This is a library of perfboard and single-sided PCB effect layouts for guitar and bass. I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, just a DIY'er who likes drawing layouts. It is meant for the hobbyist (so commercial use of any of these layout is not allowed without permission) and as a way to give back to the online DIY community.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Parasit Studio Stepping Stone Overdrive

Here's an early design from Freppo from Parasit Studio. It's a punky overdrive/distortion transistor-based circuit. Here's the schematic for reference.

This was my first attempt at making my own overdrive from what I had learnt by building and modding other circuits. I had done a few heavily modded ones before, but nothing really original. I spent countless hours trying out different ideas on the breadboard before I was satisfied with the result. However, going back listening to this one now I find it alittle too thin/midrangy sounding, so I will probably revisit the circuit and improve it some time in the future.




6 comments:

  1. Nice!! I'll check it out over the weekend, please please could you upload the Parasit Phaser layout?!!?

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  2. Sorry I dont know how to PM you directly so I've sort of hi-jacked this post.

    As a big fan of this site (I've built over 20 boards from here - some multiple times) I wanted to ask for your advise / critique / anything helpful really concerning my attempts at laying out the infamous and hated Boss MT-2 Metal Zone.

    Theres a post here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=115139.msg1073235#msg1073235

    If you are too busy then no worries and keep up the great work!

    Nick

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  3. Nice sound, Parasit do some cool shit. I've been meaning to buy one of the PCBs for a while now.

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  4. I would appreciate if you could design a layout for the arcadiator, I love that effect, regards!

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  5. Verified.

    The OD is decently responsive to picking dynamics and the guitar's volume level. It works well for edgy, cutting chords, but like Fredrik says, it's a bit too thin. The sample clip gives a good idea of the sound.

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  6. I experimented a bit more and found that the 220nF cap bypassing the JFET's source resistor seems to be acting as a bright boost. The Run Off Groove Azabache has a similar cap on a switch. If you leave the cap out, you will get a sound that is still thin but more balanced. Alternatively, you could try a larger cap to increase the frequency range of the boost.

    I also found that you can use a regular high-gain BJT in place of the Darlington for a less fizzy sound without a noticeable sacrifice in gain.

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