I've seen a few designs out there that starve a tube filament to maintain a low voltage and still provide nice results. The Matsumin Valvecaster is one of them. For those afraid to work with tubes due to high voltage (cue Electric Six, "Danger! High Voltage!"), this keeps the power at safer levels. It also allows a 9v battery to be used (or 12V) but will consume them fairly quickly... so an AC adapter is recommended. The design is nice and simple, and for beginning builders it's not too hard to follow the circuit visually. There are a couple of variations floating around, so if you're looking at multiple schematics or diagrams, be aware that they aren't all the same. Other builders have created their own unique pedals based on this design, but the values of the parts are different, so again, be aware ;) Matsumin Valvecaster schematic from hgamps My favorite diagram/illustration was from David Smith. The input and output jacks are included as well as the 3PDT switch to bypass the circuit. David's illustration is intended for a turret board, but if you prefer point to point it's still easy to follow. Be sure to note the orientation of the 3PDT switch, it won't work if it's oriented differently (i.e. twisted 90 degrees). David Smith's diagram offers an easy-to-follow layout Here's another diagram from Stompboxed, it's a little harder to follow but still helpful. Another diagram for reference. You'll probably want to use one of the larger Hammond 1590BB (or Hammond-style) chassis as I don't think trying to shoehorn this into a 1590B would be terribly easy. The 1590BB is available from the usual suspects, Mouser, Digikey, etc. in a variety of powdercoated colors. You can also go to Mammoth Electronics and get some much cooler paintjobs for a few more bucks, or go crazy with some waterslide decals... the sky is the limit. For this project I went with a purple Hammond 1590BB ... you can almost taste the grape looking at it. These are cast aluminum, so you need to treat them a little more gently than something that's extruded (e.g. try to do more drilling on the drill press rather than punching holes). Punching out the holes with a tool can sometimes take away more metal than you anticipated. I used larger Alpha pots in this build as I had them in the work-bin. CTS, Bourns and PEC also make good pots, and if you want to check out surplus, Clarostat and Allen Bradley are also great choices. The ceramic 9 pin tube socket is set against the chassis with a rubber "o" ring which can help quash microphonics. It's overkill for this build, but I had it in the bin. Beltons are cheaper and work great as well. There is a corresponding PCB to be used with CNC tube socket as the solder tabs are quite small to solder accurately. These can be found on Ebay by searching for "9 pin PCB", and Partsconnexion also carries them. The Russian PIO caps are a little on the large side and have metal shells, so they need to be carefully placed so they don't short any leads. They can also be covered with heatshrink. PTFE (teflon) tubing is placed on bare leads to ensure they don't short either. Also space needs to be given to the open-frame Switchcraft 11 1/4" jacks so they don't bump into any parts or wires when being inserted. Using different colored wire during the wiring process can help you visually follow the circuit if it doesn't work upon plugging in for the first time. Having a rat's nest of the same colored wire makes things much more difficult. Valvecaster wired up point to point On top of the chassis a tube shield will be installed to protect the tube from an errant foot. You can find these in a number of anodized colors from Angela.com. I thought the gold looked nice contrasting against the purple. Top of the Valvecaster with Tube Shield off... ...and tube shield on Hope you enjoyed the build process of the Matsumin Valvecaster Effects Pedal. You can see it's pretty easy to build a great effects pedal without a PCB and just a few parts. Remember to use good quality parts like Switchcraft 1/4" jacks, Alpha or CTS potentiometers, etc. to ensure your new pedal lasts a good long while. Please remember that building/modifying circuits can be dangerous to you and/or your surroundings and should only be performed by a certified technician. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt a build or modification posted above and cause physical harm to yourself or your surroundings. Many electronics contain high voltages that can kill, and mods, if performed improperly, can be a fire hazard.
The OSTARA is a simple transistor boost pedal. Push volume into your tube amp for added crunch, or place it before your fuzz for devastating results! This is the point-to-point kit version. Buy the pre-built version here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1218729495/ostara-boost-pedal-electric-guitar This kit is for intermediate or advanced pedal builders. You should be reasonably adept at soldering. TOOLS REQUIRED: -Soldering iron -Solder -Helping hands -Needle nose pliers -Wire cutters -A socket set (specifically 10mm, 3/8”, 1/2”, and 9/16” sockets) -A Philips head #2 screwdriver -A small flat head screwdriver (ex. eyeglasses screwdriver) Follow the build guide video here: https://youtu.be/_LgKMxOezUI Feel free to email us with any questions, troubleshooting, or help building the kit at anomalousfxpedals [!at] gmail.com, or send a message through Etsy. Always solder in a well ventilated area, and never breathe solder fumes.
Raspberry Pi Zero Guitar Pedal: Pedal-Pi is a lo-fi programmable guitar pedal that works with the Raspberry Pi ZERO Board. The project is totally Open Source & Open Hardware and made for hackers, programmers and musicians that want to experiment with sounds and learn about dig…
A common question that comes up for guitarist getting into using effects is "What order should I put my pedals in and does it really matter?" The answer to the second question is yes and the order can change your tone depending on how you set it up. With that said, there is a "set" order you should put your pedals in, but this is more of a philosophy than a strict rule. I encourage you to move around your pedals and see how they behave in different positions on the pedal board. Now back to the first question, "What order should I put my pedals in?" If you scour the internet for what the proper order for your effects, you will find a variety of orders and nothing that includes all types of pedals. I wanted to go through all the different types of effects, the order they should be in, and the other places they could be moved on the board outside their typical order. Types of Effects Dynamic - Compression Pedals work best near the beginning of the chain where they can compress your clean signal, they also can add gain to your signal and will drive your amp and other pedals. Other examples of dynamic pedals are boost pedals and noise gates. Boost pedals can work well before overdrives and distortions to cause them to clip harder by boosting the volume. You can place them after the distortion for a solo boost, causing a volume boost in your already gained up signal. Filter/EQ - Wahs and EQ pedals can go in various parts of the pedal board, most prefer Wah before your overdrives. I have seen overdrives used in front of wah pedal to drive the wah, which can be a cool sound. Pitch - Harmony, Octave, and Vibrato effects are best before distortion that way they can process a clean signal and have more accurate tracking. A vibrato pedal uses slight variances in pitch to create the effect. Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz - These pedals boost the signal and then cause it to clip at varying degrees to create the simulation of a clipped signal in a tube guitar amp. Modulation - Chorus, Flanger, Phaser are examples of modulation. There are a few other types, but these are the basics. Vibrato and Tremolo are also considered modulation effects. Flanger and Chorus are time based effect that fall under the modulation category Time Based - Delay and Reverb are found at the end of the signal chain, so they will delay the entire effected signal. Volume - Volume Pedals and Tremolo are examples of volume based effects. Volume is best before your modulation and Time based effects. Tremolo works best at the end of your chain. Effect Pedal Order The breakdown of the correct order (and how and win to break the rules) #1 Buffer - If you are using a buffer pedal, like the JHS black box, it should go at the front so it can drive your signal through all your true bypass effects #2 Tuner - The tuner should be placed as far to the front as possible so you are tuning from a clean signal. #3 Compression - The compressor should be at the front of your signal. It is meant to compress your clean unprocessed signal. #4 Wah & Filter - Wahs and autowahs should go next. These work best processing a cleaner signal, however to break the rules, put an overdrive in front of your wah and check out the cool tones you get. #5 Octave & Harmony - Pogs, Micro Pogs, Harmonist, and Pitch factors go next. These are yet another pedal that work best processing the cleanest signal possible. Some harmony pedals do not track very well anyway and having more gain/noise getting in the way of your natural signal does not help them work any better. #6 Vibrato - Univibe type pedals work best before your fuzz and distortion, this is how Jimi Hendrix would run his univibe in front of his fuzz face and octavia. #7 Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz - Cascading gains into each other is all the rage ever since Stevie Ray Vaughn used to tube screamers at the same time. Pedal boards now feature quite a few gain pedals. The typical rules here are to go from lowest gain to highest gain. To break the rules, try putting the gains in other positions. Using a distortion with an overdrive afterwords to boost the signal can be great for leads. #8 EQ - If you are going to use a EQ pedal with gain pedals use it after the pedals to shape your tone. Some use EQ earlier in the signal to shape their original tone of the guitar. EQ can also be used as a mid boost for solos to cut through. #9 Boost Pedals - I prefer these going after the distortion to use as a clean boost for lead lines. Others use these before your gain pedals to further overdrive your signal into your gain pedals. Running it before the gain will cause it to clip harder and distort more. #10 Volume Pedal & Gate - Your volume pedals should go before your delays, modulations and reverb. Placing your volume before your delay will help your swells carry after the volume has been rolled off. #11 If you use good a gate, it should go after your drive pedals, to eliminate the hiss that can be caused from high gain #12 Any modulation you use such as phaser, chorus, and flanger will go next. These are best to be used before delay or in the effects loop of a delay pedal. #13 Delays & Reverb should be one of the last parts of your effect chain. Doing this will cause them to delay your total effected signal. #14 Tremolo is a volume based effect and should be last in your chain to have total effect of your entire signal.
Make an Easy Guitar Distortion Pedal (STEP BY STEP!): So, I decided to make an instructable! this is my 1st one, please feel free to comment on anything and everything. .... pleeaase comment! Here's the video of how to do it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ODWJxliqd4 Note: Please Rea…
PT2399 is a chip built in echo effect circuit, built some parts, basic guitar effects. DIY experimenters also a good choice.
A guitar pedal is a crucial component of a guitarist's gear. It can enhance the sound quality of your performance and help you experiment with new sounds.
PCB Transfer
These DIY pedalboard plans will demonstrate how to build a pedalboard that perfectly suit your personal needs for organization.
After 2 years of building my own pedal boards, I have finally finished one that I'm completely happy with. This post is to showcase the earlier iterations, leading up to a more in-depth look at my latest design. Disclaimer: I have no training in woodworking and a very limited set of tools at home. My designs are completely improvised and represent the best I could pull off on my own. I do have some background in electrical engineering, at least! First Build - Pallet Design My first build sta
In this project, we are going to build the perfect Fuzz with all the knowledge and experience that we have nowadays while keeping the tweaks and old character that make this vintage pedal to sound warm, round, and harmonically pleasant.
Presets and amp settings that are best for Marshall or Fender amplifiers, with EQ for rock, blues, grunge and a other tones & styles.
There are a lot of great pedals out there manufactured by some of the big manufacturers. Unfortunately most of them are relatively expensive and will easily cost over £100. However there is a big market of guitar pedal clones out there. They essentially make the clone sound like the original by using similar components and circuit designs.
A large online repository or library of guitar pedal schematics, layouts, PCB transfers, and tagboard layouts. All rights reserved to respective owner(s) - not for profit / for educational purposes ONLY.
Raspberry Pi Zero Guitar Pedal: Pedal-Pi is a lo-fi programmable guitar pedal that works with the Raspberry Pi ZERO Board. The project is totally Open Source & Open Hardware and made for hackers, programmers and musicians that want to experiment with sounds and learn about dig…
EHX Green Russian Big Muff Big Muff Pi - Ram's Head Version , REV 2 Big Muff 1977 Opamp Version NYC Big Muff Big Muff Pi with Tone wicker switch
Ring Modulator Pedal: The ring modulator guitar pedal instructions and schematics provided here make your guitar sound like a low-fi synthesizer. This circuit uses a standard guitar input to produce a modulated square wave output. It also includes a filter which helps to…
It's all fine and good owning a classic Strat, but don't forget that vintage instruments deserve to spend at least part of their life being played through real vacuum tube gear. The Firefly is one of the smallest guitar amp kits created by the AX84.com cooperative. It's a three tube design built around a pair of 12AX7 tubes and a...
Got a request to make a layout for this schematic, and it turns out it's the BYOC Reverb 2. You can use 9mm pots and board mount them from the component side if you like. There are a few jumpers, though one of them (the one by the lower IC) can be eliminated if you just stretch out that 22k resistor. Also, the electrolytic caps are folded down on their side so things will fit with board mounted 9mm pots. The Belton BTDR-2H can also be board mounted from the solder side. Don't feel like making the board yourself? You can buy a PCB or a complete kit from BYOC.
Jordan sent me a layout and of course it qualifies as an entry on the blog. Still unverfifed, though.
After 2 years of building my own pedal boards, I have finally finished one that I'm completely happy with. This post is to showcase the earlier iterations, leading up to a more in-depth look at my latest design. Disclaimer: I have no training in woodworking and a very limited set of tools at home. My designs are completely improvised and represent the best I could pull off on my own. I do have some background in electrical engineering, at least! First Build - Pallet Design My first build sta
Make an Easy Guitar Distortion Pedal (STEP BY STEP!): So, I decided to make an instructable! this is my 1st one, please feel free to comment on anything and everything. .... pleeaase comment! Here's the video of how to do it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ODWJxliqd4 Note: Please Rea…
Collection of vero (stripboard) & tagboard layouts for 100s of popular guitar effects, with over 500 verified designs. DIY your own boutique effects!
Create an awesome automatic phase pedal for your guitar effects using this 1977 guide from the magazine Everyday Electronics (December 1977 issue).
Here's the Boss OD-1–the first of the tube screamer-type overdrives (yes, the first TS wasn't an Ibanez). It features asymmetrical clipping diodes (where a stock TS has symmetrical clipping) which gives it a thicker, more edgy sound. Initial versions of the circuit used a quad opamp, using 2 of the opamps as in the input/output buffers, but this was later replaced by the more common transistor buffers and a dual opamp to save cost and use more readily available parts back in the late 70s/early 80s.
