Buzzaround-Alike

Hello new and old friends! On this day AD, we have some exciting news. I, Miro have been dubbed as thee second-in-rank-admin to help Mark around on the blog. Many of you already know me from various post threads :) Anyway. I've started to draw layouts some time ago and we thought we might give a go for these too. My layouts look a bit different  and there is a reason for that. I have been using Linux as my only operating system for last 8 years and the software version Mark uses, well, doesn't work too well on Linux/Java. Comments are open, so please let us know if you think this is a bad move :)

As a tryout for Miro's layouts, we have Mictester's Burns Buzzaround-Alike. Description from Mictester:


The legendary Burns Buzzaround was a slightly unusual germanium fuzz that achieved its (undeserved) reputation for two reasons - some great guitarists used them, and they are virtually unobtainable. The original consisted of two stages - a two-transistor amplifier and a distortion stage that could have both the amount of signal sent to it and the bias point adjusted by external controls. The third control was a crude tone control which fed the output. Originally, the output was unbuffered, and the leads and amplifier following would load the unit, and the top end would be rolled off, and often the tone control would have little effect. 

The first stage in the sound-alike is just a high input impedance op-amp gain stage. You may wish to increase the gain by increasing the value of the feedback resistor, but it sounds pretty good as shown. In the original, the first stage didn't really have much effect on the sound - it just amplified it enough to drive the following stage into conduction. 

The heart of the beast is the germanium transistor stage. Apart from using an NPN transistor, this remains true to the original (why screw up a classic?), and still gives a wide range of sounds from the thin toppy fuzz beloved of sixties bands through to gated spluttery farts, with smooth warm distortion sounds in between!

The final stage is just a buffer - it isolates the tone circuit from the outside world, and allows a full range of control from muffled to glass-shattering!

Escobedo Tripple Fuzz

When i started to draw layouts, i did draw something like 10 of vintage fuzzes that weren't published on this blog earlier. I build most of them and that's when i realized why they weren't posted. Most of them are pure crap. For those who are after "that 60's sound" - the ear piercing super thin fuzz (or just plain ugly IMO) could be satisfied with Shin-Ei and Maestro fuzzes covered here. There are many, but i find only a fraction of those circuits to be any use. For example, the stock version of VOX distortion booster is really not worth your while. I can only speak out my opinions, but the same applies to most Maestro and Höfner schematics out there. But in search for good little fuzz circuits to practise my layout drawing on, i found Tim Escobedo's circuit snippets. These are generally just proof of concept circuits and thus, not necessarily finished products.

This particular one just sounded good to me. It offers plain Elektra distortion-like, boring, but usable distortion with gain at zero. Fuzz rises with a turn of that knob, finally resulting in something really sick with massive made up overtones. It is basically a frequency tripler :) So i though i'd share this one too.

As a few mods, you could increase the 100n cap value at the input, as the base circuit kills a lot of low end when gain is maxed - or - when the circuit is at its best :)
A word about the circuit from Mr. Escobedo:

"This is a fuzz using a "nonselective frequency tripler", originally designed by R. Lockhart Jr. At low gains the sound can be very sweet. As the gain rises, you get a odd splatty fizz going on. And at max gain it's completely nasty. A nice, easy build."

Engineer's Thumb

Request, with CA3080 instead of LM13700 (but you can use the conversion daughterboard to allow you to use the LM13700 if you prefer).

Designed my Merlin Blencowe and posted on the various DIY sites, this is how he described it:

For a long time I've felt guilty that my pedal board didn't include a compressor. Finally, after about a year of breadboarding, I have produced a circuit that can take on a Dynacomp and win, boasting:

Up to five times more headroom than a Dynacomp
Less noise than a Dynacomp
Same available sustain as a Dynacomp
Fewer parts than a Dynacomp
Cheaper than a Dynacomp
Feedforward side chain
Possibility for all five controls
Fits in 1590B
Millennium bypass

Despite its final simplicity, I went though just about every possible configuration of OTA while chasing acceptable performance. As you can see from the schem, the OTA is working as a current-controlled resistor in the feedback loop of an opamp. This reduces the contribution of OTA noise.

The input signal is also coupled directly to the side chain, which consists of a precision rectifier (U1b) and precision current source (U2a) that dumps more current into the OTA control pin as the audio signal gets larger.

The ratio control blends compressed and uncompressed signals, so its variable from zero to infinite ratio (limiting)!

FYA Electronics Apiformis Fuzztortion

Info about the original:

Apiformis Fuzztortion is a pedal that is quite unlike it’s original idol. In it’s heart, it is a dark low medium gain fuzz/distortion that has delusions of grandeur about being an overdrive. And it is doing all that with vintage-like touch, from doomy dark to brightly overdriven, distorted fuzz with vintage, medium sustain.

Apiformis has three controls for tuning the tone to your preferences:

FEED: Controls the load on the input (impedance). From dark, low saturation (0) to medium fuzz (5) and finally full sustained distortion-like fuzz (10). Lower settings can lead to oscillation, which is a feature.

TREBLE: Controls amount of higher frequencies boost on the tone. From dark, nearly muddy (0) to open higher mids (5) and finally to fully boosted top end (10).

LEVEL: Controls the output level of the effect. Level at zeron means that there is no signal passing through. Unity level with bypassed signal comes in with knob on ~11 o’clock. There is plenty of room for overdriving your amp with higher settings of Level control.

Already verified:

Black Arts Toneworks LSTR

Info about the original:

The Black Arts Toneworks LSTR is the red-headed step brother of the Pharaoh. The LSTR provides even more fuzz and mayhem than its brother with the swell of low end you would expect from any Black Arts pedal. This Toneworks beast uses a uniquely interactive tone control circuit allowing for a traditional tone control as well as a control for scooping the mids right out of your signal. This tone circuit allows you to achieve Russian style scooped mids with a smooth attack or huge wide-open fuzz and perfect string definition with ease. The LSTR is hyper-active gain in a box that could get you sent to bed without dinner.