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This Weener Wah II has been in my project pile for several years.  I got a little distracted several times when I bought supposedly non-working Cry Babies for parts  only to find that they did work to some extent so I spent time dinking around with them.  The shell for this one was from the first one I modified (very badly).  The shell was cleaned up and painted with the attractive flat green, the foot pad was cleaned and buffed up a bit  and I added an LED just in front of the switch.  The board was populated basically by the BOM using an On/On/On DPDT switch for the Whack, a Whipple inductor and a McCono pot.

Here's the outside:


And the guts (I initially wired the pot backward which was kind of neat but have since changed it to the correct way):


Chuck

Jon Patton's Clipper Ship on one of the new-ish Osh Park boards.  The Germanium transistor is a 2N1304 with an hfe of about 75.  Diodes are a pair of D9Es and another unknown Russian.  Originally planned to put this in a 1590A but mis-drilled my last box so I temporarily put it in a 1590B from another project that was disappointing.  This one is not disappointing!  I'll clean this one up, label it and redo the clear coat sometime down the road.

Here's the box:


And the guts:
 

Chuck

The really cool thing about a simple distortion circuit ordered from Osh Park is you get three boards to play with.  This is the third of these I've built and they all have a distinct character and none disappoint.  For number three I used a pair of BAT46's and a 2N5089 similar to the Lovepedal JTM - supposed to give that raw Marshall sound.  It is pretty darn close.  With the volume at 4 o'clock and the gain about 11 o'clock it has just a bit of edgy grit.  Board from Osh Park and all other parts from Small Bear.

Here's the box:


And the guts:


I may have to get three more of these.

Chuck

Got an AC 130 tested at Hfe 250 as part of an ebay lot.  After pushing it around the bench for a long time I decided to try it in the Serpent Boost.  When I finished the board I couldn't find the darn thing so I initially put in an OC 140 that was around 110.  The sound was good but the volume just wasn't there - anytime you dime a Rangemaster variant ears should bleed right?  Searched the bench this evening and found the AC 130 - oh my, what a great little boost.  Board from Rullywow; box, knobs, pots, switch, jacks, green LED, and most of the fiddly bits from Small Bear.
Couldn't find a really bright box:


And here is the minimal gut content:


Chuck

Based on the Catlinbread Katzenkonig - a mutant, red-headed, bastard step child of a Rat and a Tonebender.  Finished this up last night but couldn't try it with volume until today - oh my.  Used 2N3904s from Tayda with Hfes at 270, resistors from multiple sources - trying to clean my parts bins, other parts including the mini Chickenhead knobs and painted Taiwanese 1590'B' from Small Bear.  This thing wanders back and forth across that blurry line between a fuzz and a distortion with sustain like a Big Muff.
Here's the box:


And the guts:


Thanks for looking.

Chuck

Built this one a while back and it went to the Box of Fail.  Had problems with another build that turned out to be a jack issue and realized I'd used the same ones in the Cave Dweller.  Replaced the jacks and now it's in the Box of Real Happy.  MadBean board, PT2399 sourced from Guitar PCB, black painted Hammond 1590A from Amazon, all other bits and pieces (except the jacks that didn't work) from Small Bear. 

Here's the box:

Found a plastic piece of something with a lot of holes in it in the garage, laid it on top of the box, masked the sides and sprayed a couple quick shots of satin purple, added some craft stamp labels then some satin clear and ran a counter sink in the LED hole.

Here's the guts:


Chuck

Second build of another Osh Park board.  Followed the BOM for the first one and have enjoyed it a lot.  This time around I used D9Es with a pair in D1 and D2 and three in D3 and D4.  I really like the D9Es more than either the LEDs or BAT46s of the first build and there is a subtle difference between the symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping.  Housed this one in a 1590B painted with hammer tone silver (ignore the whole multiple light coats thing and the stuff works much better).  Got the D9Es on ebay, got the 1590B from Mammoth and all other bits and pieces are from Small Bear.

Here's the box:


And the guts:


Chuck

This is my second build of the Minivache.  I used 1N4148s for D1 and D2, opted for D9Es in D3 and D4, and used a 2N5088 for Q1.  Initially used just a pair of D9Es which worked very well but then decided to try asymmetrical clipping - there is a subtle difference.  Board is from Osh Park, D9Es from an ebay seller, and all other bits from Small Bear.  This one puts on some nice warm grit and stacks very well with other pedals.

Here's the box:


And the guts:



Chuck


 

Finished up this one last night a little too late to do a full volume check (past my Grandson's bed time) but the first very low volume check was pretty nice.  Just did a full volume noodle after I got home from work - the smile will not go away! This is the 7th or 8th BMP variant I've built (3rd on the Halo board) and it now reigns as my favorite.  Used an aion Halo built to Red Army specs with the presence/mid range control.  Found the box (non-Hammond 1590B-ish) in the drawer; Halo and 3PDT from aion (duh); green wire from Guitar PCB; knobs (love those Vintage Cup Cakes), pots, jacks and switch from Small Bear; electronic fiddly bits from Mouser. 

The box:


And the guts:


Chuck

Got one of these cheap-ish:

Supposedly didn't work.  Biased it and cleaned up the drive pot a little and it works pretty good.
Guts aren't what I expected for a $200+ Handbuilt in the UK pedal but it works and sounds a little different from other Germanium Fuzzes I've built - and it comes in a space ship!
Guts:

I'd like to replace the battery with a 9v jack and a Road Rage but I'm a little frightened by the butt simple wiring in this thing. Is it as simple as connecting the black wire to the RR's -9v pad and the red from the input jack to the RR's G pad?

Chuck

A while back I built a Hipster 2014 with a pair of BC 108Cs that sounded pretty good but decided to mess around with it a bit.  Just for grins and goggles I stuck an AC130 in Q1 and OC141 in Q2 - SHAZAM!  Great fuzz that sustained most of the weekend.  The downside was I couldn't figure out how to close the box.  Then I looked at the Hipster 2016 and saw the trannies are side by side rather than back to back and the other tall stuff is mostly on the far side of the board so if I put C1 on the back side there was plenty of room to lay the trannies down.  Put everything in a Navy Blue Hammond 1590 A.  Board is the skinny Hipster 2016 with everything but the trannies, trimmer and stomp from Small Bear.  The trannies came from different ebay sellers - the OC141 has been in my parts stash for a couple years waiting on a home.  Fired right up after I put the AC130 back in - fell out of the socket while I was plugging everything in.  I need to play with the bias  little tomorrow night since my grandson was headed for bed as I finished up this evening.

Here's the box:

And the guts:


The Hipster 2014 is back on the board with a BC108C/BC109C pair and the bias tweaked a bit.

Chuck

I'm calling this Gray Beard because I like that better than Neck Beard (the name Warrior Poet used for the layout on the Guitar PCB site).  Face Bender would be an appropriate name for this cause that is sort of what it is - a switchable Fuzz Face and Tonebender.  Switch up is a real nice meaty Fuzz Face - switch down adds a pre-gain boost for something really, really close to a Tonebender MKII.  Two Guitar PCB GBOF boards with NPN germaniums (AC130s with Hfes of 72, 90, 125).  Knobs, pots, switches, and fiddly bits from Small Bear, generic 1590B from BLMS, and tested trannies from ebay.

The box:

And the (note terribly neat) guts:


Chuck

Just finished up this jewel.  Got to hurry up and get this post finished so I can get back to playing with it.  Osh Park board in a Pedal Parts Plus Pewter Vein 1590BB, I think the Chicken Heads are from Small Bear as are most of the other parts.  Trannies are a pair of 2N1304s (Hfe around 80 and 95) in Q1 and Q2 and an AC130 (Hfe 125) in Q3 - no idea what the leakage is but they must be about right.  Sweet spot with the bias between gritty treble and flabby bass is right at 7.43 v.

Outside:


And the guts:

Finally figured out having large piles of stuff on the bench is not conducive to getting stuff done so I've started going through various stalled/failed projects to try to clean up the work space a bit.  Some of the junk is, well, just junk.  Some of it is really good stuff.  Here are two new-ish successes that have become favorites.

First up the MadBean Cosmopolitan, etched by Haberdasher.  Started out great guns on this one and managed to get the pots reversed.  Once that was fixed it still just didn't do much.  Messed with it a bit swapping random NPN Germaniums in with no success I pushed this beautifully etched board toward the back of the bench.  Box, knobs and jacks were recycled in other builds.  Got a bug to give it another shot a couple weeks ago and ordered a low HFE Germanium from Small Bear to give it another try.  Initial shot was an improvement but there was no volume.  Then I tried an AC130 with an HFE of 60 I got in a measured batch from an ebay seller.  Wham! that's what it had been asking for all along.  I love this fuzz!

Here's the face (the colored knobs (from multiple orders from Small Bear) came from the Back of the Bench):


And the guts (pretend you don't notice the extra jack holes):

The Cosmo has been on my board since I first tried the AC130 in it - pulled it off briefly to put the screws in the bottom and again today to take the photos.

Next up is jpguitarworks Subtlety Drive Version 1.  No sob story of misfortunes with this Osh Park board, I just got distracted and let it sit populated for several months.  Found it this morning in a baggy with the pots and realized I had an undrilled box, jacks and switches to finish this up.  This is a great little board! 

Here's the face:


And the guts:



Well, back to the piles.

Chuck

Pickdropper's Delirium Tremolo in a white 1590A from BLMS, everything else except the board is from Small Bear.  Since I have all sorts of other boosts already I opted to leave the toggle off.  Went together with a minimum of profanity.  With a tiny tweak on the trimmer I've got tremolo!

The outside:


And the guts:


Chuck

Finished this one up shortly after the Screaming Baby.  This one also had a lovely little anodized CNC aluminum box that fell victim to absolute certainty on the drill press.  Also was dead on startup cause some bonehead managed to stick the 1N4001 in wrong way round.  Once that was fixed there were some issues with some of the BC 550Cs not seating well in the sockets.  The box was salvaged from another project, some resistors and caps from Mouser, rest of the resistors and caps from Tayda, Small bear provided the transistors, pots, jacks, knobs and switches, purple wire is from Guitar PCB.

Face:


Guts:

Finished this one up early this afternoon.  Basically an itty-bitty Tube Screamer stuffed into a 1590A with a couple mods.  Changed R3 and R13 to 511K (mod calls for 510s but all Mouser had were 511s), R6 to 2.4K, C3 to 51pf (stacked a 50pf and a 1pf), C4 to 100nf, C6 to 180nf, and used an OPA 2134.  I'm probably the only guy on the face of the planet that has not ever played with a stock Tube Screamer so I can't really say how this one is different but it is a nice, gutsy overdrive.  Stacks great with a MadBean Egghead!  Add a ROG Tri-Vibe and it goes full on SRV!  Had a real pretty green anodized CNC aluminum 1590 A+ box to put this in but managed to get brain dead at the drill press and ... the results were not optimal.  The cheapo no-name box from BLMS seems to work just fine though - someday it will get some color and a bit of decoration beyond the current craft stamp letters.  Board from Stomptown, some resistors from Mouser, the rest and most caps from Tayda, Small Bear provided jacks, pots, knobs, and the IC.  Used vero bits and some ribbon cable to hook up the pots - feeling kind of clever about that.

Plain Jane outside:


And the guts:

Just finished up Stomptown's excellent Black Magic MK II.  Matched trannies (Q1 hfe 72, L 64; Q2 hfe 89, L 88; Q3 hfe 155, L 99) and most other parts from Small Bear.  Box was finished with some Rustoleum paint/primer combo which dings pretty easily.  What I thought was a grounding issue turned out to be an out put jack issue that disappeared once it was tightened down well.  I opted to install C2 and C4 on the bottom of the board but it was still fairly challenging to get everything in that end of the box.
Here's the face:

And the guts:


Chuck

For a year and a half this Guitar PCB OMG Fuzz (Roger Mayer Mongoose variant) lived happily in a nice roomy 1590B.  Then somebody here got crazy and decided it needed to be stuffed into a 1590A - not really all that hard once the electrolytic caps had been swapped out for the short versions and the pots were changed from 16mm to 9mm (soldered to one of THCustoms' three pot boards).  The positioning of the pot holes in the box and the board mounted LED made things a little interesting but everything fit fine after just a little swearing and bending the tabs on the DC jack.  The box is a recycled Hammond - that gray patch used to be an LED hole (filled with JB Weld and sanded level).  Time, weather and imagination are just not conducive to a fine finish right now so it will stay as is until work slacks a bit.
Here's the outside:

And the guts:


Chuck

Continuing my 1590A obsession, addiction, infatuation , whatever ... Bought the populated and tested board from Gaffled - thanks Mike! Replaced the full sized electro caps with minis, popped everything in a Pedal Parts Plus Wave Purple box, with a violet LED from Small Bear, and I've got a nice phaser to go with my other itty-bitty pedals.  I really like this one, it truly is a smoothie.  Here's the face decorated/labeled with craft stamps:

And the guts:

Chuck