Escobedo Harmonic Jerculator On Stripboard
May 28, 2024https://youtu.be/me2I8VYSMvk The Escobedo Harmonic Jerculator is a wonderful little fuzz circuit that packs plenty of punch. This pedal is based on the classic fuzz pedal from Interfax called the Harmonic Percolator. The Harmonic Percolator isn’t made any more, and the geranium transistors used for it are hard to find these days, so the Harmonic Jerculator […]
How To Read A Circuit Diagram
May 27, 2024Even if you’re just doing PCB kits or following strip board layouts, learning how to read a circuit diagram really comes in handy when building guitar pedals, or for electrons in general. So, if you stumbled onto this article with no interest in guitar pedals and just want to learn how to read circuit diagrams, […]
What Is A Voltage Divider?
May 23, 2024Most guitar pedals use a 9 volt direct current. There are pedals out there that use something else, but 9 volts is the most common, especially when it comes to DIY guitar pedals. However, what do you do if you need something lower than 9 volts? What if your pedal needs both 9 volts and […]
Gear You Need To Make Guitar Pedals
May 21, 2024So you want to start making DIY guitar pedals? It may seem daunting, especially if you’re unsure of what you’ll need to get started. Well, have no fear, this article seeks to help you find out. Fortunately, you can actually get started for relatively cheaply. This is a new hobby after all. While I think […]
Potentiometer Wiring: How To Wire A Potentiometer
May 20, 2024A quick note on terminology: a potentiometer has three pins, often numbered 1, 2, and 3. Throughout this article I’ve tried to simplify it by referring to left and right pins, and it’s seemed to confuse a couple people. Whenever anyone talks about potentiometer pins, they’re looking at it face on with the arm pointing upwards. […]
How To Make A Guitar Pedal Tester And Audio Probe
May 9, 2024The most frustrating, but also one of the most rewarding things, about making your own guitar pedals is that they rarely work the first time. You spend hours soldering everything, plug it in, and it doesn’t work. Then comes the troubleshooting, finding where your error is, and finally success! During this troubleshooting and fixing period, […]
How To Wire A Guitar Pedal Foot Switch (3PDT)
April 24, 2024The typical foot switch for a guitar pedal, the 3PDT, is a component that goes into pretty much every single guitar pedal. It’s needed to turn the guitar pedal off an on. Well, in actual fact, it’s needed to swap the signal from bypassing the pedal’s circuit to going through the guitar pedal’s circuit. It […]
Understanding Mid-Scoops And The Big Muff Tone Circuit
February 27, 2024This article is just a discussion on the tone control for an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. Looking to build your own? Here’s the stripboard layout for an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. The Big Muff by Electro-Harmonix is another one of those super famous guitar pedals. It has a classic fuzz sound to it with a schematic that’s relatively […]
Building And Modding A Tube Screamer On A Breadboard
February 24, 2024Note: this article is on building a Tube Screamer on a breadboard, along with a little bit of analysis. Here’s how to build an Ibanez Tube Screamer on stripboard if that’s what you’re after. The Ibanez Tube Screamer is, perhaps, the most sought after overdrive pedals out there. Although the Boss OD-1 was first created in […]
How High Pass And Low Pass Filters Work In Guitar Pedals
January 27, 2024If you look at any schematic for a guitar pedal, you’ll see high and low pass filters throughout the circuitry. Sometimes they’re not so obvious, but once you learn how to spot them you’ll see them everywhere! High and low pass filters, sometimes called low cut and high cut filters, are used to shape the […]
