Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Here is a layout for the Mantic Effects Vitriol, a variable high-gain distortion with low and high pass filters. Thanks to Bobbass4k for creating a schematic. You can find his original FSB thread here (should read it before you build it). I’ve drawn 2 versions: the original and one with an added Mids control.
For Fuzz Friday here’s the Bellows from Earthquaker. I picked up one of these late last year and was able to trace it. It’s fairly simple but sounds really good. It’s really similar to an Electra circuit, but with a JFET going between the base and collector of the transistor. Here’s the schematic for reference. … Read more
Somehow I’ve not laid out this DIY classic, so here’s the BSIAB2. It’s a great distortion pedal designed by Ed Guidry and is probably a must for any of you EVH fans.
Here’s an older design from Catalinbread (now discontinued). The Hyperpak is based around a CD4007UBE to generate a wide array of tones. Be sure to use the unbuffered version of 4007. Shouldn’t be too hard to fit into a 1590a like the originals.
Here is a serie of tube effect pedals by the German Tube-Town which were requested a while back. There aren’t videos available but you can find all infos, schematics and pcbs on their website here. (The Pepper Shredder has been discontinued but it’s supposed to be a tube distortion based on the Twin Valvecaster)
Came across this the other day and since I’m in the mist of finals I figured it would be a nice way to get my head away from my work and relax. Basically this is just a modified Ross Distortion, but has enough differences that I feel warrant a layout of its own, plus not … Read more
For Fuzz Friday, here’s another fantastic Big Muff variation from Skreddy–the Top Fuel. It replaces the input stage with a MOSFET-based stage, and uses an interesting diode array for the 2 clipping stages. There’s also a fabricated version of this layout in the store here.
Here is a simple distortion pedal by Carl Martin. Original FSB thread and schematic available here.
Here’s the MXR Distortion III. It’s pretty similar to the MXR ZW-44, which itself is a Boss SD-2 clone. The main difference is hard clipping in the Distortion III instead of soft clipping in the ZW-44/SD-2. Originals use an MC33178P dual opamp, but try a JRC4558 or TL072.
Here is a layout for the rare Schumann Lion distortion. Original brief description: “The LION is a distortion device and a clean booster with two complete circuits that can be mixed independently. Has a bypass footswitch and boost footswitch that gives extra distortion. Great for bass — distortion that doesn’t cut out the low end. … Read more