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.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Earthquaker Devices Bellows

For Fuzz Friday here's the Bellows from Earthquaker. I picked up one of these late last year and was able to trace it. It's fairly simple but sounds really good. It's really similar to an Electra circuit, but with a JFET going between the base and collector of the transistor. Here's the schematic for reference.


In the originals the resistors are large carbon comp and all caps are film box types (with the exception of C3). I breadboarded this with mostly metal film resistors and with whatever caps were closest, along with a J201 for the JFET and it sounded very much like the original. 



Here's a few pics of the original guts, btw. A lot of the circuitry on the board is for the relay bypass (that I did not trace as it would be mostly pointless with out the code for the PIC).

 

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60 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 13, 2017 at 9:58 AM

    I had a feeling this one was coming for Fuzz Friday! Can't wait to give this a try. And totally surprised that the circuit looks like this, I imagined something way for complex.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IvMJanuary 13, 2017 at 9:59 AM

    YEAH!
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 13, 2017 at 10:31 AM

    First thanks for helping the community and a great work, just curiosity in the circuit seemed to have an opamp smd something of the genre what was the function?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsJanuary 13, 2017 at 10:39 AM

      That IC is a PIC that's part of the relay bypass switching. Because the effect circuit is so simple, the majority of the components on the board are for the bypass.

      Delete
    2. UnknownJanuary 13, 2017 at 11:08 AM

      Got it. Yes thats so simple and sounds great. I will breadboard today. Thank you!

      Delete
  4. Alexandre do RosarioJanuary 14, 2017 at 1:25 PM

    Sounds beautiful and furious... I'll put this one in my setup...

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJanuary 14, 2017 at 7:36 PM

    Maybe I missed it but I can't find this in the Image Transfer Library.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsJanuary 15, 2017 at 8:12 PM

      Must have forgotten to upload it. It's in the Earthquaker folder now.

      Delete
  6. Julio LanzaJanuary 14, 2017 at 9:32 PM

    My next project!!! Thanks for the info.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJanuary 16, 2017 at 11:37 AM

    Great effect, thanks for all your work!!! I've added a BMP Tonestack to have a control tone.

    Thanks a lot!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JavierNovember 23, 2018 at 2:09 AM

      Hi Roc Erols, sorry, it's been a while since your post. I want to build it with a tone stack too, can you tell me where did you put it? between the 68nf Cap and Volume Pot? Did you use the simple BMP tonestack or the one that includes the gain recovery stage? Thank you!

      Delete
    2. Quinn301January 21, 2019 at 12:43 PM

      Did you eevr figure this out I would like to do this to

      Delete
    3. Effects LayoutsJanuary 21, 2019 at 3:40 PM

      See the comments towards the bottom of the page.

      Delete
  8. IvMJanuary 19, 2017 at 9:09 AM

    Maybe a 2N5457 can work great too

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2017 at 8:21 AM

    Seems like fet would be MPf 102, l made a breadboard layout with diy LC becuase iwas bored and not any home with access to gear. Can yall take a look and tell me if its correct. I went with j201 fet pin out

    ReplyDelete
  10. IvMJanuary 30, 2017 at 2:40 PM

    It's ok if I use a 1N400x instead of the 5817 one for that position?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsJanuary 30, 2017 at 2:56 PM

      Yes. I'll just lower the supply voltage just a little bit more than the 5817. Not that big a deal though.

      Delete
    2. IvMJanuary 30, 2017 at 3:00 PM

      Thanks
      a 1n4007 to be exact. I have 1N60, and bzx79b.
      Which one you consider the best one?

      Delete
    3. Effects LayoutsJanuary 30, 2017 at 3:01 PM

      Go with the 4007

      Delete
    4. IvMJanuary 30, 2017 at 6:08 PM

      Done... :-)

      Delete
  11. IvMJanuary 30, 2017 at 6:09 PM

    Done!

    I used 2N5457, and 1N4007 if anyone are looking for replacements.
    This thing is loud!

    Thanks..!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JotaMarch 30, 2017 at 11:49 AM

      you replace PF5102 with 2N5457?

      Delete
    2. IvMMarch 30, 2017 at 12:00 PM

      Yes.!
      Used sockets and tried J201, and BF245 too.

      Delete
  12. Frank JamesMarch 9, 2017 at 10:11 PM

    Would it be a benefit to use LOG pots instead of linear?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsMarch 10, 2017 at 10:40 AM

      In the original I have linear taper seemed fine. In the clone I built I think I used an A250k for the gain control and it also seemed fine. YMMV

      Delete
  13. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 6:47 PM

    This might be a dumb question, but why is the 5817 and 100uf cap in the layout not a part of the circuit? What purpose does that serve?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 6:48 PM

      Not a part of the schematic*

      Delete
    2. IvMApril 26, 2017 at 7:06 PM

      Because they're for power filter cap and added polarity protection. Optional, and highly recommended

      Delete
  14. AdrienJuly 29, 2017 at 3:28 PM

    Hi, i just built it, and it works, but the pedal doesn't sound like the one in the video test, it sounds much like a classic fuzz, without the extra dirty growl it should have. It sounds great, but notre the sound I was expected. Could it be hfe values? I i used same transistors as the original circuit. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownFebruary 3, 2018 at 11:20 AM

    Hi everyone,

    I'm having some troubles with my build...
    There's a lot of compressed lows,
    but at the same time there is no sustain,
    Sounds like a velcro type fuzz thing.

    Does anyone know what might be going wrong?
    Biasing maybe?

    Thanks for any input!

    FZ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsFebruary 3, 2018 at 1:40 PM

      Sounds like it's unbiased. Make sure you have the right values for the resistors coming off the emitter (200Ω) and collector (22k). They may need adjustment.

      Delete
  16. veggamanFebruary 6, 2018 at 4:46 PM

    How can I get more compression and gain? The one I built is harder and less gainy, but work fine with slitly cranked amp. Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsFebruary 6, 2018 at 4:48 PM

      You could add something like an LPB-1 in front of it for more gain and then add some clipping diodes to ground between the 68n output cap and lug 3 of the volume control.

      Delete
    2. veggamanFebruary 7, 2018 at 4:34 PM

      Thanks. Best site ever

      Delete
  17. Quinn301April 24, 2018 at 11:11 AM

    I had in one of these and sold it and deeply regret it..I'd love to build my own ..I've built a couple before can anyone point me in the right direction for parts

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsApril 24, 2018 at 11:25 AM

      Lots of good suppliers. If you're buying in bulk I suggest Tayda or Mouser. If you're just buying enough parts to build one or two circuits I'd suggest Small Bear, or Mammoth.

      Delete
  18. danyJune 23, 2018 at 4:32 PM

    I build it,works like a charm,but I'd love to get more gain (fuzz) out of it,any ideas? Thank you ! btw,I used a MPSA14 and 2N5458 instead of PF5102

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownJuly 19, 2018 at 9:38 PM

    Hello! Good fuzz for stoner) I did it, and I taken 500 kB for gain. Why does it go with waves when sound is attenuated?

    ReplyDelete
  20. junk mcnuggetsAugust 12, 2018 at 1:10 PM

    I'm empty on any kind of FETs at the moment. Anyone know of an effective way to swap it out for a BJT? I'll order some more but I hate waitin for two days and wastibg a beautiful sunday. Any info would be abubdantly obliged.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The AplikatorSeptember 23, 2018 at 10:22 PM

    this thing sounds massive, i'd like to add a tone control where sould i add it?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Effects LayoutsSeptember 24, 2018 at 9:44 AM

    Easiest would probably be adding a Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control from AMZ after C4 (output cap), before the volume pot.

    ReplyDelete
  23. AntonioNovember 9, 2018 at 6:34 AM

    That looks great! Did the original come with the polarity protection diode and power filter cap?

    This site is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsNovember 9, 2018 at 8:33 AM

      It did. You can see the diode on the upper right side of the original board, and the power filter cap is between the jacks.

      Delete
  24. JavierNovember 23, 2018 at 9:41 AM

    Great sounding pedal! Thank you! I'm thinking in adding a BMP Tonestack and a Simple FET Blender, in order to be more suitable to use with Bass... what do you think? Where I must place those extra circuits? Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsNovember 23, 2018 at 10:50 AM

      I'd insert the BMP tone stack before the volume pot, and the blender connects to the input and output of whatever effect you're adding it to.

      Delete
    2. JavierNovember 23, 2018 at 11:07 AM

      Great! Thanks. I was reading that tonestacks after gain stages modify a bit the harmonic content of the distorted character. Do you think could be helpful to place a Cap + Trim between Tonestack and Volume Pot to control hiss and fizz? And, must I use the BMP with gain recovery stage or the simplier one? Thanks again mate!

      Delete
    3. Effects LayoutsNovember 23, 2018 at 11:19 AM

      It will modify the distortion tone. You could always add a bypass switch on the tone stack. You can try it without the gain recovery stage and see if the volume loss is something you can live with. If it were me I would breadboard it and see how it sounds before you commit anything to solder. I don't think a trimmer is necessary. Just remove the stock volume pot from the bellows and run it straight into the tone stack. Then tack the volume control back on after the tone stack.

      Delete
    4. JavierNovember 23, 2018 at 1:12 PM

      Thank you! You are the man! Will try all of this. Kind regards from Argentina

      Delete
    5. JavierNovember 24, 2018 at 11:35 PM

      Here is the new PCB I've builded, I don't know how to use Eagle, so I made it in Illustrator :P
      What do you think? It has a few bridges for voltage and In-Send from Bellows to Blender... it's ok or it's not a good idea to use those bridges? Thank you again!

      http://studionegro.tv/ftp/diy/bellows_modded_pcb.png

      Delete
    6. Effects LayoutsNovember 26, 2018 at 9:31 AM

      That looks fine other than the power going to the blend circuit is before the power polarity protection diode (1N5817 in the Bellows section). Easy fix is to just us another 1N5817 diode in place of the jumper you have going between lugs 1 and 2 of the volume pot. Other than that I think it looks good.

      Delete
    7. JavierNovember 26, 2018 at 11:08 AM

      Great! Thanks again for your help... Yes! saw the diode just affecting the bellows, but I thought it was fine because the Blender don't include a diode, but will add one there for sure. I will try to build it in some weeks, and if it works and sounds good, I can share a PDF version with you and the community. Kind Regards

      Delete
  25. UnknownDecember 29, 2018 at 11:57 PM

    I'm really new to building, and I was looking for a project. I wanted to make sure I get everything correct - on the picture of the PCB it shows the out, in, ground and 9v. Does that mean I can solder those segments anywhere on that green line? I assume not, but I'm not sure where I should put those parts specifically.

    ReplyDelete
  26. BlackwingJanuary 4, 2019 at 8:19 PM

    The green line is ground. I suggest if you don’t have much experience, fallow it exactly. Once you gain experience and knowledge. Then you can play with the circuit!

    ReplyDelete
  27. UnknownJanuary 8, 2019 at 10:39 PM

    does messy soldering mess up the sound, because right now I'm getting the tone I want every once and a while, but it cuts out. I twisted together a lot of the pieces going to ground and just soldered them together, same with the rest of the board.

    ReplyDelete
  28. AlexSnipeJune 9, 2020 at 5:52 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. AlexSnipeSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:30 AM

    Perfect fuzz. Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
  30. NovizeMarch 24, 2021 at 6:10 PM

    Hi,
    if I want to add a Bias Contoll, it is enough to replace the 22k with a 20k or lets say a 25k trimer of experimenting and after that a 5k pot, right? Still learning...
    Great blog, keep up the amazing work!

    ReplyDelete

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