How To Design An Overdrive Pedal Circuit

[@wampler_pedals]

🔗 How To Design Guitar Pedals Course: Interested in creating, building and experimenting with your own pedal circuits? Check out my course for newbies here: www.guitarpedalcourse.com/courses/complete-beginner-s-guide-how-to-design-your-own-guitar-pedal-circuits My pedal courses are all ABSOLUTELY RISK FREE - 100% money back guarantee within 30 days of your purchase. If you don’t love the courses, I’ll refund you, no questions asked.

[@chazcraik8903]

In a world of self-interest fed by narcissistic social media, here is an expert in his field using the platform to freely share his wisdom and raise us up instead of keep us down. Gives me some faith we might not be extinct in the next ten years. Thank you, Brian!

[@softsounds389]

Not exaggerating when I say I have been CRAVING content like this lmao, so happy to see such an educated breakdown presented in an easily understood format, but with the added plus of being edited and filmed well.

[@clipstag6404]

Well Said

[@lufiaraujo]

Here's an index to compare sounds in different sections of the video: 0:41 - Input to output (bypass) 1:02 - Input filter only 3:00 - OpAmp 1/3 (gain @ 0%) 3:20 - OpAmp 2/3 (gain @ 50%) 3:45 - OpAmp 3/3 (gain @ 100%) 4:18 - Low pass filter capacitor 5:20 - Clipping diodes 7:46 - Tone improvement via bottom capacitor 1/2 (stock, .22uF) 8:00 - Tone improvement via bottom capacitor 2/2 (1uF) 9:15 - Tone control 1/3 (all treble) 9:40 - Tone control 2/3 (all bass) 10:09 - Tone control 3/3 (sweet spot) 11:02 - Tone control bottom capacitor .047uF 1/4 (somewhere in the middle) 11:19 - Tone control bottom capacitor .047uF 2/4 (all bass) 11:32 - Tone control bottom capacitor .047uF 3/4 (all treble) 12:15 - Tone control bottom capacitor .047uF 4/4 (sweet spot) 13:09 - Tone control bottom capacitor 1uF 1/2 (somewhere in the middle) 13:23 - Tone control bottom capacitor 1uF 2/2 (sweet spot)

[@denismguitar1552]

He didn’t talk much except for useful stuff.

[@leovonfitzy]

Really helpful thank you!

[@swainscheps]

Yes - thank you very much Luis. I don’t not appreciate the effort to walk through the creation of a pedal here…but all the talk of ‘scoop’ and ‘clipping’ and ‘meaty’ and ‘tone control’ and ‘usable/friendly’ and ‘fuzzy’ and ‘fizziness’ and ‘presence’ is utter gibberish. Would love it if he did some direct edits where he was playing ‘before and after’ and ‘compare this capacitor with that capacitor’ rather than just describing the sound. Really working hard to translate that kind of language into actual guitar sounds, but it seems impenetrable sometimes. Thank you for making it easier to match sounds to buzzwords.

[@tgs2012]

I’m an EE and though I know all the details of how to analyze this circuit, I found it super helpful to hear each change. Thank you for the great teaching session.

[@robertw1871]

Being an EE myself I’ve found classical opamp design approaches less than useful, these circuits are basically broken in any other industry, as long as it’s not fatal for a component, just plugging in parts empirically with a goal in mind is the way to go, knowing circuit topology does help some here, calculating poles of the filters not so much... it’s fun for sure, not having to hit a precise goal with ultra low distortion or super low DC offset that’s actually manufacturable, is a nice break...

[@ncnoman]

went to school got my EE, wanted to design these kinds of things. learned more here than in 4 years lol. not that the degree hasnt paid off... 😀

[@pfree8512]

What are you doing now since you chose ee for a profession but are still interested in Things like These? (and presumably dont build them for a living)

[@rlibby404]

To be fair, you wouldn't be taught things like this video in EE because with amplifier design, distortion is a bug not a feature, and A LOT of consideration is given for how to minimize SNR, not how to adjust SNR to taste lol. The circuit in this video is a basic non-inverted opamp circuit that's probably illustrated near the end of the TL082 datasheet along with the gain equations, plus some diodes in the negative feedback loop, plus some filtering. Plenty of EE courses include filtering and pretty much all electrical applications include filters, and yeah they aren't usually audible but they are usually visible on an oscope or spectrum analyzer.

[@sethtoy3379]

This was EXACTLY the type of content I think a lot of us rookies were looking for. Phenomenal video. Would love to see something like this done for a DIY Delay or Reverb.

[@Anode230]

Hi Brian. I built one of these overdrives tonight, from the schematic you displayed. I love it - really versatile for such a low parts count. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

[@thomasdavis5230]

is the upside down triangle a symbol for ground?

[@AdiWasturaka]

@@thomasdavis5230 yes

[@drake.hansen]

I am working on this overdrive rn but I am stuck on the op amp part what are the additional connections that are not shown on the Schematic?

[@HOLYISLANDAUDIO]

@@drake.hansen pin 4 to gnd pin 8 to +9v

[@markhammer643]

Nice one, Brian. One of the things many people either overlook or don't quite grasp is that the more metal you wiggle over a pickup, the greater the signal produced. So it should not surprise us that wiggling a wound E or A string over a pickup yields a noticeably greater signal than wiggling an unwound B or E. I like to say that most of the guitar signal "lives in the basement", meaning that the lower the note, the hotter (higher amplitude) the signal produced. Now, *nothing* gets clipped until it approaches what is called the "forward voltage" of the diodes - the signal level where they begin to conduct. We use some amplification of the signal to reach that point. But because it's higher amplitude to begin with, the lower notes on the bass strings don't really require as *much* amplification to reach that point or threshold. The genius of the Tube Screamer is that it used a strategy Brian illustrates here. The 1k/220nf pair (R46/C28) provide a modest (6db/octave) bass rolloff, near identical to the Tube Screamer, starting around 723hz. Progressively reducing the amount of bass signal hitting the diodes (by amplifying the bass *less* than everything above it) makes it such that pretty much all notes stand an equal likelihood of clipping. I don't know if one would call this a "smoother" sound, but it is more even-handed and predictable. You will note that when Brian uses the larger-value (1uf) cap instead of 220nf, not only is there more audible bass, but the sound is also more distorted. Some commercial pedals will employ various means to reduce or introduce that bass level to yield more even or bass-heavy overdrive. It's a handy feature for adapting to guitars with greater and lesser bass content, or simply heavier and lighter-gauged strings.

[@GearGasms]

Mark Hammer great synopsis!

[@markhammer643]

@@GearGasms Thanks. Only took me 40 years to figure out! :-)

[@davebutler3905]

@@markhammer643 Ha Ha. 45 years for me!

[@nickkatz5352]

Brian, as an aspiring pedal builder, your videos are immensely helpful. May I request that you do this format more in the future with other types of circuits? Also, if you do, would it be possible to show shots of your breadboard as you add components to it? Seeing your component placement would be very helpful for someone like me. Thanks for everything you do, both as a builder and an educator in this community, you're really a titan and I just want to say I'm so glad you continued to make these videos and keep this channel going, I know that there was some uncertainty as to whether you would continue for a while and I know I literally just said it, but I, for one, am extremely happy you made the decision you have. edit: i ask this with the purpose of hoping to follow along with your videos and build the circuits myself so I can really hear the stuff you're talking about in the room and develop a better understand of breadboard signalflow decisionmaking etc. Thanks!

[@samuelmildenstein8954]

Let’s see some LFO circuits! Get into trem/vibrato!

[@daniellesaux6152]

Aside from how much I learned about pedal design, why hasn't anyone commented on the killer guitar playing happening in this video? Thanks for sharing your knowledge and playing!

[@dindin3394]

Thank God there are nerdy people like you who explain things with knowledge and experience in the best way and nerdy people like me who want to learn! Thank you a lot for the info I found on the webpage and this video!

[@jjrobiso]

I became an electrician for many reasons. One of them is this channel. I love guitar and I love how it takes the basics of electricity and can change it into something beautiful. Thanks so much for explaining so much.

[@bevo65]

Props to you and to whoever posed the question. Smart stuff.

[@thefactorycollective]

Finally a video that shows you the effect different capacitors and resistors have on tone. I moved up another learning step tonight.

[@HugoDeFainia]

Best video on KZbin! Thank you so much for providing this information. You are a gift to humanity!

[@mitchtube3]

jesus just that opamp clipping before the diode sounded absolutely rad

[@ummagumma7826]

Brian, it is really impressive how you educate us on the science behind the electronics. Most youtubers don't get out the breadboard, love it. I'm still learning what any of these things mean

[@Impractical_Engineer]

How you only have 100K subs is beyond me. Great video and thank you for making me feel more knowledgeable

[@wampler_pedals]

My topics are fairly niched, therefore it’s a smaller channel by intention. I’d rather go a little deeper in a topic but reach less people then make a fairly generic video that doesn’t really teach anything or help anyone. I’m glad you like the channel 😊

[@BrianAnderson-7]

Brian - thanks so much for doing these. It's helps everyone demystify gear. I do photography and I learned that I could waste a lot of money up front on it. For years playing the guitar I operated under the assumption that good tone costs money. With yours and others help I've learned that good tone takes research and understanding the technology just as it does with photography. Also, the Terraform is awesome. I've had it for a few months now and it's one of the best pedals I've ever owned. Thanks!

[@dan111195]

thanks a lot Brian, I am a student of electronic engineer, I decided to study this because of music. It gets to me very helpfull this video to know more about the different configurations of the op amp for pedals. greetings from Mexico, I hope more videos like this one.

[@mattwarren6116]

So much yes!!! I have been very curious about how all of this works for a long time. Thank you for making this video and going through the trouble.

[@iancharles798]

I have come back to this video a few times now, this is one of the most helpful resources to me as a new pedal builder. More videos like this please!!!!

[@Ben-ur1ku]

This is great, thankyou so much, this is the kind of pracs we require in Uni, so much more than simply running some calcs and reviewing bode plots..

[@ArkadyPapaja]

This is the best way to understand how different elements work. THANK YOU!

[@Kek-vin]

I just started building circuts in my own and this video was very cool to build along with. Thank you for sharing it. Talking about the components on the feedbackloop of the op-amp helped me understanding it better.

[@billynojokes]

Thank you for this video I been looking for someone to actually explain circuits and what the components are actually doing. This vid hit the spot! Def gunna geek out and binge watch ur catalog soon! Thank you!!

[@chipabuser419]

This is awesome! Every guitar player that owns a soldering iron should see this!

[@Jayhawk720]

Another Brilliant video, Brian. Your videos have made me understand a lot more about how pedals are conceived, built and how and why they sound the way they do. From pedal stacking to in depth looking into tone and pedal building, the best and most informative video site by far. fun too. Thanks.

[@foofighter9656]

I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to DIY electronics and pedals and I found this video extremely useful to understand how circuit design affects the sound. Thank you very much!

[@Resevil]

As I learn more about electronics, more things in this video start to “click” whenever I come back to watch. Thank you Brian, invaluable info here!

[@murrrr8288]

I made my first DIY pedal with help of this schematics! Thanks for the video, it's very helpful!!

[@Damaraja]

Brief glimpses of breadboard @ 10:10 to 10:18. I’ll never understand why he showed himself instead of breadboard (no 2nd cam?), but appreciate what we got. The schematic shots were most helpful, as was the step-by-step description. Thanks 🤙

[@officialExcerpt]

I've been trying to build circuits for years. It's still magic to me. I still haven't found any teaching material that can explain what each component actually does to other components and why without going into advanced circuitry diagrams or loads of math.

[@Mortlerickle123]

With capacitors you really need to know a couple formulas. Anything in electronics kinda requires a bit of the maths. So just look it up, it's necessary for good understanding

[@jonathananderson3897]

After watching many, many, many of your videos I have modded almost every pedal I own, its cost peanuts and I have made some radical advances in tone. I salute you sir, keep up the good work 👍

[@PrincePloppy]

A definite requirement for designing pedals is being a great guitar player. Brians got this in the bag!

[@nicolasrimoldi4857]

You are a genius friend! Thank you very much for this video, this type of information is very useful for us sound enthusiasts. I send you a big greeting from Argentina.

[@chriskucholtz6967]

Thanks, man. That was great. Very easy to understand without getting too technical.

[@TheJoeOption]

Very helpful for me. I'm a new guitarist (relatively) and it's hard to figure out what all these pedals and effects actually do. I have enough electrical background from my mechanical engr education to know about signals and filters and opamps and diodes... so this is incredible helpful. It explains it in terms that make sense to me hahaha. But also having some objective way of explaining it ALONG with the sound is so good

[@bruceshepherdley5270]

Thank you Brian for making this excellent video! Especially with the circuit diagram being shown in between each alteration to the circuiy. I learned more about what specific circuit elements do to the sound from watching this video, than i have done from hours of reading pages and listening to sound clips in the past.

[@Sadlander2]

I knew what the components are (remember from school) but I had no idea what they do to the sound. Thanks to the person who's suggested this and thank you for making this video! This was great!!!

[@lucasgabriellimadeoliveira3670]

do you know whats happens if I raise the tone pot ?

[@tutatis96]

probably the best video ive seen this year

[@Jay0neDE]

wow this is the best video ever. thank you so much for sharing this knowledge.

[@monkey_breath]

this is super awesome, thanks for this level of insight!!! and i can't help but think that a generic kind of overdrive like this, with a few rotary switches for different value components and a few extra attenuation pots could be a REALLY fun pedal!!!

[@JonathanGarciaMallen]

Thank you. I''d been wondering where EQ/tone control would go for a drive, and you showed me that there re two places and explained the different results you'd get.

[@decomputerleraarable]

Perfect video. Very understandable. Keep doing this with the most common pedals. I will build this one.

[@parrottsquawk975]

That .022uf cap would probably sound good on a les paul, but it definitely made the tele sing! Don't listen to the haters, even though there's no breadboard shot, this is amazing material that we can't find anywhere else on KZbin! I've saved up and bought two Wampler pedals as a result of your videos and knowing the quality effort you put into interacting with us as well as making sure you produce an excellent product. Kudos, and please please please keep making these videos!

[@wampler_pedals]

Thanks so much! Glad you like the videos 😊

[@parrottsquawk975]

In case you were curious - I replaced a holy grail with a blown op amp with the ethereal, and the Keeley DS-1 with the Tumnus deluxe. ❤️ thanks for responding!

[@TheElrondo]

Notification pops up... ...instant like! Thank you Mr. Wampler. Stay safe and healthy.

[@arthurharrison1345]

Super-great video. This man knows his topic!

[@Viepeo22]

This week I bought my first Wampler pedal, todays I discover this amazing channel ! 😍

[@wampler_pedals]

Thank you!! ❤️

[@petedazer3381]

I myself don’t use pedals, but I’ve been delving into more solid state amp mods and repairs, having always been a tube junkie. I’m really enjoying your videos because of the practicality of presentation! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@Dimo145]

I am just getting started with pedal building. Thank you very much for doing this.

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

Thanx again big time. I was surprised at how good it sounded. It would make a great pedal for working at home at low volumes to take that tinny scratchy sound out of my amp when practising. I watch these vids several times until I can take it all in. Looking forward to the next show.

[@54tristin]

Exceptional explanation, would very much appreciate seeing the breadboard placement as it is challenging to visualize the physical relationships of Thor components

[@lucasgabriellimadeoliveira3670]

what happens if I raise the tone's pot ?

[@alexwood8555]

This is one of the most informative pedal videos I’ve watched on here. Brian you’re really on another level when it comes to tweaking drive circuits.

[@wishdeus]

I watched this video the first time, didn't understand it. Watched it 3 more times, still didn't sink in. Watched videos on any electrical component I could imagine and now it's starting to click but what I'm realizing is I need to really understand how to read a schematic before anything will truly make sense.

[@serenemachine9110]

This might be the coolest pedal video I have ever seen.

[@joerectifier]

Excellent video Brian - sonic alchemy with electronics is a beautiful thing - and it's amazing how useful and good sounding the simple circuit turns out. The Bode plots are a fantastic companion to show us qualitatively what is actually happening. Tone controls and loading is where it is all at....awesome and thank you!!

[@bobrg1459]

Thanks. Excellent presentation with interesting discussion and demonstration.

[@Charlie_Echo]

This was really informative, thank you! I think the step-by-step format is great for understanding the individual part each component is playing.

[@josephforrest3713]

That doesn't sound half bad!!! LOVE THIS VID!

[@wreckoningday]

Cool video Brian. I learned how to build pedals from the first iteration of your book and I'm forever grateful to you for it. Thanks for all the info you share

[@theruns123]

Such a great video. Your videos lately Brian have been amazing. I started building pedals a year ago and your videos have been inspiring and motivating me to do more. Thanks!

[@LP-qi8hs]

Great video and details on the basics. The changes in the schematics help us out. Thanks for your time.

[@yugbe]

Thank You!!! I cannot tell you how much this helped!

[@Tomsdrawings]

Thank you Brian. Congratulations with those books! Interesting!

[@burroughs334]

I love the premise of this video. Thanks for doing it!

[@denismguitar1552]

I LOVED this video Brian! Do this all you want!

[@wadeadkins4927]

Excellent demo. seeing and hearing the circuit broken down step by step really helped me under stand its structure better I learned a lot from this video. Thanks!

[@LEON4PRES]

DAAAYYYUUUMMM!!! This pedal sounds GREAT!!! Awesome playing too!

[@rolandnichols]

Thought I'd write you a comment here so you see it about a previous vid......but super like this one too...Story goes........Just happened to have seen a Boss ODsd1 at my local store reduced; had been sitting around in the back room and forgotten about as it was a dud. But the guy who got it out didn't know this. Anyway, it was only £35 so.....got it home to find out it was screaming....looking up stuff came across an old gentleman who fixes amps very kindly shows you what he does and teaches schematics on line. I've had it for months now......so then thought I'd take a look to see if there was a schematic I could read and up you came........So yes.......very interested in these types of videos....have been watching you anyways.......So thank you....... I own three pedal that's all. Interested in building an amp some time. Much appreciated. Thank you so much Limechillo from England.

[@FranciscoBIdo]

One of the most informative pedal videos out there! Thank You!

[@dinosaursr]

Very interesting and informative. Fun too.

[@rubhern8187]

The sound of this effect very exceptional just what I was looking for and all this on a breadboard perfect. 🎉🎉🎉I Great tut and explanation.🎉🎉🎉

[@soundsexciting2256]

Fantastic... thanks so much Brian! Great to see your 'books back in print'! As Oliver might say "Please Sir, can I have some more!?"

[@clipstag6404]

Cant believe your channel has only 127k Subs.. its worth way more..

[@wampler_pedals]

I appreciate it!

[@drumbyte]

Thank you for explaining things in a way that I can understand!

[@wampler_pedals]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dylanhucik8594]

I think i learned more here then my entire electric engineering class with my crappy proffessor.. Great content!!

[@CrocodileTheLyle]

This is exactly what I'm looking for, something that explains the audio effect of different components rather than what the interaction between all of them at the level of electricity

[@wampler_pedals]

If you like this video you will LOVE the new line course coming out next month! www.guitarpedalcourse.com/courses/how-to-design-overdrive-circuits-for-guitar-pedals-for-beginners

[@yurkshirelad]

I'm amazed how such a fantastic sound could come from a circuit that is relatively simple.

[@platondr]

Thank you a lot! This seems like a great starter builder circuit, I will probably build a padal using this for a school project next year, but i will have to play around with the capacitors as I wanted to make a bass OD and figure out how to add a footswitch, but this really helps a lot!

[@MrMetalgods]

Well done such a clean sound and good overdrive

[@matttaylor1449]

Awesome vid. Very cool seeing the effect of each part as you go through the circuit.

[@RomeoG39]

Great video! I already have too many hobbies, but this really makes me want to shift my electronics hobby away from microcontrollers and robotics to guitar pedals!

[@Texasbluesalley]

WHERE ARE THE TABS FOR THIS!!????

[@Cowboybebub]

You're a legend man. Thank you for these helpful videos!

[@ianglencross]

Thanks, this sort of content is really appreciated. I've been spending my lockdown breadboarding and this has helped me organise my design process, tuning and refining my choice of BJT and diodes.

[@Sadsoft]

Whoa this is awesome! Thanks so much. Been looking for a demo video like this for a while

[@levih.2158]

Video suggestion: A beginners guide to pedal circuits. What's the function of resistors, capacitors, transistors etc.. Is capacitors always/only related to bass/tone? What's the significance of where in the circuit you place the different components; of what directions they have (plus/minus/ground); of the size of the components. Stuff like that.

[@kiromaisus]

Well, I'm graduating in eletronic engineering and I'd say you'd need some years of study to understand what's going on, and without being a master of the field. You'd need a lot of math and circuit courses to get to the final tool you can use and understand them.

[@TheDesertRat31]

@@kiromaisus as these apply to guitar amp and pedal circuits, no, I wouldn't say it takes years. Well, it doesn't have to, but it might, depending on how much time one can devote to reading and researching. You certainly don't need an EE degree to understand it. But, you might get interested in EE as one learns how their amps and pedals work.

[@TheDesertRat31]

Resistors resist current and they can be used to "drop" voltage. It occurs as the natural operation of the component so it can be used to set voltage levels. Capacitors store electric charge. They are literally a break in a conductor (which is how it's schematic symbol looks). Capacitors are an open circuit to DC (zero frequency) so they can be used to block DC and keep it from places you don't want it, such as separating the power supply (DC) from the audio signal which is AC. The capacitance rating (in conjunction with a resistor, forming an "RC circuit" aka a "tuned" circuit) will determine the frequencies allowed to pass. Ex. In a fender strat tone circuit (the capacitor and the resistance of the potentiometer), they used .1 microfarad (μF) capacitors very early on. Now, .047 microfarad is common. With the tone all the way "down" ( where the capacitor is fully engaged in the circuit), the .1μF will sound "darker" than the .047 μF because the .1 is "larger," so it allows more lower frequencies. The .047μF is comparatively "smaller" and thus more restrictive. Thus, a .05μF would be a little darker than the .047, but brighter than the .1μF. Considering the math that the other poster mentioned, there are formulas in which you could calculate the actual frequencies where the cutoffs occur. That is how you tune the circuit through, either coupling capacitors, low or high pass filters, or tone capacitor (when used in a dedicated tone stack). They all tune to varying degrees, but most aren't adjustable by the user..... Unless you want to modify the circuit and swap components of different values. The tone stack gives the user the main adjustability.

[@levih.2158]

​@@TheDesertRat31 Thank you! that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. What's the reason for wanting to set voltage levels? Capacitors are only an open circuit to DC once it's charged right? or is it also open while it's charging? maybe the charging occurs so fast that it's not considered?

[@stephencampbell2735]

@@TheDesertRat31 well said. I appreciate you giving a brief explanation as opposed to just saying "nah you'd need years of study like to get it" lol

[@yagotrillo]

Awesome video Brian. Thanks

[@davidoriordan1393]

That’s honestly a pedal I would buy. Sounded fantastic

[@thearmeddiyer9343]

I love this. I have always been a hands on electronics nerd so with the cost of many guitar pedals, this content is priceless. Thank you

[@elwoodroadsmusic9639]

Came for the circuit build..stayed for the awesome riffs

[@richard.featherstone]

This is exactly what I want to see at this moment! Brian Wampler building a circuit and explaining what components are doing as he adds them. I've just bought a breadboard and some components to build a 1W amp as a first project, with a fuzz being the second. Please do more like this.

[@andreasdavour9973]

Really cool. Thanks for sharing Brian. This is really not found elsewhere so we who like circuits are quite happy new! :)

[@nightrous3026]

Now split the signal, on one signal do deep/high very fuzzy hard clipping with no mids, AND on the other signal do the same soft clipping you just did but scoop *some* of the mids out and give it a little fuzz here, and on this sides output give it another more simple soft clipping amp (leave the raspiness alone) You have now achieved the crunchiest tone ever. Congrats.

[@BradleyLivestreams]

Mind blown! Thank you for taking the time to present this. Great stuff!

[@jamesrow2203]

I had no idea what was going on, but somehow this is my favorite video since Josh from JHS did the "Boss is Best" video

[@GaryZupke]

Very cool. Great question Chuck!

[@ZetaFuzzMachine]

Amazing Mr Wampler! Thanks for the distorsion 101 lesson!

[@tomasjones3755]

Greatly appreciated. I'm about to mod my 1st pedal. It's a TS type with 3 diff diode possibilities. I socketed the diode section to jump to the breadboard. I was fine with all of that. Got a good selection of diodes, caps & resistors. My head scratch was altering the caps. Thx much.