Maestro FZ-1S Super Fuzz-Tone

The Maestro Super Fuzz-Tone was introduced in the early 70s.  It uses 6 transistors, 2 of which are used as clipping diodes. Original transistors were 2N5133s, but 2N5088s or BC109Cs can be good subs. I've built 2 clones of this pedal in the past (though not with this layout) and used 2N5088s with good results. The original Balance control was a 30k dual gang pot, which you would probably have a very hard time sourcing. In both my clones I used a 50k with no problems, but if you want you can put 82k resistors between lugs 1 and 3 to get the dual gang pot to around 31k, though it will mess with the taper some. Said Balance control acts almost like a clean blend, and the switch offers 2 different tones. If you're tired of Big Muffs, give this one a try. Works great on bass too.

Here's a couple really short demos I did on guitar and bass on one of the clones I built a few years ago (pardon my butchering of a couple Black Keys songs).

Maestro FZ-1B Fuzztone (2 transistor version)

This was (I believe) the 3rd iteration of Maestro's Fuzztone fuzz pedal. The first 2 used germanium transistors and AA batteries. This marked the changed to silicon transistors and a 9v battery. Originals had 2N3860 transistors, but 2N2222s or 2N3904s would probably work just fine. Couldn't find any info on the diode, so socket and experiment. I also couldn't find any demos of the 2 transistor version (there is also a 4 transistor version of the FZ-1B), so you'll just have to make it to find out!

ESR Graphic Fuzz

Gnarly, oscillating fuzz tone–this is a bit of a weird one. The original used both positive and negative 9v (which I have a hard time wrapping my head around). FSB forum member Induction altered the circuit to support standard power supplies, so no need for a 9v battery or adding a +/- converter. And it should sound very close to the original. Here's his schematic for reference. Should easily fit in a 1590a. There's also a fabricated version of this circuit in the store, the OSCillot.

Here's a demo of it against an IdiotBox Blasteroid:

Ibanez CM5 Classic Metal Distortion

This one was a request. I removed the input/output buffers and the original switching scheme to allow for true-bypass switching. There is one jumper (the original had 6!) and a couple things that bug me, but I'm probably the only one who would care, so I won't worry about it. 

Update Feb 25, 2022: Had a few things wrong with the original layout. Apparently the old layout worked, but I'm sure didn't sound correct. Here's the schematic.

Simple FET Blender

Here's a simple blending circuit that uses a JFET to allow you to blend between effected signal and clean signal. I've used this on Big Muffs before and it's quite useful.

Pink Jimi Photon - Dirty Bad!! Model One Driver

PinkJimiPhoton from over on FSB shared this circuit he came up with. It's a bit of a Fuzz Face variant, but sounds fantastic. His original schematic doesn't include a master volume control, but one is easily added (if you want to add to the offboard wiring mess... lol). Use an A100k pot and wire the board out to lug 3. Lug 1 to ground and lug 2 becomes the new out.

Here's Jimi demoing it.

Fulltone OCD - Version 1

There are now 4 version of the OCD. The latest has a few guitarist I know wondering what was wrong with the last version, so if you're looking to go back to the original circuit, this layout is for you. The OCD one of the most respected overdrives out there. Derived from the Voodoo Drive, it uses two 2N7000 mosfets for clipping. I opted to make the tone pot offboard to allow a little more freedom with pot placement in the enclosure. Might not be a bad idea to use long leg pots for the Drive and Volume pots.

Lovepedal Purple Plexi 800

Here's another Lovepedal circuit. It's similar to the Black Magic, adding a frequency control, and is supposed to sound like a Marshall amp.

Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop Overdrive

This one was a request. Two pots onboard and one offboard. The Barbershop Overdrive is a transparent overdrive/booster with medium gain. It has the expected Volume and Drive controls, but also has a Sag control which alters the voltage the pedal is running at. This can change the color and compression of the tone.

UPDATE:

I did a little research, and found out Q4 is just a fancy way of doing polarity protection and can be omitted if you want. Here's a layout without it.

Zvex Box of Rock

This layout is for the distortion side of the Box of Rock. The Boost side is just a SHO. I've laid this effect out for top mounted pots like in my other Zvex layouts and should fit vertically in a 1590B. Pots are 1.1 inches (28mm) apart.

Board dimensions: 3.2 x 1 in. or 81.3 x 25.4 mm

Zvex SHO - Crackle Okay

The Zvex Super Hard On has become one of the sought after boost pedals today. Derived from the preamp section of a 60s recording console, the SHO uses negative feedback to control the gain (which is what gives it the crackle when adjusting the knob). It's capable of being a clean boost and adding some sparkle to your tone, or pushing your tube amp to break up and creating a great overdriven sound.

If you want to add a master volume control to it, remove the 47k resistor and use a 50k pot. Lug 3 to the Out pad, lug 2 becomes effect out, and lug 1 goes to ground.

Lovepedal Les Lius

One of Sean's many Electra Distortion variants, the Les Lius delivers both Tweed Deluxe and Fender Twin tones. The 3-way toggle switches between different clipping options and the 2nd footswitch acts like a separate gain channel. I couldn't find much info on what JFET is used for Q2, but I would imagine any DSG pinout device would be fine (J201, 2N5457, etc).

Update 9/21/15:
Found several errors with my original layout. If you tried to build it before, my apologies. This updated layout should work just fine.

Lovepedal Eternity

The Eternity Overdrive is kind of like the Big Muff of Lovepedal in that it has a ton of different versions (there are over 10 I believe), but it's basically a Tube Screamer without the input/output buffers. I've drawn up 2 versions here, the Black and the Burst. The main difference between the 2 is the clipping stage. The Black version has an asymmetrical clipping stage, while the Burst has a 4 diode symmetrical clipping stage. The other differences are just minor value changes.

I've added polarity protection and put the LED resistor on the board. I've also added a 47pf cap in parallel with the clipping diodes in the Burst version that MadBean added in his Drunken Dragon version of the Eternity. Sean from Lovepedal says that the secret behind the Eternity is a LM1458, but any dual op-amp should work fine (JRC4558, NE5532, TL072, etc.). They'll just sound different, so adjust to taste.

Board size on both layouts is 2 x 1.4 inches or 51 x 35.5 mm.

Ripthorn FET-2B Bass Preamp

DIYStompboxes forum member Ripthorn adapted the Alembic F-2B tube preamp to a JFET preamp. It gives you 3-band EQ controls, master volume, and a bright switch. Fairly simple circuit, but might turn into a bit of a rats nest with the offboard wiring (I know, a bit out of character for me). Set the trimmers to about 4.5-5v and then adjust from there to taste.

Pearl/Vorg Warp Sound

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.

EHX Big Muff - Green Russian

With the exception of the IC BMP ('77, '78) you can theoretically build just about any version of the Big Muff on any other version's layouts, but the values listed in this one are for the Tall Font Green Russian version. This one is smaller than the BMP layout I did with on board pots and you should be able to fit it in a 1590B if you shave down the sides of the board a little.

One of the better sounding versions of the Big Muff (IMHO anyway) and sounds great on both guitar and bass.

And if you want to cut through the mix a little better, here's the Green Russian with a modified tone stack, adding a mids control. Pinkjimiphoton over on FSB suggests using a higher value pot for the mids control (250k-1M) than the normal 100k that's listed. 

Update 3/16/15:

Modeffected pointed out that these 2 layouts were missing the 12k resistor from the power rail to the collector of Q3. Both layouts have been updated and should be correct now.

Bikini Wax

Nocentelli's Bikini Wax is a shaved down Big Muff with the tone control and gain recovery stage removed. Play around with transistors and especially diodes to change the tone to your liking.

Update 3/16/15:
Since the layouts for the Green Russian Big Muff were derived from this one, and the Green Russian was missing a resistor from the power rail to the collector of Q3, I figured this one might be lacking that resistor as well. Sure enough, there was no 10k resistor where it should be. Updated the layout and should be good to go now.

Vox Repeat Percussion Tremolo

This cool little effect was originally housed in a small box that plugged directly into your amp (which you then plugged your guitar into) and later on some of Vox's higher end guitars. You'll need to track down an obsolete 2N2646 unijunction transistor for Q1, but they can be found on eBay or Small Bear. It produces a thumpy sounding tremolo that could be really useful if you're trying to cover The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and need to do the intro on guitar.

Here's the stock version:

And with an added depth control:

Jordan BossTone

This one was a request. It's another layout for Jordan BossTone, but with onboard pots. Because of the onboard pots I was able to add an anti-popping pull down resistor on the input. Q1 is NPN silicon (so 2N2222 or 2N3904) and Q2 is PNP silicon (2N2907 or 2N3906). The pot centers are 1.2 inches (≈ 3cm) apart. You can use this same layout for the EHX Satisfaction fuzz by leaving out the clipping diodes (1N4148s).

MOD The Verb Deluxe

Here's another MOD effect. It's a simple reverb using the Belton Digi-Log Mini Reverb Module (the BTDR-2H-L), which you can mount directly to the board. The DPDT switch referenced in the layout is the on/off stomp switch if anyone is confused by that. Here's the schematic and a sound sample for reference.