a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
All the chatter in a recent thread about soldering made me get the bug do do some myself. I have a GFS replacement neck pickup yet to install in my tele-clone, but I don't want to mess around with that until I finish some tunes I'm working on. So, what else could I do with a soldering iron and a hankering to make something? (A.K.A. I'm procrastinating on finishing those same tunes I just mentioned...sigh.)
.oO (thinking to myself a couple of weeks ago...
How about a fuzz pedal? Here is one that I could build, that's simple enough I don't really need to buy the PCB, though it would have looked neater if I had; I see there are some PCBs in stock right now...there were none of that model a few weeks ago.)
So, off I go to Mammoth electronics to find and order all the pieces (plus a few extras). Wait a few days, get a box in the mail. Yay! Open it as soon as I get inside from the mailbox. Breadboard out and test the circuit, nominally so I can say "I'm trying to find the best sound by swapping in and out different diodes and transistors", but mostly to build confidence that I can connect the dots. Dig out the iron and solder, and away I go!
Wait, I need to have some semblance of a plan for the enclosure. Where do I drill to mount the hardware components? How big do I make the holes? What about "cool graphics"? Hmm...how about this?
OK, that will work. Let's get out the drill! (Sure wish I had a drill press...)
(I'm futzing the order of my stream-of-thought and the actual events...after all, I had thought "white enclosure, purple knob" before I ordered the parts, right?)
So, the basic circuit is soldered to perfboard at this point, and I've tested it out w/alligator clips, the un-attached sockets, and a 9V battery. I even dry-fit the sockets, pot, LED, and switch:
Great, I drilled the holes in the right spots. (Dramatic lighting too...I just turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only the computer monitor to light the scene.)
Next is painting and finishing the enclosure. Rattle cans are fun...reminds me of building a pinewood derby car oh-so-long ago in Cub Scouts, or building model cars, planes, and rockets when I was a young teenager, except that I'm a little more patient with how many coats it actually takes to look halfway decent. Primer. Primer. Primer. Sand. Primer. Primer. Primer. Sand. 3 color coats. Sand. 3 more color coats...no sanding this time. Here's how that looks:
(Muttley wasn't kidding when he said that white is the hardest color to paint guitars...same goes for pedals. Not bad, but see the pinholing on the top surface? And there are runs on the sides.)
What's left? Print off those fancy graphics I "designed" on water-slide decal paper, attach that, clear, clear, clear, sand, clear, clear, maybe one more clear. Then attach all the jacks/sockets/etc. and wire it up. Play. Yay!
.oO (thinking to myself a couple of weeks ago...
How about a fuzz pedal? Here is one that I could build, that's simple enough I don't really need to buy the PCB, though it would have looked neater if I had; I see there are some PCBs in stock right now...there were none of that model a few weeks ago.)
So, off I go to Mammoth electronics to find and order all the pieces (plus a few extras). Wait a few days, get a box in the mail. Yay! Open it as soon as I get inside from the mailbox. Breadboard out and test the circuit, nominally so I can say "I'm trying to find the best sound by swapping in and out different diodes and transistors", but mostly to build confidence that I can connect the dots. Dig out the iron and solder, and away I go!
Wait, I need to have some semblance of a plan for the enclosure. Where do I drill to mount the hardware components? How big do I make the holes? What about "cool graphics"? Hmm...how about this?
OK, that will work. Let's get out the drill! (Sure wish I had a drill press...)
(I'm futzing the order of my stream-of-thought and the actual events...after all, I had thought "white enclosure, purple knob" before I ordered the parts, right?)
So, the basic circuit is soldered to perfboard at this point, and I've tested it out w/alligator clips, the un-attached sockets, and a 9V battery. I even dry-fit the sockets, pot, LED, and switch:
Great, I drilled the holes in the right spots. (Dramatic lighting too...I just turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only the computer monitor to light the scene.)
Next is painting and finishing the enclosure. Rattle cans are fun...reminds me of building a pinewood derby car oh-so-long ago in Cub Scouts, or building model cars, planes, and rockets when I was a young teenager, except that I'm a little more patient with how many coats it actually takes to look halfway decent. Primer. Primer. Primer. Sand. Primer. Primer. Primer. Sand. 3 color coats. Sand. 3 more color coats...no sanding this time. Here's how that looks:
(Muttley wasn't kidding when he said that white is the hardest color to paint guitars...same goes for pedals. Not bad, but see the pinholing on the top surface? And there are runs on the sides.)
What's left? Print off those fancy graphics I "designed" on water-slide decal paper, attach that, clear, clear, clear, sand, clear, clear, maybe one more clear. Then attach all the jacks/sockets/etc. and wire it up. Play. Yay!
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awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
love it..
Yes, full gloss white is a bitch..
Yes, full gloss white is a bitch..
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Not to fear...I'll be sure to post some tone clips when it's done, and a photo or two of the guts (prepare to be meh-ed by my soldering skills) and final assembly. I intended to print off and attach the graphics decal today, but instead did some recording while the fam was out and the house was quiet.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Yeah! Lets see some guts!
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Guts:
Just the circuit; cute little thing
All the guts. If I knew what I was doing and planned ahead better, I would have:
a) gotten an smaller enclosure,
b) laid out things differently on the perfboard so the volume pot (soldered on the back of the perfboard so you can attach it up through the top of the enclosure) was more centered, and
c) maybe figured out a way to get that resistor between power and the LED (lower right corner) onto the board as well, instead of hanging out in space
It's a thing!
It's alive!
Tones:
Dean Vendetta, bridge p/u (humbucker), tone/vol 100%
-> the pedal
-> Vox AD30VT, "Botique Clean" mode w/defaults, no f/x (except as noted)
-> SM57, on-axis, 2" from grille, pointed at dustcap/cone seam
In this set of clips I alternate between clean and fuzzy sounds. In the last 25s, I also turned on the flanger/reverb effect on the amp:
http://eastofcleveland.com/m/7MinFuzzSounds_noEq.mp3
I'm pleasantly surprised how malleable the sound is with EQ; the clips here are the fuzzy parts from the clips above, but the 2nd time through I'm also applying some EQ in the DAW (scooped out some lows, cut off the highs, boosted slightly ~1.2-1.5k):
http://eastofcleveland.com/m/7MinFuzzSo ... WithEq.mp3
Just the circuit; cute little thing
All the guts. If I knew what I was doing and planned ahead better, I would have:
a) gotten an smaller enclosure,
b) laid out things differently on the perfboard so the volume pot (soldered on the back of the perfboard so you can attach it up through the top of the enclosure) was more centered, and
c) maybe figured out a way to get that resistor between power and the LED (lower right corner) onto the board as well, instead of hanging out in space
It's a thing!
It's alive!
Tones:
Dean Vendetta, bridge p/u (humbucker), tone/vol 100%
-> the pedal
-> Vox AD30VT, "Botique Clean" mode w/defaults, no f/x (except as noted)
-> SM57, on-axis, 2" from grille, pointed at dustcap/cone seam
In this set of clips I alternate between clean and fuzzy sounds. In the last 25s, I also turned on the flanger/reverb effect on the amp:
http://eastofcleveland.com/m/7MinFuzzSounds_noEq.mp3
I'm pleasantly surprised how malleable the sound is with EQ; the clips here are the fuzzy parts from the clips above, but the 2nd time through I'm also applying some EQ in the DAW (scooped out some lows, cut off the highs, boosted slightly ~1.2-1.5k):
http://eastofcleveland.com/m/7MinFuzzSo ... WithEq.mp3
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
I think that's a pretty good and usable sounding fuzz.
To me a lot of fuzzes only sound good when you're sitting in your room going "Whoa ..... that's fuzzy!"
But this sounds like something I could actually use in a musical context.
To me a lot of fuzzes only sound good when you're sitting in your room going "Whoa ..... that's fuzzy!"
But this sounds like something I could actually use in a musical context.
- WhiskeyJack
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Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
This is pretty cool. Good job man. not sure i have any use fuzz pedal but i am going to check that site out and see fi there is anything in there that tickles my fancy.
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Thanks. I picked the simplest circuit off that site, figuring it would be good practice for me.WhiskeyJack wrote: โMon Mar 26, 2018 7:34 pm This is pretty cool. Good job man. not sure i have any use fuzz pedal but i am going to check that site out and see fi there is anything in there that tickles my fancy.
Not sure if I have a use for a fuzz either. (Hell, I don't even call myself a guitarist; I play the bass! So why am I messing around w/pedals? ha!) But sometimes while I'm noodling, whatever sound is coming out inspires me (for lack of a better term). In fact, I just noodled this up tonight...it's all just the fuzz pedal (heavily EQ'd in the DAW, of course; and the "bass" line transposed down an octave too), with just a hint of reverb.
http://eastofcleveland.com/m/untitled_2 ... eSynth.mp3
Didn't think I "needed" a fuzz pedal...maybe now I do?
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
- WhiskeyJack
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:48 pm
- Location: Canada
- Contact:
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
That is awesome man. That is pretty much how anything i come up with comes to life. noodling around. Cool tune too good job SD!
- vomitHatSteve
- Posts: 6528
- Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:06 am
- Location: Undisclosed
- Contact:
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Dang man, that looks really really nice! Fine job!
Re: a DIY guitar pedal I'm DIY-ing...
Thanks everybody.
Romping around the internet tonight, I learned more about this circuit. It was originally called the "Bazz Fuss". Seems to have originated in 2000-2002...maybe? Original info seems to be:
- http://personal.inet.fi/koti/holmberg/schem.html
- http://personal.inet.fi/koti/holmberg/images/bazz.jpg
With more info here:
- https://tonereport.com/blogs/do-it-your ... -bazz-fuss
- http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html
Romping around the internet tonight, I learned more about this circuit. It was originally called the "Bazz Fuss". Seems to have originated in 2000-2002...maybe? Original info seems to be:
- http://personal.inet.fi/koti/holmberg/schem.html
- http://personal.inet.fi/koti/holmberg/images/bazz.jpg
With more info here:
- https://tonereport.com/blogs/do-it-your ... -bazz-fuss
- http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html
awesome youtube comment of the day
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.
Lol it's still less satanic than whatever rituals Katie Perry and Taylor Swift do in their performances.