DIY Overdrive/Fuzz/Distortion - The "Blank Slate" Pedal

[@iulianalexandrudragan5531]

I'm having problems when trying to build the circuit. Is the output connected to the tip or did I get it wrong?

[@Psychotenuse]

Ooh yes, never noticed that but it looks like I messed up with the circuit diagram there. For mono audio the connection would typically be tip and sleeve, not sleeve and ring. I guess it was tempting to draw it connected to the sleeve contact to get nice straight lines xP

[@iulianalexandrudragan5531]

@@Psychotenuse i really dont know what i am getting wrong then. When the circuit is open between the clips i get that buzz but i do not even get the clean tone when connecting the two clips

[@Psychotenuse]

That's unfortunate :( I can't really guess what might be wrong from just that description though... All I can suggest is checking all the connections, trying different settings on the potentiometers, and maybe getting rid of the button and the resistor in series with it.

[@gustavobustamante6814]

Did you get it to work? I was having the same issue until i switch the tip and ground with each other on the input

[@iulianalexandrudragan5531]

@@gustavobustamante6814 i did get it to work, i initially messed up some connections, the input was not the problem

[@nefariouspreludev2.046]

This really helped me understand the use of different components. Thanks man just getting into building pedals.

[@Psychotenuse]

Awesome :) glad it was helpful!

[@ConstrutorMusical]

Man, i'm loving your content! Thanks for sharing!

[@Psychotenuse]

Haha no thanks for watching xP Glad you liked it!

[@ANNAANNAANNAtito]

caraio tu ta em todo lugar q eu olho bixo kkkk

[@ConstrutorMusical]

@@ANNAANNAANNAtito lógico, acha que é fácil ter ideias malucas? Kkkkk tem que ver muita coisa pra despertar uma ideia que pode virar um projeto... .as desse canal já vi duas coisas que vão virar vídeo em algum momento... O compressor e o pedal multi efeitos....

[@chupathingy5862]

Wow, that Darlington transistor is the most disgustingly beautiful thing I've ever heard, thank you for the video and for the idea.

[@Psychotenuse]

Definitely disgusting... beautiful, well to each their own lol! Thanks for watching, glad you liked it!

[@taylorsellers5244]

I haven't even finished the video yet and it's already very insightful and I can tell this would be an excellent learning tool to see HOW the different components specifically affect the signal! Cheers

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks! Glad you like it :)

[@f1chtl]

Wow, cool platform to experiment and to learn how different combinations sound!

[@Psychotenuse]

That's the idea :D

[@f1chtl]

@@Psychotenuse im just starting out on pedalbuilding/modding but this gives me a good practical aproach. i had a lot lectures and classes about EE, but doing it in person is just different :D

[@NZ1one1]

Great video; thanks for putting up the circuit diagrams to help me visualise. I'm just dipping my toe into the pedal building pond now and this is very helpful!

[@Psychotenuse]

Awesome, thanks for watching and you can comment or email me if you have any questions. Cheers :)

[@SolidXdamage]

Love these kindof videos man. Good work.

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@asdf9890]

Great idea for messing around with components, had a similar idea but mine involved an internal connection.

[@mattflamenco]

I'm thinking aloud. What about building 10 of your favourite variations and using a decade counter to switch between them in sequence. The sounds are great. Cheers.

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks! Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Another idea I'm playing with is having knobs controlling how much of which network kicks in - in effect some kind of waveform shaping network. Maybe I'll do a little video about that.

[@astorina]

Very interesting approach and smart idea ! Congratulations

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks :)

[@mciuan]

Great examples of different components!!

[@the_nondrive_side]

putting a trimmer pot instead of the resistor parallel the LED so you can blend a bypass clean

[@Psychotenuse]

It would be interesting but really a blend per se

[@the_nondrive_side]

i typed the word blend because i MEANT BLEND.. ? @@Psychotenuse

[@Psychotenuse]

Apologies xD I meant it would NOT be a blend per se

[@jjhack3r]

I finally got around to making it... gonna use a 3 way switch to switch between 3 different configurations when I make the final product. I’m building it into a homemade amp for a friend. 1:Back to back diodes 2:Diode 3:Back to back diodes with a resistor in parallel

[@Psychotenuse]

Haha, I remember I did something similar once. I think I somehow used a DPDT switch with a middle "off" position to switch between three distortion networks. The amp didn't sound very good, but that was mostly because the speaker was housed in an old plastic ice cream container :P Good luck xD

[@jjhack3r]

@@Psychotenuse lol thanks. I'm using a 100 watt amplifier I made from a STK404-130S operational amplifier. It's only truly 100 watts at 36 volts into a 4 ohm load and I'm using an 8 ohm speaker at 16 volts so it's running at about 25 watts rms. It's still really loud and I think I lost a little bit of hearing while testing it haha those amplifier modules are on eBay for 6 dollars and the datasheet gives an optimal schematic. I got mine from a powered subwoofer.

[@jjhack3r]

@@Psychotenuse I recommend getting one of those amplifier modules but the main downside is that they require split rail power. They seem to be pretty efficient for a class ab amp. Makes no heat at idle, and below 10 watts it doesn't even need a heatsink.

[@Psychotenuse]

​@@jjhack3r Sounds like a cool project! However, if your design is one op-amp stage with distortion going into another op-amp, the end result will likely sound _very_ solid-state.

[@biomecaman3514]

one of the best videos out there

[@Psychotenuse]

That's going a bit too far xD Thanks for watching!

[@noelpatrick5074]

Genius,,, brilliant build ,,, and creative distortion

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks, glad you like it! :D

[@noelpatrick5074]

@@Psychotenuse 👍

[@simonadams1848]

Really enjoyed that mate

[@roeytsemah]

That is super useful for educational purposes! Thanks for sharing

[@Psychotenuse]

Haha, idk about 'education' but it's fun to mess around with :P Thanks for watching!

[@ZeginMakesMusic]

Instead of alligator clips, You should create a cartridge system like a gameboy. Then you can create multiple sounds within the cartridge and swap them as needed.

[@Psychotenuse]

That could work :)

[@3tmbn429]

Nice video

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :)

[@TyTy-fq3mh]

Im very new to building pedals and have a few noobie questions. I would like to try and build this with parts i have on hand if possible. Could i use a tactile switch in place of the momentary for the cap charge and a normal SPDT on/off switch in place of the sliding switch? Also is the potentiometers type A or B, what other values could i use as a replacement for the 22k, and do i need just 1 or 2? Also if you could make a new video for beginners showing step by step how to wire an updated version of this pedal using the "ideal" parts i would love you forever. Ill even send money via Patreon or something for the parts and your time if needed. Thanks a googolplex!

[@Psychotenuse]

Haha, thanks for your kind words. So let's see. You don't really need the cap charge button. You can get rid of it. Yes, any on/off switch will do. You can also put one in between the clips for a buffered bypass. I think you would probably want a type B pot for gain and type A for volume. Type B for both might be fine too though and is probably what I used. The pot values are not super important. The gain pot should probably be in the 100k - 1M range, and the output volume pot in the 1k - 100k range.

[@teabeforesleep3010]

excelent material champ

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :)

[@edwardkenemorales]

This is so awesome! Do you think this will also work for Mic level signals?

[@Psychotenuse]

Yes, it should :)

[@yellowmythic8758]

Tutorial on how to build this would be radical

[@Psychotenuse]

Haha, I guess I could do something like that... But tbh I'm not sure I know what I'm doing xP as you can see the "build" is just a couple of holes melted in a plastic box...

[@yellowmythic8758]

@@Psychotenuse which is completely cool to me honestly :). but you could show how you built the circuit and the whole process etc c:

[@jodymcdougle8810]

@@Psychotenuse I am highly interested as well. It would be wonderful to spend some time making a custom pedal with the kids.

[@rhamieteves1746]

what use of tack switch?

[@Psychotenuse]

The switch simply turns power on or off. It is not how a footswitch on a guitar pedal would be connected. As I say in the video, I turn it off before changing the clipping network in any way. Actually, a footswitch could be connected in parallel with the clips to short out the distortion elements, to create a "buffered bypass" switch. In that case I would add a small resistor in series with the gain control variable resistor to avoid the extreme case of shorting the output to "ground". Cheers!

[@zachary963]

6:40 how come the resistor in parallel changes the tine so much?

[@Psychotenuse]

The resistor allows small currents (I < Vknee/R) to pass through linearly, giving a clean region prior to distortion. With no resistor (R = infinity) you have zero headroom so even the smallest signal is distorted.

[@zachary963]

@@Psychotenuse thanks!!!

[@sanchitkulkarni1371]

do you connect the guitar to this and then connect to speaker or do you connect guitar to this then connect to amplifier

[@Psychotenuse]

I was going to my interface actually, but I had amp simulation in post

[@sanchitkulkarni1371]

so i should connect guitar output to pedal input and then connect pedal output to amp right?

[@sanchitkulkarni1371]

@@Psychotenuse also what connector audio did you use, like whats its name in kicad

[@Psychotenuse]

I'm not sure if kicad has it built in

[@sanchitkulkarni1371]

@@Psychotenuse can i use any 1/4 inch jack ill find or is it compulsory to use yours onle

[@jodymcdougle8810]

I have surfed a lot of your videos this morning over coffee. Very enjoyable content! Would you consider doing a DIY video with an included parts list, diagram, etc? I would be happy to collaborate and contribute some artwork and sound recordings of the results.

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks a lot for watching :) Most of my videos do have components' lists and circuit diagrams linked in the description... perhaps I don't quite understand what you have in mind, though.

[@joseislanio8910]

It's a very unusual use of an audio power IC for a pedal, which is really cool. Did you try putting two clips for hard clipping at the output of the circuit?

[@Psychotenuse]

Lol, well that's just what I had lying around :P A low power op-amp would probably produce much the same results in this circuit.

[@Psychotenuse]

Clipping on the output is what I tried first, but since there is not much headroom the results were not very good at all. I got much better results at high voltage: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJ68p6ukgNRlpqM

[@ingussilins6330]

Try lightbulb in op amp circuit ( like a wien bridge oscillator amplitude stabilisator circuit ).

[@Psychotenuse]

That should behave essentially like a very slight compressor. I made a simple compressor circuit with a lightbulb once, you can take a look at the video on my channel if you're interested :)

[@ingussilins6330]

@@Psychotenuse Thanks :)

[@cadenzastudio6547]

very awesome idea! i tried it, but im getting tremendous noise when the 470 k ohm POT is set to anything but 0 ohms...how can i contact you?

[@Psychotenuse]

This will happen if you don't connect the clips to anything, i.e. run it with an 'open loop'. Make sure you connect something between the clips before testing the circuit. You can email me at the adress in my channel 'about'

[@cadenzastudio6547]

@@Psychotenuseheyy , i mailed you , i tried diodes, resistors, everything u mentioned, still the humm is waay louder than the guitar signal

[@nathan7265]

I would prefer a discrete version. What would you recommend?

[@Psychotenuse]

Well that's interesting. Using an op-amp certainly makes it a lot easier. My first attempt at this was to first amplify the signal cleanly, and then distort it by feeding it into a voltage divider with the clipping network on the bottom. This has problems, however. Without going into details, putting the clipping network in the output either makes it not as robust in terms of working with different types of clipping networks, or just sounds all the same regardless of what clipping network you use. Now, many simple discrete amplifier circuits operate at a dc offset and can source but not sink significant current. These, I think, would be difficult to make work for this purpose, because it would be difficult to bias the clipping network correctly, or get symmetrical distortion. One interesting idea is to use an amplifier circuit coupled via a signal transformer to the clipping network with a current limiting resistor in series with it. This could have the same problems as putting it on the output of an op amp, though. So I suppose my suggestion would be to build a high gain split rail amplifier circuit with a big feedback loop around the entire thing, and put your clipping network in that feedback loop.

[@nathan7265]

ThePsychotenuse. Thanks.

[@borzoiii]

how do you find resistor values to use with those diodes, or is it mostly by ear and what sound good ?

[@Psychotenuse]

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Yes, mostly by ear.

[@mrkrotosuk]

How could I use this with 12v DC instead of 9v?

[@Psychotenuse]

You shouldn't need to change anything.

[@pratbrat3492]

great video. as you said the biasing button wasn't necessary then does the circuit need the 550ohm resistor or can I eliminate it and the button from the circuit? the output potentiometer is basically like a volume control right? by the way do you think I can plug the output to a lm386 amp circuit? because the lm386 can amplify instrument and line level with the appropriate amount of gain.

[@Psychotenuse]

Yeah, if you remove the biasing button there's of course no need to keep that resistor which is in series with it. You would, as I have seen it called in some textbooks, "replace the components with open circuit". I would recommend plugging the output of this pedal into a guitar amp (or multi-fx processor) to get decent sounds.

[@pratbrat3492]

@@Psychotenuse does the output capacitor have to be exactly that value or is it a bigger is better type of thing?

[@Psychotenuse]

Sort of but I wouldn't make it too big, if you make it bigger that biasing button becomes more necessary, as it were.

[@DeepthiRanathungaAahh]

Hey whats the two transistor s on 5.00 ??

[@Psychotenuse]

Can't say I remember, unfortunately

[@esmaeilrezaie3890]

Its great man ! I wanna do it , can you tell me about the specification of components that you use in switching?

[@Psychotenuse]

I assume you mean you want more details about the clip-in networks I used in the video... well to be perfectly honest the components were mostly salvaged bits out of old broken devices that I didn't even bother to find ratings/values/specs for. And the networks I used were just randomly thrown together without much thought. The spirit of this project was the ability to blindly experiment like that, haha. Honestly I think you can get some cool sounds without worrying too much about the specifics :) If you do make it, I'd love to know how it goes!

[@joseislanio8910]

@@Psychotenuse I think he's talking about bypass switching. In fact, it doesn't have one, it's always on.

[@jaystick9112]

May ask, where could I wire the third post of a germanium transistor? -Noob question.

[@Psychotenuse]

Hm... well, there are two clip terminals, so you can only connect two nodes. There are a number of ways in which you could use a transistor as a clipping element, for example by connecting the clips to the base and collector or to the base and emitter, or one terminal to the base and the other to the base and emitter, or one terminal to the collector and one to the emitter with resistors tying each to the base... and you could double up any one of these for both directions. If what you're asking is how you can incorporate a third terminal, well there are many possibilities which would have different results. One idea is either the positive or negative power rail (perhaps with a current limiting resistor to prevent burning stuff).

[@jaystick9112]

@@Psychotenuse both were helpful.

[@jaystick9112]

@@Psychotenuse What value resistor would you suggest if I were to ad an optional alligator lead to each the +&- power rail? (I’m sorry I’m being so needy) I really like your concept here and I’m sick of buying unimpressive pedals.

[@Psychotenuse]

Lol no worries. Hm... If it were me perhaps I'd use a hundred ohms or so. BTW I'd be really interested to see what results you get with this variation!

[@jjhack3r]

Perfect.

[@Psychotenuse]

Thanks!

[@jjhack3r]

@@Psychotenuse no problem. I'll probably end up using this circuit for a homemade synthesizer to change the sound of it. I might even make a couple for some friends that play guitar.

[@SHUT-UP_MEG]

It wouldnt be boring at all bro And am i trippin Or was bro killin that guitar?❤❤❤❤❤ I loved evry minute and was sad when it was done Nobody is explaining it like this The accent aint even a problem, trust me im american, and we are stubborn and ignorant sometimes Now i gotta look up some dude with the tax free music and find out how to hook a humskillya capacitor to a dang meshalla android charder box. Or something ❤❤❤❤❤❤. New sub Thank you

[@wiktorpersak]

Does the amplifier ic need heatsink at all?

[@Psychotenuse]

Yeah, it would need one.

[@nyrbsamoht]

I cant seem to buy the TDA2030 anywhere locally.. tayda is the only place i can find it to buy individually.

[@Psychotenuse]

For this circuit, you don't really need the high current capabilities of the TDA2030. I really just used it because I had one lying around... You could even use an LM386 with this circuit and it probably wouldn't sound much different.

[@nyrbsamoht]

@@Psychotenuse thanks very much I was looking for an alternative :) i dont know much about this stuff but you have encouraged me give it a go. thanks again!

[@nyrbsamoht]

the TDA2030 has 5 pins, the LM386 has 8 the extra pins on the LM386 seem to be gain(pins 1 and8) and bypass (pin 7) can i just stick to your schematic and ignore those pins? ... or is there more to it than that? maybe i should just try it and find out!

[@Psychotenuse]

Yeah, you can just ignore the extra pins. Don't short them to anything, that's all.

[@joelabbott]

Not boring at all

[@Psychotenuse]

Is that sarcasm xD

[@joelabbott]

ThePsychotenuse I’m literally sorting my resistors right now to make one of these.

[@Psychotenuse]

@@joelabbott Haha, guess not then. Good luck, I'd love to know how it goes!

[@joelabbott]

ThePsychotenuse I got it working, and the fuzz sounds great, but I can’t control the gain enough to get a clean tone out of it. I’ve experimented with many different values for every resistor, and I can’t figure out where the overload is happening. Any ideas how to clean it up?

[@Psychotenuse]

Hm... If you can't get a clean tone with the clips shorted and the gain knob turned down, it seems likely to me something's wrong with the circuit. It is possible there's a bad connection in the feedback loop? Check/Redo the solder joints on the clips perhaps? One thing to consider is that in this circuit, the gain control variable resistor operates 'opposite', as it were: increasing resistance decreases gain and vice versa. You could try putting a resistor on the order of 10k in series with the gain control to limit the maximum gain.

[@semajsemajsemaj99]

Savage

[@BudiPrasetyoHarsono]

Ccan you make a tutorial to make it

[@Psychotenuse]

To be perfectly honest, I don't have any plans to do this, basically because I don't know how much more helpful it would be beyond the circuit diagram. I kind of wish I had made this video in a more tutorial style, though, since multiple people have asked for it now.

[@KimuraSetsuna]

I don't know man, but I think 2.2k ohm resistor is a little too small, you have current leaking which would not do much useful work besides releasing heat. Might want to change to something like 100k or even 1M resistor

[@Psychotenuse]

Hm well the input signal is referenced to that voltage divider so you don't want the current to be too low because that can cause ground loop issues. If you reference the input signal to the power rail and capacitively couple it to a divider at the op-amp input (this is a more standard approach and arguably a better one), then you would be right in that you would want the resistor values to be high. Dissipation is not really an issue. 4.4kOhm across a 9V rail only results in a current of about 2mA. For context, the quiescent current of the chip is around 40mA.