Lovepedal Woodrow

This is one of the many variations of the old Electra Distortion. Sounds like a cranked Tweed 5E3 amp. The original Lovepedal Woodrow has just a volume knob, but it's easy (and useful) to add a gain control. If you just want one knob, connect Gain 3 to Gain 2.

Sola Sound Tone Bender Mk. II Professional

Here's another layout with onboard pots. The Sola Sound Tone Bender Mk. II is probably most famous for shaping some (but not all) of the guitar sound of legendary guitarist Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin I. Originally it was a positive ground effect, but I've laid it out to use NPN transistors. This way you can daisy chain it with normal negative ground effects, or avoid using a 9V battery or making a voltage inverter. I've added a polarity protection diode and a pulldown resistor at the input. I would also recommend as I did with the Fuzz Face, to swap the stock B1k pot controlling attack with either a C1k or B2k pot for better control.

The hfe of the transistors should be around 70 for Q1 and 2, and 100 for Q3 (according to Fuzz Central). I've personally had good luck with some Russian MP38a transistors. You can also build the Marshall Supa Fuzz with this layout by making the following substitutions:

• Increase both 4.7µ capacitors to 10µ
• Reduce the 100k resistor going from the base of Q1 to ground to 10k
• Reduce the 100k resistor going from 9v to the collector of Q2 to 47k

You can also use this layout to make the original positive ground effect using PNP transistor by just inverting any polarized components (basically just flip around the 3 electrolytic caps and diode).

Jordan Vico Vibe Tremolo

Not really a vibrato circuit, but a nice sounding tremolo. This layout is based on the schematic drawn by LucifersTrip on the FSB forum. I've increased the value of the film capacitors from 100n to 220n to reduce the maximum speed a little and make it more usable. People seem to have used anything from 100n to 500n for those caps, so there's room for experimentation there. I also laid it out to utilize onboard pots. It will fit nicely in a 1590B. Just drill the holes for the pots 1.2 inches apart.

The 6V8 diode is a zener, by the way.

Axial Fuzz

Here's a silicon Tone Bender type fuzz by Nocentelli from FSB. Just about any NPN silicon trannies will do... 2N2222, BC108, 2N3904, etc.

Maestro MFZ-1 FuzzTone

Not the Maestro stompbox that produced the classic "Satisfaction" tone, but a good sounding fuzz nonetheless. This came out during the Norlin era of Gibson/Maestro in the 70s. The original used a TL022 opamp, but I've listed the TL072 because it's more likely to be in your parts bin. I've also up'ed the power filter cap from 2.2µ (which wouldn't do a lot) to 47µ.

Here's a demo of an original:

NPN Fuzz Face

Not that the internet needs another Fuzz Face layout, but I'm adding it for the completeness of this collection. It is a DIY standard after all. This follows the stock NPN silicon version with BC108 transistors.

I've added a anti-popping pull down resistor, a power filter cap, and polarity protection diode. There a host of modifications to the circuit you can find on forums and the like, but one I highly recommend is replacing the stock B1k fuzz pot with either a C1k or B2k pot. This will give a better sweep of the range of fuzz. It's also not a bad idea to replace the 8.2k resistor with a 10k trimmer or B10k pot (wired as a variable resistor) to help bias Q2 correctly.

There are many different transistors that sound good in this circuit (I've used 2N2222 and 2N2369 trannies with good success). Just use sockets and try different ones out.

This would be a good candidate to fit in a 1590a enclosure. You could also use this layout to make the PNP germanium Fuzz Face, the ColorSound 1-Knob Fuzz, Tone Bender Mk 1.5, or the Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. Just look up the schematics and note the component changes.

UPDATE:

I've verified the layout and put it in a 1590a using 2N5550 transistors. Here's pics of my build:

EHX Axis Fuzz/Guild Foxey Lady

Before Electro Harmonix made the Big Muff there was the Axis Fuzz. These were the same as the 2-knob Foxey Lady fuzz EHX made for Guild. Most schematics on the web say 100k pots for both fuzz and volume controls, but the unit Ron (theehman) over on the DIY Stomboxes forum traced used a B1M for fuzz and a A500k for volume. So if 100k doesn't sound right, try those out. For Q1 and 2, the originals had 2N5133s, so try 2N3904 or 2N5088s.

Here's a demo video of an original Foxey Lady: