Ok,

I've been getting into building my own clones and modding existing pedals, so I thought it deserved a thread.

Here's some killer sites I've accumulated.

Pedal Building (Modding) Sites:
http://www.geofex.com/
http://www.monteallums.com/
http://filters.muziq.be/
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/
http://effectsconnection.com/oscommerce/ (parts)

Schematics:
http://www.montagar.com/~patj/gindex.htm
http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/schematics.html
http://www.schematicheaven.com/
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/elec...mpage.php?cat=1

Circuit Symbols of Electronic Components (in case you don't know)
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/symbol.htm

I'm currently working on building Dunlop Hendrix Fuzz Face, a couple 9V DC Power Supplies, a Roger Mayer Octavia, EH Hog's Foot Bass Booster, Vox Treble Booster, an MXR DynaComp, a Vox Tone Bender, and an MXR Distortion +.

Questions, projects?

Discuss here...

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build your own clone is cool. I think it's BYOC.com

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this thread rocks

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you should copy an ibanez DD2 and upgrade the components and call it a Way Huge Aquapuss

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Dave, my friend is interested in buying an amp that you build.

I've done mods to pedals, amps, and guitars from some of these sites with great results. My big bitch is finding Milspec components (aka JAN spec ). I fucking love how companies don't allow me to buy military grade shit now that I'm out of the Navy I almost have to work for Northrop Grumman to get the shit I want
Well, I found out I can get shit for cheaper from competitors that in some cases are better components. Digi Key is the shit.

Awesome thread

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God damn it, I wish they had pre-drilled enclosures for the pedal, as I have no way of drilling holes into metal. I really want to build my own linear power boost/OD pedal sometime(the circuit from some guy with a cartoony looking webpage, with cartoony schematics), it's the only type of circuit I've ever seen that I'd feel comfortable with building on my own.

They don't have PCB boards either.

Edit: Soulinsane i have a question for you. I've been thinking of building a really simple low power(ie 1 watt) ss power amp that can be hooked up via a 1/4" phone cable to a cab, preferably battery powered or that can run off of a basic 9v dc adaptor like from pedals.

I found this circuit on that site for a 2 watt amp:
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/elec...iew.php?id=1070

The only problem is... I have no idea what anything else in that circuit is besides the green blocks. Some of them don't say 'k'(resistance), they just show a number, is it a typo or are they not resistors at all? Also, where would an on/off switch, input for guitar, output for the speaker, potentiometer for volume, and input for a power source(ie: battery) go in the circuit? I noticed there's "15V" in the circuit, I assume its meant to run on 15V power? That would be quite a few AA batteries wired in series, is there a way to change that to run on 9V power?

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The things that look like +I I- are capacitors. BC109C, 2N3906, BD139, and BD140 are transistors. 1N4148 are diodes, the 470 Ohm variable resistor is the volume pot, Vin is the input signal, Vout is the ouput ( the RI 8R is the 8 Ohm speaker load ), and Vcc is the power supply. The schematic doesn't show the power supply but there are easy ways to construct one. Two 9V batteries in series would supply 18VDC and be the simplest and cheapest way to make the amp portable. If you also use a 7812 voltage regulator IC you will get longer battery life and a more consistent power. The 7812 will only output 12V regulated DC but I'm betting the amp will work with anything between 12-18VDC.

Its a super basic amp but it looks fun to build.

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Soeru: if you do decide to build that amp, try out different types of diodes, you'll get different sound 'character with then

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I've been looking into the vintage hardware. The vintage tone so signature to all the different amps and pedals of yesterday came from the vintage parts inside them. I've realized this building some olden day clones with modern electronic parts. Even down the resistor does each component impact the overall tone. What's so great is you can usually find good vintage components in alot junk you have lying around. I ended up finding a wealth of the hard to come by Sprague Atom and bumblebee caps as well as many germanium diodes and loads of carbon composite resistors. Most of this stuff is no longer used in modern electronics, but there's no substitution when you hear the difference. Even spiking modern electronic components for vintage components in a modern effects pedal or amp makes a big difference. I'm currently working on building a vintage amp similar to the specs of a 68 Twin Reverb w/ a master volume. I'm gonna go about this amp different and use all vintage hardware as well even down to scoring an original power and reverb transformer of those days.

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Sounds costly Don't forget the vintage wire.

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Gonna try to do point-to-point as much as I can (at least the turret board).

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Turret board it seriously cool stuff, it's what i'm gonna use when i eventually get round to building my valve preamp.

The only thing you have to be careful of with 'true vintage' components is that their value may drift wildly. I'd be sure to test each component to check they are within an acceptable tolerance (5 or 10% tops), but Electrolytic caps are pretty likely to have dried out if they are over 15 or so years old.

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anybody know where i should go to buy transistors? I'm currently building an amp, and i only need 5 more parts, 3 transistors (1n4004, two zz-0416's) and two chokes.

Also, what information do i need to know before i install a choke... and what exactly does a choke do?

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www.radioshack.com

I'm gonna get one of these 1W amp DIY kits:

http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/kits/projectkits.html

Rather than just get all the parts on my own and follow an online schematic, since there are so many variations on small LM386 chip based amps, I just know I'm bound to forget a part or two. This'll just make it a whole lot easier. The circuit is nearly identical to the Smokey Amps, except they don't have clipping diodes so essentially they're just clean, no distortion(which is what I want).

Looks very fun and easy to build. I think I might even go the extra mile and get an on/off switch and a 9V DC input jack like on pedals for it as well. I probably won't wire the speaker in the circuit though, I'll wire the leads that are supposed to go to the speaker to a 1/4" jack instead, so I can connect it to a cab like the smokey amp. Do you need special 1/4" jacks for speaker cables or will any regular guitar 1/4" mono jack work?

And out of curiosity is it simple to install a jack together with the speaker, that will bypass the speaker and make the signal go straight to the 1/4" out when I plug in a cable? (like the smokeys. I've looked at schematics of em but they don't show how to do that in detail).

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wow man, i searched, and they have the 1n4004. I found another company that distributes them, but they needed a minimum order of 150$.
YOU SAVED MY LIFE

anybody know where i can find a zz-0416? Or maybe its a 22-0416, the schematic has really messy writing.
I have pictures of this amp, and it looks nearly identical to the 1n4004 =/




k... i'm uploading the schematic and i've circled all the things i dont understand in red hahahah. Anybody wanna help

Attached Images

powersection.JPG (96.7 KB, 57 views)

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Digikey is also an awesome place to get parts if you can't find them at Radioshack or another local supplier.

About the speaker jack thing. A mono 1/4" phone jack will work as a simple speaker jack. There are other special kinds that can be used in many ways also depending on how thay are wired; like bypassing an internal speaker.

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The electrolytic capacitors C19 and C20 can be between 60 and 80uF (microFarad), but rated at 450v. The two diodes that you circled are most likely current limiting diodes. I'm afraid i can't really find much out about them, i tried finding a datasheet for them (it is 22-0416), but to no avail. As for the final component, before the transformer, i'm not sure what that is, so we'll leave that one for Soul

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awesome, thanks for clearning those caps up.
I have a feeling that i might just take the hit for 10$ and order the full schematics from fender. It should come with full schematics AND part list.

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CR2 and CR3 are definitely rectifier diodes as the Secondary transformer uses a center ground tap.

As for CB1, the weird thing in the line power section. The only thing that makes since would be a fuse or line noise filter module. It has no standard schematic meaning.

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thanks man. You're a huge help every time.

And on another note, holy shit, i just realized that this amp doesnt have any fuses.

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I looked at it again. Its even a fuse (which it needs to be), a high voltage "power on" light, or some sort of a AC line filter. There is nothing else I can think of that it could be. If I were to design this I would make it a fuse.

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i just figured out what it is. CB stands for circuit breaker.

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How much for one of you to make me a Mesa Triple Rect. PM me please.

Gimme all the parts and I'll charge ya three fiddy.

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Shiz, I could build you a Mesa Triple Quad Recto, complete with missile launcher for a bag of chips and a 6 pack of beer.

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