Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
The Marshall Guv’nor is one of the more highly regarded overdrive/distortion pedals of the late 80s, early 90s. With it’s amp-like dynamics and a wide range of versatile tones, the Mk. I version of this pedal is still highly sought after. Many artists have used it, though Gary Moore is most associated with it, thanks … Read more
The Sunface is a clone of the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, with a few tweaks. First, it has a 50k trimmer at the input of the circuit so you can adjust the pregain (it works exactly like the volume pot on your guitar), second it has an external control for biasing Q2 (the Sundial). Original … Read more
The overdrive section of the Amp Eleven as many of you might know, is pretty much a direct copy of Paul Cochrane’s Timmy. The only difference (aside from a few value changes) is the Amp Eleven doesn’t have the switch that adds another clipping section that’s in the Timmy.
The Script version of the Phase 90 is probably the holy grail of phase shifters and was the first effect released by MXR in 1973. It’s probably most famous for helping create Eddie Van Halen’s brown sound on the first 2 Van Halen albums. It was designed before dual op amps were really affordable, so … Read more
The OverDriver is a dynamic transparent drive that works great with a tube amp. It’s essentially a massive clean booster that pushes the amp to overdriven tones. Original units from ’69-’70 didn’t have a master volume control, but modern versions do and it’s a good addition to the circuit. (If for some reason you don’t … Read more
One of the higher regarded Big Muff derivatives out there, the Mk III is Skreddy’s latest version of their Mayonaise BMP. On the board is a dip switch which allows you to switch in or out 2 extra capacitors to the tone section. You could wire these as external SPST switches (you’ll need 2 of … Read more
Here’s another plexi-in-a-box pedal. Fairly simple in comparison to others. I’ve drawn 2 layouts for this one; one stock and one with an adjustable gain mod. The EQ switch is optional, as some who’ve built this circuit say it’s pretty lackluster. The original uses an MC4558CN, but just about any dual op-amp should suffice (try … Read more
Here’s another one of MicTester’s creation/adaptions. The Hot Silicon Tonebender is based on the classic SolaSound Tonebender Professional Mk II, but with silicon transistors and an added tone stack. Pretty much any medium to high gain transistors will work, so socket and try a few different ones out (BC109, 2N5088, MPSA18, etc).
This pedal is inspired by Tommi Iommi’s classic combination of Laney Supergroup amps and a Rangemaster treble booster. It’s not an emulator like the Supergroup pedal I posted a little while ago. If you look at the schematic it actually looks like 2, AMZ mini booster-type stages at its heart, with a transistor-based input stage. … Read more
I stumbled across this over on DIYstompboxes. It was designed by David Edgar and it’s kind of based on the Fuzz Face circuit, but with a lot of tweaks. Below is his schematic and notes on biasing and transistor selection. I’ve added the usual polarity protection and power filtering and drawn the layout for on-board … Read more