nordvang pedal Nordvang Custom Skyline — Pedal Empire

Crafted on the foundation of the renowned Timmy topology, Skyline introduces an elevated level of tweakability, ensuring an exceptionally versatile pedal that seamlessly transitions from a "low gain," "transparent," non-compressed, and open tone to a classic saturated, mid-pushed TS style overdrive, and everything in between. With the added feature of a clean boost, Skyline offers a myriad of tones to explore.

Sharing the pedal design platform of Mid-Air, Skyline boasts stacked PCBs in a compact-sized Hammond 1590B3 enclosure, striking a perfect balance between the classic 1590B and 1590BB. This design choice facilitates the incorporation of an extra footswitch for a separate boost circuit, alongside 5 knobs, 1 mini pot, and 1 toggle switch.

The Overdrive section of Skyline presents a host of controls:

• Gain, Tone, Level: Standard controls for shaping your overdriven sound.

• LOWS: Regulate the low-frequency response of the gain/clipping stage across the entire sweep.

• SAT Mini Potentiometer: Adjust the high-frequency response of the overdrive section, enhancing clarity and introducing grit and saturation as you turn it clockwise.

Dive deeper into customization by unscrewing the lid to reveal a 3-way and a 2-way dipswitch, allowing for meticulous tone shaping:

• HIGHS: Works in conjunction with the tone knob, altering the high-cut parameter for the tone control.

• CLIPPING: Dipswitch 2 and 3 offer a range of clipping diode settings, providing options for symmetrical clipping with 2 or 4 diodes, as well as asymmetrical clipping with 3 or 5 diodes.

• LOWS: Alters the low-frequency cut-off parameter of the LOWS knob on the front panel.

• MIDS: Adds a mid-hump to the frequency response, delving into Tubescreamer territory.

 BOOST:

The boost circuit is pre-drive and can be used independent of the main drive circuit. It’s a “clean” boost built around an op-amp and not meant to color or change your tone but give you more of what you already got. The boost knob controls the gain of the boost circuit, from unity with the gain at minimum to an 18dB boost, with the gain knob at max. On the front you also find a three-position toggle switch labeled “eq” which gives you three different voicings to choose from. Full frequency, low-mids and high-mids.

BUFFER:

We took inspiration from the Gravity, where both the TS and the K-circuit have buffered bypass, which means that with the pedal “off”, you have two buffers in series. We really like the buffered tone of the TS transistor-buffer followed by the K-circuits op-amp buffer.

The new buffer circuit consist of a NPN transistor input buffer with an input impedance of 510K Ohm, like a TS, followed by an op-amp output buffer stage, with an output impedance of 100 Ohm.

Because not every guitarist likes a buffer and, in some situations, true bypass is preferred, we wanted to make the buffer switchable. This is done via a dip switch found on the inside. As an extra feature, if the pedal is set to “buffered bypass” and the power fails, it will automatically switch to true bypass and let signal through. This will also happen if the power fails, while the pedal is engaged.

Skyline, with its meticulous design and a plethora of tonal options, promises a sonic journey like no other. Unleash your creativity and embark on an exploration of unparalleled overdrive possibilities.

PARTS:

We use high quality components, Vishay metal film resistors, WIMA audiophile capacitors, Taiway switches and Pure-Tone jacks. Wired with Van Den Hul cable.

• Dimensions 4.57 in x 3.03 in (116 mm x 77 mm)
• Supply current: 100 mA
• No battery operation
• Buffered or true bypass