Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Laying out Big Muff variations never gets old for me. This one uses germanium transistors in the two clipping stages (and predates the EQD Hoof which also uses germanium transistors) along with schottky diodes (1N6263s). Q4 is a FS25444, but the usual BMP transistor suspects will work as well (2N5088, MPSA18, BC549C, etc). Other than … Read more
Here’s another one of my Eagle creations. The Vibutron is a great sounding tremolo from Frantone that uses a ICL8038 to produce the LFO. Originals use a rotary switch for selecting the waveform, but as lvlark pointed out on the Tagboard Effects blog, a on/on/on DPDT switch can be used instead (check out his layout … Read more
For this week’s #fuzzfriday, I present the Frantone Peach Fuzz. Got a request for this one. Quiet circuitry and classic fuzz and overdrive tones. It seems to be the circuit the Danelectro Cool Cat fuzz was based on, and that thing sounds great (it was one of my first pedals when I started playing). Original … Read more
Great sounding tremolo here from Fran, and something for me to finally build with the batch of ICL8038 ICs I bought a couple of years ago! :o) To keep the size down and make it 1590B friendly I’ve done away with the rotary switch used in the original, and instead I’ve used a DPDT on/on/on … Read more
Although this isn’t your usual muff clone, you can certainly tell where the inspiration came from. This pre-dates the EQD Hoof, but like that pedal this uses NPN germanium transistors for Q2 and Q3 but with schottky diodes here instead of LEDs. I can’t find any information at all about the FS25444 838 Q4 transistor, … Read more
Original unit has relay based switching and 1000µ filter cap. This layout is done with the circuit in tact, but omitting the original switching, LED and filtering is replaced by 470µ cap. Our “standard” polarity protection is in place and i’ve also added 1M resistor to prevent popping from the standard true bypass switching.. Tone … Read more
Information about the original from Frantone: This 3-knob Peachfuzz fuzztone has all the great classic sound with 50% more gain than the classic 2-knob model. It has been hot-rodded with super quiet circuitry and the addition of a rockin’ tone control. Truly the finest in lead-guitar tone and second to none in performance, the Peachfuzz … Read more