Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
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
Here’s a clean octave up effect from Tim Escobedo. The Bias control offer subtle changes, which is why I have it as an external pot. He mentioned it might need a booster in front of it, just FYI.
Madbean’s modernized take on Ibanez Standard Fuzz and alike. From discontinued project files.
Thanks to Pawel for his schematic posted on FSB. I can’t find much info on this one or clips, but it is very close to being a Foxx Tone Machine so that should give you a good idea what to expect. Pawel traced two units with the second being slightly different, using BC109 transistors, the … Read more