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, March 15, 2017
Boss OD-1 Overdrive
Here's the Boss OD-1–the first of the tube screamer-type overdrives (yes, the first TS wasn't an Ibanez). It features asymmetrical clipping diodes (where a stock TS has symmetrical clipping) which gives it a thicker, more edgy sound. Initial versions of the circuit used a quad opamp, using 2 of the opamps as in the input/output buffers, but this was later replaced by the more common transistor buffers and a dual opamp to save cost and use more readily available parts back in the late 70s/early 80s.
Monday, March 13, 2017
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.
Friday, March 10, 2017
DeadAstronaut Space Patrol Fuzz
For Fuzz Friday here's DeadAstronaut's take on the good ol' Big Muff. It features a toggle switch (Fat/Thin) that changes the output capacitor from the first stage, and a rotary switch (mode) that changes the sound type. In the designer's own words:
It's basically a classic big muff with fat/thin switching, plus 3 other modes for synthy, buzzy, octavey, duck and swell type sounds...by switching diodes and collector resistors. Rather like a bias control on a fuzz face...but for both collectors.
Here's the schematic for reference.
Here's the schematic for reference.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Carl Martin Plexi-Tone
This is probably the biggest Marshall-in-a-box pedal out there (footprint-wise anyway). Originals use a +/- 12v supply with a transformer internally. I modified the power section with a +/-18v charge pump and will run off a normal +9v power supply. This saves room so you can use a smaller enclosure and gives more headroom to the effect. It is a buffered effect, so the In/Out pads go directly to the jacks. All switches marked in the layout are the footswitches. It should fit fine in a 1590BB with top mounted jacks.


Edit March 9:
Had some question about how to wire the footswitches. Here's how I'd wire them:
The LED for the channel switch doesn't have to be bi-color, but in my mind it seems like a good thing utilize instead of have a normal LED being on for one channel and off for the other.
Edit Nov. 28, 2018:
Had 2 pads for the Drive footswitch mislabeled. Fixed now and good to go. Schematic for reference (note the pot lug numbering in the schematic does not follow the normal numbering convention used on this site).
Edit Nov. 28, 2018:
Had 2 pads for the Drive footswitch mislabeled. Fixed now and good to go. Schematic for reference (note the pot lug numbering in the schematic does not follow the normal numbering convention used on this site).
Monday, March 6, 2017
Death by Audio Echo Dream 2
Gotten a lot of requests for this one. I've put it off because the schematic that's out there isn't exactly straight forward, not to mention it's 7 pots, 2 switches, 3 ICs... You get the idea. Anyway, I wanted to keep this 1590BB friendly, so all the pots are board mounted... except one (Blend). Six out of seven isn't bad, I reckon. haha
Friday, March 3, 2017
FuzzHugger FX Doom Bloom
Fuzz Friday! Do you want a fuzz with a bunch of knobs, versatile tones, and works on guitar and bass? Good. Here's the Doom Bloom from FuzzHugger. Think of it as an Electra distortion pushing a Bazz Fuss with a handful on pots thrown in for a bunch of tweak-ability. It'll be a tight squeeze in a 1590B, but it should fit.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Test Rig
Here's a couple test rigs you can use to test effects before boxing them up. They use the same board mounted jacks I used on the "board mounted everything" layouts I did at the beginning of the year. The first one is fairly simple, using a DPDT toggle to switch between the effect and bypass.
The second one is pretty much the same idea, but with a simple audio probe for debugging included. (Props to my buddy Cody for the idea) You can switch between test mode and debug mode with a SPDT on/on toggle.
Use sockets on the 5 pads in the middle so you can easily plug in wires from the effect you want to test. You can directly solder a wire to the Probe pad.
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