Epicurean Shoppe

This is the placeholder website for any and all Epicurean Shoppe developments, including D.I.Y. projects and modifications.

Epicurean Shoppe is my own brand dedicated to producing high-quality audio electronics at an affordable pricepoint. No elitism, no discrimination, no compromise.

Since 2016, I have been using the "Epicurean Shoppe" brand name on the effects pedals I've built, DIY audio projects, along with guitar amplifier restoration and servicing. Over the years, I've shifted the focus of the "brand" more towards pro audio and studio tools. Thus, the be-all and end-all purpose of "Epicurean Shoppe" is definitely a mixed bag.

In addition to my own equipment, I ocassionally work with Electronic Audio Experiments alongside John Snyder, a good friend who is (in my honest opinion) designing some of the greatest original effects pedals currently on the market.

As of January 2021, all pedals are only available on a made-to-order basis.
For now, please email work@zachweeks.com for any inquiries.

As of 2021, I am no longer repairing, building, or servicing guitar amplifiers other than full-scale restorations of vintage Fender, Marshall, or Traynor amplifiers when time allows.


CURRENT PRODUCTION DEVICES::

BIG RUFF (click here to purchase, made-to-order) - "The BIG RUFF by Epicurean Shoppe aims to be an authentic, accurate derivative of a well-loved 1970s distortion pedal with period-correct components.

The "Big Ruff" circuit is the culmination of years of unintentional Big Muff research, tweaking, and cork-sniffing. I use hand-selected and measured new-old-stock clipping diodes and transistors sourced from all corners of the world to give you the best boutique pedal on a budget without compromising quality. Equally useful for both guitar and bass as a drive or as a fuzz. Hand-made in Salem MA, current build time is 2 to 4 weeks.
Click the "BIG RUFF" link for product photos and a rough demo video.


ODDS AND ENDS:

These are some circuits & projects I've worked on, plus resources which might be useful to other people:

Modded ART Multiverb, "re-clocked" with LTC1799 Oscillator Module (January 2021) -  A fairly simple overclocking / re-clocking mod makes this budget rackmount reverb unit have extremely bizarre, bit-crushed effects for a wide variety of applications. Here is a video demo of the unit processing a snare drum.

"MATTY" Overdrive (Dec. 2020) - click here for a video demo, history, and D.I.Y build documents for the "MATTY" pedal PCB I offer.

UREI / JBL 7110 Compressor Upgrade Mods (April 2022) - I love these compressors. They can still be found for pretty cheap, were built super well, and have very durable circuit boards which happen to be VERY easy to mod.

dbx 118 Upgrade Partslist (August 2020) - I bought a dbx 118 "dynamic range enhancer" unit from the 1970s and decided to upgrade the components for pro-audio use. These are really cool units for a parallel drum bus or anything that requires a warm, vintage "squash" while also having a really awesome expander function. Here is a video demo of the unit processing some drums.

SOIC to DIP8 Utility PCB (2020) - There are a lot of these in the world but this is a tiny little PCB for using a SMD SOIC-8 device in place of a PDIP-8 pin through hole IC. Solder the surface mount component into the middle and then solder 2.54mm male pin headers into the pads for the DIP8 footprint. Download the Gerber files as .zip here and upload to any PCB fabricator of your choice. I'll upload these to OshPark soon for direct ordering.

Speaker Cab Impedance Selector DIY PCB (June 2019) - I designed this simple board in order to wire up a 4x12 with both 4 ohm and 16 ohm jacks. Now you can use it, too. Much more affordable than buying a Marshall jack plate. The part numbers are printed on the bottom of the board. You can order pre-made boards directly from OshPark using this link or just download the Gerber files as .zip here and upload to any PCB fabricator of your choice.

Traynor YBA-1 Mods (April 2018) - A schematic showing modifications I've done on Traynor YBA-1 amplifiers to make them more versatile and to my liking.

Sound City Revised Bias Circuit (2017) - A scheme to add a voltage doubler into the bias circuit of 1970s Dallas Arbiter Sound City amplifiers, which are notorious for running modern power tubes way way too hot.

"The Valve Wizard - Bias Supplies" (backup link) - Great read on designing better bias circuits for tube amps. This is a link to another webpage and isn't my content but I'm including it here because it is extremely useful info for anyone who wants a better understanding of how bias circuits work.

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