"Express Lane" Pedals

[Chuck D. Bones]

I like to build this starve circuit into the box of many fuzz circuits. Devi Ever stuff especially reacts in a fun way. As do Bosstone variants.

Indeed. The Hyperion 2 and some of the Bosstone derivatives contain their own Starve pots.

 

[Betty Wont]

It looks like Trombetta has made a mint out of starving Bosstones though.

 

[Feral Feline]

BUMP
Stumbled on this thread because I was looking for more Manhattan-build projects...

I like the Em Drive and BazzFuss mentioned, and you can build the Buzzbox (2 BazzFusses) and Em Drive in one build and still be under the 15 Items or Less Dictum! Also, since we're talking Em Drive, the Emerson Paramount is worth including here.


Some more for the Express Bass Lane...

Hog's Foot/Mole (]LPB-1 already mentioned, but the Hog/Mole has a few more parts)

Neckbeard — a switchable FuzzFace/Tonebender circuit in one. One of the caps is mounted on a switch, so 15 parts on the board, but does the cap on the switch disqualify it?

Woolly Mammoth

Os Mutantes (at least one schematic I've seen qualifies it)

Sogrado Poblano Picosso

Percolator

Apollo Treble/Bass Booster

Hornby Skewes Treble/Bass Booster

EQD Bellows (great BazzFuss variant)

The Great Destroyer

Escobedo's LOFOMOFO

BJFE Baby Pink Booster (I think? Does the CLR and or/the LED count?)

Buff N Blend

Cornish Buffer

Amptweaker's Defizzerator



If I had to pick just one, I guess it'd be ...

 

[Feral Feline]

PS: Acapulco Gold

 

[Reno315]

The EQD Arrows and Speaker Cranker both have a 14 piece part count.

I have them in a enclosure together, so I guess you could call it an "Express Lane Dual Throttle Box"

 

[Tremster]

NPN Silicon Fuzz Face and Tone Bender MkII
SHO
Naga Viper or Runoffgroove Omega
And my favorite One Knob dirt pedal: Juansolo's/Cleggy's Big Omar (once a thing on the Madbean forum, sadly not available anywhere; I'm really glad I have one) (I think it was a single AC15 gain stage transistorized) (and it's 19 parts including the pot, so doesn't count)

 

[ianmarks]

catalinbread hyperpak

 

[thesmokingman]

red llama

 

[perfboarder]

Bump! 1.5V powered

 

[Feral Feline]

When I made my previous list I couldn't find the following which I've stumbled across on my HD again:


Transistors and Beer's Dead Easy Dirt

LM386 > 2µ2 > opposed 1N914 to ground > Vol pot


And since the criteria doesn't include pots you can actually narrow the above down to

- IC
- Cap
- diode 1
- diode 2


I'll have to breadboard this and see how it sounds.

Would be a great Dead-Bug build, two:

Hot glue the IC and pot back to back, solder on the Cap to IC-pin5 and other leg to VOL-3;
Diodes soldered from VOL3 to IC-Pin4 (or 2)...

I think it'd be still wise to include some extra items such as polarity-protection diode and power-filter cap.


While the Transistors and Beer site (by Forrest Whitesides) is no more, and I couldn't find the info on Forrest "CultureJam" Whitesides' latest website (though it may be there somewhere, I just didn't find it), I do have a PDF of the original T&B and its info is still online elsewhere if you dig... so here 'tis:

"Effects Project: Dead Easy Dirt
It doesn't get any easier than this, as far as I know.
No biasing, no VREF, no power filtering...hell, no resistors!!! :lol:
Just a one IC, one cap, two diodes, and a pot.
My goal: the simplest possible dirt circuit. Mission? Accomplished! 8)
If you have been wanting to get your feet wet with breadboarding, this is a great one to start with."




Check out his commercial pedals here:
Function f(x)

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

There should be a current limiting resistor between the LM386 and the diodes.

The input impedance of the LM386 is nominally 50K. Will really load down the guitar if it's 1st in the chain.

 

[Feral Feline]

I figured it was probably too bare-bones; thanks Chuck D. Bones!
Definitely one for the breadboard and would be a good'n for getting me to finally try to wrap my head around input-impedance.