1981 Inventions LVL

Here's the new boost from Matt Hoopes. Cornish buffer up front, so like the DRV, not a true bypass effect unless you want to wire it that way. Signal is then amplified by half of a 1458 op amp, and then back to back inverting and tone shaping op amp stages with the LM833. Schematic below. If you're going to wire it for true bypass you can omit C4, and R7-8. Also note that D1-2 aren't acting as clipping diodes, but as (I think?) a limiter to prevent clipping or at least too much of it. 

Greer Amps Black Mountian

 Here's one of Greer's latest offerings. Seems like a simplified OCD circuit with some value changes and different clipping diodes. Schematic for reference. Easy fit in a 1590B.

JPTR FX Silver Machine

Happy Fuzz Friday, folks! Stumbled across this one recently and looked cool. It's basically 2 SHOs in series pushing a Green Ringer. Schematic for reference. Should fit nicely in a 1590B. I've also got a fabricated version in the store.

Exar OD-2

 Here's a fairly unique OD from the mid-nineties and the Polish pedal manufacture Exar Electronix. It's a soft clipping drive based around a simple discrete opamp topography. Originals have J113 JFETs, but others should work just fine. More info on FSB.

Sarno Earth Drive

 This one's gotten a fair amount of hype over the years. It's essentially a Timmy without the bass control and a few different values. The IC and clipping diodes haven't been confirmed, other than 2 silicon, 2 germanium. 1N4148 and 1N34A should get you pretty darn close. IC is just a dual op-amp so socket and audition your favorites. Schematic here for reference.

EHX/JHS Lizard Queen

 Happy Fuzz Friday everyone! You probably didn't miss this collaboration between Josh Scott and Mike Matthews, and because of the old school style of the big box version, it wasn't to hard to trace. There's still a few things we don't know about the circuit, so have your sockets handy if you put this together (see notes below). There's some debate over the touted originality of the circuit, as it appears to be a Bazz Fuss into a Tim Escobedo PushMe PullYou, but do your best and leave that discussion to the forums. FSB trace thread for reference.

Notes:

• Q1 is a large can (TO-39 by the looks of it) transistor. I doubt it's germanium, so I assume it's something relatively low hFE like a 2N1711. I'd try out 2N2222A, 2N3904, 2N5550 and see what works/sounds best. The transistor types listed in the layout are an assumption based on the PushMe PullYou.
• D1 appears to be old stock of some sort, with orange and green color bands. I would assume a 1N4148 will work just fine here like in a typical Bazz Fuss.
• C1 is a small ceramic cap, value unknown. I'd start experimenting with anything between 100-470p.
• The 10uF cap off lug 2 of the Balance pot is an assumption based on the PushMe PullYou. It could be as large as 100uF as it's the same size axial capacitor in the original as the power filter caps.

Ross Phaser

 Yes, Modulation Monday is back with the Ross Phaser. It's not for the feint of heart, but doesn't require any JFETs, matched or otherwise. Instead it uses OTAs with 3, LM13700N (one for the LFO, two for the audio path). Should fit nicely in a 125B with top mounted jacks. Schematic for reference.

DigiTech Bad Monkey

 With all the recent talk and hype of the DigiTech Bad Monkey lately, and the sky rocketing prices of them on Reverb, a layout seemed to be in order. I used to gig with one of these and loved the Low control on it. Helped it stand out compared to other TS-style ODs. So it's worth throwing together in my book if you can't wait for prices on original units to come back to reality. This one's laid out for a 125B with top mounted jacks but you can probably squeeze it in a 1590B if you feel so inclined. Schematic over on FSB.

Earthquaker Devices Hummingbird V2

 New Year, might make Modulation Monday a thing. We'll see. Anyway, here's the EQD Hummingbird V2. It's derived from the Vox Repeat Percussion and now updated to use the 2N6027 in place of the obsolete 2N2646. There's also a couple other improvements from the earlier version so a new layout seemed like a good idea. Schematic for reference.