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.

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.

Earthquaker Devices Tentacle

Had several requests for the Tentacle, but it's just more or less a Dan Armstrong Green Ringer clone. But I had the idea of making a Green Ringer layout with the bypass footswitch board-mounted so we'll just call this layout the Tentacle. Should fit easily in a 1590A. If you'd rather a fabricated PCB to build on, check out the Darkmantle on the store.

EarthQuaker Devices Life Pedal

For Fuzz Friday here's the coolest Green Ringer + Rat pedal around! (To be fair, it's an awesome combo) The Green Ringer is on a JFET blend and the Rat section is pretty standard. There's also a fairly generic MOSFET boost on board as well, similar to a SHO or Black Eye. This should all fit nicely in a 1590BB with board mounted pots.

As requested, here's the schematic:

Fulltone Ultimate Octave

Happy Fuzz Friday everyone! Had a request for this one. It's basically a Foxx Tone Machine with some value changes and a couple additions, namely a switch to shift the range of the tone control and the octave switch is a footswitch. Here's the schematic for reference.

Prescription Electronics Clean Octave Blend

Got a request for this one for Fuzz Friday. Originals fetch crazy prices online. It's an octave fuzz with a clean blend. If you want a fabricated version of this, check out the Corn Cobb on the store.. Schematic over on FSB. Should squeeze nicely in a 1590B.

Third Man Bumble Buzz

The Bumble Buzz is sold by Third Man Records, Jack White's record store and was designed and built for him by Union Tube & Transistor. It's a modified Kay Fuzz Tone F-1 with 4 silicon diodes in parallel instead of 2 germaniums like the original and the tone control fixed (so there aren't any controls at all). Easy fit for a 1590B and you might even be able to squeeze it into a 1590A.

There's also a fabricated version of this on the store if you prefer. It mounts directly to a 3PDT footswitch so your board isn't just floating in the enclosure and/or you don't have to mess with standoffs or double-sided tape. There's also 3 other new PCBs on the store as well, so go check 'em out!

Parasit Studio 8-Bitar

For Fuzz Friday, here's a really cool design from Parasit Studio:

The 8-Bitar is a minimalistic octave down pedal with a 8-bit sound (glitchy and gated square wave fuzz). It's small enough to fit inside a 1590A without any special parts.

The design goal with this pedal was to achieve the core octave tone from the Arcadiator, but with as few components as possible. I'm happy with the result since it only uses one chip (a CD4069).

Usual caveats apply for getting the best tracking - humbuckers, neck pickup and tone rolled off.

DBA Octave Clang

For Fuzz Friday here's the Octave Clang from Death By Audio. It's a transformer based octave fuzz utilizing a 741 opamp. Fairly low parts count and should fit in a 1590B.

Way Huge Purple Platypus

Here's a bit of a rarer old school Way Huge circuit from the 90s. It's essentially what would happen if a Red Llama and a Foxx Tone Machine had a baby. Original thread on FSB here with schematic.

Parasit Studios Eagle Claw

Fuzz Friday! Freppo over at Parasit Studios makes some insanely cool stuff. Here's his Eagle Claw octave fuzz. You can probably squeeze it into a 1590a if you're feeling adventurous. In his own words:

The Eagle Claw is simple yet brutal, noisy and glitchy sounding CMOS-based fuzz with a full wave rectifier to produce a strong octave up. This circuit works best with high output pickups. It is a gated circuit by nature of the CMOS logic. If you are using single coils and need more sustain, try a boost or compressor in front. To bring out the strongest octave up, use the neck pickup on your guitar with the tone rolled down. The octave is most intense around the 10th fret and higher.

Earthquaker Devices Hoof Reaper

It's the last Fuzz Friday before Christmas, and as a present to you here's 3 effects in one–the Earthquaker Hoof Reaper. It combines the Tone Reaper fuzz, the Green Ringer (Tentacle) octave, and Hoof fuzz in one package. For the germanium transistors, originals use an AC176 in the Reaper side and 1N1308s in the Hoof, but others can (and have) been used, so socket and experiment. Also, it seems the originals have the Octave first from the input jack. So despite the footswitch arrangement, the signal goes, Input jack > Octave > Reaper > Hoof > Output Jack. Pots are all board mounted and it should fit in a 1590BB.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Death by Audio Robot

For Fuzz Friday, here's another wild and wacky one from DBA:

The Robot is a low fidelity 8 bit pitch transposer with absolutely no feelings what-so-ever. It is completely synthetic and transforms any input into a spuree of resynthesized robot jargon.

Originals need a dedicated power supply as the HT8950 chip runs off 2.4-4 volts and the power section of the original will not play nice daisy chained with other pedals. To make it a little more user friendly, I've altered the power supply to use a 3.3v regulator (LM1117V33C or similar, though watch the pinout). Here's my modified schematic:

Note: I've also included 4 extra pads on the PCB layout in case anyone wanted to do the mod lvlark describes here.

Ampeg Scrambler

It's Fuzz Friday time again, and this week I give you the Ampeg Scrambler. This one's a pretty rare one, even back when it was originally made in the late 60s. It's a pretty crazy octave fuzz with a clean blend. Originals used 2N5306 for Q1, 3, and 4, and a BC169 for Q2, but those could be difficult to source, and it works fine with modern equivalents (mind the pinouts if using original transistors). If you want to add a master volume control, use a 100k pot (adjust to taste) and wire lug 3 to the Out pad of the board. Lug 2 is now your output, and lug 1 goes to ground. This sounds pretty cool on bass as well as guitar.

FuzzHugger FX Phantom Octave

The Phantom Octave is an octave/ring mod type fuzz that's very interactive with guitar pickup selection and volume/tone controls. The LED pads are for the one that's under the knob in the video below. You could use it as the on/off indicator, but it might be hard to tell if it's on when signal isn't passing through it. Should be able to squeeze it in a 1590A. From the manufacturer:

Equal parts mysterious and ghastly, the Phantom Octave is a shape-shifting octave fuzz 
monster! No controls? They're not necessary--they're at your fingertips! The Phantom Octave is 
extremely interactive with your pickup selection, picking intensity, and your guitar's Tone 
control. Like its namesake, the octave will disappear with picking intensity and by rolling back 
your guitar's Tone control. Octave effect is strongest with low-output single coil pickups.

Tychobrahe Octavia

The Octavia is one of the many legendary effects to come out of the late 60s. It is also one of the rarest pedals of the era, as there weren't many built. Like most effects of its day, the Octavia is a positive ground effect. There are several schematics for it floating around, but the one I based this layout on can be found here. Most positive ground effects I layout I also post a negative ground effect version as well. I haven't done so for this one to keep the classic mojo of the original. If you want to make it negative ground, just rotate electrolytic caps, the 1N4001 polarity protection diode, and use NPN transistors for  Q2 and 3.

Roger Mayer Octavia

Roger Mayer is one of the most influential effects makers of all time. Responsible for many great players fuzz tones, he's probably most famous for tweaking (or just rebuilding) Jimi Hendrix's Fuzz Faces. He also has his own line of pedals and this is his take on the classic Octavia (octave up) effect. This one doesn't use a transformer like the Tycobrahe Octavia, so it's a little easier to build (at least you don't have to order a transformer...). This layout follows Roger's original 2-knob Octavia,  housed in a spaceship looking enclosure.

Shin Ei OB-28 Octave Box

Here's a weird one for you–the Shin Ei Octave Box. It's apparently an all analog clean octave down effect. I'm not going to pretend to understand how it works, but there are a lot of transistors. Originals used 2SC644 and 2SC666 transistors, which I think were in the massive TO-3 package. I've drawn the layout for more modern replacements, BC547s and a BC557. Other transistors like the 2N3904/06 or 2N5088/87 would probably work as well. Socket and experiment with what you have on hand.

EarthQuaker Devices Bit Commander

The Bit Commander is an synth/octave effect that's all analog. It creates square wave synth tones across 4 octaves (2 up, 2 down) and it's capable of creating a wide range of sounds. The octave down effect is generated from the ICs, while the octave up comes from the 4024 and transformer (kind of like an Octavia). From EQD:

Like all analog octave effects, there are some basic rules to follow that will get you the most enjoyment from your Bit Commander. Use the neck pickup and play single notes. The best tracking occurs from the 7th fret up on all the strings. Below the 7th will still track but there will be occasional glitches and stutters. The lower the note, the harder it is for the Bit Commander to register. The use of Bass and lower registers on keyboards will yield unexpected, sometimes pleasing, sometimes disgusting results. These are not mistakes or flaws, it is the nature of analog octaves.

Escobedo Punch-In-The-Face

Today's #fuzzfriday offering is the Punch-In-The-Face, designed by Tim Escobedo. It's based on the Fuzz Face, but with a JFET in Q2. Here's what Tim had to say about it:

The latest Fuzz Face inspired offering. The big difference is the "Trauma" control, when used with the Gain control, will yield tones from hard fuzz to octave up to sputtery pulse to "soft attack" fuzz. Good clean up with the guitar volume knob. It may be good to choose Q2 from a lot of J201s to give the best "soft attack" fuzz and octave up effects.

The pots can be board mounted using common short leg PCB pots, with the board vertically mounted in the pedal. Trauma and Volume pots mount from the component side, and Gain from the solder side.