Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
The SonicVI silicon MKI Tone Bender is firmly based on the original, with a few additions and some minor changes. Being silicon based, the transistors do not self-bias, so additional resistors have been added from V- to the base of Q1 & Q3. The transistors used are early Mullard PNP silicon OC202 which are quite … Read more
This is a rather interesting looking fuzz – one that I had overlooked until someone pointed it out to me (thank you Mister Hate). Before this, I was only aware of the MKIII-style fuzz that Sola Sound made for Carlsbro. Despite having three transistors and being made in the mid-sixties in the UK, … Read more
The Selmer Buzz Tone – three volts of nasty sixties guitar fuzz. I’d strongly recommend reading this first before committing to a build. If you don’t, disappointment will most likely follow. Most mid-sixties three transistors fuzzes are notoriously fussy about transistors / biasing. Plenty of discussion in all of the usual places regarding what works and what doesn’t. SELMER BUZZ TONE … 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
Another Lovepedal, another Electra Distortion with big marketing claims… I found this one in my folders from a while back, so I thought I may as well do a quick update and post it incase someone is looking for an easy point to point effect build. LOVEPEDAL ENGLISHMAN – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT
Here’s a nice easy one if you haven’t done anything point to point before – the Zvex Super Hardon. ZVEX SUPER HARDON – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT I’ve left some room on the board for added power filtering / protection.
I haven’t done a point to point layout for a while, and I also remembered that I’ve been meaning to make a Zvex Fuzz Factory for some time, but have never quite gotten around to it. So here it is. I tried a Fuzz Factory using a different layout as one of my first guitar … Read more
I would recommend breadboarding this prior to committing to solder. The Interfax Harmonic Percolator is very tweakable, and sometimes takes some adjusting to get it right. There’s pages on the Harmonic Percolator on DIY Stompboxes. INTERFAX HARMONIC PERCOLATOR – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT
A nice simple one – the Jordan Boss Tone. JORDAN BOSS TONE V1 – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT The California version. JORDAN BOSS TONE V2 – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT Still the California version, with a few minor variations. JORDAN BOSS TONE V3 – POINT TO POINT LAYOUT This is the NPN / PNP transistor … Read more
This is one of the first circuits I ever built due to the simplicity, and it’s hard to go past as a simple boost with a bit of fattening up of the signal. The Echoplex EP-3 preamp doesn’t provide tons of gain, but it does work very nicely as a slight boost, or as an … Read more