Tuesday 29 November 2016

Earthquaker Devices Tentacle

Basically the Tentacle is Dan Armstrong Green Ringer with a few value changes.

Now for those of you that liked the idea of building a Hoof Reaper, which I mentioned when I posted the layout for the Tone Reaper, the Tentacle should go in between the Hoof and Tone Reaper for the Octave effect. So for all the disciples of fuzz out there, pair this your favorite fuzz for some crazy octave up fuzzy goodness.

Direct from the source:

The Tentacle is a classic analog octave up effect. It is the very same octave from our beloved Hoof Reaper pedal. We got so many requests to make this a stand-alone unit that we just had to make it a reality. You can now add an excellent, swelling octave up to anything your heart desires! Pair it with your favorite fuzz, strap on a headband and unleash your inner Jammy Hendrix. Put it in front of another octave up and blow your amp's mind. Throw it in the effects loop of a delay and marvel at what happens (then tell us, we’d like to know too). What’s better? It has no controls! Nothing to worry about at all here, just hit the switch and go for it. The Tentacle is an analog octave up, the effect will become much more pronounced when using your neck pickup and playing above the 12th fret.





Edit: For those that have built this already based on the original layout upload, flip Q2 so the Emitter is towards +9V and the Collector is towards Ground.

Sunday 27 November 2016

Charge Pump Extravaganza

Here's something I've been looking for for awhile now for a project I've got in the works, and figured some of you guys may be looking for the same thing. They're based off of the schematic published by the one and only R.G. Keen, found here.

Layout 1: +9V to +17V


Layout 2: +9V to +25V


Layout 3: +9V to +33V


Remember to watch your electrolytics voltage rating, especially with the +33V charge pump
Note: You can NOT substitute the MAX1044 for 7660s or NE555 IC.

Earthquaker Devices The Depths

Direct from the source:

Ahoy! Welcome to your new Depths Optical Vibe Machine! The Depths is our take on the classic optical vibe circuit. Now you can swab the decks with the same lush, pulsating, three-dimensional swirling sound you know and love, with some modern accouterments for all you land-lubbers out there.

The Depths is optimized for use with all kinds of instruments, pickups, and to play well with dirt, so nobody’s left waiting on shore. If it’s got a ¼” output, plug it in and get deep!

 In addition to the classic vibe controls, the Depths features unique controls for “Voice” and “Throb.” The “Voice” control adjusts the midrange focus of the Depths, which is perfect for tailoring the effect to your particular instrument. Clockwise, you’ll hear a fuller sound with a low-end focus. Counter-clockwise, you’ll hear a thinner, spikier sound with a forward upper-midrange bite.  The “Throb” knob adds a hefty subharmonic low-end pulse to the vibrato signal, which is especially useful on synthesizers and the bass guitar. It sounds great with a little bit of dirt on the neck pickup of a guitar, too! This works best with the “Voice” turned counter-clockwise for a warmer tone.

The Depths’ “Intensity” and “Rate” controls are dialed in to give you the classic optical vibe sound at more modest settings, but dive in deeper and you’ll find anything from a smooth ultra-slow warble to sharp, speedy bursts! Also, the “Level” control has tons of output above unity on tap to combat the perceived volume loss of most vibe pedals, so your tone is always above water. And, if 9v isn’t enough to keep you afloat, the Depths may be powered at 18v for a stiffer tone with more headroom and sparkle.


We've got 2 layouts for you.

Layout 1: We've got the the LFO off the main board to hopefully prevent the dreaded LFO tick. Should fit in a 125b like the original. Downside is that there is more offboard wiring you will need to do.

Layout 2: Slightly larger board, with the LFO on the main board. You shouldn't get any ticking, and you'll save on having to deal with the extra offboard wiring.

Wattson Classic Electrons EFY-6


Found this on TGP from the man himself when he was first releasing it:

Basically, it's an FY-6 with some extra bells and whistles in a "pedal board friendly" enclosure. The official name is the EFY-6, with "E" meaning "Enhanced".
The "Expander" knob has been renamed "Fuzz", and the "Balance" knob has been renamed "Gain", as these more clearly describe what these controls do.

We fiddled with the differential amp and worked out a way to be able to adjust the amplitude of half of the cycles coming out of it. Turn it all the way down and voila! No octave step up! Turn it all the way up and it sounds like an original FY-6. In between you can adjust for however much chord smashing synthy overtones you want. This knob is appropriately called "Octave".

A cross-fade knob was installed between the mid-scoop filter and the voltage divider that used to be connected to a switch labeled "Tone". You can now blend between the two tone settings. Obviously, this knob is called "Tone".

The final stage got a gain boost so that the maximum output signal level is more than 4X the maximum output level of the original FY-6, or more than double the volume.

With the knobs set appropriately, it will sound just like an FY-6. Move the "Octave" or "Tone" knobs away from their limits and you can get tones not possible with the original FY-6.


Unfortunately, Wattson Classic Electronics has shutdown, and while they were around they made very few of these. What brought me to find out about this pedal is that the guys of SUNN O)))) have been known to use this pedal.




Set the trimmer to get the octave effect.

Friday 18 November 2016

Schumann Lion

Here is a layout for the rare Schumann Lion distortion.
Original brief description:
"The LION is a distortion device and a clean booster with two complete circuits that can be mixed independently.
Has a bypass footswitch and boost footswitch that gives extra distortion.
Great for bass -- distortion that doesn't cut out the low end.
Great for guitar -- minor chords retain clean harmonics -- you can get great distortion but still hear definition of notes."
You can find original DIY thread and schematic here.
30/11/2017 Layouts Updated! Changed Drive pot to B1M and added 470uF capacitor.



If you want to use Mark's Bipolar Voltage Converter:

Thursday 17 November 2016

Smallsound/Bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine

Original description:
"The TAFM was designed for low end heaviness with the ability to cut through a mix, to simply keep your guitar’s pick attack while having a really saturated fuzz-tone or just to have a subtle background fuzz behind your main keyboard sound. the TAFM excels at versatility and fitting in with almost any instrument in almost any musical setting.
the thick, gnarly fuzz is perfectly complimented by a slightly gritty clean blend which retains all the low end you’d need… plus more. rough overdrive, howling feedback, clean boost with fuzzy sparkles, even phase-cancelled signals for pseudo octave-up/weird discordance and everything in between."
Original FSB thread and schematic available here.


Wednesday 16 November 2016

Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom

From the source:

The Doom Bloom reimagines Algal Bloom with new controls, more lows, bite, mass, and more available
headroom. It's stupid with lows and menace! Designed to hold together and retain clarity with lower tunings.


Controls: 

- Bloom is Bloom...it's fuzz+gain+definition. It increases gain and note separation. Rather than going mushy or
washy, it holds together pretty nicely when cranked. It holds up well with lower tuning because of this.


-
Head is headroom. As you turn it right, headroom increases, making the pedal less clipped, but also louder and
more open (favoring transistor fuzz over clipping diodes). So while turning right reduces how clipped it is, it also
increases mass, for some big thunderous chords. Full-spectrum massive attack!


-
Body (Body and High work together). Body shifts a huge amount of lows in/out of your sound...but leaves your
highs totally in tact. (Unlike Tone controls that make you choose either [bassy and dark] OR [bright and thin]). Body
also adjusts fuzziness.


-
High lets you then control your highs, separate from Body. Set your lows and fuzziness where you want it, then
adjust your highs.


-
Bias biases the first transistor gain stage (controlled by the Bloom knob), functioning as an additional boost and
character control with massive boosting power!






Sunday 13 November 2016

Frostwave Funk-a-Duck

"The Funk-A-Duck is an envelope control filter which can be used to produce a wide range of "synthetic" analog-ish sounds. The input causes a control signal to be generated, which goes up and down as the input signal loudness contour goes up and down. This in turn sweeps the filter frequency back and forth."


  • Output Level
    Sets the output level ;)
  • Envelope (Down-None-Up)
    Controls the amount & polarity of envelope modulation.
  • Input Range
    Sets the input sensitivity, has major effect on intensity of effect as well as overall loudness. Important to set this so that when bypassing, the levels are about the same.
  • Res
    Sets resonance of the filter. Can be turned up to actually resonate, either continually or when triggered by peaks of the input signal. This is one thing that makes the unit rather unique.
  • Frequency
    Sets the filter cutoff frequency. It has a very wide range, so it is possible to have it set so NOTHING at all comes through. Also, when any of the other knobs (input, res, envelope, speed) are adjusted, the resonance freq moves, and needs retweaking.
  • Speed
    Sets attack/decay of the envelope. When fully anticlockwise, the speed is FASTEST. Recommend using in this position, at least until one is familiar with the unit.
  • LP Filter / HP Filter
    Selects the type of filter: lowpass or highpass. Unit will resonate in either mode.

  • Original FSB thread and schematic are available here.
    I've used an LM13700 instead of 2 LM3080.
    Drawing it was quite complicated and it came out quite large.
    Always double check the schematic before building an unverified layout.
    (You may be able to use an LT1054 based voltage doubler but I'm not sure about noise level)
    Special thanks go to Digi2t (Dino T.) for drawing this and many other schematics we've been using on this blog.
    Here's his video:


    Friday 11 November 2016

    Bogner La Grange

    Original Info:
    The La Grange pedal is designed to emulate the famous British "Plexi" amplifiers from the mid 60's. The wide variety of controls and switches, give you decades of legendary plexi tones, all the way up to the era of the modded amps from the late 80's and throughout the 90's.
    An independent boost function, with a level control, can be activated via it's own foot-switch to be either used as a stand alone boost, or together with the La Grange's main circuitry. Essentially two independent pedals, with the boost being in series after the La Grange!
    Reinhold designed the La Grange pedal with an op-amp input, followed by five discrete Class A gain stages and incorporated Germanium diode clipping. This approach minimizes the input noise floor while retaining touch sensitivity and clarity throughout the entire gain range.
    Original FSB thread and schematic available here.
    You can find the original manual PDF here.
    I've used Mark's Dual Effect Offboard wiring.
    21/11/2017 Layout Updated! Fixed Boost section based on updated schematic.