Good Distortion Pedal Project?

[Christoper]

Good afternoon all,

I have an EE degree but my job at the moment isn't technical, so I have a drive to do some circuit work in my free time.

What I have under my belt:

3 DS-1 mods - One I tweaked the input boost stage, tone control, and diodes. One was converted to a soft clipping circuit with the stock BMP tone control being split to a concentric pot so you can adjust each frequency individually. The third one was turned into a mediocre fuzz.

1 Rat mod - you can see a thread about it I started recently. It's not that intensive, but I liked the results.

1 Harmonic Peroclator build - 1:1 HP clone I built using point to point wiring in a sheet metal enclosure I built.



That being said, what's a good distortion that's kind of out of left field, but at the same time easy to understand the circuit and has a lot of opportunities for tweaking? I would prefer to mod an existing piece of hardware, but I'm no stranger to building from scratch.

[Focalized]

Don't know what you mean as you say existing, something you already have? It be easier from scratch than buying something new. Or something used that might not be working and might be a pain. I'd go looking at all the Big Muff alikes. There's dozens of them and endless distortion and overdrives.

[Christoper]

I mean existing circuits as I'd rather try and make something out of an off the shelf pedal rather than build my own version of an existing circuit from scratch.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, what distortion pedal is a good playground for tweaking? Preferably something with little info in terms of circuit analysis, so I'm forced to do it myself.

[Christoper]

Perhaps I will try to mod a DS-1 into a Rat?

[Focalized]

Mmmm I don't know myself. I hate working with mods having to dedolder and all. Especially modern pedals. Easy to ruin a pcb if you don't get it right. Others here would have a better idea maybe what you're going for.

[Phend]

Maybe not what you are looking for but check out General Guitar Gadgets site,
Ibanez ts-808
 and
Tone bender III

Both have many mods
Try a switchable C1

Plus Foxx Tone Machine has a great added suprise

[antonis]

IMHO, modifications in existing pedals result in more trouble than building your own clone..

Unless you copy-paste the original circuit on a breadboard and then tweak it as you like..

[Focalized]

Perhaps I will try to mod a DS-1 into a Rat?

A Rat and a DS-1 are very different. Can't use the pcb of either turn into the other. Unless you're a mad scientist.

[Christoper]

Foxx Tone Machine sounds like a fun experiment. If I'm starting from a pcb, is aionfx any good? This looks like a pretty good DS-1 plus I can put a switch on the soft clipping section.

[Christoper]

Perhaps I will try to mod a DS-1 into a Rat?

A Rat and a DS-1 are very different. Can't use the pcb of either turn into the other. Unless you're a mad scientist.

I understand they won't be identical, but I got a few ideas in mind for a hybrid.

[Focalized]

Pretty much all of the popular PCB and kit sellers are very good. Variations in layouts. Kits are great if you don't want to get addicted to buying parts you might end up never using.

[Phend]

Go for it and buy parts you might never use, ha, you will use them, maybe sometime.
Go for it and buy a box for the effect you are building.
Or a kit.
This is DIY.

"Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax," said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"

.   

[GibsonGM]

Get a kit, a couple breadboards, some components - and experiment on the breadboard til you've got the mod you want - then solder it up.      Way more fun than circuit bending!

[tootsMcgee]

Foxx Tone Machine sounds like a fun experiment. If I'm starting from a pcb, is aionfx any good? This looks like a pretty good DS-1 plus I can put a switch on the soft clipping section.

I absolutely love my Aion boards. I've built like 15 pedals out of them. Highly recommended--ESPECIALLY the Tone Machine. These videos made me want one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvhYoOLFiyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eKZGhlTbUI

I've been eyeing the Comet but haven't built one yet. Supposedly the Danelectro FAB Distortion I have is basically that pedal but with one tone knob.

[Christoper]

Well I think that settles it. I will buy an Aion Tone Machine kit

[tootsMcgee]

Well I think that settles it. I will buy an Aion Tone Machine kit

If it whets your appetite, some other ones I've built that I like more than others, in order of difficulty and/or recommended build order to gain experience/confidence (YMMV)

1. Azimuth (Zendrive). A cooler Tube Screamer.
2. Vulcan (Tone Machine), as described.
3. Aurora (Ross/Dyna Comp compressor).
4. Elysium (Delay)
5. Andromeda (Deluxe). My first ODR-type pedal.
6. Blueshift (Dimension DC-2). Really lovely chorus but there's so many little things to go wrong on this build. I had to lay capacitors down sideways after making a mistake ordering ones that were too tall.

These are personal opinions ofc. I've built a bunch more but the above ones are on the short list of my favs, especially the Andromeda, Aurora, and Blueshift.

Oh! And I've been eying the Cerulean (Bluesbreaker + mods). The only reason I haven't bought it yet is because I already have a bluesbreaker kit from BYOC that I like very much, haha.

[PRR]

Last thing I remember

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4KZlGZXwvk

[Fancy Lime]

Don't know what you mean as you say existing, something you already have? It be easier from scratch than buying something new. Or something used that might not be working and might be a pain. I'd go looking at all the Big Muff alikes. There's dozens of them and endless distortion and overdrives.

I agree with the Big Muff suggestion. It's a very flexible topology that lends itself to endless experimentation. Can do anything from mild overdrive, to tight metal distortion, to fat fuzz, to oscillating synth monster, all with the same basic topology and on the same pcb.

I recommend you buy a Big Muff pcb from your vendor of choice plus a breadbiard for experimentation before you solder. Have a look at Kit Rae's collestion of Muff schematics:
https://www.bigmuffpage.com/Big_Muff_Pi_versions_schematics_part1.html

HTH,
Andy

[matopotato]

The most modded builds I have made were one based on Distortion +. Diodes in hard clipping.
Schematics should be easy to find. Here is one
Then inspiration and ideas to try out for modding I found on Jack Orman's amz-fx pages:
https://www.muzique.com/lab/sat.htm
https://www.muzique.com/lab/sat2.htm
https://www.muzique.com/lab/warp.htm

I ended up with this:






Perhaps a bit "over the top" but a good learning experience.

The other build I followed Brian Wampler's video: (Diodes in soft clipping)

with descriptions here: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/blog/uncategorized/2020/05/how-to-design-a-basic-overdrive-pedal-circuit/

My take on this with Ge diodes:




Again a learning experience and probably a case of trying to fit too much into one limited space.

[GibsonGM]

Gotta agree, Matopotato. Dist+ is hard to beat!  Often it's one of the first we build, so it's familiar, and there are many clipping and tone shaping possibilities to play with.

I want to do one soon with rotary-switched clippers, and some LPF/HPF choices post-clipping.  Maybe LPF pre-clip, HPF after.  Still thinking - finishing up other long-overdue projects first