Recommend me a 1 knob overdrive please

[guyswan]

hey
i have an enclosure drilled for 1 knob which i would like to make useful.
im after a overdrive to give my guitar some light sparkly overdrive when kicked in.
can anyone link me or recconment me a circuit to build ?
thanks heaps !

[Steben]

simple electra distortion!
level knob, the rest is for your guitar volume.

The distortion can be tweaked a lot. (diodes, input impedance, blabla, ...) tons of possibilities.



input cap = controls input bass
cap parallel to diodes = post-distortion treble cut
diodes = germanium for wooly distortion, silicon for normal distortion, zener/LED/MOS for overdrive or resistor in series wit silicon, assymetric ...
680R = higher value for less gain, but more clarity (higher input impedance), useful as overdrive is desired

[DougH]

You can't go wrong with Gus's overdrive:



It doesn't even have one knob. But you could sub R8 with a 100k pot if you really need one.

[Steben]

You can't go wrong with Gus's overdrive:



It doesn't even have one knob. But you could sub R8 with a 100k pot if you really need one.

looks more like a booster / fuzz to me 

[DougH]

It's a real overdrive. Real overdrives overdrive the amp a little with a particular EQ. That's the point.  

This takes about a half a minute to breadboard and try. I would recommend anyone who is interested in this sort of thing to give it a try. You might be surprised...

[tuckster]

You can use any overdrive circuit if you use trim pots for the pots that are not going to connect to the outside of the box. Maybe a Screamer with a trim pot for gain and tone and only a 16mm pot for the volume.

[Steben]

"one knob overdrive" associates to "guitar volume control"  
IMHO a fuzz face doesn't need a fuzz knob either. simply volume. the fuzz can be a trim pot set to 70-90%.

[twabelljr]

Here is another one that is very easy to breadboard and experiment with: http://www.diystompboxes.com/analogalchemy/sch/easydrive.html
Schematic is drawn with NO knobs with notes on where to add 2 if you want. I just used the volume control and IN4001 diodes. Nice overdrive. Had to use a 39k
resistor to get the collector voltage to 0.9v. Same things to try as always, different transistor, diodes, input caps etc.

[Greenmachine]

The electra was the first box I ever built!  I made the version without a volume knob;  It was a switch and an LED - looked like a little robot.  Used tag strip too.  Great times.

[goulashnakov]

(Transistor) Muff Fuzz (not the opamp one)

http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/schematics/mufffuzztransschem.gif

A suggested mod is to decrease the input cap (to maybe .022u or .01u).  That's my favorite way to sparkle.