Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Jon has contributed a lot to the DIY pedal building community and I always learn something new when I layout one of his circuits. So I think we’ll have a Jon Patton week, starting with the Clipper Ship. There’s a good bit of flexibility with this one. Q1 can be pretty much any low gain … Read more
For Fuzz Friday we have another Keeler design. Nothing too complicated about it (and in my experience with fuzz simpler is better)–basically an Electra running into a Big Muff tone stack, into some germanium clipping, into a Fuzz Face. Schematic from FSB.
Description of the MKIV origin from the captain. The origins. Tone Bender MKIII, Tone Bender MKIV. Same party different frock. Aside from the obvious differences in the enclosure type of these pedals any true solid definition of which is what in regards to circuit type is and will always be a little bit of … Read more
I think the best description of the differences between the MKIII & MKIV tonebender comes from non-other than the captain: The origins. Tone Bender MKIII, Tone Bender MKIV. Same party different frock. Aside from the obvious differences in the enclosure type of these pedals any true solid definition of which is what in regards to … Read more
Here’s four different versions of the DAM Fuzzsound, all of which are a mix of the MKIII & MKIV Tonebender. From the captain: Fuzz Sound MKIV (used to be badged as the MKIII) Basically a pimped out version of the Tone Bender MKIII and MKIV but with more tonal scope, more muscle and packing space … Read more
Well I’ve been in a bit of Tonebender kick lately, so I decided to do a bunch of MKIII & MKIV variants. The Rotosound Fuzz was built by Sola Sound in the late 60’s and is based on the MKIII Tonebender.
From blistering, octave-tinged fuzz all the way down to dirty, fat overdrive with a turn of your guitar’s volume control, the Raincoat has a sound all of its own. Is it an overdrive that does fuzz? A distortion that does overdrive? A fuzz that does it all? We have no idea. All we know is, … Read more
Been a while since I did a reverb layout and this DeadAstronaut design does not disappoint. It’s not a true-bypass effect, but uses some JFET switching so that tails are present when you turn the effect off. Coda Effects actually has a really good write up on the design. Ended up doing this one in … Read more
Here’s the original Twin Twelve from JHS. It’s an emulator of the old Silvertone 1484 amp. Like a lot of amp emulators (including their Superbolt) it uses JFETs and an 18v charge pump. The schematic can be found here, and I added the charge pump from JHS’s Superbolt. Set the trimmers to around 9v and … Read more
