DRUNK BEAVER Big Grunge

About the DRUNK BEAVER Big Grunge

The Drunk Beaver Big Grunge is based on the Boss Power Driver PW-2, which was only made for 9 months in 1996 and 1997, and as such remains one of the company's rarest pedals.

The PW-2 was intended to be Boss's "grunge" pedal, but they were late to the party and obviously also overlooked the fact that Kurt Cobain was very closely associated with the DS-1 (and later the DS-2).

The PW-2 certainly didn't set the world alight at the time, but today you can more commonly hear it referred to as "the Oasis pedal" than "the grunge pedal" – not because Noel Gallagher ever used one, but because people who have experienced it have found that you can dial in a really accurate Definitely Maybe sound!

Vitalii has put in hours and hours painstakingly reproducing the original circuit design of the PW-2 because so few accurate schematics exist. But he has made some modifications in places: for example, the Big Grunge's EQ section features a combination of stock and custom frequency bands which he has perfectly tuned.

Big Grunge Circuit

The discrete op-amp design is typical of many Boss dirt pedals, but the biasing of the PW-2 is completely different and uses a lower voltage. There are also no clipping diodes – all the dirt is generated by overdriving the op-amp, which gives a really nice amp-like response.

The discrete op-amp FETs are Toshiba 2SK208 – the modern counterpart of what the PW-2 had – while the single IC used in the EQ section is an RC4558.

Big Grunge EQ

While the PW-2 had 2 frequency bands, the Big Grunge's gyrator-based 3-band EQ allows for finer control over your sound, and offers up to +-15dB of gain per band. The EQ is a combination of stock and custom modes on the Mykolaiv Grunge: 

Low has the "custom" centre frequency of 80Hz instead of the standard 130Hz

Mid has the stock centre frequency of 890Hz

High (not present on the original PW-2) is set at a centre frequency of around 3.5kHz

As per the original, most of the EQ change is achieved in the last few degrees of each knob's travel, but despite this it's a surprisingly effective design - especially with Vitalii's tuned frequency bands.

Big Grunge Demo

 Big Grunge Features

• World exclusive - built exclusively for Boost Guitar Pedals!
• Upgraded and updated version of Boss PW-2, Boss's own "grunge" pedal.
• Handmade in Poland
• Power: 9V centre-negative (not included)
• Current draw: <10mA
  
• Dimensions: 125B, 122mm x 66mm x 39.5mm