If you've never ventured into electronics, but always wanted to make your own guitar pedal, then this video is for you.  The guys at DIYguitarpedals created this ultra-easy tutorial using the least amount of parts possible.  

Parts needed:

  • MPSA13 Transistor
  • 10K Resistor
  • 100nf Film Capacitor (code will be 104)
  • 2.2uf Electrolytic Capacitor
  • 1n4148 or 1n914 Diode

That's it.  Get a soldering iron and you'll be crankin' leads to Blue Cheer songs in no time.

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I was thinking the same thing. One could always use two diodes to achieve more of a true fuzz tone. I built a muff fuzz clone with unknown transistors and parts harvested from a an old 70's radio. I built an enclosure for it from left over cigar box scraps, similar to Scott aka Ted Farmer's. I had to shield the inside to keep the noise down at full throttle. I'll see if I can post a pic of it.

that is a quick and dirty circuit, He has quite a few more sophisticated kits available. As a bonus all the schematics are there on the website so you can roll your own.

I have just bought 1 kit and 2 other PCB's classic boost, dirt and boost and the last is a surface mount boost kit. going to use the boost circuit as a preamp for a small class d amp board i got off ebay. 

didn't we have another thread here about using diodes in the git to get a clipping effect, a DIY of a magic black cube thingy?

Yes it does work with any pickups Miranda, but louder & with magnetic pickups. I build my prototypes this way, so I’ll give u some advice about point 2 point wiring with transistors. Always connect an alligator clip (roach clip) lol, to leg of transistor wich u are soldering, this prevents it from getting too hot - too much heat will degrade it & destroys its tonal character. That’s it... I build this circuit quite often & let me tell u, it’s thick n fuzzy, perfect for slide. If u want more high end on your smaller strings then change 100n cap to 47n(.047uF)
Also if u want more/less mud change 2.2uF cap - 4.7uF(more) 1uF- 0.1uF(less)
Another is replace 10k resistor with 10k potentiometer to get some different sounds, this is called biasing the transistor. Most experienced builders bias to 4.5v measured @ collector of transistor, but there’s no law to biasing a Fuzz but what sounds good to your ears. Enjoy this is an awesome sounding & easiest circuit to build.
Another thing I forgot to mention is the diode can be substituted- 1n4001- bassy/muffled 1n34a,1n270- warm/earthy but audible drop in volume LED’s- saturated, more distorted than fuzzy. The original circuit had 10uF caps for both caps making it an awesome bass fuzz, but mostly liked by guitar players. This circuit was actually created by a fuzz enthusiast named Christian Hemmo some years ago. Get outta here & go build it already......

A fuzz works great on a bass.

Stripboard layout:

Attention: don’t forget about the trace cuts under R1, C1, C2 ?

Perfboard Layout:

 Thank you so much for these drawings, Brian! They are the icing for me in learning this stuff. I have been collecting your designs for later use. Would you recommend buying a "grab bag of transistors,caps, etc. or would I just end up with a few I need and the rest will just take up space?

Yes, I found out the hard way there’s usually only a few parts in grab bags that will be of use. But most components are cheap enough to buy 5 or 10 at a time. Tayda electronics is very affordable & quick, & ships from U.S. check them out? Cheers :)

i agree, grab bags are what they are for a reason.... to get rid of stuff that doesent sell..lol 

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