New (broken) pedal day!

[Pepe]

As far as I can see in the few pictures available in the internet, the English text was above it. But somehow someone ripped it off. As it seems, only the information about the 210V to 250V version has been changed for the European market.

I used my fingernails mainly. Anything else (sharp tools, isopropyl alcohol, etc.) had damaged the surface. I tried isopropyl alcohol on a spot of the backplate and it left blue colour on the tissue, so I stopped using it any further.

[The_Doc]

Excellent job Pepe. I know that you put a lot of work into these restorations.

[Pepe]

Yes, I do. Much more than I have to do. But it's my duty to do that for all these little poor fellas and I always enjoy going the extra mile.

[bigtone23]

Great work! Lots of detail and care.

[Pepe]

A few years ago a good friend demonstrated me his Schaller Tonverzerrer (engl: tone distorter), a German fuzz pedal that has already been in the Schaller product catalogue in 1969. Ever since then I wanted to have one, too. Last Thursday I immediately bought this beauty when it popped up for sale, listed as defective. Today it was delivered, much to my joy, because due to the sparsely and delayed communication with the seller I had no information that it has been sent off already.

Unlike the two units that my friend has owned, this one does not have a mere plastic chassis sprayed with hammer finish paint. It has a solid metal housing.

Everything seems to be absolutely original. The electrolytic capacitors are from the big German corporation Siemens. The input jack has the nut on the inside, the output jack on the outside. That looked strange at first, but after seeing a Höfner branded unit with the same jacks I was certain that this is normal in the early units.

Even the battery (with the date "72" on it) has oviously never been changed. Thanks God, it is a non-leaking 9V battery. But: there is no battery snap! The battery poles are soldered to the circuit! Has someone ever seen something like this? So crazy! It really seems to be stock this way.

So far I only heard some crackling bypass sound. The battery has no power anymore. I have to install a clip and overhaul all the connections. I'm sure that it will work perfectly again in a few days.

[laurie]

This is sweet!

[Pepe]

Yes! Fingers crossed that everything will still work.

I was completely surprised by that view of the battery with the soldered lugs! I wonder if "72" was the production date or the expiration date. I tend to believe it's the latter, so this might be a very early unit. The circuit and the components are also different in comparison to later units.

[BearBoy]

Wow, what an amazing find! And amazing that the battery hasn't wrecked everything after all these years.

[bigtone23]

That Schaller dirt pedal is a trip! Hope it's fully functional after a new battery.

[The_Doc]

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the sound when you bring it back to life Pepe. Another excellent find !