Favorite DIY circuit

P

PBWilson1970

Active member
I've been sorting my parts and setting up bins to organize the variety of pedals I've got in the works and wondered if I'm missing any wonderful/lesser known circuits to try out.

Some of my favorites have been:
Tim Escobedo's Uglyface (not the most useful or conventional, but who doesn't like Defender/laser beam sounds in their rig?)
Joe Gagan's Tone Dog (nice Ge/Si boost/overdrive which is a stripped down BrontoBoost if anyone remembers those from way back)
General Guitar Gadgets Neutron (MuTron clone)
Lovetone Big Cheese (surprisingly flexible fuzz that I made a bunch of over the years)

Anyone else have some favorites that might inspire an extra build?
 
My favorite common one is the Tonepad Rebote 2.5. First working delay I ever built, and I've built dozens over the years. Fairly simple, no programming necessary, and pretty good sound.

My desert island pedal that is DIY-able though less common is the Soldano GTO. Obviously a pair of tubes running high voltage is more complicated than a PT2399, but it is hands down the best sounding dirt pedal I have ever heard, and is still DIY-able to moderately experienced builders.

If you're sticking to solid-state, RAT is always going to have a special place in my heart.
 
The RunOffGroove stuff is all very good. I'm a big fan of the Tri-Vibe but there is a lot of other great stuff there as well.
 
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Not trying to dodge the question, but this depends on what you are looking for, either by effect type or layout configuration. If you're comfortable with stripboard builds I would suggest https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/ or https://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/. If you're looking for PCB type builds I would check out the usual suspects (here, madbean, aion, general guitar gadgets). If you've got a breadboard and are really just curious what things sound like before fully committing additional costs other than your time (offboard components or PCB). Nearly all the PCB sites have the schematic in the build doc for you to try. Other areas to try are http://www.muzique.com/, http://www.runoffgroove.com/, http://www.home-wrecker.com/, https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/, https://www.freestompboxes.org/ just to name a few.
 
BuddytheReow said:
Not trying to dodge the question, but this depends on what you are looking for, either by effect type or layout configuration. If you're comfortable with stripboard builds I would suggest https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/ or https://dirtboxlayouts.blogspot.com/. If you're looking for PCB type builds I would check out the usual suspects (here, madbean, aion, general guitar gadgets). If you've got a breadboard and are really just curious what things sound like before fully committing additional costs other than your time (offboard components or PCB). Nearly all the PCB sites have the schematic in the build doc for you to try. Other areas to try are http://www.muzique.com/, http://www.runoffgroove.com/, http://www.home-wrecker.com/, https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/, https://www.freestompboxes.org/ just to name a few.
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I don't mind a diversion here and there. Your info is right on the money.

I have had a lot of success with stripboard and have made a lot of pedals over the years following Torchy's layouts and a bunch on tagboardeffects. What an amazing resource! You just have to be meticulous as hell! Working with perfboard was a good start and I got pretty good using the long leads to attach part to part was eye-opening and I definitely used my lighted magnifier a lot! Hated all the solder bridges I've made over the years and pcbs and vero made more complicated circuits possible.

Back to the thread topic, I've never had a vibe or a phaser. Maybe they are in my future. Gotta start matching jfets I guess.
 
PBWilson1970 said:
I don't mind a diversion here and there. Your info is right on the money.

I have had a lot of success with stripboard and have made a lot of pedals over the years following Torchy's layouts and a bunch on tagboardeffects. What an amazing resource! You just have to be meticulous as hell! Working with perfboard was a good start and I got pretty good using the long leads to attach part to part was eye-opening and I definitely used my lighted magnifier a lot! Hated all the solder bridges I've made over the years and pcbs and vero made more complicated circuits possible.

Back to the thread topic, I've never had a vibe or a phaser. Maybe they are in my future. Gotta start matching jfets I guess.
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from a DIY clone perspective ... the whetstone phaser is probably the most tweakable phaser that requires no parts matching or calibration ... really a dead simple build that gives great results.
 
Sagan Delay

I also think PPCBs FV-1 stuff is top shelf. The Tri-verb pedal I built a few years back hasn't left my board.
 
Yeah agree with @Matmosphere the multiplex echo machine with added modulation is excellent

The Celeste chorus was one of my favs

Echo base with all the mods is another one I liked and sriracha fuzz is my favourite fuzz sustains for days

Originally done as the hot silicon by Aaron on DIYSB and mictesters silicon tonebender

tagboardeffects.blogspot.com

Mictester - Silicon Tonebender

Collection of vero (stripboard) & tagboard layouts for 100s of popular guitar effects, with over 1000 verified designs. DIY your own boutique effects!
tagboardeffects.blogspot.com tagboardeffects.blogspot.com

A fun one was the midfi deluxe pitch pirate which I etched (pitch witch at ppcb)

Also enjoyed the king midas and organ donor from around these parts
 
I don't count the Pitch Pirate as a DIY thing, but that is kind of splitting hairs. Doug over at Mid-Fi is a pretty creative dude, his stuff is really good and from what I can see it doesn't really look like he just clones other stuff. I have built a couple of his circuits and every time I do it just makes me think I should buy a pedal from him instead, but I don't think I've bought a pedal since maybe 2013 or so.
 
Woah! Just looked into the Multiplex and that thing sounds like a really interesting circuit with the rotary switch and different delay times. I hope they get back into production one day soon.

I've got some youtube investigating to do. Thanks for the ideas.
 
Matmosphere said:
I don't count the Pitch Pirate as a DIY thing, but that is kind of splitting hairs. Doug over at Mid-Fi is a pretty creative dude
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Yeah agreed I must admit I always feel a little guilty cloning stuff from the smaller makers especially those who still contribute to the DIY community

I sent Doug some pics of my build and sent a vid of a mod I did to it

He does do sales from time to time as you'll know where you make offers on his pedals so maybe one day
 
I’ll be damned if I don’t love tube screamers and rats. I’m on a tear building all the variations I can. Several years back, it was big muffs.
 
Matmosphere said:
I don't count the Pitch Pirate as a DIY thing, but that is kind of splitting hairs. Doug over at Mid-Fi is a pretty creative dude, his stuff is really good and from what I can see it doesn't really look like he just clones other stuff. I have built a couple of his circuits and every time I do it just makes me think I should buy a pedal from him instead, but I don't think I've bought a pedal since maybe 2013 or so.
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Doug is not only a straight-up good dude, and his designs are quite unique in the world of pedals & elegant in their simplicity. I recommend everyone buy his stuff as you're supporting a small builder and hopefully funding his continued creative exploits!
 
My favorite DIY builds that I continue to use:

  • Baja Optical Limiter (AKA Madbean Holy Roller) - Vero/Perf - Bajaman's simple, yet awesome-sounding emulation of the UREI LA2A. A very "playable" compressor with a unique sound.
  • Mid-Fi Electronics Clari(not) - Vero/Perf - Doug Deeper was kind enough to share the schematic for his touch responsive envelope-controlled delay monster. It can do everything from fuzzed out ring mod sounds to clean, tape warping/pitch shifting delays. I love it for making slightly detuned repeats based on how hard I dig in to the strings. For clean sounds, I recommend the "Fuzz Lift" mod.
  • Madbean Dirtbaby Delay - Vero - My all-time favorite PT2399 delay! Decently long delay time with quite analog-sounding repeats, and an AMAZING modulation section. A big build, but 100% worth the effort.
 
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