Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Here’s a bass fuzz designed by Charlie Barth from Moosapotamus.net based on the fuzz section of the classic Acoustic 360 bass preamp. It uses a mix of silicon and germanium transistors. I’ve made the layout to reflect the combination of transistors specified in Charlie’s schematic, but socket and experiment. This layout should fit in a … Read more
Here’s a great bass drive from BearFoot FX in Sweden. Kind of similar to a RAT, but not really. It’s a completely different beast. Q1 calls for a 2N5952, but other JFETs should work there too, just socket and mind the pinout.
The Maestro Super Fuzz-Tone was introduced in the early 70s. It uses 6 transistors, 2 of which are used as clipping diodes. Original transistors were 2N5133s, but 2N5088s or BC109Cs can be good subs. I’ve built 2 clones of this pedal in the past (though not with this layout) and used 2N5088s with good results. … Read more
DIYStompboxes forum member Ripthorn adapted the Alembic F-2B tube preamp to a JFET preamp. It gives you 3-band EQ controls, master volume, and a bright switch. Fairly simple circuit, but might turn into a bit of a rats nest with the offboard wiring (I know, a bit out of character for me). Set the trimmers … Read more
I’ve had a few folks asking for active bass cutter circuit for couple of different uses. First, a lot of stoner rock enthusiast want to split their signal for two amps and some blues folks want to do that too. And since in cases like these, the second amp is usually a guitar amp, which … Read more
With the exception of the IC BMP (’77, ’78) you can theoretically build just about any version of the Big Muff on any other version’s layouts, but the values listed in this one are for the Tall Font Green Russian version. This one is smaller than the BMP layout I did with on board pots … Read more
The Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor has become a staple among the DIY community. Original units plugged straight into the guitar, with no external controls except for an on/off switch. This layout has the level control offboard, but the bias is a 10k trimpot, but could easily be wired offboard as well. And you should … Read more
The Zvex Wooly Mammoth is a Fuzz Face derivative designed for bass, but sounds awesome on guitar as well. For this one I’ve laid it out for on board pots oriented like the originals. On the PCB I added an LED and LED resistor for on/off indication. As with my layout for the Fuzz Factory, … Read more
Here’s a pretty cool bass distortion based on the RAT. The normal filter section on a RAT is replaced with a passive baxandall network. It was traced by FSB member p.eat and the schematic I based this layout from was drawn by johnk.
There are few manufacturers that raise an interest to simply go and get the original. I have no idea who the person behind Idiotbox is, but his designs, workmanship and artwork do please me to some degree. Plus his pricing seems to be on solid ground too. This one sounds particularly good. It has some … Read more