DIY pedal creation (fuzz and overdrive)

[Rick05]

Hi Everyone,

I have been looking at creating my own effects pedal and have in my head a single pedal that has both overdrive and fuzz capabilities in one box that would switched off and on independently. Looking at a darkglass b3k and duality fuzz combo.

I wanted to ask if firstly is this just a silly idea and then if anyone has created one before?

Thanks, any suggestions welcome,

Cheers

Rick

[El_JimBob]

The easiest way is to stuff two circuits in one box with separate footswitches. It's certainly not a silly idea, but multis always require a bit more forward thinking than single builds...
Are you looking at building from scratch or just rehousing existing effects..? Clones of the B3K are available, but not sure about Duality Fuzz...

Edited April 26, 2017 by El_JimBob

[Rick05]

Cool thanks for the advice. I own both individual pedals but would love to create a hybrid monster.

Ideally I would like switches for each part as you say, but a blend between the fuzz and overdrive so when they are both on they give a new sound.

Are there any known cool diy fuzz circuits out there?

[El_JimBob]

There's plenty out there. I've just finished building on a Swollen Pickle pcb from [url="http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/"]Fuzzdog's Pedal Parts [/url] - (lots of pcbs and kits available if you wanna make life a bit easier for yourself). There's a dedicated section for bass-friendly effects, which is a good place to start. There are blend kits available, too, which opens up the option of using more guitar-orientated effects.
One of my favourite resources is [url="http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/"]Tagboard Effects[/url] - it's a library of thousands of effects, a mix of classics, boutique and original designs that can be built totally from scratch on stripboard. I've found loads on here to build. It's all categorised, so you can jump in and see what Fuzz circuits are available, for example...
How confident are you with electronics/pedal building?

[El_JimBob]

B3K kit available here (called Guma Drive) - [url="http://schalltechnik04.de/en/kits"]http://schalltechnik04.de/en/kits[/url] - I've built one of his Pumpernickel Compressor kits and was very impressed (made its way into a multi-effect on my pedalboard)

Edited April 26, 2017 by El_JimBob

[Rick05]

Thanks that is awesome, I will look at the overdrive circuit and the recommendations for homemade fuzz pedals.

I'm not confident in building pedals but would like to get into it and learn.

Just seen the alpha omega from Darkglass, that's pretty much what i want, but that price tag...

Edited May 8, 2017 by Rick05

[El_JimBob]

Starting with a simple kit with a low parts count is a good way to get your confidence up, if you're committed to doing it yourself - something like [url="http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Bazz_Fuzz/p847124_6346768.aspx"]THIS[/url] for example...

Getting the sound of the Alpha/Omega might be tricky, dependent on what electronically is going on inside. If the two circuits are comparable to their previous work (B3K, Vintage Microtubes, etc.) it could be possible to knock up something similar using various PCBs and schematics already available, but it would likely end up needing a much larger enclosure than Darkglass use.

I'm building a B3K clone myself, so interested to see how it interacts and blends with other effects on my pedalboard...