Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Here’s a Tone Bender Mk. II variation from DAM for Fuzz Friday. Originals use PNP transistors are are positive ground effects, but it could be built with NPN transistors as well (negative ground). This varies from a Mk. II in that there is an added tone control (Flesh), and the fuzz control is a fixed … Read more
“Way Huge” not only describes their enclosures, but also many of their circuits! Not quite as big as the Pork Loin, but still a monstrosity in its own right. 1590BB unless you wire all the pots offboard, then it’d fit in a 125B ok. Schematic and all that jazz here on FSB.
Still a few Run Off Groove designs I haven’t laid out yet, and this is one of them. It’s based around the 4049 IC chip and features 2 channels of amp-like distortion. I’ve laid it out to fit in a 125B with dual footswitches. Bias Q1 to 4.5v and then adjust to taste as usual. … Read more
Nice little booster from Tube Amp Doctor. There’s still a little bit of confusion on FSB over the correct value of the resistors biasing the base of the transistor, but this should work. Schematic and discussion here. If you’d like a fabricated version of this layout, check out the Strider PCB in the store.
For Fuzz Friday, here’s an interesting take on the Bosstone fuzz with a few value changes, extra diodes, and a voltage sag control. Schematic and discussion here. I did add a bit of a mod to this–the resistor marked “0-10k” limits the minimum setting of the drive pot. Stock, lug 1 goes directly to ground. … Read more
Here’s a really big one to kick off the week (might be the biggest dirt circuit I’ve ever laid out). The original Pork Loins have the Clean Tone, Presence, and Drive Mix pots internally, with 3 internal pots internally, and I’ve gone with the same configuration here. Schematic can be found here on FSB.
Here’s Run Off Groove’s take on the Dr. Q by JD Sleep with mods and improvements suggested by Mark Hammer and Jack Orman. More info, schematic and sound clips here.
Gotten a few requests for this one and I finally got around to doing it. It’s a bit of a hodge-podge–3 dual opamps, a hex inverter, and a JFET mu-amp array. Definitely not fitting this in a 1590B, but will fit nicely in a 1590BB with the pots board mounted. Info and schematic here.
For Fuzz Friday, here’s a cool variation on the Fuzzrite circuit by Apocalypse Audio. It takes the classic Fuzzrite, adds some extra gain, and a pretty clever tone control. More info and the schematic can be found here.
Here’s an older design from Catalinbread, but an interesting design as usual. It’s a preamp/boost with a wide range of tone shaping capabilities. Schematic can be found here.