Get my DIY distortion KIT that includes also a breadboard and ebook, so you can quickly learn how to start building your own pedals and modding them! tonecharmaudio.com/how-tobuild-guitar-pedals-diy-kit/ Gear I'm using and can recommend: thmn.to/thocf/bl0l22kdtm If you decide to order something from that link, I'll receive a small commission, which will help support the growth of Tone Charm Audio.
Try find a video about 1 transistor common emitter amplifier. Quite basic circuit. Only interesting part is diode between C - B of transistor. You can salvage parts from scraped TV set and build it. You will need cheap multimeter and soldering iron. Great fun to change values of components. Transistor didn't need to be exactly the same as used in video, try out what you have ;-)
Basic stuff...R1 is an impedance matching resistor. Along with C4 it forms a low pass filter at around 90 kHz (C4 sends high frequency signal to ground). C2 is a coupling capacitor whose sole purpose is to pass AC through it, but block the DC from feeding back into the guitar. R3 is a limiting resistor, preventing a dead short into the circuit, and setting the peak current flow. D1 is your clipping diode, the value and type of that determines how and where the peaks in the signal are clipped, shaping the 'distortion' signal. R2 sets the amount of signal going through the diode...on a typical pedal this would be a potentiometer (variable resistor) so you could change how much distortion you get. C3 is a smoothing capacitor. 2N3904 is a transistor. It takes the incoming AC signal from the guitar and the feedback from the 'distortion loop's (C3,D1,R2) and amplifies it using the current supplied by the battery. C1 is another coupling capacitor, isolating the DC to the circuit and passing the AC signal on. VOL is a potentiometer (variable resistor), that acts as a current divider sending some of the signal to ground and passing the rest out of the circuit, depending on where you have it set. You should look into a few basic videos or article about electronic components.
I have easier way for you. At that old boombox behind you in your kitchen, You remove the tape head from the cassete deck there ar 2 pins you connect your guitar cable to those pins, go to tape mode of the boombox for clean chanel and than press play for distortion :). Great video BTW keep going :)
amazing stuff. i don't know anything about electrical engineering, so maybe adding slightly more details would be helpful -- but I appreciate the short videos.
If you want to learn everything the easiest way, I suggest getting my DIY kit which comes with ebook and breadboard: tonecharmaudio.bigcartel.com/product/diy-distortion-kit-and-pedal-building-course
I Tried making the Distortion pedal from your DIY scematic/tutorial PDF. But IT has No Sound. I got a 500K mono linier potentiometer instead of the reverse log. And the 10 nf, and the 47 nf capasitor is a ceramic instead of a film. But other than that IT should be the same. I Also use a 9v batery instead of the DC input, but that shouldn't make Any difference. PLS help me🙏
@@paranoidamericans3331 Im not sure, but the problem might be the scematic because I just looked up what the pins on a potentiometer do, and in the scematic pin 3 and 1 are switched around compared to what I found on Google. However even arter trying to swap the conections from pin 1 and 3 on both potentiometers there was no Sound. I Also Tried to switch The Jack in and output but I only got some White noise😔
How do you choose all the values? Is it just experience or you have a model of the pedal in Simulink or similar software? I study engineering and have no problems in reading the schematics and knowing how everything works but I have no clue how eache value affects the sound
best part about breadboarding, is you can swap values without soldering. I'm just learning, and it's fun to build a circuit that I find online, and then change values to hear how it affects the sound! :D
@@AaronAubreyPhoto I built the circuit, sounds great! I also replaced the diode with a 1N34A and replaced the 15nF with a 100nf (104) on the input. It makes it sound more dirty than fuzz.
Right now you can learn the design of a basic distortion circuit with my DIY kit which includes a complete guide on how to customize the sound and additional parts with a breadboard for making a prototype! Order now: tonecharmaudio.bigcartel.com/product/diy-distortion-kit-and-pedal-building-course
Pedal sounds great. I'm new to breadboards and for some reason I just can't get this pedal to work. I have rebuilt it several times and I have all the correct parts. Any advise would be great. I can send you a picture of the board. Awesome videos. Thanks
@@shubhashish8568 The issue I was having was with the potentiometer, I added one to the pedal. Also my breadboard connections were a little loose. I wish I had a better answer for you but there was no secret. When you do get it working though it sounds fantastic. I'm going to add a tone pot to it at some point.
Awesome video again :) if I'm all set up I'm gonna make this one too with some adjustments I think ^^ the loop switcher seems like a must in pedal building or am I wrong?
You need to try it! Loop switcher it's just useful tool, not needed. You can also swap input and output manually on breadboard or make simple switch with cables connected to breadboard. Cheers!
Love to the video...... I went to a shop and asked for the components..... The shopkeeper asked about voltages of the capacitor...... What should be the voltages of the capacitor?
ᗪᘔIEń ᗪOᗷᖇY! -Will changing *C3* value alter the tone a lot? Or is it more efficient to change *C2* or *C4* ? -If I use *PNP Transistor* instead of this 2N3904 *NPN,* will _swaping the legs_ in the circuit make it work, or is it complete nonsense?
chciałbym zapytać czy w tym układzie da sie dodać potencjometr odpowiadający za gain? Efekt brzmi bosko, a tylko tego mu brakuje do perfekcyjnego w mojej opinii dist.
I've used mostly the same components the only difference being very slightly different value capacitors and I can't seem to get the same level of distortion you do, it comes out with a bit of distortion but not masses.
Hey love these videos, I need to check out more. Out of curiosity, what would need to change if you were building this pedal for a bass rather than a guitar? Or if nothing for this pedal what generally need to change for bass? I find lots of explanations about optimising for lower frequencies but not a lot of explanations for what that means on the board.
probably a low pass filter to get rid of the high end and let the distortion do its magic. if your bass has a low pass filter (the bottom knob closest to your jack) you can turn that knob up to acheive the same effect. if your bass doesnt have a low pass, a 10 micro farret capacitor on the input side of the pedal will work. you can also put that capacitor through a pot to adjust its effect on the pedal.
Tbh you could probably try it on a bass as-is. When I was broke I used a friends bass on my guitar pedals/amp and it actually sounded pretty good! Distortion is just clipping the sine wave, so it shouldn’t be too different on bass
I love this video and purchased all of the parts needed for this circuit. But I am still beyond confused. Not all of my parts look like your parts and I don't know how to read my multimeter, I guess..
Hey Genius.....it's great to show an effing birds eye view of the breadboard. One can really tell which rows you've used, etc. Super helpful. NO CLUE how you even have the input jacks mounted.
Read the schematic genius. If you can't comprehend that one then I'm sure theres some beginner tutorials on UA-cam out there somewhere where you can learn the most basic of the basics of electronics lmao
If You enjoyed this video you can buy me a virtual coffee to support my activity: www.buymeacoffee.com/tonecharmaudio Visit my other social media platforms: linktr.ee/tonecharmaudio
Put it in metal enclosure, because If wires are like this, they pickup all diferent stuff, so If you want "real product" you need to solder it and put it into enclosure. This is just for building and testing
Simple design... too simple. 1. Need a potentiometer to set drive input level. 2. Germanium diodes and PNP transistors are best. 3. Use 2 diodes, back to back, for symmetrical clipping.
Get my DIY distortion KIT that includes also a breadboard and ebook, so you can quickly learn how to start building your own pedals and modding them!
tonecharmaudio.com/how-tobuild-guitar-pedals-diy-kit/
Gear I'm using and can recommend:
thmn.to/thocf/bl0l22kdtm
If you decide to order something from that link, I'll receive a small commission, which will help support the growth of Tone Charm Audio.
Great video. Would be nice to have a video explaining the role of each component in the circuit.
Well said
This video has some discussion and waveform display ua-cam.com/video/otkW_q0_VIU/v-deo.html
Try find a video about 1 transistor common emitter amplifier. Quite basic circuit. Only interesting part is diode between C - B of transistor. You can salvage parts from scraped TV set and build it. You will need cheap multimeter and soldering iron. Great fun to change values of components. Transistor didn't need to be exactly the same as used in video, try out what you have ;-)
Basic stuff...R1 is an impedance matching resistor. Along with C4 it forms a low pass filter at around 90 kHz (C4 sends high frequency signal to ground). C2 is a coupling capacitor whose sole purpose is to pass AC through it, but block the DC from feeding back into the guitar.
R3 is a limiting resistor, preventing a dead short into the circuit, and setting the peak current flow.
D1 is your clipping diode, the value and type of that determines how and where the peaks in the signal are clipped, shaping the 'distortion' signal. R2 sets the amount of signal going through the diode...on a typical pedal this would be a potentiometer (variable resistor) so you could change how much distortion you get. C3 is a smoothing capacitor.
2N3904 is a transistor. It takes the incoming AC signal from the guitar and the feedback from the 'distortion loop's (C3,D1,R2) and amplifies it using the current supplied by the battery.
C1 is another coupling capacitor, isolating the DC to the circuit and passing the AC signal on.
VOL is a potentiometer (variable resistor), that acts as a current divider sending some of the signal to ground and passing the rest out of the circuit, depending on where you have it set. You should look into a few basic videos or article about electronic components.
@@MrStickthrower2001 hello sir, I want to know why need a low pass filter
Awesome video! Im using this for a school project, a guitar with built in distortion
yes man. Finally a UA-camr who actually shares something!
I'm happy you like it! Cheers!
This distortion is so sick, I actually began tearing up. Magnificent work
Planning on putting this circuit in my guitar
Have fun! :)
@@JediRangersWorkshop-StarWarssame, how'd it go? Any tips?
@@P_B_FR did/will you build yours from scratch, as a kit, or as a partscaster?
@@The1jediranger its an old tele style guitar that my uncle gave me. I'm pretty sure one of his friends made it, cos the cavities are big, odd shapes.
What's a loop switcher? could you make a video about it please?
Nice sounding pedal for so few components.
Yeah! I will also record video how we can mod it just swaping values of some parts to get different tones! Cheers! Thanks for watching. :)
I watch this with nighttime hot chocolate lol ... Love it will try it tomorrow hoping
I wish to us all pedal freaks only that kind of mornings! Do You have any guitar related morning routines? Let me know!
I have easier way for you. At that old boombox behind you in your kitchen, You remove the tape head from the cassete deck there ar 2 pins you connect your guitar cable to those pins, go to tape mode of the boombox for clean chanel and than press play for distortion :). Great video BTW keep going :)
I love the sweet warm tone it has!
That was a beautiful sky that morning ❤
Very impressive, i love this. Only thing I wanna say is that the "arrow part" in the transistor is called emitor and the opposite lead is collector.
What an awesome way to start the day. Great video!
Thanks! Good coffee and messing around guitar stuff it's a best morning routine! :D Cheers!
worked great for me!! question, can i add a pot somewhere for drive control? if so which resistor would i replace?
I think that you should replace R2 with a pot to control the gain of the distortion
Just stumbled on your channel. Great stuff here
Thanks! :)
Awesome video and awesome channel, keep it up! Cheers from Brazil!
Thank You! Cheers from Poland!!! :)
Very Nice sounding coffee, love it👌
Thanks! ☺️🙏
xoxo from California. Subbed for the MXR Dist+ mods.
Mate. Top video! This is goldust for a new starter like me
I'm happy to hear that Ryan!
Love it. I'm going to try this. Thanks!
Sweet tones!
Thanks Jody!
Never thought of using two breadboards side by side. I don't have black cables for the negatives. So I'm using orange. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing so kind of you.God bless you and I hope you have a wonderful day 🤗💯💖😁
Also how do we build a loop switcher?
I will record video about that soon! :)
@@ToneCharmAudio thanks man!!!
loving ur content
Is it possibile to use B1M potentiometer?
amazing stuff. i don't know anything about electrical engineering, so maybe adding slightly more details would be helpful -- but I appreciate the short videos.
If you want to learn everything the easiest way, I suggest getting my DIY kit which comes with ebook and breadboard:
tonecharmaudio.bigcartel.com/product/diy-distortion-kit-and-pedal-building-course
@@ToneCharmAudio can you please give me the circuit diagram link so that i can print it as an pcb
I Tried making the Distortion pedal from your DIY scematic/tutorial PDF. But IT has No Sound. I got a 500K mono linier potentiometer instead of the reverse log. And the 10 nf, and the 47 nf capasitor is a ceramic instead of a film. But other than that IT should be the same. I Also use a 9v batery instead of the DC input, but that shouldn't make Any difference. PLS help me🙏
same here, like weirdly exactly lol
@@paranoidamericans3331 Im not sure, but the problem might be the scematic because I just looked up what the pins on a potentiometer do, and in the scematic pin 3 and 1 are switched around compared to what I found on Google. However even arter trying to swap the conections from pin 1 and 3 on both potentiometers there was no Sound. I Also Tried to switch The Jack in and output but I only got some White noise😔
can you explain how to connect the jack audio to the circuit? i've been looking for explanations for that
How do you choose all the values? Is it just experience or you have a model of the pedal in Simulink or similar software? I study engineering and have no problems in reading the schematics and knowing how everything works but I have no clue how eache value affects the sound
Mix of calculating, hearing and experimenting :) I'm not using any simulation software. Thanks for watching! :)
best part about breadboarding, is you can swap values without soldering. I'm just learning, and it's fun to build a circuit that I find online, and then change values to hear how it affects the sound! :D
@@AaronAubreyPhoto I built the circuit, sounds great! I also replaced the diode with a 1N34A and replaced the 15nF with a 100nf (104) on the input. It makes it sound more dirty than fuzz.
Great!
Can you build one based on MXR M116?
Thanks! Maybe one day.
Right now you can learn the design of a basic distortion circuit with my DIY kit which includes a complete guide on how to customize the sound and additional parts with a breadboard for making a prototype!
Order now:
tonecharmaudio.bigcartel.com/product/diy-distortion-kit-and-pedal-building-course
Did you make a video for the switch pedal? I want one!
What power resistor do I need 0.4 or 0.6 watt?
1:10 whats that red thing called
2.1/5.5 DC Socket
@@ToneCharmAudio thx
Looks like a fun project. Thanks
Have fun! :)
Pedal sounds great. I'm new to breadboards and for some reason I just can't get this pedal to work. I have rebuilt it several times and I have all the correct parts. Any advise would be great. I can send you a picture of the board. Awesome videos. Thanks
I got it...fantastic sound. thank you so much
@@jasonhiggins4472 I happy You got it working. What was wrong? :)
@@jasonhiggins4472 I have tried to build it on Proteus.
I am not getting any sound out of it.
Can you tell me what would be the problem?
@@shubhashish8568 The issue I was having was with the potentiometer, I added one to the pedal. Also my breadboard connections were a little loose. I wish I had a better answer for you but there was no secret. When you do get it working though it sounds fantastic. I'm going to add a tone pot to it at some point.
@@jasonhiggins4472 Hey, thanks for the response.
Its working now but the volume is too low.
I can bearly hear it.
That's amazing, thank you so much!
where to buy the black box switcher?
hi bro great video. where do u buy components online? thanks
Awesome video again :) if I'm all set up I'm gonna make this one too with some adjustments I think ^^ the loop switcher seems like a must in pedal building or am I wrong?
You need to try it! Loop switcher it's just useful tool, not needed. You can also swap input and output manually on breadboard or make simple switch with cables connected to breadboard. Cheers!
Very nice !!
how did you make soft clipping with only one diode
can i make this on pcb board, if yes then how, like where to connect the ground and all, and where sould i design pcb board
sure you can make pcb of it, there are lot of different PCB design tools, try eagle or kicad
@@ToneCharmAudio thank you so much bro, you are of great help for my school project. ill ask you in this comment section itself if i get any doubts
@@ToneCharmAudio what mono jack did you use, and what footprints shall i assign to the capacitors and resistors and potentiometer
Great video !!!!
Love to the video...... I went to a shop and asked for the components..... The shopkeeper asked about voltages of the capacitor...... What should be the voltages of the capacitor?
The circuit only runs off 9V, so any low voltage capacitor of 25V or more will work fine.
My guitar related morning routine is to ensure I don't get up before midday 😎
I've just found your channel. I am enjoying it very much. I appreciate your work.
Can I print it as a pcb
where to buy the inout connectors
ᗪᘔIEń ᗪOᗷᖇY!
-Will changing *C3* value alter the tone a lot? Or is it more efficient to change *C2* or *C4* ?
-If I use *PNP Transistor* instead of this 2N3904 *NPN,* will _swaping the legs_ in the circuit make it work, or is it complete nonsense?
Where can i find the scheme?
Where to add a gain knob?
Love the videos!
chciałbym zapytać czy w tym układzie da sie dodać potencjometr odpowiadający za gain? Efekt brzmi bosko, a tylko tego mu brakuje do perfekcyjnego w mojej opinii dist.
Just add a potentiometer between emitor and ground.
I've used mostly the same components the only difference being very slightly different value capacitors and I can't seem to get the same level of distortion you do, it comes out with a bit of distortion but not masses.
Small value changes may give totally different results.
what is the value of the diode you use
Hey love these videos, I need to check out more. Out of curiosity, what would need to change if you were building this pedal for a bass rather than a guitar? Or if nothing for this pedal what generally need to change for bass? I find lots of explanations about optimising for lower frequencies but not a lot of explanations for what that means on the board.
probably a low pass filter to get rid of the high end and let the distortion do its magic. if your bass has a low pass filter (the bottom knob closest to your jack) you can turn that knob up to acheive the same effect. if your bass doesnt have a low pass, a 10 micro farret capacitor on the input side of the pedal will work. you can also put that capacitor through a pot to adjust its effect on the pedal.
Tbh you could probably try it on a bass as-is. When I was broke I used a friends bass on my guitar pedals/amp and it actually sounded pretty good!
Distortion is just clipping the sine wave, so it shouldn’t be too different on bass
Ok so now does it live on the breadboard or can it be installed in a pedal?
It's just for prototyping. After making a circuiut you have to design PCB and then solder all parts on it to put it inside a pedal.
Hi there, I built that one but only has a very weak overdrive, any guess?
Check all connections and parts values :)
I love this video and purchased all of the parts needed for this circuit. But I am still beyond confused. Not all of my parts look like your parts and I don't know how to read my multimeter, I guess..
Where can I get the schematic?
It's on the screen at 00:46
Chinese father: Write that down!!!
Write that down!!!!!
Haha :D
Hey I tried to build the circuit on Proteus before actually building it.
But I couldnt get any sound out of it.
And the circuit is perfect as shown.
Be sure to doble check connections, few people already built it and works without problems :) Cheers!
@@ToneCharmAudio Hey,
I got it but the volume is too low.
Can anyone explain how to connect all the parts. I dont understand the diagram sorry for bad english
Please see my video about reading schematics, it should help!
algo me dice que sos argentino
I'm from Poland! :)
Super !!!
That 47p feedback cap might be a bit OTT.
this is a bazz fuss right anyways great video
I like these videos but I’d like people to explain what each component is doing in the circuit.
Hey Genius.....it's great to show an effing birds eye view of the breadboard. One can really tell which rows you've used, etc. Super helpful. NO CLUE how you even have the input jacks mounted.
Read the schematic genius. If you can't comprehend that one then I'm sure theres some beginner tutorials on UA-cam out there somewhere where you can learn the most basic of the basics of electronics lmao
If You enjoyed this video you can buy me a virtual coffee to support my activity: www.buymeacoffee.com/tonecharmaudio
Visit my other social media platforms:
linktr.ee/tonecharmaudio
Thanks, Johnny Depp!!
how do i remove the white noises?
Put it in metal enclosure, because If wires are like this, they pickup all diferent stuff, so If you want "real product" you need to solder it and put it into enclosure. This is just for building and testing
.
0:43
Why Not Germanium?😯☝️💖😂😂😂
Im guessing it's a fuzz sound 🤔🤔
Souds more like an overdrive
i think ill make this instead of buying a 20 dollar pedal :)
Cap-is-eet-or
Up. Para scope
How the fuck did humans figure this out? It baffles my mind.
Brzmisz jak polak
Bo jestem 😅
😃✌️
I hear only fuzz
Fuzz is all you need!
In the video it's distortion 😁
Simple design... too simple.
1. Need a potentiometer to set drive input level.
2. Germanium diodes and PNP transistors are best.
3. Use 2 diodes, back to back, for symmetrical clipping.
It would be nice if you go slower so we would have time to follow..
Why are you used stomp box inbetween your new circuit, it's a fake sound, you only connect your guitar to the breadboard.
the stop box is a loop switcher to switch from clean to the breadboard.