Wampler Black 65

A few requests for this so I thought I'd better get it sorted.  Info from Wampler about the original:

Over the years, we've had tons and tons of folks asking us when we were going to produce an overdrive pedal that emulates the sound of a cranked Fender® amp.

When Brian decided that he was going to see if he could do it, he wanted to ensure that it was perfect. Looking back at it now, we think he must have spent a good 9 months breadboarding and prototyping lots of different ideas, a/b-ing each one with various Fender® amps, tweaking and changing until he found the sound that was accurate.

Once he got a sound that he was 100% happy with, he took it to Nashville studio ace Brent Mason to test it out. To be certain, Brian also took several pedals by other companies that are supposed to do the same thing. Brent knows Fender® amps better than anyone, and Brian knew if Brent thought it was good, we were onto a winner. Long story short, Brent LOVED it!

We've heard guys say they hear The Twin®, some say Vibrolux®, some say Deluxe Reverb® when they play this pedal. Whatever they hear, it still has that "Blackface" type of sound that we were looking for. When you turn it up, it's going to break up more like the amp would if you turn it up.

With the additional of the boost switch, you can increase the gain to make it sound like the amp is being driven harder.

Retro Channel The Fuzz

I thought this would be an appropriate place for a reminder of this blogs policy on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act:

DMCA statement: All media used within this site with the exception of linked youtube videos, is the intellectual property of the author, including but not limited to photographs, schematics and interpreted layout diagrams. Manufacturers and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.

This may also be a good place to note that Section 512(f) of the DMCA creates liability for "Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents under this section (1) that material or activity is infringing"

Now that's done ....

This was originally marketed as a proprietary circuit (erm .... Tonebender) which allegedly used a custom designed "Fuzz IC" which presumably therefore no one else would have access to (erm ... CA3046).  Now it is apparently a modern take on the MkII, I'm not going to quote the sales spiel directly but you can read all about it here.

As usual I am often keen to emphasise that when a nice sounding effect is released by a good builder you should endeavour to support him and buy his products so he can continue creating pedals.  As such I'll be making this one myself.

My interpretation of the circuit and again, company and product name used for identification purposes only.   I would also point out that building this will not give you an original Retro Channel - The Fuzz, to obtain one of those you will need to buy one from the manufacturer or one of his appointed resellers.  This will only allow you to build a pedal with the same circuit in a smaller box for less money.  Enjoy!

"Pirates?  What pirates?"

Update 11-08-2012

     IC transistor pins

 

Vox Repeat Percussion

.. awaits comments asking what the bloody hell is that! :o)

I think a few people will like this, a really great sounding tremolo.  The 2N2646's are obsolete but still available from a number of places, RS, Farnell, Mouser and a few sellers on eBay.  They're not as cheap as the more common silicon transistors but definitely worth getting in for this. 

Original:

Modified to include a depth pot and altered values for more output.

Version with all of the above and a couple of extras including a Tone switch which switches the input cap to give you an option to prevent any low end loss, and a Fast/Slow rate switch.

Ross Distortion

"Tan" version:

"Black" version:

MXR GT-OD

Some of you may be thinking this layout looks pretty familiar, and yes, it is extremely close to the ZW-44 Zakk Wylde overdrive.  So close in fact that I've included a switch that will select either the GT-OD or ZW-44 on the fly.  I've got an original ZW-44 and really like it, but watching some of the clips I think I like the sound of the GT-OD more so I'll certainly be adding this to the collection.

Info from MXR about their original:

Built from the ground up with the best available components, the MXR GT-OD Overdrive pedal creates smooth, warm, and classic overdrive without excess noise or tone coloring. The simple controls make it easy to dial in a great tone quickly-from crunchy rhythm tone with chord clarity-to sparkly and harmonic-rich lead tones with tons of sustain. You won't find an overdrive that is more organic, responsive or open sounding.

    A traditional overdrive that provides powerful, cutting, transparent overdrive tone with great definition
    Adds sustain and gain without adding excess noise
    Place in front of an overdriven amp for screaming lead tones
    Indestructible die-cast housing