Dice Works Muff Diver

Info from Kit Rae about the discontinued but much sought after original:

DICE WORKS MUFF DIVER modified Triangle Big Muff clone - A discontinued boutique clone made by Eric Holden, circa 2005, of the an original Electro-Harmonix V1 Big Muff circuit shown on page 1 (PNP Triangle 72 #2), with the addition of switchable coupling caps at C4 and C5 to make it sound more like the custom Big Muff known as the P-1 that Pete Cornish made for David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) in the late 1970's. In reality, it sounds nothing like the P-1, but resembles something in between the Cornish P-2 and G-2 tone. It makes for a very versatile Big Muff. One of my favorites. Another version of the Muff Diver included a switchable input cap setup identical to the Cornish/Original switch in the standard version, switchable Ge diodes in the first clipping stage, and a switch to remove the Si diodes from the second clipping stage. 

More info can be found at Kit Rae's bigmuffpage.com.

Like the original I have used BC327-40 PNP transistors here and have included the voltage inverter daughterboard so it can have a negative ground.  I'm not sure whether the same was true in the original or whether it had a positive ground, but either way, it makes sense to have a home built version as compatible as possible with most of your other effects.  I have included two clipping switches though which will allow you to have silicon or germanium diodes in either/both stages, or lifted in the centre off position for a maximum range of sounds.

Like some other Big Muff's and variants, the base sound with this is scooped, but if you would prefer flatter mids then increase the 3n9 cap at Q3 collector to 10n which will make the frequency response very flat.  Or you could always add another switch if you want both options available to you.

Grind Customs FX Tenebrion Reverb

Another project from Rej in conjunction with another great DIY personality CultureJam, this time the Grind Customs FX Tenebrion Reverb which requires one of the smaller Belton BTDR2 bricks which are available with short, medium or long decay.

Grind Customs FX DeProfundis Delay

Rej at Grind Customs FX is well known in the DIY community.  He designs some great effects, shares a lot of projects with us all and also sells some really excellent PCBs, the Chimaera in particular is extremely popular with those who want to build a Klon in a small box.  See the projects on his forum at http://www.grindcustomsfx.com/forum and check out his PCBs at http://www.grindcustomsfx.com.

This one in a very nice sounding delay based on the PT2399 IC and is definitely a recommended build.
Info from Rej about his effect:

Overview
The DeProfundis Delay is a PT2399 based digital delay with aggressively filtered repeats and the possibility of very long delay times (and minimal delay line noise). There is also a tone control trimmer to adjust the high pass cutoff frequency on the repeats. The stock values yield a max delay time of approximately 550ms - 600ms. With a minor modifications (see below), max delay time can be extended to almost 900ms.  

Tweaks & Modifications  

“Love You Long Time” - Extend the max delay time
This is a very easy modification. Change the Time pot to A100K and then add a 270K resistor in parallel with Time. You can add the resistor either to the pot pads on the board, or you can use the pads marked “M1” and “M2” (see below for more info on these). Adding the 270K resistor brings the Time pot’s total resistance value down to about 75K, which is about the limit of what this circuit can handle without getting noisy and producing synth like repeats (more resistance = more delay time). If you don’t have 270K on hand, try 220K, but be aware that this will give you less max delay time. Or you could put multiple resistors in series to get close to 270K.  

Even Darker Repeats 
If the dark and murky tone of the stock circuit does not satisfy your black heart, try increasing the value of C7 (Mark's note: 10n cap to ground under IC2) to taste.



Video of Rej's build with modulation added.  And before you ask, yes I am :o)

This version is based on Rej's notes for increasing the maximum delay time.  Instead of putting a resistor in parallel with the Time pot I've used a multi-turn trimmer so you can set the maximum delay time exactly, to the point just before things starts getting a bit noisy. 

Here is the modulation daughterboard for those wanting to add it to the effect.  It is based on Rej's Portable LFO schematic and although it is designed for the DeProfundis, it would work equally well to add delay to other PT2399 based delay pedals such as the Deep Blue Delay.

The main modulation switch will be centre off, in one position you'll have modulated delay, in the other position you'll have modulation only.

The Shape switch will let you select a sin or square wave, and could if you prefer be swapped for a 500K linear pot which will sweep between the two waves and then give you the in between settings too.

The LED and LDR need to face each other, ideally tape them together or use heat shrink around them so you can try the circuit without it needing to be boxed first.  You'll need to experiment with LED type and colour etc and LDR type to see how it works for you, or maybe use a Vactrol for an integrated unit.

Barber Gain Changer

Another versatile overdrive here from Dave Barber, and as usual at a very fair price.  If you want to fine tune the mids and bass content to suit your own style or gear, consider socketing the 7K5 resistor on the right for mids, and the 22K resistor at the top for bass.

Info about the original:

Measuring only 2.3” wide, the NEW Barber Gain-Changer harnesses a vast spectrum of EQ and gain. Flick the toggle one way and you have sweet very low-gain overdrive, flick it the other way and you get wildly charged harmonic content of our much praised unLimiTeD distortion. Pop over to the other toggle-switch and you can volley between the flat sweet-EQ of the LTD SR , the vintage snarling-fat-EQ of our classic LTD v2 or a new voice that combines flat EQ with a little added fatness. Combine all these different options together and you have a super-versatile harmonic beast. Our goal was to shrink the size of our pedals and retain all the ultra-high quality electronics and build quality that we are world famous for. In the end, it’s almost impossible to miss the target if you are shopping for a new overdrive for your rig, “it’s like shooting fish in a barrel Jethro.”

The Gain-Changer has real honest solder lugs for jacks, True-bypass footswitch, toggles and pots. There are no worries about PCB mounted thru-panel parts that can’t be serviced on the road, or that lead to high cost repairs. Nothing but the best tried and true hand-built methods adorn the interior of the Barber Electronics Gain-Changer. The Gain-Changer has a generous 2 1/2” of clearance between the front edge of the footswitch and the back edge of the knobs, no more worries about changing your settings with each click of your footswitch. Buy a hand-built Barber Gain-Changer, and enter a world of immense overdrive possibilities.

BJFE Folk Fuzz 3.5%

Another one of John's here, this time for Bjorn's DIY project, the Folk Fuzz.  I can't find the original post with Bjorn describing this but I think most people know what it is.