Fuzz/Overdrive Hybrid Suggestions.

[SeaWitch]

So, I built the Red Llama a while back, and it is an effect I keep coming back to...it just sounds so great.

I'm looking for suggestions on more builds that are in the realm of this fuzz/overdrive effect.

Maybe more 4049UBE based overdrives?

Any feedback on some builds I can tear into is greatly appreciated...thanks!

[Claudiog]

into my mind i remember EHX Hot tubes, an smaller version called Hot Harmonics and Way huge Fat Sandwich is amazing but more distortion than overdrive

[Mulekicker]

Not 4049 based, but I like the EQD Bellows quite a bit for fuzzy drive tones. Also, the BJF Bonebender 1 has a surprisingly great range of gain available and really shines in the 1st half of the dial. As does the MidFi Demo Tape. It has a more raggedy edge that I love (and I don't always dig op amp clipping).

[nocentelli]

Mulekicker wrote

MidFi Demo Tape. It has a more raggedy edge that I love (and I don't always dig op amp clipping).

The Demotape was the first thing I thought of when reading the original post: Nice range of gain from totally clean all the way to pretty aggressive, uncompressed fuzz, and it cleans up nicely from the volume pot. Other circuits that straddle the OD/fuzz divide include the Fairfield Barbershop (J201s required - I finally got some SMD versions and adapter pcbs to try it out), some 4007 dirt circuits like the Catalinbread V8 Fuzz engine (layout here - http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/Catalinbread-V8-Fuzz-Engine-td33154.html) and the Dinosaural/Dan Coggins Tube bender, which is discreet transistor-based.

[SeaWitch]

Thanks everyone!  I have the Demotape layout ready to go...I love this place!

[Feral Feline]

I'm a big fan of the 4049 chip, here's a hodgepodge of my notes on it and related info and projects from various levels of dirt... to switching and EQ applications... hope somebody finds this useful...

BTW, some of the formatting I use for quoted material and what not didn't make it through the cut'n'paste process, but you can probably figure it out...

*****************

TUBE SOUND FUZZ ▷०▷०

LLAMA ▷०▷०

PURPLE PLATYPUS ▷०▷०



BLACKSTONE OD ▷०▷०▷०
(clone Mysterioso Jr [single channel] by Madbean; so is there a Mysterioso Sr ie both channels ala the original?) 
NEEDS to be first in the chain, or put a buffer buster in front of it, or just build one in.
 
TUBESTEAK Moosapotamus ▷०▷०▷०  ▷०▷०▷०
Moosapotamus Tube Steak & Bax w/ 3inverters per bass and treble or a 3-band Bax with 2 inverters per band.

HAMMER’s MODDED TUBE SOUND FUZZ ▷०▷०

MR EQ ▷०▷०▷०▷०
 http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=47097.0
  A hidden feature of this build is that there are two spare gates there. Based on the graphs in the article, one could make two extra stages tuned to 250 Hz and 6 kH, thus being able to control body and presence as well.
  Also, part of the sound of this build has to do with the slight coloration added due to the nonlinear nature of the CMOS inverters when input signal is large.
   I added a Craig Anderton Tube Sound Fuzz to the one I built using the extra inverters. I posted a short review some time ago.
  Two important things to consider when attemping to use all the inverters are:
1) Power consumption. Each inverter setup to work in its linear region eats up current.  I don't know exactly how much, and depends on if you put a 100 to 470 ohms resistor on the Vdd pin of the chip, but six inverters will shorten battery life. If you plan on using a DC adapter this is of no concern.
2) Crosstalk between different stages. If you have at least one stage that's clipping, it is most likely the high frequency content of the clipped signal will leak into the others and become audible. This might not be good if you plan to build an overdrive and an EQ circuit in the same package. YMMV.


ROG UBE SCREAMER (808) ▷०▷०▷०▷०▷० 
:: See HEARTBREAKER PCB [▷०▷०▷०▷० screamer w/o 5th for clean, ▷०▷० Llama  ]

ROG 22/7 (muff) ▷०▷०▷०▷०
Also have a peek at the https://github.com/burrsettles/pedals CYCLOPS, a tweaked version of ROG’s muff-like 4049ube build.

ROG 3-Legged Dog :: ▷०▷०▷०
On effects layouts blog, a commenter suggested extra inverters be used for EQ; MR EQ needs 4, so there isn’t enough inverters left over for such an endeavour, but perhaps a JAMES or BAXANDALL based on … Kula’s clipper bax, shove an inverter in front and behind… that leaves one inverter left… maybe cross-talk though, Jfet pushing… hmmm…

ROG "DOUBLE D" or "DOUBLE-D" ▷०▷०▷०▷०▷० 5-inverters
I like this one. Add some tonestacks as suggested and some clipping diodes to the “bounce” (or to the jiggle, see which sounds better, possibly both)
Maybe this is the one to add Mr EQ to it [necessitating another IC]. AND/OR build the Blüe Monster

FORTY NINER - MARK HAMMER ▷०▷०
& another ’49er’ by Brett Robinson (now called the Smoothomatic, methinks). 
Smoothomatic : 
as i recall, mark and brett actually discussed this in a thread on diystompboxes.com. it’s been a while since i read it, but i think mark hammer used the name first and brett was going to change the name of his circuit. probably, the smooth-o-matic is the new name that brett chose.

MARK HAMMER’s FORTY-NINER 49er: It’s “an overdrive pedal, but the gain in the 4049 has been tamed down quite a bit, compared to the Anderton TSF. Having built a bunch of 4049-based pedals, I have to say that I prefer the sound of a 4049 that is being hit with a hot signal, but uses low-ish gain itself, rather than producing the gain in the 4049.
  The little op-amp section with the 3-position toggle is simply the Anderton Frequency Booster circuit that allows you to insert some pre-emphasis before the clipping to achieve different kinds of resonances. It is not critical to include.
  I can’t begin to count the number of overdrive pedals I’ve made and customized, and I often come back to this little design, simply because it sounds great with my rig and playng style. If you like the tone of players like Mike Campbell (Tom Petty), this is capable of achieving it.”
FROM MARK’s AMPAGE PAGES: “The Forty-niner is a 4049 hex invertor based overdrive capable of a wide range of sound, though a particular character of distortion remains in all settings. It includes a boost function that adds a bit of gain and can add some serious boost at several specific frequencies.”


HELTER SKELTER/POLISH LOVE

GREEDTONE OD


EHX HOT TUBES ▷०▷०▷०▷० 
GAUSS MARKOV HOT HARMONICS
✔︎ LECTRIC FX HEIST WURST


CHRISTINE ▷०▷०▷०▷० PCB AVAILABLE FROM Music PCB 
 “Two versions of the 4049 are suggested, the CD4049UBE  and the MC14049BCPG. Pick the UBE if you want it to be more like a fuzz pedal, pick the BCPG if you want more of a noise maker. I'm using the 4049UBE, although the near-perfect bird noises of the BCPG are tempting.” — Tremendous Lunch

SINE WAVE GENNIE
Sinewave approximator (like the smoothie 49er — Brett Robinson


TSF ▷०▷० — hot harmonics ▷०▷०▷० hybrid switchable (would only use a total of 3 inverters)
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=111718.0
         SWITCHABLE Tube Sound Fuzz to Hot Harmonics
This is a fantastic way to use most/all the inverters while avoiding cross-talk leakage.
  Mod the Heist Wurst if able?


Good info and various projects listed here:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=59155.0
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=40942.0

TRY RG KEEN’S (ROG) 4069-to-4049 SOCKET-ADAPTER TRICK

BLACKSTONE APPLIANCES MOSFET OD

PIGTRONIX 
FAT DRIVE perf  eyeah, vero dunno
PolySaturator (PEDALPCB POLYHOG)


MADBEAN DANGER ZONE :: like a modded Blackstone with different input buffer (Bypassable) and Muff Tone Stack

Laurier's Handy Dandy Little Circuits/ Switching

SCHUMANN LION X
Leo Dead End FX

NOCTO LOCO by 4MS

PAiA 9305 Tubehead

Velleman Parked Wah Sensor

programmable switcher w Amp Control RG Keen

STONE GREY

ROBOT DEVIL — Dwarfcraft jedspeds

Beschreibung Flanger 117 (DEUTSCHE).pdf

COLLOSALUS MadBean Flanger (MXR 117)

MadBean Current Lover Electric Mistress FLANGER

Ultraflanger Hollis

BLÜE MONSTER by Bengt Vallhagen PCB from Moody Sounds
This one’s quite interesting … uses all the inverters I think, and it uses a TL074 !
RED RHINO TIGER SCHEMATICS

INVISIBLE TOUCH topopiccione
 
Tone God wicked switches

SOST Haible

HEART-BREAKER :▷०▷०▷०▷०  ▷०▷०: 1590N1 Cameltoe-alike. Effects Layouts storyboardist’s combination of the Llama and ROG’s UBE Screamer but without the clean blend.
Distort-O-Matic I, from the Boscorelli Stompbox Cookbook
MORULA BASS AUTOWAH



HOW ‘BOUT REPLACING TRANSISTORS with 4049UBE? USE 22/7-MUFF & Llama as a guide for subbing out TRANSISTORs in CIRCUITS for the 4049ube
LUNAR LANDER
WHAT ABOUT ALL THE MU-AMPish BUILDS? 
LANEY : GPCB’s Sabotage 6 trans = 6 inverters?
PLEXI PLUS : GPCB  5 inverters
Xotic BB / Aion Perelandra
TONEBENDER ADAPTATION :: And build sort of 2 versions so all six inverters get used up …
CHANNEL SURFER
FLIPSIDE: A cross between the EQD GREY CHANNEL and RED RHINO mods
2 sets of 3 inverters for two channels (no stacking of channels, just either/or).

OR sub out the op-amps of other circuits, using UBE-SCREAMER & 49er AS TEMPLATE FOR OPAMP CIRCUITS



STONE GREY DISTORTION 4069ube

BUFFERED & VARIATIONS
DWARFCRAFT GREAT DESTROYER ▷०▷०▷०*(BUFFERED! or use MC14049BCP if can find any)
B A N Z A I  HAS 4049 BUFFERED  [banzai bonzai yeesh]

Buffered vs Unbuffered discussion
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=46791.0


INSANITY BOX ▷०▷०
Aron Nelson/Jack Orman *(4049AE)


BUFFERED: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=46791.0
Philips HEF4049B, National CD4049BMJ/BCJ devices and 74C devices are buffered. The Intersil CD4049BMS is shown as unbuffered on the schematic, but seems likely to be buffered.

RG KEEN:  
        The "UB" stands for "un-buffered", the "B" for buffered".

        The confusion is that the 4049UB and 4050B are listed on the same datasheet. 4049 is a logical inverter, 4050 is noninverting. The 4050 is inherently buffered, as there is another gain stage in each of the six sections, making it "buffered". The 4049 inverter comes in both a 4049UB and a 4049B version, unbuffered and buffered respectively.

        The 4049UB and 4069UB are useful for pedals and analog amplification, as their internal gain is small enough that they can be biased into the linear range. The B series inverters have so much gain that they're effectively impossible to get ot amplify - everything comes out as square waves, and they can't easily be biased to give amplification.

        UB is what pedal makers want, usually. UB and B are not interchangeable for analog applications.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=116440.0




4049 buffered, ie it doesn't have a "U" on the suffix:
Christine
Destroyer
Double Destroyer
Insanity Box