Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
I did a layout for the Hudson Sidecar a couple of years ago, and I retraced my steps recently and found a few things that needed to be updated. The Sidecar is a progression of the 999 Overdrive, which is Hudson’s version of a ‘green box’ overdrive, made for people like me that don’t like … Read more
The Fuzztone is an early design of Dan Coggins before Lovetone or Dinosaural appeared. The first publication in ETI (Electronics Today International magazine) actually had an error on the schematic – it wasn’t critical, as it just changed the frequency response a little, and it lost some level along the way in the filter … Read more
The Madbean Kraken is basically a Mu-Tron Micro V with attack and decay controls, but the rest remains the same. MADBEAN KRAKEN – VERO LAYOUT
Bit of a classic guitar effect – the MXR Phase 90. Electrosmash has an excellent reference that covers all things Phase 90, including the schematic https://www.electrosmash.com/mxr-phase90. JFETS can be pesky, so make sure you match them as best as possible and buy from reputable suppliers. The script switch is strictly optional. It’s one of those things that … Read more
I don’t know much about the origins of this one, as PedalPCB don’t seem to have listed any information on it (at least that I can find anyway). The Pendulum is a Harmonic Tremolo, meaning the signal is split in two paths, each with either a high or low pass filter; they’re modulated separately and then summed back together for … Read more
An excellent optical tremolo from Forrest Whitesides, AKA Culturejam, based on the Tremulous Lune. Project files can be found here https://forrestwhitesides.com/shoot-the-moon-tremolo/ be sure to check out the rest of his blog. CULTRUREJAM SHOOT THE MOON TREMOLO – VERO LAYOUT VIDEO DEMO
The Klon Centaur – no introduction required really. Arguably the most mythical of all overdrives? Likely the most expensive of all overdrives… This layout took a lot longer than I thought it would. In the end, I also realised that I could have shaved a row off, but hey… maybe I’ll come back to … Read more
The Clown Centurion is a rework of a Klon Centaur by Dylan159 on FSB. Be sure to check the links below, as there’s a lot of handy information on this project. I won’t attempt to explain it, as you’re better off reading what Dylan says. FSB thread link. Link to Dylan’s blog, which is quite cool – a lot of … Read more
The Gretsch Expandafuzz is a bit of an odd-ball guitar effect from the late sixties / early seventies. Not much out there on these in terms of information and video demos. First oddity: Apart from having a switch and a knob for almost everything, the one switch it doesn’t have is for bypassing the entire effect – it’s … Read more
A classic Boss overdrive – the one that started it all for Boss guitar effects, originally sold from 1977 to 1985. This is one of the later designs that does not use the quad opamp. Kind of curious that after this, many designs used the Boss version of a discrete opamp that can be seen in several … Read more