Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
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
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
While on the JHS thing, I noticed this booster and thought it looked interesting. The output switches between filters to allow for treble and bass boost, unlike most other boosters where it all happens at the input. Very few seem to be around, as I could only find one photo of the internals and one video … Read more
The Analog Man Beano Boost takes the classic Rangemaster treble booster and adds a very useful function — a switched input capacitor that widens the tonal range beyond the original’s treble boost. Because it’s a single-transistor germanium circuit, the choice of transistor does shape the tone and clipping character, especially at higher gain settings. That … Read more
The Earthquaker Devices Bows is a straight-up germanium Rangemaster with some modern tweaks. It uses an NPN transistor and has a switch to swap to a larger input capacitor for a full-range boost. The space above the transistor on this layout allows it to be mounted on its side (bent over 90 degrees), as OC transistors are … Read more
I followed a vaguely similar layout to the one pictured at the bottom of the post for the Pete Cornish TB-83 Treble Booster. This is a straight treble boost using a silicon transistor – it’s going to sound horrible into anything apart from a cranked valve amp, or maybe a valve based pedal. Given … Read more
A bit of a classic – well one of the first guitar effects really, the Dallas Rangemaster. A nice simple one for a quick build using leftover tag board. In theory there is room to fit the output cap on the board too, but I liked the straight lines of the components. DALLAS RANGEMASTER TREBLE … Read more
While I was thinking of what could be made with tag board off-cuts, this popped into my head. The D*A*M Red Rooster Booster is probably my all-time favourite booster – I’ve only ever made one, and it was so good I stopped there (it was a point-to-point npn version with trimmer). This is a PNP … Read more
I’ve already done a point to point layout for the D*A*M Red Rooster Booster (which I love by the way), but as I’m on a run of D*A*M layouts today, I thought I might do this one too. Like the rest, this is not my layout; it’s a close copy of the D*A*M layout. If you want … Read more
A variation on the classic Rangemaster Treble Booster from D*A*M. The Red Rooster germanium booster uses a NPN transistor so it can run off a normal power supply, and features a capacitor blend on the input to sweep between treble boost and full range boost. This has a lot of boost on tap – it will crush … Read more