Tuesday 19 November 2019

Friedman Golden Pearl Overdrive

I haven't done a layout for a while and as this is a nice simple one I (as I like them) I thought I'd add this to the collection. After doing it I noticed that HamishR has added a layout to the forum and that one is verified. But I thought I'd still add this to the main blog.  I did it with the components on the switches though to keep the board more simple though so you can just choose the one you prefer.

You can see HamishR's layout here:
http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/Friedman-Golden-Pearl-Verified-td45066.html

Info about the original:

The Friedman Golden Pearl is a transparent, lower gain overdrive pedal designed to push already overdriven amps into seductive saturation. This versatile pedal can also be used into a clean amp to achieve that elusive semi-broken up tone. 
Designed to please the ultimate tone connoisseur, the responsive controls, along with the three position high-frequency cut switch, let you custom tailor the pedal to your amp. 
Even greater refinement is available via the tri-mode clipping mode switch, which provides LED, diode, or no clipping voice options. Built in the USA, and designed to withstand decades of abuse, the Golden Pearl is a must have pedal for any guitar player. 






Saturday 16 November 2019

SoloDallas Storm

"This all-analog unit is a reproduction of the tone enhancing circuitry contained within the most widely used wireless system throughout the 1970's to mid 1980's, the Schaffer Vega Diversity System (SVDS). Emphatic users of the SVDS included Angus Young, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton, Peter Green, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Elliot Randall, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir... and an endless list of legends who are responsible for some of the best guitar parts ever recorded."
Schematic available here.




Wednesday 25 September 2019

Keeley Magnetic Echo

Original info:
"The Mag-Echo pedal simulates tube tape echo sounds by using the delay circuit and a little bit of modulation.  Tape echos have long been regarded as a warm and very guitar friendly form of delay.  The Mag-Echo achieves similar results by using a touch of Lo-Fi delay, a slightly filtered echo response to keep things warm, and some modulation.  Modulation, or “Wow and Flutter” in the tape world is a slight pitch shift or wavering that occurs as the tape is pulled across the heads.  The modulation we use is similar to what we use in our Seafoam Chorus, a slight wavering of pitch on the trails of the repeats.  With a simple set of controls for the delay – Time, Regen, and Level and with the “Wow and Flutter” controls – Depth and Rate you can create some very vintage or rather unique tones"
PedalPCB's schematic, info and pcb available here.




Thursday 4 July 2019

1981 Inventions DRV

PedalPCB's schematic, info and pcb available here.
This is a buffered effect.
For true-bypass, leave out Sw 3 and connect the rest the usual way.


Friday 21 June 2019

Fuzzrocious Ram the Manparts


From the source:

Ram The Manparts is a LM386 (a power amp chip) overdrive that we built to allow guitarists and bassists to not only drive an amp HARD, but also to add some textures and features to stand out! The voltage sag allows the user to drop the voltage below 9V, creating a glitchy, sputter, Velcro-like sound. Keep it clean, make it grindier/heavier, or make it glitchy…the choice is yours, dude. 

The pedal has since been discontinued and not the cheapest when buying used if you can find them.

On Guitar:


On Bass:









Wednesday 1 May 2019

Fortin Amplification Zuul

Original info:
"ZUUL is the most transparent noise gate on the market! Studio quality specifications with simple straight forward operation. The ZUUL’s threshold knob also controls the dynamics of the gate circuit. Perfect for guitar, bass or any signal source as it has studio quality specifications. Use in front of an amplifier or in a series effects loop. Dual colour LED for visual feedback gating action: Green = Open, Orange = Closed, Off = Bypass. The KEY input signal can be directly from your guitar (ex. split from ROACH or SPLIFF) or other signal source which lets you go from clean to high gain without changing the Threshold knob. This powerful feature lets you control the gate with a different signal than what flows through the input/output jacks of the ZUUL. Side switch or internal jumper to change the threshold range if you are injecting a large signal into the input and not using the key input"
You can find PedalPCB's schematic, info and pcb on their website here.



Saturday 23 March 2019

ThroBak Strange Master

From the Source:

The Strange Master treble booster now includes both Germanium and Silicon transistors. These transistors are switchable so the user can now get classic Dallas Rangemaster treble booster Germanium tones and higher gain Silicon treble booster tones from one pedal!

ThroBak guitar effects pedals offers another classic Signature Sound effect with the Strange Master Treble Booster, a recreation of the Germanium Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster used by Eric Clapton, Brian May and Tony Iommi.

In keeping with our ThroBak Guitar effects pedals Signature Sound philosophy Strange Master treble booster offers user adjustments to shape the sound of this effect. Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Brian May had Roger Mayer and Peter Cornish customize their effects to create their own signature sound. We give this control to you.

As far as we can tell we are the only company offering a Dallas Range Master clone with a bias adjustment. This  allows you to change the character of treble boost from loose to tight. Switchable range allows treble boost and mid boost germanium distortion. Recreate the Clapton Beano tone or the singing overdrive of Brian May to the growl of Tony Iommi with this pedal, its all in there.


Basically, the Strange Master is a Rangemaster with a switch allowing you to selecting between 2 input caps (Treble and Full) and another switch to select between transistors (Germanium and Silicon), and a bias pot to adjust the bias either between the germanium and silicon transistors or give it a little grit.

Keep in mind that the gain of the transistors is going to be paramount in getting it to sound good. I would suggest looking for gains in the 100-120 hFE range for the germanium (just like a regular rangemaster), and something around 250 hFE for the silicon. Also you can play with the input and output caps to get more or less bass. You can also change the Hi/Low switch for a pot to give you a sweep between the 2 input caps.






Friday 22 March 2019

Creepy Fingers EQ/Exciter

Brad of Creepy Fingers posted about his build of the old SRS EQ/Exciter pedal with a little mod to allow for gain control. The SRS EQ/Exciter is basically a Fuzz Face with a buffer and a mid control. All I can say is this thing sounds HUGE!!!!

Sound clip



Thursday 14 March 2019

Anta Fuzz

First post of the new year. This comes from a request posted in the forum. Not much I could find about this other than it's a Fuzz Face derivative made in the 70's in the USSR.