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.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Crowther Audio '03 Hot Cake

I laid out the original 1977 Hot Cake a while back, but never got around to doing the modern one that came out in 2003. So here's the newer one. I ignored the original relay bypass switch and the polarity protection diode could be replaced with a 1N4001 or similar. The original 1N5238 is an 8.2v zener. It's laid out for board mounted pots as usual, and should be an easy fit in a 1590B. Here's the schematic for reference. There's also now a fabricated board for this circuit available in the store—the Crempog.


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21 comments:

  1. eJFebruary 1, 2017 at 9:30 AM

    Dirty Little Secret MkIII Please!!!

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  2. plushFebruary 1, 2017 at 10:32 AM

    clusterfuzz
    for fuzz's sake
    ;D

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  3. UnknownFebruary 1, 2017 at 5:11 PM

    New Hot Cake is so damn good. I haven't heard a 70s one but I'm sure they rule too.

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  4. RobotmeisterFebruary 2, 2017 at 2:12 AM

    Cool, thanks for another great one.
    And I see I've got all parts in my stash. Even better ;-)

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  5. Giovane SoaveFebruary 3, 2017 at 12:06 AM

    Hi man, great post as usual. I'm an avid follower of yours and tagboardeffects blog. I've already built this pedal once some time ago and it truly is a good sounding pedal. I would like to know how can i increase maibe the highs and mids of this pedal. Since I play with humbuckers, the pedal kinda sounds too dark imo. So, if you can give me a tip where i can do some experimenting, i would apreciate a lot. Thanks man!

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  6. Effects LayoutsFebruary 3, 2017 at 10:26 AM

    There's a couple caps you could experiment with. I'd start with lowering the value of the 22n cap coming off lug 3 of the Presence pot and play with the value of the 56n cap that goes between Presence 2 and Level 3.

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    Replies
    1. Giovane SoaveFebruary 3, 2017 at 11:55 AM

      Thank you very much for the response, I'm gonna test it as soon as I can! Cheers mate

      Delete
    2. Giovane SoaveFebruary 3, 2017 at 11:56 AM

      Another question that has just come up, if I wanted to increase gain, how could it be done?

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    3. Effects LayoutsFebruary 3, 2017 at 3:29 PM

      That I'm not sure off. Look at the schematic and maybe adjust the values of the components going to the gain control from the IC. Maybe adjust the value of the 100k resistor right above the IC as well. You'll have to experiment.

      Delete
  7. MonjeApril 18, 2017 at 9:58 AM

    This weekend I made three circuits right away, this was the first, and it worked the first time, the sound is really very special, it happened to be one of my favorite overdrives. As it has no clipping diodes, not much that can be changed, I tested the sound with an OPA134, but it got worse, it shows much more the background noise and it gets very sharp and annoying, there is nothing like the old TL071.
    For gain control, I did not have the C50k but I had read on another site that a B10K had the same effect, and it worked perfect.
    Thanks for your excellent circuits!

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  8. IvMNovember 7, 2017 at 2:48 PM

    Nice Od/ds!
    Drive pot's lug 3 should be connected to ground.
    Thanks David!

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  9. veggamanDecember 18, 2017 at 4:55 PM

    Does the distance between the components matter and how the layout is composed? For example can I route the ground path any way I want or does it have to be as on the layout? And also the order of the components? I tend to route the pcb different than on your layouts to save space..and gets noise on every build.
    Thank you for a great site:)

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  10. ThommoJuly 13, 2018 at 5:44 AM

    Was anybody else's drive pot backwards? I swapped it around and it's all good. But I can't understand why there isn't any comments about it. Also, if you connect lug 3 of the drive pot to ground, it makes it CCW-full centre-0 CW-full! Anyway, needless to say this is a great sounding drive. Reminds me a lot of the Lovepedal Purple Plexi.

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  11. IvanSeptember 28, 2018 at 9:44 AM

    with respect to the diode, is it sure that instead of putting the zener 8.2 a 4001 or similar should be put? I also have an 8.5 volt zener diode, will this one work?

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    Replies
    1. Effects LayoutsSeptember 28, 2018 at 2:14 PM

      A 4001 will work. That zener was just what was used in the originals.

      Delete
  12. AbeSeptember 3, 2019 at 9:08 AM

    Hi! Verify and thanks for your excellent work in the blog!! Recently I build this layout from and controling with this schematic http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pgDMzXAv3Pw/TxxcF2JgeNI/AAAAAAAAAqg/zYABLMqgeXA/s1600/Crowther_Hotcake-2003.gif I compare side by side with an original unit. My clone sounds very close but the presence knob on the original has a more vocal sweep, mine has a more trebly sweep. The original Hotcake I use for the comparison is post 2007 with the blueberry and bass dipswitch, but the settings are "normal" and "guitar". Any ideas? could different chip alter this behavior? Greetings From Argentina =)

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    1. RadeDecember 24, 2019 at 2:03 PM

      Question: "what PRESENCE potentiometer did you use when making the pedal"? B50K or B25K?!?

      Delete
  13. mpercontiJanuary 30, 2020 at 6:49 PM

    Hi! Thank you very much for doing all the layouts. I have a question about this one (And maybe others) I have a lot of 50v capacitors, will they work for this pedal or I should get others like 63v or higher? Thank you!

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