Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Perhaps best known as the Analog Man Astrotone Fuzz now, this started life as the Sam Ash Fuzzz Boxx and the same circuit also appears in the Astro Amps Astrotone Fuzz – which is a supremely cooler name, which is maybe why it has stuck. The original has 47n caps on this input and output, … Read more
In Australia we have a lot of unusual sayings – one that comes to mind here is “you’ve been fleeced”. i.e. you paid too much money for something – specifically a Golden Fleece on the secondhand market when you can still buy perfectly good new one. The Mythos Golden Fleece is pretty much a … Read more
I accidentally messed up a small Colorsound Fuzz Box board by drilling mounting holes in the wrong place – but I didn’t want to waste the vero board, and I thought an Electra Distortion & Colorsound Fuzz Box might make a nice pair of one-knob pedals. Perhaps not the most exciting post to return … Read more
A nice easy one – and I’m not sure if anyone has done more versions of an Electra Distortion than Lovepedal has. But hey if it’s working for them and people like it, who am I to judge? A JTM45 it is not. LOVEPEDAL JTM45 – VERO LAYOUT
Recently the Electra Distortion grabbed my attention again, so as I often do, I went digging for more information on the Electra MPC series guitar effects (modular powered circuits). One problem; Electra doesn’t appear to have ever made a Distortion module. Interesting… Then I read what we know as the Electra Distortion is really … Read more
It’s a single transistor boost, not unlike an Electra. This pedal is somewhat infamous in the DIY community for exaggerated claims about what it sounds like – although no one in their right mind would question the quality of the point-to-point work in the enclosure that Rift did. The Boost switch is normally a foot switch. … Read more
Another Lovepedal, another Electra Distortion with big marketing claims… I found this one in my folders from a while back, so I thought I may as well do a quick update and post it incase someone is looking for an easy point to point effect build. LOVEPEDAL ENGLISHMAN – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT
One of the simplest circuits for overdrive ever, and the source of several over priced boutique pedals with rather dubious marketing claims – the Electra Distortion. ELECTRA DISTORTION – POIN TO POINT LAYOUT ELECTRA DISTORTION – SCHEMATIC
A nice easy one – the Lovepedal Church of Tone 50 (COT50). Despite the hype, it’s just an Electra Distortion with some small mods (just the addition of the bias pot really). It will not magically make your amp sound like a 1960’s Marshall Plexi as some claim, but it’s worth a try if you are looking for a … Read more
The Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker is based on the Electra Distortion. I believe the 1N60 diodes are not germanium, they’re schottky diodes. Germanium will probably reduce the output level significantly. Like most pedals, experimenting with different diodes is worth a try, and I have seen a schematic with a 100nf output capacitor, and a B10K … Read more