Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
One of the higher regarded Big Muff derivatives out there, the Mk III is Skreddy’s latest version of their Mayonaise BMP. On the board is a dip switch which allows you to switch in or out 2 extra capacitors to the tone section. You could wire these as external SPST switches (you’ll need 2 of … Read more
Here’s another plexi-in-a-box pedal. Fairly simple in comparison to others. I’ve drawn 2 layouts for this one; one stock and one with an adjustable gain mod. The EQ switch is optional, as some who’ve built this circuit say it’s pretty lackluster. The original uses an MC4558CN, but just about any dual op-amp should suffice (try … Read more
Here’s another one of MicTester’s creation/adaptions. The Hot Silicon Tonebender is based on the classic SolaSound Tonebender Professional Mk II, but with silicon transistors and an added tone stack. Pretty much any medium to high gain transistors will work, so socket and try a few different ones out (BC109, 2N5088, MPSA18, etc).
Got a request for the S2, but have been unable to track down a schematic for it, so here’s the S1 in the meantime. It’s an emulator/preamp of a Soldano tube amp, and like most amp emulators it uses JFET transistors. The original uses mostly SMD components with the exception of some capacitors, which is … Read more
Like many of the old germanium fuzzes, the Burns Buzzaround can be difficult to get right. It also uses 3 sometimes costly germanium transistors, and unless you also build a power inverter or use NPN transistors, you can’t daisy chain it with other negative ground effects. To get around these hurtles, Mictester designed a work-a-like … Read more
This pedal is inspired by Tommi Iommi’s classic combination of Laney Supergroup amps and a Rangemaster treble booster. It’s not an emulator like the Supergroup pedal I posted a little while ago. If you look at the schematic it actually looks like 2, AMZ mini booster-type stages at its heart, with a transistor-based input stage. … Read more
I stumbled across this over on DIYstompboxes. It was designed by David Edgar and it’s kind of based on the Fuzz Face circuit, but with a lot of tweaks. Below is his schematic and notes on biasing and transistor selection. I’ve added the usual polarity protection and power filtering and drawn the layout for on-board … Read more
Update, 22.3.2015 **There were couple minor issues with the schematic. Both fixed for this version of the layout.**
I realized after posting the Meathead Deluxe I hadn’t made a layout for the one-knob Meathead. Anyway, the Meathead is one of most well known 1-knob silicon Fuzz Face variants, thanks to the like of Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, among other guitarist. Q2 is a BC182L, which has an ECB pinout … Read more
Here’s an interesting take on the Tone Bender Mk III. Original units were positive ground, so the perf side of the layout reflects that, while the PCB side is set up for daisy-chainable negative ground.