My Guitar Effects

I've been a tinkerer since I was 10 years old. Around that time I built my first computer from scratch and started learning to play the guitar. Building (or hacking) guitar effects was a natural thing for me to try. Some of my experiments even worked.

If I do have some effects to sell, you can [ Check My Reverb Shop ]

Rhodes Fuzz Box ~ Orville 'Red' Rhodes contraption that made the 2000 Pound Bee

Red Rhodes name kept coming up when I was researching the Spirit in the Sky sound. Out of seven topologies I identified, Rhodes seemed to be connected to three of them... maybe. Rhodes was a creative inventer as much as he was a great musician working with The Wrecking Crew in the 1960s and 70s. He built the Rhodes Fuzz Box in a small enclosure with a single knob and switch in 1960 or 61, shortly after he moved to LA.

Rhodes Fuzz Box was used by Billy Strange (another Wrecking Crew musician and Ventures guitarist) on Ann Margret's "I Just Don't Understand" and on The Ventures "2000 Pound Bee". While there are no known examples of Rhodes Fuzz Box that survived, it is thought that his original circuit could be the Fuzz Rite circuit that ended up in the Mosrite Award GB-500 and GB-1000 amplifiers or that it may have even been the original design for the Jordan Boss Tone. I am currently testing both circuits against a third possible design to see how well they produce the tone captured in the Ventures recording.

Easy Signature Sound ~ Thomas McClary, The Commodores, and that iconic guitar tone in Easy (Like Sunday Morning)

Most people say that the solo sounds like it was recorded direct into the console and that it overloaded the preamp. It does remind me of when I played through my dad's Teac reel-to-reel into his hi-fi. It was all transistor based and could easily overload.

I don't know much about McClary. In the few pictures I've seen of him, he seems to play guitars with two humbuckers and set the switch in the middle so that both pickups are on. That could be part of the sound.

A lot more research is needed to chase this tone down.

Spirit In The Sky

This is the rabbit hole I ran down for over a year. How can I get the fuzz sound in Norman Greenbaum's Spirt in the Sky?

According to Greenbaum himself when asked, the tone came from "a Telecaster through a Fender amp with a custom fuzz box... Lots of reverb." From the video of the song, his Telecaster had a two-knob fuzz installed under the pickguard. The on/off switch is visible too. By December 1969 when the song was released, there were a number of possible two-knob fuzz circuits available. It is likely that the fuzz box was originally designed to plug directly into the guitar (e.g. the Jordan Bosstone or Vox Distortion Booster), and was fit into the Telecaster. That narrows the possible circuits used. To add to the mystery (and complicate matters), according to some folks the battery was probably going dead. Sadly, this guitar was later stolen (or permanently borrowed), so there's little else to go on.

Focusing on fuzz circuits available in the 1960s, I identified four different topologies (seven if you count the variants) to try to duplicate this tone (using the names of the most common examples I found):

  • Mosrite Fuzzrite - Two inverting gain stages with subtractive mix. Phase difference blended this way adds a resonance harmonic.
  • Fuzz Face / Tone Bender / Vox Distortion Booster - Cascading gain stages.
  • Sam Ash Fuzz Box - Cascading gain with diode clipping after 1st gain stage.
  • Jordan Boss Tone - Cascading gain with diode clipping after 2nd gain stage
  • Maestro FZ1 - Cascading gain with adjusted bias to the base of 2nd gain stage.
  • Big Muff Pi - Log amplifier stages.
  • Octavia Fuzz - Multiple gain stages with a rectifier between to double the output frequency.

And then add to that...

  • Dead Battery - A lower voltage or current-limited voltage supply to the above circuits. I've used a simple potentiometer before to lower the voltage, but a dead battery is more complex than that. You have to consider the current output and internal resistance as well.

WESTCOAST FUZZ ~ Based on the Jordan Boss Tone California circuit.

This is the result of all the research that went into figuring out the Spirit in the Sky tone. It's glitchy and takes a while to dial in the sound. Once set, the tone is sublime.

I've released my video on the subject on my YouTube channel here, What Fuzz was used in Spirit in the Sky.

I recreated the California version of the Jordan Boss Tone in the follow up here, The Jordan Boss Tone Experiment | Does it Match the Original?.

MUTE ~ Output Signal Inhibitor

This is the first in my Utility Pedal Series effects. Although designed primarily as an end-of-chain output mute, the MUTE pedal is a general-purpose signal muting device and may be used anywhere in an audio signal path where temporary signal interruption is desired. These will be listed in my Reverb shop as they become available.

You can watch the creation of MUTE on my YouTube channel.

MASTER POWER CONTROL ~ Low Voltage Power On/Off Switch

This is the second in my Utility Pedal Series effects. This simple Master Power Control sits between the DC power supply and the pedalboard power brick. This one switch powers the entire pedalboard on or off while keeping everything permanently wired and ready to play. These will be listed in my Reverb shop as they become available.

You can watch the creation of MASTER POWER CONTROL on my YouTube channel.

EVERDEAD ~ Dead Battery Simulator / Power Sag

I never intended to sell the EVERDEAD. It's a simple little utility pedal I made for my own experiments with battery-starved fuzz tones. But enough people asked if they could buy one that I built a small batch. I'm still making the next batch and they will be listed in my Reverb shop as they become available.

You can watch the demo of EVERDEAD on my YouTube channel.

The Fuzz Capacitor ~ Interactive fuzz circuit I'm working on

The Fuzz Aldrin is a simple circuit, sounds great, but it's not very unique. I experimented with diodes and cascading circuits to get a different sound. When I needed a set of diodes for the circuit, I used this flux capacitor project I was working on and the sound was different enough to be something unique. It's more gritty sounding. I like it. It still has a way to go before I sell them. Stay tuned.

You can watch my first attempt recorded years ago on my YouTube channel.

Transparent Overdrive ~ A play on words and a fun project.

As a play on words, the Transparent Overdrive is transparent both sonically and visually. It features a single gain control with transparent "speed knob" and a true bypass switch mounted in a clear Hammond 1591BTCL enclosure. Given the fragile freeform circuit construction, a battery is not used in preference of a 9Vdc power supply. I enjoy the pun, but mainly I use this as a starting point for most every guitar effect and amplifier project I work on. It makes a great first-stage gain section.

I make these from time to time when folks ask me to. Much like the Fuzz Aldrin, they don't last long when I list them for sale on Reverb. If you want to make your own, I included the plans in my [ Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier Notebook ].

Fuzz Aldrin ~ It's not very original but they sold really well.

I made a version of this fuzz years ago for my main 'dirty' tone. Controls are as easy as they can get:
Volume knob will control the output from silent to screaming loud when the effect is active
True bypass switch activates the fuzz effect (and lights the LED on Fuzz Aldrin's helmet)
Requires 9vdc power supply (not included) 2.1mm, negative center (it's the Boss standard most effects use these days)

About Fuzz Aldrin: The Fuzz Aldrin image originally came from a project, "committed to cats, donating 5% of proceeds to animal rescues through Sadie's Fund ... in order to raise money for various local ... animal rescue organizations and shelters." By using the same Fuzz Aldrin image, SquidWerks will also donate 5% of the proceeds to local animal rescue organizations and shelters such as the North Alabama SPCA and ASPCA.

A Modular Approach

I've been creating circuits or modifying off-the-shelf electronics for a long time. On every project I kept having to make the same sections over and over. Why not just make that section once and reuse it for some quick prototyping?

Thus, the idea for a modular approach came to me. I could have an input buffer, output buffer, tone shaping, delays, oscillators, and so on, all interchangeable. I could connect them in any order or combination to try something new quickly. It's not an entirely new idea (checkout Pittsburgh Modular Patch Box system which is sadly no longer available). Rather than approach modular guitar effects like a modular synthesizer, I wanted to approach it from a more familiar stomp box perspective.

This was the inspiration for my new book... [ Click here... Cigar Box Guitar Amplifier Notebook ]

4.11 Split/Gain

When I started to use multiple amps, I needed a way to split my guitar signal into a few buffered paths. Rather than just buffer the signal, I added a 20dB gain stage in there as well. It adds a nice uncolored overdrive to the sound.

Another use for this effect is to form the first stage in modular guitar effect design. Rather than having to build a buffer for every new guitar effect idea I have, I can just use 4.11 Split/Gain to have a head start.

4 n2 1 mix down

This is basically the opposite of the 4.11 Split/Gain. With the 4 n21 mix down, four inputs can be mixed together with simple volume knobs. Output volume of the result can be adjusted as well.

Another use for this effect is to form the last stage in modular guitar effect design. This is a simple way to blend wet and dry signals into an amp.