Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Initially I wasn’t sure about doing a layout for the Boss FZ-3, as it isn’t the most popular fuzz out there – then looking at the schematic, it appears to be quite tweakable, so I thought why not make a start, and see where this goes. It has elements of a Tone Bender, a silicon Fuzz Face … Read more
Another CMOS based distortion, this time from Mad Professor – the Stone Grey Distortion. Details available on Aion FX, including schematic. Not that the original uses JFETS acting as diodes for clipping, which means very little if any difference when compared to a regular diode. If you want to use JFETS, details are in the Aion build … Read more
This is the CMOS version of the Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes from the late seventies. I used the Aion FX schematic, which has some minor differences to the original. Smaller Drive pot, as it’s difficult to source pots over 1meg, and some improved power protection and filtering. ELECTRO-HARMONIX HOT TUBES – VERO LAYOUT HOT TUBES VIDEO DEMO
The layout is for the Guild Brian May Box, which on the Guild schematic is marked as designed by Pete Cornish, but he has disputed this. There’s a massive write-up here on Fryer Guitars, including photos of inside Brian May’s Pete Cornish built pedal board, and inside a pretty vintage looking Pete Cornish treble boost, which … Read more
Details of this project can be found here – as I started with a modded Pete Cornish SS-2 using the Joe Davvisson diode-compression op-amp, and then moved on to this. Essentially the same as the SS-2, but with the addition of a lo-cut. After a bit of testing, I’d suggest a C50k for the sustain … Read more
Silicon version this time, as it was pretty similar to the hybrid silicon / germanium version. Link to schematic Link to tracing journal on Aion FX CATALINBREAD KARMA SUTURE, SILICON VERSION – VERO LAYOUT VIDEO DEMO
A nice Harmonic Percolator variation from Catalinbread. They’ve kept the bones of the original, and have added an input capacitor blend, as well as a pot to dial in the diodes on the output. Link to schematic Link to tracing journal on Aion FX – and think about buying one from Aion CATALINBREAD KARMA SUTURE, GERMANIUM VERSION … Read more
After doing a layout for the Nordland Overdrive, I thought I would compare the differences to the designers original Nobels version. Apart from some insane power filtering / protection and LED circuitry, there’s a couple of small changes. Traced schematic for the Nordland is here, on Aion FX Hard clipping diodes to ground, instead … Read more
Saw this on the Aion FX tracing journal today – what a monster. The original designer of the Nobels ODR released this through his own company, Nordland. It’s an updated ODR with bells and whistles. The ODR Special is one of my favourite overdrives; I’ve just never done a layout for it. Check out the … Read more
This is a Pete Cornish SS-2 using Joe Davisson’s diode-compression op amp. It sounds pretty good – a lot like the regular SS-2, but without any distortion artifacts on sustained notes as it fades outs. It’s also quieter in terms of noise. This one is getting boxed up, and now I want to try a SS-3 … Read more