluxe reverb. May i suggest biasing all points to 6,6V. The pedal gets more dynamic. a tiny bit less gain and a lot clearer with more bite and less mud in the bottom end. And did i mention easy to buld :) Thank you FD :)" Floer Music, Andreas Floer - 15 October 2021

Reply From FuzzDog

We’ll certainly give it a try with the higher bias, cheers.

Sounds legit
"I've pitted this agains the pedal it's based on (which I own) and couldn't tell the difference. The only minor dissapointment was that the kit came with the easier to find 20K tone pot instead of the original 25K, which allows for more high-end frequencies to come through. Although that's a setting where most people never go, and where I seldom do (mostly on the "more bass" switch setting, with neck pickups)." Razvan Cojocaru - 17 April 2021

WOW!
"Ordered Friday morning... arrived Saturday morning and finished Saturday lunchtime. It was easy enough to do with a steady hand and careful checking of resistor codes. My old eyes were the biggest hinderence. I biased it up with a battery and checked it worked before putting it in an old enclosure. I was very underwhelmed to say the least. I then rechecked the bias and found I was way out... must've been an old battery! Now this thing is just brilliant... it's the only drive pedal I need and everything is controlled from the guitar volume. Roll back to 7 and there's Sultans of Swing to be found. Up to 10 and a lovely crunchy drive, plus variations depending on pick-up position and volume setting. It's an always-on pedal for me. With my set-up (a DIY 5E3 Tweed Deluxe) I find the extra bass of the switched capacitor a bit too much, so I might reduce that when I re-box the Pixel drive, or I might de-solder the switch and put an off-board ON-OFF-ON switch with 2 different caps in. Anyway - I'm rediculously happy with this pedal and planning my next one!" ColinB - 13 March 2018

Oh....My....(part 2)
"...the hotter the pickups (or pre-boost via compressor or other level control pedal) and this thing sings. Tone knob for my strats is nearly always at about 3 O'clock - not much travel required for a big change in character - I can't say what is does for Humbuckers, but between 3-6 o'clock it gets a lot of top end, so the range is actually there somewehere. Bass switch - basically "thump", along with the tone knob you can get some serious scooping going on or moving the bedroom walls! I would possibly say if you are an SRV / ZZ / AC/DC fan this one is indispensable. In fact for any live players you would probably want two of them! This is already an always on pedal for me even when not gunning it as the low gain clean is just clear as a bell. You've done it again Lee, Thanks :)" Richard McEntee - 02 March 2015

Oh......My.......
"Long post - but IMO this pedal warrants it. Ordered Fri pm, arrived Sat AM with 1st Class post. 2 hrs to build - hardest bit was me messing up the LED light wiring! Lee very helpful as ever via email! JFET Biasing was straightforward with a multimeter, still learning about biasing by ear though. Nice looking red enclosure, and red LED - very quiet operation. General - Wow, wow, wow!!! I thought my Laney Lionheart L5T was good, but this thing combined with it is pretty tasty. All the below is with the L5T on Clean, I haven't done any serious playing it through the drive channel. The Pixel Drive seems to be one of those "life-givers" - it opens out your tone, more presence and feel, like the 18watt at low gain, through to AC/DC tight lush OD at the top end. Gain up to about 10 o'clock - Clean boost, boy can it boost - the level knob goes from silence to push your amp hard if you want it. Gain up at 10-12 o'clock - this is where the clean/breakup/light crunch comes in, and it is very touch sensitive - beautiful for light blues etc, even SRV's Lenny! Dig in with the pick, or just turn your guitar volume down to 8-9. Gain 12-3 o'clock - well, this is real SRV territory. Boy was I surprised at this, I thought you couldn;t get anywhere near SRV with anything but Fender amps - strat, neck pickup, I was right in the middle of a Texas Flood on a Tightrope! Gain 3 o'clock onwards - getting up towards ZZ Top and AC/DC territory, the hotter the pick" Richard McEntee - 02 March 2015