Pedal Kit - Mod® Electronics, The Thunderdrive, Overdrive

Mod Electronics
Pedal Kit - Mod® Electronics, The Thunderdrive, Overdrive image 1
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Customer image:<br/>"I used a 2n3904 and a 123ap in a darlington configuration and I used a germanium diode with red led instead of the provided pair."
Customer image:<br/>"Thunder drive"
Customer image:<br/>"Thunder Drive"
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Customer image: "I used a 2n3904 and a 123ap in a darlington configuration and I used a germanium diode with red led instead of the provided pair."Customer image: "Thunder drive"Customer image: "Thunder Drive"

Pedal Kit - Mod® Electronics, The Thunderdrive, Overdrive

$36.75
In Stock

The Mod® Electronics Thunderdrive is an overdrive pedal kit that will provide a signal boost at low gain settings and its own distortion at maximum gain settings. You can use it to push your preamp into overdrive or as a source of smooth distortion. Adjusting volume control and gain control results in a wide variety of tones in spite of its simple construction.

This pedal is capable of overdriving the preamp section of your guitar amp or adding its own layer of distortion at lower volume. Using point to point wiring and easy to follow instructions you can have a working overdrive pedal in a matter of hours.

All you need to provide is solder and a soldering iron. Uses 9 volt battery which is not included.

1
Build Difficulty
Height with knobs/extrusions2.050 in.
Item Height1.215 in.
Item Length4.425 in.
Item Width2.685 in.
Packaging Information
Packaging Dimensions6.675 in. × 4.513 in. × 3.313 in.
Weight (Packaging)0.8444 lbs.
PDF: InstructionsAll Models
PDF: Power Jack ModAll Models
PDF: SchematicAll Models
PDF: Troubleshooting SupplementAll Models
MPEG: Sound SampleAll Models

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Specifications, Files, and Documents

Sound Samples:

PDF: Instructions Instructions2.38 MB
PDF: Power Jack Mod Power Jack Mod75.75 KB
PDF: Schematic Schematic197.15 KB
PDF: Troubleshooting Supplement Troubleshooting Supplement335.61 KB
Questions? Contact us at [email protected], or give us a call at 480-296-0890

Product Reviews

4.55 out of 5 based on 11 reviews
Clay S - October 25th, 2020
5 out of 5

Got this kit built in about 2 hours. Sounds great for the price. The instructions were good and easy to follow. 10 for 10 would recommend this kit to someone that wants to try a build. Looking forward to ordering more kits in the future.

Mike H. - October 20th, 2020
5 out of 5

Just built this kit today in perhaps two hours, with no previous soldering experience. Worked perfectly on the first try. The enclosure is tight with all the components installed, especially towards the end of the build. But carefully watching where the leads were going and using just the right amount of solder prevented any shorts or grounds. The only criticisms I have are that some of the wire lengths called for in the instructions were 1/2 inch too short. Especially for some of the wires on the foot-switch. But more than enough wire was provided with the kit, so it was an easy alteration. The space for the battery is indeed VERY small, and to get the back cover onto the case I had to file away the corner flanges to clear the battery. Again, an easy fix. Sound-wise, it gives a powerful boost to my guitar's signal and adds a gritty fuzzy distortion that has a nice body to it. The potentiometers are only really effective past the 12 o'clock, so careful small adjustments are needed to get the most out of the controls. In total, this is a perfect kit for someone with no previous experience and teaches you to overcome small fitting problems. For a simple pedal that uses point to point wiring and can be modified however you please, I'd say it's excellent for the money. 5/5.

Michael Sudberry - December 18th, 2019
5 out of 5

I cannot say how much I love this. It is so simple yet sounds so good whether using it as a boost or overdrive.

Larry Wood - July 21st, 2019
5 out of 5

Update on my previous review: I built my Thunderdrive a bit over a year ago...not one to leave well enough alone, I modified it to include external power supply jack, and on/off LED. I didn't see much need to put in the boost toggle to make it a "deluxe", but I began pondering swapping out the original silicon diodes for germanium to get a different sound. I was just about to order those components when I saw the listing for the Thunderdrive Deluxe LTD, which, go figure, had switchable silicon and germanium diodes. i bought the switch and diodes listed in the parts list, and just finished the mod. Still don't have much use personally for the turbo boost setting, but I like having the two different drive characteristics. I think the germanium sounds better with 'fatter' pickup settings (humbuckers and neck positions), as it is more of a "fuzz-buzz" sound. The germanium seems to have weaker output, all else being equal, so I'm not sure how switchable it would be in a live setting without something else to compensate for the volume. Suggestion for improvement/new product: Offer the basic Thunderdrive with external power and LED, and maybe offer a "Thunderdrive Vintage" with just germanium diodes (and external power and LED).

Roberto Osorio - December 22nd, 2018
1 out of 5

Missing Parts

I just left a review for the PileDriver missing parts. So I went and opened the Thunderdrive to check if the missing capacitor for the Piledriver was there and I would've had to go out for the missing parts. Well, The Thunderdrive was even worse. Basically is missing components, the bag came only with the knobs, switches, and wires, no diodes, no resistors, no capacitors.

I'm surprised since all reviews are mostly positive, I guess I was just unlucky but now I lost the holiday break to actually build the projects.

Extremely dissapointed.

Jesus Rivero - September 4th, 2018
5 out of 5

Pedal was easy to build and has a nice rumble-like sound. Pretty awesome.
Only minor thing was that the battery fits a bit too tight as to make closing the lid a bit hard but 5 stars nonetheless.

Larry Wood - April 7th, 2018
4 out of 5

I've wanted to try DIY pedals, but wasn't excited about other kits based on IC's and PC boards. This simple circuit, done point to point, was a great starting place, and I can actually follow the schematic with a reasonable understanding of what each component is doing. Finished product sounds great...haven't had a chance to compare it to my "boutique" overdrives, but it was worth the money for the fun of building it and having a decent sounding pedal. It would help if instructions could be modified to do some "pre-assembly" outside of the box (I figured out some of this on my own). Also, the pre-drilled box presented some challenges; the foot switch could stand to be about 1/8" further forward to give some wiggle room for the battery. I had to grind down the lip on the back panel on one corner in order for it to fit properly over the battery. Moving the switch would probably mean moving the jacks as well, but if you rotated the terminal strip 90 degrees, that would free up some space. I'll upload pix shortly.

Josh Young - February 18th, 2018
5 out of 5

I purchased this with the intention of modifying the original circuit. I used a 2n3904 and a nte123ap in a cascaded darlington configuration and I used a germanium diode with red led instead of the provided pair of silicon diodes. It functions as a dirty boost but when pushed, it has a raspy aggressive distortion with asymmetrical clipping that closely resembles early Led Zeppelin tones.

flyswatter66 - January 6th, 2015
5 out of 5

The Thunderdrive is a good kit for beginners wanting to try their hand at making a useable pedal. The kit came exactly as described, the instructions were easy to follow, and the pedal functions more or less as advertised in the blurb. Its best use, to me, is as a clean boost when you want your guitar to jump out of the mix for solos. It does this quite well, although I'd recommend getting the Thunderdrive Deluxe kit for a bit more money so you'll have an LED. A few cautions: 1) Don't build this kit thinking you'll get anything on the level of a Tubescreamer, SD-1, Bad Monkey, etc. The "overdrive" effect is very rudimentary -- more a mild fuzz with a late 60s vibe, which can be useful in its own right. 2) Once the battery is inside the finished unit, the tight fit makes it impossible to fit the back cover onto the unit, because the lip on the inside edge of the cover hits the battery at the corners. To solve this problem, use a file or Dremel tool to file out two corners of the lip (you won't see it once the lid is on) to allow the cover to lie flush so you can screw it on. 3) Although the instructions state that you should mount the terminal strip inside the box before attaching the components, it is much easier if you do most of the basic hookup outside the box, to give you more room to fit and solder the parts. ... Overall, for the price, I was happy with this kit and look forward to moving on to something a bit more challenging.

Cifer - June 26th, 2014
5 out of 5

Wow!! This is an amazing product. I have never soldered before, but this kit was so easy to assemble that I didn't bridge any connections and I finished it in two hours!! It looks great and it sounds great and it was a ton of fun!! The battery fits a little tight and there's no DC input jack but I will definitely add this pedal to my board and I will definitely be ordering another kit from this company!!

P.S. If you don't like the plain metal enclosure and the sticker, you can use Krylon enamel spray paint and waterslide decals to make custom colors and graphics and you can upgrade the knobs. make it your own. Thanks!