The blog needs more modulation, so here's the classic EHX Small Clone chorus. Made famous by Kurt Cobain, the Small Clone has a wide range of chorus tones. I've laid it out two ways, one stock, and one with the Depth switch replaced with a pot. You can probably squeeze this into a 1590B, but I'd stick with a 125B if you want the board mounted to the pot(s). Schematic for reference.
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EHX Small Clone
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Solid Gold FX Rosie
Happy Fuzz Friday, all! Here's a cool silicon Tone Bender style fuzz from Solid Gold Fx. Aside from using silicon transistors, the first stage is a JFET. When the switch is closed it adds in a 4.7uF input cap in parallel with the 330pF input cap. You could replace the switch with a B100k pot (lug 1 to Sw1 pad, lugs 2-3 to Sw2 pad) to blend the two values. Set the trimmer to 4.5v for the JFET and adjust by ear as needed.
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J. Rockett Tim Pierce Overdrive
Thought this one was interesting so I gave it a go. It's a fairly typical Rockett overdrive (.45 Caliber, Animal, Blue Note, etc.) with a fairly typical MOSFET boost (AMZ Booster, EQD Black Eye, etc.). Fits in a 125B with dual footswitches. Schematic and discussion found here.
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Boss SG-1 Slow Gear
The Slow Gear emulates a guitarist riding the volume pot or a volume pedal, creating a swell effect. This will fit comfortably in a 1590B or 125B, though with the 1590B you'll probably want to wire the pots off board or use long-leg right angle pots mounted on the component side. Here's the schematic for reference.
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Caroline Wave Cannon
Here's a very cool Rat variant now out of production. Fairly straight forward Rat with a variation of the Ruetz Mod, LEDs for clipping and a switch to toggle a feedback loop. On the original this is a toggle (SPST), but would be fun to put on a momentary footswitch. Couldn't confirm the IC in the original, as the markings were painted over. Might be easy to assume the IC is an LM308 or OP07 since it's based on the Rat, but it's missing the compensator cap (30pF cap across pins 1-8 in a normal Rat) so I'm guessing a TL071/LM741, but an OP07 would work too. Fits nicely in a 1590B or 125B. Schematic here
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Jackson Audio Amp Mode
Here's Jackson Audio's MOSFET boost, the Amp Mode. Pretty simple MOSFET circuit with a BJT output buffer. Easy fit in a 1590B.
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Suhr Rufus Fuzz
Happy Fuzz Friday, everyone! Hope everyone is having a good end of the year and holiday season.
Here's the Suhr Rufus Fuzz. If you ever wanted a Fuzz Face with an input buffer and big ol' ton stack at the end, this would be right up your alley. Here's the schematic for reference. Should be able to squeeze it into a 1590B.
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Earthquaker Devices Hummingbird V2
New Year, might make Modulation Monday a thing. We'll see. Anyway, here's the EQD Hummingbird V2. It's derived from the Vox Repeat Percussion and now updated to use the 2N6027 in place of the obsolete 2N2646. There's also a couple other improvements from the earlier version so a new layout seemed like a good idea. Schematic for reference.
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DigiTech Bad Monkey
With all the recent talk and hype of the DigiTech Bad Monkey lately, and the sky rocketing prices of them on Reverb, a layout seemed to be in order. I used to gig with one of these and loved the Low control on it. Helped it stand out compared to other TS-style ODs. So it's worth throwing together in my book if you can't wait for prices on original units to come back to reality. This one's laid out for a 125B with top mounted jacks but you can probably squeeze it in a 1590B if you feel so inclined. Schematic over on FSB.
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Ross Phaser
Yes, Modulation Monday is back with the Ross Phaser. It's not for the feint of heart, but doesn't require any JFETs, matched or otherwise. Instead it uses OTAs with 3, LM13700N (one for the LFO, two for the audio path). Should fit nicely in a 125B with top mounted jacks. Schematic for reference.
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EHX/JHS Lizard Queen
Happy Fuzz Friday everyone! You probably didn't miss this collaboration between Josh Scott and Mike Matthews, and because of the old school style of the big box version, it wasn't to hard to trace. There's still a few things we don't know about the circuit, so have your sockets handy if you put this together (see notes below). There's some debate over the touted originality of the circuit, as it appears to be a Bazz Fuss into a Tim Escobedo PushMe PullYou, but do your best and leave that discussion to the forums. FSB trace thread for reference.
Notes:
- Q1 is a large can (TO-39 by the looks of it) transistor. I doubt it's germanium, so I assume it's something relatively low hFE like a 2N1711. I'd try out 2N2222A, 2N3904, 2N5550 and see what works/sounds best. The transistor types listed in the layout are an assumption based on the PushMe PullYou.
- D1 appears to be old stock of some sort, with orange and green color bands. I would assume a 1N4148 will work just fine here like in a typical Bazz Fuss.
- C1 is a small ceramic cap, value unknown. I'd start experimenting with anything between 100-470p.
- The 10uF cap off lug 2 of the Balance pot is an assumption based on the PushMe PullYou. It could be as large as 100uF as it's the same size axial capacitor in the original as the power filter caps.
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Sarno Earth Drive
This one's gotten a fair amount of hype over the years. It's essentially a Timmy without the bass control and a few different values. The IC and clipping diodes haven't been confirmed, other than 2 silicon, 2 germanium. 1N4148 and 1N34A should get you pretty darn close. IC is just a dual op-amp so socket and audition your favorites. Schematic here for reference.
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Exar OD-2
Here's a fairly unique OD from the mid-nineties and the Polish pedal manufacture Exar Electronix. It's a soft clipping drive based around a simple discrete opamp topography. Originals have J113 JFETs, but others should work just fine. More info on FSB.
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JPTR FX Silver Machine
Happy Fuzz Friday, folks! Stumbled across this one recently and looked cool. It's basically 2 SHOs in series pushing a Green Ringer. Schematic for reference. Should fit nicely in a 1590B. I've also a fabricated version that will be in the store next week.
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Greer Amps Black Mountian
Here's one of Greer's latest offerings. Seems like a simplified OCD circuit with some value changes and different clipping diodes. Schematic for reference. Easy fit in a 1590B.
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1981 Inventions LVL
Here's the new boost from Matt Hoopes. Cornish buffer up front, so like the DRV, not a true bypass effect unless you want to wire it that way. Signal is then amplified by half of a 1458 op amp, and then back to back inverting and tone shaping op amp stages with the LM833. Schematic below. If you're going to wire it for true bypass you can omit C4, and R7-8. Also note that D1-2 aren't acting as clipping diodes, but as (I think?) a limiter to prevent clipping or at least too much of it.
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EQD Fuzz Master General
Happy Fuzz Friday! Here's a Univox Super Fuzz derived circuit from Earthquaker. Should squeeze into a 1590B just fine. Here's the schematic for reference:
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Black Cat OD-1
Did this one quite a while ago, but wanted to redo some of the old layouts with board mounted pots. The schematic online has the topology correct but the 100nF caps are 47nF from the gut shots I've seen, so that's reflected below. Might be good to socket and experiment with.
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Reeves Electro Zo:
Stumbled across this one I though would be a quick Fuzz Friday layout. It's a modified Zonk 2 with silicon transistors. Originals use NOS 2N3416, but other low hFe (150-200) BJTs should work just fine (2N2222, 2N5550, etc). Laid it out so the board would be vertical in the enclosure with the pots attaching to either side of the board. Schematic for reference.
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Aleph Null Special Sauce
I'm a big fan of Brian's, aka Aleph Null's, circuit designs he's been kind enough to share over on the MadBean forum. Here's one of his latest offerings, the Special Sauce. In his own words, "It's a short delay with envelop control pitch bending. This makes for unique chorus, doubling, slap back, and vibrato effects." More info here.
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Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz
For Fuzz Friday here's the Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz redone with board mounted pots. Schematic for reference. Didn't make a drill template for this one, but the pots are 1.2" apart and should be an east fit in a 1590B.
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Marshall Shredmaster
Here's another old layout redone for all you Jonny Greenwood fans. I think the old layout was based on an old and incorrect schematic (here's the schematic used for this layout), but this one should be right and a much easier fit in an enclosure than the old one.
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Earthquaker Devices Disaster Transport
I traced this one a while back. It's the same delay circuit as the Disaster Transport Jr but with modulation added. It fits nicely in a 1590BB like the original. Schematic here.
If you'd rather a smaller footprint I have fabricated boards for a 125B in the store.
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Roland AF-60 BeeGee
Happy Fuzz Friday, all. Somehow in 10 years of laying out fuzzes, I've never done this one. Here's the Roland (pre-Boss) AF-60 BeeGee fuzz. Originals use semiconductors you probably don't have in your parts stash, but nothing in mojo territory, so modern equivalents will work just as well. Fairly simple circuit with a couple transistor amplifiers, an opamp stage, hard clipping, and a BMP-style tone stack. Here's the schematic for reference. Easy fit in a 1590B. (Transfer image in the Boss folder)
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SMD RAT
There's no getting around it, through hole components have long been on the way out and being replaced by SMD. I've had several clients I do board design work for either going full SMD or at least a hybrid with SMD for resistors and a few other components, and TH for caps. This RAT layout goes the more hybrid route, giving you the option for TH or SMD caps (except for electrolytic caps). The opamp remains TH so the LM308 can still be used.
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