Got a request for Zakk Wylde's signature overdrive from MXR. It's essentially Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive without the buffers. Original units have MC33178P, but socket and experiment with dual op-amps. You can use right angle PCB pots to mount them on the board from the solder-side.

The Fender Blender would probably just be a blip in the history of fuzz if it weren't for the likes of Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), as it was generally regarded as too harsh sounding. This aggressive fuzz is good for metal leads and also can create an octavia sound on the neck pickup with the Sustain control rolled down. The Boost footswitch is actually a tone boost, and uses a SPDT switch (or DPDT if you want LED indication). I've laid the circuit out for on board, right angle pots, mounted from the solder side (or you can use long leg ones mounted from the component side). I've increased the power filtering cap and added polarity protection as well as input and output pull down resistors, and on board LED resistors. With the 2 footswitches, I thought it would be best to design the layout for a 1590BB oriented like this, so keep that in mind.

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 adj...

For Fuzz Friday, here's another Big Muff based circuit to add to the collection. The Iron Bell is a variation of the Skreddy P19, the schematic of which was graciously posted by Marc from Skreddy a few years back. It's not based on any one classic Muff, but is Marc's unique blend of custom values, and features a boosted mids tone stack, with a switch to increase the mids. Shortly thereafter, the Iron Bell came out with a few mods, the biggest of which is the replacement of the Mids switch with a potentiometer and a few value changes. The layout below reflects the MojoHand iteration of the circuit, but the P19 can be built on the same board (see below for component changes). It's laid out for board mounted pots and should fit in a 1590B. To make the Skreddy P19, made the following changes: Replace the Colour pot with an SPST on/off switch Change Q2-4 to BC550 Change the following components indicated on the layout: * 200Ω ** 10k • 47nF •• 2.7k ‡ 6.8nF

Here's Jamie's take on the classic Rangemaster circuit, with a NPN germanium transistor. There's an added toggle to switch between full range and treble input caps. Probably a tight a squeeze in a 1590A but should be doable. There is also a 1590A specific PCB with board mounted pot and switch in the store now (link below). EFFECTS LAYOUTS BEAUREGARD

If the Palisades is too much for you, the Dunes has a much smaller footprint and less controls to get distracted with. Pretty standard Tube Screamer clone with clipping options and a couple tone shaping switches. Might be a bit of a squeeze but it will fit in a 1590B with board mounted pots.

For Fuzz Friday, here's Fulltone's take on the Big Muff. The main differences over a regular BMP is the input and output stages. The input stage has it's own gain control and the output stage is a JFET-based gain circuit. Also the volume control has been moved immediately after the tone stack, with the output stage after the volume pot. Schematic for reference.

I've been meaning to redo the OCD with proper board mounted pots, so here it is. It's a development on the Voodoo Labs Overdrive, with MOSFET clipping and a simple tone control. Fulltone has made a few versions of this with a few minor changes over the years. They're all mostly the same, but the biggest differences is in the pot values. Below is a partial bill of materials outlining the differences between the first 4 OCD versions, along with a couple value changes to mod the bass response.

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For Fuzz Friday, here's the original Fuzz War from Death by Audio. It's essentially 5 gain stages going into a Big Muff-esque tone stack, into a clipping stage and a final gain stage. Here's the schematic for reference. Original models have the Fuzz control as a trimmer internally, but I've laid that out as an external control for more versatility. Pots can be board mounted using right angle PCB mount pots and it should fit in a 1590B (though personally I'd put it in a 125B).

It's New Years Eve and time for the last layout of 2019 and I'm pretty sure it's the 800th on the blog! So here's the Mostortion. Why is it called that? The CA3260E opamp at it's core is MOSFET based. Unfortunately, this chip has been discontinued, so building a straight clone may be a little difficult, but a regular dual opamp like a JRC4558 or TL072 will work just fine as well. It's pretty similar to a TS10, just with a MOSFET chip and 3-band EQ, which is pretty handy. Schematic and more info here. Should be able to squeeze it into a 1590B.

Not a lot out there on this one. It's a optical noise gate DOD produced in the late 70s and works best at the beginning of your signal chain. The original had a very strange way of bypass switching, but I've omitted this as your true-bypass method of choice is probably much superior. Originals used a VTL5C2, but experiment with LED and LDR combos, and possibly the value of the resistor feeding the LED (10k right above the LDR and Q1).

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone gets ample time to get some soldering done over the holidays. Grind Customs had a lot of really gr...

Here's a cool little booster from Bjorn. Fairly typical JFET boost but the way the originals are wired, when the effect is bypassed, it's buffer. This layout reflects that original wiring, so wire the In pad to the input jack, Out pad to the output jack, and use a DPDT footswitch. If want to wire it for true bypass, jumper the 2 switch pads at the top of the board and omit the 150k resistor going from lug 1 of the Boost pot to ground. Or you can wire up a SPST switch to go between buffer and boost. Lots of options with this little circuit. Works well off 18v too.

For Fuzz Friday here's another take on the classic Colorsound One-Knob Fuzz by Emanating Fist Electronics (a sister company of D*A*M). It's fairly similar to the D*A*M Meathead, but with a few value changes. Here's the schematic: Note that in earlier versions of this circuit, R4 is replaced by a 20k trim pot. So the value there may need to be tweaked.

Today's layout is the EQD Plumes. It's based on the Tube Screamer but with a load of tweaks, including the usual BJT buffers replaced with op amp buffers, selectable clipping, and a charge pump to provide a bipolar supply. Should fit nicely in a 1590B. Here's the schematic as requested:

Here's one of the most classic effects of all time, the Cry Baby wah-wah from Dunlop. The big red thing in the layout is the Fasel inductor, and there's room on the board for a pull down resistor at the input if you need it, I just didn't include it in the drawing. What else is there to say? Just build it!

The Phantom Octave is an octave/ring mod type fuzz that's very interactive with guitar pickup selection and volume/tone controls. The LED pads are for the one that's under the knob in the video below. You could use it as the on/off indicator, but it might be hard to tell if it's on when signal isn't passing through it. Should be able to squeeze it in a 1590A. From the manufacturer: Equal parts mysterious and ghastly, the Phantom Octave is a shape-shifting octave fuzz monster! No controls? They're not necessary--they're at your fingertips! The Phantom Octave is extremely interactive with your pickup selection, picking intensity, and your guitar's Tone control. Like its namesake, the octave will disappear with picking intensity and by rolling back your guitar's Tone control. Octave effect is strongest with low-output single coil pickups.

By popular demand, here's the PAL 800, a well regarded Marshall-in-a-box circuit. Should fit nicely in a 125B. Schematic here. All the trimmers except the one just below the Volume control are for biasing the JFETs. Start at 4.5v on the drain of each JFET and adjust by ear from there. The other trimer is for smoothing out the output signal.

Here's a rare one that came in via the request folder. It's a distortion/filter effect. Used live by guitarist Kevin Sheilds from My Bloody Valentine on "Sometimes," this might be a must-build for shoegazer fans out there. Here's a demo video of a clone with the 100k trim pot wired externally as a distortion control (which might be a good mod to this circuit. Not a true-bypass effect–removing the buffer is next to impossible. You can use a SPDT or if you want a LED on/off indicator, use a DPDT.

It's New Years Eve and time for the last layout of 2019 and I'm pretty sure it's the 800th on the blog! So here's the Mostortion. Why is it called that? The CA3260E opamp at it's core is MOSFET based. Unfortunately, this chip has been discontinued, so building a straight clone may be a little difficult, but a regular dual opamp like a JRC4558 or TL072 will work just fine as well. It's pretty similar to a TS10, just with a MOSFET chip and 3-band EQ, which is pretty handy. Schematic and more info here. Should be able to squeeze it into a 1590B.

Here's a cool variation on the MXR DynaComp. Apparently it's well loved by Rickenbacker players for adding even more Byrd-like jangle to the...

The DOD 280 was DOD's first compression pedal made in the late '70s through the '80s. A great sounding compressor, this fairly simple circuit uses an LDR and LED combination (in the form of a VTL5C2) to compress the signal. This one's laid out for on board right angle PCB pots, mounted from the solder side as per usual). I've added polarity protection and power filtering, as well as an input pull down resistor. You can use a VTL5C9 or CLM6000, or a good ol' 1M dark resistance LDR and an LED in heat shrink in place of the original VTL5C2.

Got a request for this one, it's a good addition to the collection. It's Ibanez's take on the RAT in their Power Series from the mid-late 80s. It's very similar to the LM7 LA Metal circuit, with just a few value changes and omissions (detailed below). I removed the FET switching and output buffer to simplify things. Here's the schematic for reference. If you're interested in building the LA Metal, populate the board like this:

Almost didn't draw this up since it's just another Electra variant, but they almost always sound good, so why not? This one claims to emulate the sound of EL34 tubes, which sounds like marketing gibberish to me since it's just a diode-less Electra. Originals are all hand wired, point to point, floating in the 1590BB enclosure. Super cool looking, but a major labor of love to produce, hence its hefty price tag. This will fit in a 1590B, but has 2 footswitches, so the drill template reflects a zVex-style of layout. Schematic and cool teardown vid on FSB here.

The original DOD units had "balanced" XLR output as well as the normal 1/4" jack and no footswitch. This has been adapted for stompbox use and could work well with acoustic guitar.

Got a request for this one. It's another Electra-derived overdrive, this time meant to sound like a Marshall. This should be an easy fit in a 1590A.

The originals used a now nearly unobtainable SAD512D chip, but the wizards on FSB converted it to work with an MN3007. Now that those are also hard to get a hold of, I've laid this out for an MN 3207–which is almost the same as the 3007, just with a slightly different pinout for power and ground. But if you want to use a 3007, I've included a daughter board that will let you use it (it will also work to use a 3207 in place of a 3007). This will best fit in a 125B and the schematic can be found here.

It's New Years Eve and time for the last layout of 2019 and I'm pretty sure it's the 800th on the blog! So here's the Mostortion. Why is it called that? The CA3260E opamp at it's core is MOSFET based. Unfortunately, this chip has been discontinued, so building a straight clone may be a little difficult, but a regular dual opamp like a JRC4558 or TL072 will work just fine as well. It's pretty similar to a TS10, just with a MOSFET chip and 3-band EQ, which is pretty handy. Schematic and more info here. Should be able to squeeze it into a 1590B.

Haven't done a Big Muff layout in a while. This is the Triangle version again and is pretty much the same layout as before, but I changed the orientation of the Tone pot. I was going to build this myself and realized that I didn't like how far down the Tone pot was from the other 2 controls, so I tweaked it a little and I'm happier with it now.

For Fuzz Friday here's the newer and highly tweak-able Swollen Pickle from Way Huge. Like the Mk 1, originals use a MPQ3904 transistor array instead of individual transistors. Couldn't make that work this time around, so just stick with individual 2N3904s. Originals also have 2 of the controls internally, but what's the fun in that? All 7 pots are for external mounting and the whole thing will fit in a 1590BB with top mounted jacks fairly easily. Here's the schematic for reference. You'll notice a few values are a 10th of typical values found in a Big Muff (indicated by an * in the layout below). Not sure if it's a typo on the schematic or just the way Way Huge did it this time around. YMMV

Stumbled across this one and it seems pretty cool. It's like an Escobedo Punch-in-the-Face sandwiched between two opamp gain stages, and is very similar to the Carl Martin Crush Zone. Wide range of gain and tones on tap as well. Pots are board mounted and it'll fit in a 1590B.

The Fender Blender would probably just be a blip in the history of fuzz if it weren't for the likes of Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), as it was generally regarded as too harsh sounding. This aggressive fuzz is good for metal leads and also can create an octavia sound on the neck pickup with the Sustain control rolled down. The Boost footswitch is actually a tone boost, and uses a SPDT switch (or DPDT if you want LED indication). I've laid the circuit out for on board, right angle pots, mounted from the solder side (or you can use long leg ones mounted from the component side). I've increased the power filtering cap and added polarity protection as well as input and output pull down resistors, and on board LED resistors. With the 2 footswitches, I thought it would be best to design the layout for a 1590BB oriented like this, so keep that in mind.

Here's the Klon again. I wanted one with board mounted pots and for a smaller enclosure. You might be able to fit this in a 1590B with low profile jacks, but it will easily fit in a 125B. It's designed for 9mm PCB mount pots, though it might be difficult to find the dual-gang Gain pot. Look for Alpha part number RD902F-40-00. I've removed a few components that were apart of the stock bypass switching for the sake of space, so you'll want to use your true bypass method of choice with this one.

Got a request for this one. It's based on the old Maestro MFZ-1 and was put together by Brett over on the DIYStompbox forum. Apparently it has a very similar sound to some earlier Black Keys tones. Original thread can be found here, and a sound clip can be heard here.

This is a library of perfboard and single-sided PCB effect layouts for guitar and bass for pedal building enthusiasts.

This one was kind of a sleeper. No where near as popular as MXR's Distortion +, the Distortion II was quite a bit more complicated and ran off a 15v supply, complete with a built power cord . This layout is a bit modified from the original, and can be run off a normal pedal power supply (+9/18v). Originals also tend to be very bass heavy, so I've included a few mods to tame the low end. You might be able to fit in a 1590B, but a 125B will have a bit more room.

Gotten a few requests for this one. The Riot distortion from Suhr is built around 2, dual opamps (4580 in originals, but others can be used) with several clipping options for a great high gain experience. You can pretty much use whatever diodes you want, but it's laid out for 2 LEDs always clipping, with the option of adding either 3, 1N4148s in asymmetrical orientation or 4, 1N34s in series. You can also try replacing D4 with a 1N4148 (I've included pads for that on the PCB), or changing the color of the LEDs. Really, just experiment with what you have on hand and chose what sounds best to you.

zVex's new '59 Sound looks to emulate an overdrive '59 Fender Bassman amp and is essentially a tweaked Box of Rock. I've left out the boost section (which is essentially a SHO after this circuit), but can be easily added with the old SHO layout here on the blog. Also, there's another installment of the DIYLC tutorial up on YouTube today. I actually am not using DIYLC all that much in it...

Here's a reverb circuit that doesn't require a Belton brick–the Equinox II by Valve Wizard. It uses 2, PT2399 delay chips with a pretty standard input/output buffer built around a TL072. The original uses a J112 for switching the tails function, but I've simplified that with a just DPDT footswitch. Use one side of the DPDT for turning the reverb on/off, and the other side for LED indication. If you don't want/need tails with your reverb, just jumper the 2 switch pads. It's gonna be a snug fit in a 1590B, but it will fit. I was able to verify this over the weekend and it works great and will fit nicely in a 1590B.

Here's a simple one for your Saturday. As the name implies, this is a simple buffer based around a JFET transistor. This layout follows the schematic from Jack Orman's great article on Basic Buffers. Thought this would be useful if you want to add an input buffer to an existing pedal or to a project that doesn't have one.

Not sure I missed doing this one ages ago, but better late than never. The Bassballs is a classic envelope filter that's been a staple of Electro Harmonix's line up for a long time. Designed for bass, but works great on guitar as well. Trimmers are very dynamic and might be fun as external pots. Also if it's super loud, adding a volume pot at the output is super easy—remove the 47k resistor off the Out pad, wire the Out pad to lug 3 of an A100k pot, lug 1 to ground, and lug 2 becomes the new circuit output. Here's the schematic for reference. Should fit in a 1590B, though it'll be a tight squeeze.

Here's a cool little dual effect designed by Allesz over on FSB. I actually laid this out a long time ago, but couldn't wrap my head around the switching with the buffer. I've learned a lot since then and feel confident in my understanding to publish this one here. It essentially is a basic PT2399 delay with 2 of the pins from the PT2399 being used as a separate soft clipping overdrive. A simple buffer, built around the MPSA13, is always on, making this a non-true bypass effect. But a little buffering never hurt anyone ;) The original schematic and discussion can be found here. Since there's a lot of off board wiring going on with this one, here's a full off board wiring diagram to help clarify.