Newbie with some questions

[Joyeuse]

Hey all, first time here.

I've spent a few days surfing through all the DIY guitar fx sites I could find, just sort of absorbing everything.  I think I want to try my hand at this.  I have a very rudimentary understanding of electronics, bu I think I could follow a schematic or layout well enough.  I'm getting the vibe that the first projects I try should be done on perfboard.

Understandably, I'd like the first thing I build to be something I actually need and would use.  At the moment, the effect I'm in direst need of is an overdrive.  I want something to give me a sort of bluesy, gritty, dirty sound, but without being full-blown distortion.  The two effect schematics that caught my eye were the OmniDrive and Blue Magic, but if anyone knows of any better ones, I sure don't really know what I'm talking about.

The thing that troubles me about the blue Magic, while I like the sound sample, is the lack of a volume or level control.  Would it be tough to add one?  Any help's appreciated.

[Paul Marossy]

I built a Blue Magic. That's a nice little circuit. It's very easy to add a volume control to it.
Another one you may want to consider is the AMZ Mini-Booster, it has just enough gain to overdrive an amp a little bit. That's a nice circuit, too.

[eliktronik]

Maybe you should check out the popular Tubescreamer clone schematics...

[aron]

The Blue Magic is a good choice. The SOS (son of screamer) is another possibility.

Post if you have questions about layout on perfboard etc...

I've been thinking about making a Blue Magic as well (it's fantastic).

Let me know if you decide to try it on Perfboard.

[B Tremblay]

The Tube Reamer at RunoffGroove is a simple Tube Screamer-based build with a perfboard layout available.

[petemoore]

I always say.
 No matter beause one can always find a use for one of these.
 Makes your guitar sound more guitar and your amp sound more amp, also makes Fuzzes sound more fuzz and phazers sound more phszersyy
[compared to just the guitar driving any of them]
  Plus it is an easy build and easy to trouble shoot... and besides I have one in my pedal board and using it for the majority of the time!!

[aron]

Yes, the LPB series can be fun.

I thought maybe he wanted more from a circuit than a boost.

Gus' NPN boost is very interesting too.

[Mike Nichting]

I would suggest a Tube screamer for ya'~!! They sound great but not overbearing as far as distortion is concerned. You have a tone,volume and drive control.
You can build that on a perf boards too~!! Pretty easy build.

Good luck

Mike Nichting

[Stu]

I build an omnidrive, didn't really like the sound, (prefer something more distorting) but it was fairly bluesy and easy to troubleshoot. I always recommend the Big Muff Pi cos i can't get enough of mine  

[Joyeuse]

Thanks, everyone.  There's a lot of suggestions for me to consider.

The thing I originally liked about the OmniDrive was how versatile it seemed to be; but it looks more complex to build and I haven't heard any sound samples of it.  I've also heard mixed opinions about it from people.

I don't need a full-blown distortion unit.  I already have two of those as it is.  I just need something to make the sound a bit more dirty.  Of course, I'd like it to be as variable as possible, for experimentation purposes.

I think I will most likely end up making the Blue Magic on perfboard (etching a PCB seems a bit advanced for me right now).  Can anyone tell me what all I'd need to do to add a volume control though?

[Erich F]

The Blue Magic schematic has a volume already (it's the VR3 - 100K) just before the output jack.

[Mark Hammer]

Never underestimate the utility of a simple clean (or minimally coloring) boost.  They can bring out the best in amps, compressors, and distortions.  Indeed, often what makes the difference between distortions is how much gain is built into the device and whether that increases your instrument's signal level to a point where it clips moderately or substantially.  That boost doesn't HAVE to come from inside the distortion, but can come from outside too.

There are a whole bunch of simple one or two FET boosters posted around, that will do that for you.  The other benefit you'll get from them is usually a brighter clean tone.  If you play single-coil pickups, you'll find that a real pleasure.

Finally, simple standalone FET boosters (like the Stratoblaster or any of the just another booster schems at generalguitargadgets.com) are small and easy to make, making layout less of a deal.  As you progress farther along in your DIY habit, you'll find that upping the component count starts to demand more of you in terms of laying out where everything needs to go in order to fit.  Having a small circuit you can build on perfboard saves the PCB etching headaches and layout planning for a later point when you have a better sense of where to put things for your convenience.  Smaller circuits also means fewer headaches with respect to finding a suitable chassis.  

In many instances, as well, a DPDT stompswitch can serve to provide acceptable bypass and indicator LED.  Normally, you'd want to use a 3PDT, but when a FET booster lets you set gain with a single resistor, you can use one half of the stompswitch to change between maximum and minimum gain values (leaving the circuit always in, which is nice because the buffering action is always there) and use the other half to switch a status LED.