Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Here’s a weird one for you–the Shin Ei Octave Box. It’s apparently an all analog clean octave down effect. I’m not going to pretend to understand how it works, but there are a lot of transistors. Originals used 2SC644 and 2SC666 transistors, which I think were in the massive TO-3 package. I’ve drawn the layout … Read more
The Bit Commander is an synth/octave effect that’s all analog. It creates square wave synth tones across 4 octaves (2 up, 2 down) and it’s capable of creating a wide range of sounds. The octave down effect is generated from the ICs, while the octave up comes from the 4024 and transformer (kind of like … Read more
Today’s #fuzzfriday offering is the Punch-In-The-Face, designed by Tim Escobedo. It’s based on the Fuzz Face, but with a JFET in Q2. Here’s what Tim had to say about it: The latest Fuzz Face inspired offering. The big difference is the “Trauma” control, when used with the Gain control, will yield tones from hard fuzz … Read more
Here’s the layout for #fuzzfriday! The F-1 Fuzz Tone is one of Kay’s budget effects from the 60s housed in a plastic treadle pedal. Essentially it’s the poor man’s Univox Super Fuzz. The treadle would control the Tone pot, with the overall level of the effect fixed at max. This isn’t that big of an … Read more
The fOXX Tone Machine is a classic fuzz box and a very versatile octave effect as well. Pretty standard controls, and the toggle switch controls the octave effect. I’ve laid this out for onboard pots and octave switch, and added polarity protection and power filtering. 2N3904s or 2N2222s can also be used in place of … Read more
The Fender Blender would probably just be a blip in the history of fuzz if it weren’t for the likes of Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), as it was generally regarded as too harsh sounding. This aggressive fuzz is good for metal leads and also can create an octavia sound … Read more
Here’s another Dan Armstrong effect. It’s part ring modulator (when playing chords) and part octave (when playing on the neck pickup, high on the fretboard with the guitar tone control down). For the clearest octave effect, match the diodes as closely as possible for forward voltage. It might also be worth matching the 47nF caps … Read more
Here’s the Octave Drone from Seppuku FX. Like the Space Fuzz, it too is based on the Rambler. In fact, the Octave Drone is more than half of the Space Fuzz. This has as input switch that goes between a 4.7nf cap and a 100nf cap, much like like the Hot Silicon Tonebender. You could … Read more
The Space Fuzz is a a loud, in your face fuzz/octave box from Japan builder Seppuku FX. It’s partially based on the Tim Escobedo Rambler, with a couple other stages thrown in (including the Bazz Fuss). It has a pretty wide range of tones and can get a little splattery at the end of sustained … Read more
Got a request for the EQD Bit Commander, and while there doesn’t seem to be a schematic for it, my search for one lead me to this effect. It’s no Bit Commander, but it does do the synth-y octave down thing. The original Robot Devil has the octave switch (which allows you to switch between … Read more