simple circuits

[SGdan]

Hi everybody.  Im pretty new at building, but i have successfully completed 2 different 1/2 watt mini amps, a fuzz boost, and a talk-box.  But I had great fun making the fuzz because the circuit was so simple that i could experiment and i understood how the components worked.  (the circuit was the Bazz fuss BTW).

so my question is, are there any other very simple circuits, hopefully something other than fuzz, but if you can find a good different sounding fuzz ill still appreciated.

So, what simple circuits have you found fun/easy?

[petemoore]

Hi everybody.
  Hi !
Im pretty new at building, but i have successfully completed 2 different 1/2 watt mini amps, a fuzz boost, and a talk-box.
  cool you're not exactly new.
    But I had great fun making the fuzz because the circuit was so simple that i could experiment and i understood how the components worked.  (the circuit was the Bazz fuss BTW).
  Great circuit to fuss with.
  so my question is, are there any other very simple circuits, hopefully something other than fuzz,
  Octave, since you have the fuzz already, the Green Ringer..
  Or more of a stand alone Octave, I use GR w/Fuzz because I like to segway right from Fuzz to Octave mostly, adding the Green Ringer works for me like that..
  Stand alone Octave would be most octaves.
  Simple would be an opamp or LM386 amp circuit:
  Simple Octave up
  Octave up Sick Box
  Bobtavia
  Neoctavia
  ..others
  Foxx tone Machine gets octave which is thick and stands out [mine turned out too rough somehow after amp/guitar factored in].
  Transformer Octaves..
  I know Tychobrahe Octavia can be great.
 
but if you can find a good different sounding fuzz ill still appreciated.
  Fuzz Face is a good one, lots of background and variations on that..
  Or more of an OD/Distortion, DIST+ type or Tube Screamer, Dist+ is more full frequency range mostly [depending on the bass/treble rolloff], the TS is midrange hump and lighter clipping/more subtle.
  So, what simple circuits have you found fun/easy?
  The ones I took the time to count the # of connections at nodes, measureing every resistor etc. before soldering, or the ones I've carefully poplated on PCB's..they 'all' work [most are verified 1,000 times, every third blue moon a scrapper pops up] when wired right.
  After about ten Fuzzes, they all sound..fuzzy..then you probably want to try a phaser or maybe echo, which are still the same [about having to work when everythings right], but have LFO, and often many stages, a bit more complex.
  See Tim Escebedo's 'Circuit Snippets', and ROG..
  I can't tell if Fuzz Boost means 'booster' but another one might come in handy anyway.

[SGdan]

thanks!  great help there. 

by "boost fuzz" I meant a fuzz that can also provide a considerable volume increase.

octave huh?  Ive always liked the sound of an octave pedal and a fuzz... that seems like a great idea.

which would you say is the easiest?

[96ecss]

Hi and welcome!

Here are some other great simple circuits to consider.

A great clean boost is a very useful effect to have too. A very simple and great clean boost is the AMZ Mosfet Boost. You can find the project here: http://www.muzique.com/schem/mosfet.htm

Also, a great simple compressor is the Orange Squeezer found here: http://generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=79 or here: http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=5

I use both all the time. The Mosfet Boost is great for boosting your solo's or just to fatten up your tone. The Orange Squeezer is a great subtle compressor and works great for slide playing.

I hope this helps.

Dave

[widdly]

You could try one of the 4049 distortions.  Very simple and lots of places to experiment with different caps and resistors.  Have a look at the Double-D, Red Llama, Hot Harmonics, forty-niner, 3-legged dogs etc. 

[Mark Hammer]

The various 4049-based overdrives have a pleasing and somewhat unique sound.  Certainly one of mine is my "go-to" pedal.  Happily, there are plenty of simple and well-tested circuits around, and the components are cheap and available.  Just make sure you get some 4049 UB (unbuffered) chips.

Tim Escobedo's various octaveup designs provide a nice simple inexpensive entry into octaving.  Tonepad has an Octup project but you can take a peak at the scope of Tim's work here: http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/snippets.html

Loop selectors, while not active cuircuits with anything to teach you about electronics per se, are perpetually useful devices, and easy to build.  I can't begin to count the number of times on this forum that a loop selector has been the perfect answer to someone's signal path needs.  You will note that it is far easier to stick a bunch of commercial pedals with FET switching in a true bypass loop selector than it is to futz around with rehousing those same pedals or rewiring them for TB.

I don't know what other pedals you might have beyond those you have listed, but a splitter/blender box is often useful and capable of extracting more "tricks" from existing pedals.  Also a fairly inexpensive unit to build and simple enough to survive novices.

[SGdan]

thanks for the suggestions but i was kind of hoping for things that were easier than that.  I know, im a newb. 

[jmusser]

The Easy Drive is still one of my favorite simple circuits, and is great sounding. You can put about any type of transistor in there that's the same type of course, and it'll work. I used a Soviet germanium in mine, and it tended to give me the "Aqua Lung" type sound. The Kay Tremolo is pretty easy, and works well. It also has quite a bit of volume boost and some weird space splat if you want it. The John Hollis "Titan Boost" is simple and great sounding circuit, that gave me a close approximation of the Dyer Straits tone. That's just a couple I can think of off the bat.

[bonkdav]

all of those above seem like great ideas. and as a fellow newbie i would have to say were very much in the same boat. ive built a few projects but i made the mistake of building by layouts and not by schematics so now i have a bunch of circuits and i dont know how they work. i am currently going back over schematics and looking at new ones so i can learn how things actually work. they should actually put a warning in the faq or something about that because layouts are so common nowadays. get people started on the right foot ya know(im 18). but anyways here are a few reccomendations i can give you that i hope will help.

1. the EH LPB  is a great easy boost

2. fuzz face - simple and you can read until you know it in and out on some sites

3. the lofomofo is small and interesting

4. the harmonic jerkulator and also a recently posted silicon fuzz that goes by the name Montezuma are on my to do list also the orange squeeze. and now the bazz fuss

also ive managed to build a kay tremolo, a contofuzz, and a bobtavia on perfboard so they arent too bad to build but i recommend 1-4.
maybe send me a pm so i know how a fellow newb is doin and also if you have any recommended projects for me. Good luck.

[mnordbye]

I'm pretty new to effects building myself, but the Omega Booster from the ROG site sounds great! I use it for everything, a useful effect..
Magnus N

[newbie builder]

That's an amazing building block circuit (thanks to AC for drawing/posting it). I love JFETS and that is a basic circuit that has been adapted in countless ways to make up dozens and dozens of pedals, including my "go-to" pedal for low gain. My mid/high gain (a relative term- I'm on the very low side of "high gain" you could say) "go-to" pedal is a 4049-based.

edit: whoops that drawing was supposed to be completely blank, i grabbed the wrong version. but you get the idea, all values are adjustable to taste, and not even all are included.

[g3rmanium]

So, what simple circuits have you found fun/easy?

I have a list of some simple circuits in DIY Octavia pedals, boosters and treble boosters.

[SGdan]

thanks for the more replies.  I think i may build the bobtavia, or the octo-booster.  im a hendrix nut.  does anyone know if the diodes in that circuit could be 2x 1n914 instead of the 1N34A?