Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Here’s a fairly simple PT2399 delay from Allesz over on FSB. Here’s what he had to say about it: It is a simple circuit and it works good but: the mix and repeats pot are a little interactive in quite a strange way (anyway they work different from a standard echo: to turn off the … 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.
There was some controversy over this pedal from Fulltone as the circuit is practically identical to the Jack Orman Mini-Booster. Fulltone no longer makes this version of the Fat Boost and now makes a 4-control version with an extra FET stage and more EQ controls. Regardless, it’s a great pedal for beefing up your tone. … Read more
Here’s a nice transparent drive from Runoffgroove.com. Not a ton of headroom apparently, but has a nice bluesy tone. In the layout, Q1 is oriented for a 2N7000, so if you use a BS170 be sure to rotate it 180º.
The Red Llama by Way Huge is a great tube-like overdrive with plenty of output. I’ve drawn 3 layouts–one for every typical Hammond box! The 1590A layout uses 9mm pots which you should be able to board-mount. The other 2 use typical 16mm pots. Make sure to use the unbuffered CD4049 or else the circuit … Read more
Thought i’d post this here too in case someone wants to try it out. There’s an old development thread on FSB for this AC30 emulation circuit. There are number of schematic versions with slight differences, but the basics are the same for all of them. It is a nice high gainer with some noise content, … Read more
Smoother sounding than the Mk. II Professional, the Tone Bender Mk. III not only added a tone control, but the circuit was a deviation from earlier Tone Benders. Q1 and 2 create a Darlington pair that amplify the signal, while Q3 is what creates the fuzz. I’ve laid this out for negative ground operation, so … Read more
Who doesn’t love a Klon, right? Here’s the buffer stage of the Centaur. The original Klon uses one side of a TL072 for the buffer and the other for gain stage. If you’re building the just the buffer, you can get away with a TL071. I’ve laid out a perf and PCB for each.
This is a pretty cool fuzz box. It’s a cross (sonically anyway) between an early Vox Tone Bender and a Big Muff. It uses PNP germanium transistors, but still uses a negative ground power supply. Originals have OC76 transistors with hfe of around 100 for Q1 and 300 for Q2. 300 is high for most … Read more
Here’s another layout for a MOD pedal, the Trill Tremolo. On board pots and LED resistor to reduce the offboard wiring mess. I built this one this past summer and I liked the way it sounds, though the Speed control should probably be a reverse log pot. Haven’t had the opportunity to experiment there yet. … Read more