Catalinbread Karma Suture

 Happy Fuzz Friday everyone! This one recently got traced on the Aion blog (so go check out the full write up over there for more info and schematics). The Karma Suture is based on the Harmonic Percolator and has come in both germanium and silicon versions. The difference between the two are just a couple value changes, so you can build either version on the same board. Value differences are outlined below.

 

Catalinbread WIIO

The Catalinbread WIIO is a Hiwatt amp emulator specifically going for the sound of Pete Townsend's Hiwatts on the Live at Leeds album. (Throwing this and a Univox SuperFuzz in the same box would be a must if you're a big fan of the Who...) The topology of the circuit (cascaded MOSFETs) is similar to the zVex Box of Rock and Catalinbread's other Hiwatt emulator, the Rah. Here's the schematic for reference. Should fit in a 1590B just fine.

Catalinbread VariOboost

Here's an older design from Catalinbread, but an interesting design as usual. It's a preamp/boost with a wide range of tone shaping capabilities. Schematic can be found here.

Catalinbread Sagrado Poblano Picoso/AMZ MOSFET Booster

The Catalinbread Sagrado Poblano Picoso is a bass version of Jack Orman's (AMZ) MOSFET Booster. Really the only difference between the two are a couple cap values. So if you want to build the AMZ version, sub the 470µF cap with a 100µF and the 220nF with a 100nF. Should be a pretty easy fit in a 1590A.

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Mk. III (ish)

I've gotten a few requests for the Mk. III and found several good stock layouts on FSB, so I thought I'd go with a slightly modified version of the DLS Mk. III. This has an added presence control, as well as an onboard charge pump. It's designed for use in a 125B with top mounted jacks, and the pots are all board mounted. Here's the schematic the layout is based on for reference.

Catalinbread Manx Loaghtan

Got a request for this one. It's Catalinbread's take on the classic Big Muff, and therefore an excellent layout for Fuzz Friday. The biggest difference between this and a regular BMP is the tone section, where the typical BMP tone stack has been replaced with a Baxandall 2-band EQ. There is also an extra gain recovery stage built around a JFET after the tone section. Here's the schematic for reference.

Catalinbread V8 Fuzz Engine

For the final Fuzz Friday of the year, here's another one from Catalinbread. It's a fairly unique design and much like the Hyperpak, it uses a 4007 chip and will fit in a 1590a.

Catalinbread Hyperpak

Here's an older design from Catalinbread (now discontinued). The Hyperpak is based around a CD4007UBE to generate a wide array of tones. Be sure to use the unbuffered version of 4007. Shouldn't be too hard to fit into a 1590a like the originals.

Catalinbread Naga Viper

Here's a versatile boost from Catalinbread. It has its roots in the classic Rangemaster treble booster, but with a silicon transistor, the Range pot varying the input capacitance, and the Heat pot controlling some of the gain. Check out the thread on FSB for discussion, schematic, etc. This is laid out for board mounted pots with the board mounted vertically.

Catalinbread Supercharged Overdrive

Here's one of the earliest Catalinbread designs, the Supercharged Overdrive. It's a pretty unique circuit with the Contour control adding in more distortion and saturation from the CD4007 stage. Laid out for board mounted pots and will fit quite nicely in a 1590B. Schematic here for reference.

Catalinbread Merkin Fuzz

Here's an older one from Catalinbread, but a great sound fuzz for Fuzz Friday. It's based on the Mosrite FuzzRite but adds another gain stage after the Texture (Depth in the original FuzzRite) control. Schematic can be found here.

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

Here's the original Dirty Little Secret from Catalinbread. It's a great sounding overdrive that emulates the sound of a Marshall JTM45. The Rock/Rawk switch goes between two different gain settings, and this is a good candidate to be run at 18v for more headroom.

Catalinbread SFT

Here's a really versatile overdrive from Catalinbread. The SFT is based on Ampeg amps from the 70s, using JFETs to simulate tubes (like many of Catalinbread's other overdrives). The Stones/Stoner switch allows you to go from verge of breakup tones to near fuzz tones with the flip of a switch. This can be run off 18 volts and this gives extra headroom, so it may not be a bad idea to include a charge pump in your build. This layout reflects the newest version of the SFT, and the schematic can be found here.

Catalinbread Formula No. 5

The Formula No. 5 is a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe amp emulating overdrive pedal. It's essentially 2 JFET stages (very similar to the AMZ Booster) with the Tweed Deluxe tone and volume (in this case gain) controls in between. A master volume pot is added at the output for more control. Here's a great demo of this pedal from Just Nick, comparing it to an original Tweed Deluxe.

On the PCB I've added extra +9v and ground pads in case you build this with the DC jack at the top of the enclosure. 

Catalinbread RAH

This one's for those of you trying to nail some Jimmy Page tones. The RAH emulates the HiWatt heads Jimmy used live in the early days of Zeppelin. It uses only 3 MOSFET transistors, and features a 3-band EQ section. I'm going to shut up now so you can hear Andy from PGS put this thing through its paces.

Catalinbread Katzenkönig

Here's a new one from Catalinbread for #fuzzfriday. The Katzenkönig–the cat king for those of you who don't sprechen sie Deutsch–is a silicon tonebender-type fuzz with some RAT features thrown in. Catalinbread was kind enough to publish the schematic in the manual for this effect. Pots can all be board mounted using right angle PCB pots mounted from the solder-side of the board. The exact transistors used in this effects weren't published in the manual schematic, but lower gain NPN silicons should do the trick. Socket and experiment with your favorites.

Edit Oct. 14: Original transistors are BC550B, in the 300-400 hfe range. 2N3904s will work well also.

Catalinbread Galileo Mk. II

The Catalinbread Galileo emulates an Vox AC30 and a Rangemaster treble boost in one to give the user tones like Brian May of Queen. The Galileo Mk. II differs from the Mk. I with fewer controls and in a much more pedalboard-friendly enclosure. It's a bit stripped down from the original, but sounds fantastic, and some say it's easier to dial in tones on the Mk. II over the Mk. I. Comparing the schematic with the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra, the Galileo has a very similar structure. The input stage is similar (though not identical), the stacked JFET gain stages are nearly identical, as is the gain recovery stage after the tone control. Though, this makes sense since both are emulating British tube amps and Rangemaster variations. To board mount the pots, use right angle PCB mount types from the solder-side.

Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra

This pedal is inspired by Tommi Iommi's classic combination of Laney Supergroup amps and a Rangemaster treble booster. It's not an emulator like the Supergroup pedal I posted a little while ago. If you look at the schematic it actually looks like 2, AMZ mini booster-type stages at its heart, with a transistor-based input stage. It also has a fixed tone array before what I'm guessing is a JFET-based gain recovery stage at the output. The originals have MPF4393 JFETs, but socket and try others with GSD pinout (J201, 2N5457, etc). The layout below says to use 9v, but it can also be run at 18v. I've drawn it so you can use right angle PCB pots, mounted from the solder-side of the board if you want, and it should all fit nicely in a 1590B.