Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
While on a run of compressors, I thought this one looked interesting. ThorpyFX Fat General is an optical compressor with a treble control and a blend function. Schematic can be found on PedalPcb here. It’s said to be a progression of the Dan Coggins designed Lovetone OCT-201 – based on the trace at Aion FX, … Read more
Another compressor for the day – have not built this one yet, but I have tried the Baja LA2A that’s heavily based on this, and it sounds pretty good. Suggest testing the DIY vactrol off-board first to find something that works with the available parts. 5mm yellow LED worked well for me with the Baja version. … Read more
After building a few fuzzes lately, I thought it was time to change. I’ve built a later revision of the Reckless Diode Compressor, and I really liked it. This is the first version, somewhat subtler than the last revision. It has similar characteristics but is a more complicated design with a dual rail power supply. This … Read more
Tim Escobedo’s take on the rare Harmonic Percolator. Simple with no mojo parts in sight.
This is the LFO / modulation section from the Keeley Magnetic delay – I will try attaching this to the Earth Quaker Devices Disaster Transport Jr, and hopefully get some tape-like warble happening. They’re both PT2399 based delays, so in theory, this should work. LFO FROM KEELEY MAGNETIC DELAY – VEO LAYOUT
Just putting together some options for some leftover 0.15″ vero – and I was going to do a standard Fuzzrite, but I ended up doing this instead – which is of course the Ghost Effects Lunar Incantation. GHOST EFFECTS LUNAR INCANTATION – 0.15″ VERO LAYOUT GHOST EFFECTS LUNAR INCANTATION VIDEO DEMO
Another Tone Bender MKIII / MKIV variant – is the Park Fuzz Sound. I’d already done a P2P layout, so I thought I should also do a standard vero layout. As maybe one other person and I have used the P2P layout… I guess the most obvious difference is the lack of Fuzz pot – apart from … Read more
This is an interesting one – the Zvex Machine uses Mosfet boosters into a pair of transistors in a push-pull configuration designed to generate cross-over distortion. Apparently, it doesn’t do much on its own but likes to be paired after a fuzz to shine. ZVEX MACHINE – VERO LAYOUT MACHINE VIDEO DEMO
I recently tried building an ABY box with isolating transformers on the outputs, and I just could not get it to work (well, everything worked, apart from the constant buzzing that I could not get rid of, which was incredibly frustrating). I then pulled out most of the components, just leaving the switching and LED indicators, which … Read more
This is it for, now. Covid restrictions were lifted here today so I’m going to take a break and try to live a normal life for a while ;-). But here is a project of the 70s version of EHX Clone Theory which should keep you occupied for a while. An onboard voltage doubler is … Read more