Here's a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard guitar and bass effect layouts that we have put together covering many classic and popular effects in growing numbers. Many of these have been posted on freestompboxes.org, so check that site out for great discussions on building your own effect pedals. Enjoy the builds and please also visit us on Facebook and Twitter
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!!!
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.
