Maestro Fuzz Phazzer Schematic and PCB layout

 I was recently asked to repair one of these. 

The traces on the board break easily, so I had to repair some of those, and after a while I got a nice filter sweep and some distortion. But it would always let through some clean signal even when the balance control was fully towards the fuzz side. Turns out an old battery leak had made one of the sides of that pot always have an extra 20k of resistance, while the other side worked like normal.

I traced the pedal and redrew the schematic that was on the inside. 

I hope this can help someone else who wants to build or repair one of these.

Differences between the Musitronics and WD Orange Squeezers.

Ever since I became interested in the Dan Armstrong effects I've heard that the WD versions were different and not as good as the originals. 

A friend recently gave me a WD Orange Squeezer and I just couldn't get it to sound like the Musitronics version I have.

So today I finally traced the WD to see where they differ. 

The most obvious differences are that the WD uses an LF351 chip, SK30A JFETs and a silicon diode,

whereas the Dan Armstrong used a 4558, 2N5457's and a germanium diode. 

Here's the schematic and PCB layout for the Musitronics version: 

 

And here's the WD:

If you see any errors, please let me know and I'll do my best to correct them. 

 

Yellow Humper

PCB layout:

Schematic:

I drew all of these based on pictures I found online. Most (if not all) the schematics I could find for these online did not match up with the detailed pictures of the circuit boards I had found. The only original one I own myself is the purple peaker and when I compare that to the copy I made based on the drawings, they sound identical. These really are wonderful effects, some more subtle than others.

My hope is that this will make people build copies instead of ruining/rehousing the vintage units.

Please give me a little credit and Dan Armstrong a hell of a lot more credit if this helps you in any way.

Enjoy!

/Åke Strömer

Blue Clipper

 

Schematic: 

PCB:

Red Ranger

PCB layout:

Schematic:

 

Purple Peaker

PCB layout:

Schematic:

 

Green Ringer

 

Schematic:

PCB layout:

Orange Squeezer

PCB layout:

Schematic:

Triangle Big Muff Perfboard Layout

 

Here's a layout for the Perfboard triangle Big Muff.

For a schematic go to Kit Rae's incredible Big Muff page. 

http://www.kitrae.net/music/big_muff_history.html#TriangleBigMuff

Harmony H1201 Pickguard Template

I bought a 1966 Harmony Tenor guitar this week that I've started to fix up. It's missing the pickguard so I made a template based on the footprint of the old one and some pictures I found online. Now I'm just waiting for the pickguard material to show up.