Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Maxon’s now discontinued Overdrive / Soft Distortion pedal. Brother to the very popular OD820 and in the same series with the same size case. This layout uses two dual opamps instead of the 3 singles in the original to keep the layout size down. The equivalent of the LM741 in dual opamp form is probably … Read more
Hmmm this looks familiar to another layout I’ve done recently … Note that at least one of the transistors is going to be very difficult to obtain now, and/or will be expensive. The pinouts shown in this layout are based on using more modern transistors as replacements such as the 2N3904 or 2N5088. Check the … Read more
Info about the original: Like the Dyna-Ranger, the Joyride is a highly-adjustable, 3 discreet transistor, warm, organic, and very amp-like sounding overdrive pedal that offers everything from a subtle bump-up with hair, to punishing, highly-boosted over-the-top overdrive. With Volume, Treble, Bass and “Drive” controls, it is very flexible. Note: There was an unnecessary 22u cap … Read more
Now Miro has verified the original, here’s a modded version of the Phase 45 and offering a few useful addition such as external Bias and a Mix control, Phase 45 / Univibe 10:1 Ratio switch and a Rate LED. The switch is 2 position 4PDT but you could also split it and use 2 x … Read more
Some of you may be thinking this layout looks pretty familiar, and yes, it is extremely close to the ZW-44 Zakk Wylde overdrive. So close in fact that I’ve included a switch that will select either the GT-OD or ZW-44 on the fly. I’ve got an original ZW-44 and really like it, but watching some … Read more
I thought a small and simple phaser would be another good addition and so the Phase 45 is the automatic choice to remain 1590B friendly. For the best results the JFETs need to be matched so you can either swap and change to select the pair that give the best sound, or measure them using … Read more
Not a lot of info on this old pedal, but it was a request so I’ll let Vince tell you about it! :o) I’ve omitted the reverse polarity protection part of the circuit to keep it more 1590B friendly, but if you do want to add some protection just put a 1N5817 or 1N4001 in … Read more
After John K got better results putting a buffer before the circuit I thought it would be a useful to do a second layout incorporating a blend pot. This almost certainly will make the effect more useful with bass, and if you want the effect 100% you can simply leave the blend pot in the … Read more
Info about the original: The Wampler Ecstacy uses a very simple control lay out but produces an incredible vasriety of tones that let your guitar do the talking thanks to transparency and awesome responsive gain that reacts just like a top end tube amp! Use the Ecstacy’s two band EQ (high and low), Smooth/Open/Crunch switch, … Read more
Requested by a few people now and I do want to keep the bassists happy too. In tomorrows blog I’m going to show you how to make pizza boxes, especially for drummers. Just kidding! :o) Although the hand built BJF and Mad Professor effects can hurt your wallet, with the new PCB range out they’ve … Read more