What's New At DIYguitarist.net? 3/20/2025
Polytone RS Modulator - Some detailed information about the Polytone RS Modulator, complete with a PCB layout and schematic. This is a great sounding and fun Leslie emulator/chorus/vibrato unit! 2/16/2025
Polytone Amplifiers Field Guide - Some detailed information about the various Polytone Model guitar amps. Will likely be updating this page a few times in the next few months. 1/1/2025
Polytone Model 104 "Maxi-Brute" Guitar Amp - Some detailed information about the Polytone Model 104 guitar amp with some very interesting features. 7/26/2024
The Jolana Star VII Electric Guitar - Some detailed information on this rare old Czech guitar with an interesting back story. 7/2/2024
Soviet-Era Guitar FX Field Guide - A comprehensive as possible guide to Soviet-era guitar effects of the 1970s & 1980s. 6/9/2024
The "SPEKTR-1" Fuzz Wah Vibrato Pedal - Everything you ever wanted to know about this very interesting Soviet era pedal from the late 70s/early 80s. 5/1/2024
Seymour Duncan Preamp Module Tweaks - Added info about tweaking Classic preamp modules to create a more Fender-ish sound from the 100 watt Convertible. 4/28/2024
Craig Anderton "VPR" Circuit Revisited - One of the first things I ever built a looong time ago. I recently decided to give this underappreciated circuit another try. This time it is I what I didn't quite achieve on the first attempt. 4/12/2024
How Many Ways Are There To "Wah Wah"?! - A light technical analysis of several different wah pedal circuits and enclosures. 3/20/2024
Ace Tone Wah Master - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Ace Tone "Wah Master" wah pedal. This one uses an interesting inductor-less circuit to achieve its sound. 3/15/2024
The Kay "Wah Wah" - Everything you ever wanted to know about this unique wah pedal which utilizes a variable inductor. 2/23/2024
The Univox "Uniwah" - Everything you ever wanted to know about this unique wah pedal which utilizes a variable inductor and an LDR/light bulb. 11/21/2023
NEETS Module 2 - Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series Module 2 - Introduction to Alternating Current and Transformers. An excellent publication with lots of great information! 11/21/2023
Allan Holdsworth Harness
- A bit of info on these mysterious units hand built by Allan Holdsworth in the 90s. 11/20/2023
Yamaha UD Stomp
- Ode to the mighty UD Stomp! A little bit of history, links to manuals, why I like it, etc. 08/09/2023
The "Viola" Sustainer Pedal
- Check out this very interesting Soviet era compressor pedal based on the M72-3 IC chip. 07/26/2023
The Mysterious USSR-era Kazan Guitar pedals. - Overview of the "Booster", the "Kvaker" wah and the "Vibrato" pedals. 07/01/2023
The Kazan Vibrato (Tremolo) - Another interesting and very cool cold war Russian creation. 04/21/2023
Re-Conditioning a Shin Ei Footswitch - An overview of what is inside of these heavy duty DPDT switches and how I fixed mine. 04/06/2023
The Kvaker Wah Pedal - Check out this interesting old cold war era Russian wah pedal. 03/24/2023
Gregory Amps Page - Added info about the Gregory "ADD-VERB" standalone solid state reverb unit. 02/17/2023
Interactive Fourier Analysis Tool - Very handy interactive Javascript tool re-written for me by G. Tranter that allows you to see and hear what adding harmonics to a fundamental waveform does. 02/16/2023
The Kadent Wah Pedal - The information found here also applies to the Banshee, Crown, Guild Stinger, Jax USA, Magnum and V-Jay wah pedals. 02/03/2023 Shin Ei WT-1 "Companion" Wah Pedal - Everything you ever wanted to know about this Japanese made wah pedal from the 1970s.
Coming Soon! (01/29/2023) Pages added 01/27/2023 ADA Flanger LED Mod
- How to add an LED to your ADA Flanger. Recommended for more experienced do-it-yourselfers.
ADA "Paul Gilbert Mod"
- How to do the "Paul Gilbert Mod" to your ADA Flanger. Easy enough that almost anyone can do it!
Pitchmaster SA-60 Guitar Tuner
- Added schematic to this page. It hasn't been double checked by a third party for errors. Pages added 01/17/2023 Alternate Guitar Effect Enclosures
- Some cool wood enclosures that I made, 100% scratch built Colorsound Wah Wah and using every day objects as enclosures.
100% Scratchbuilt Ampeg Phazzer clone - Made an almost replica of the great sounding
Ampeg Phazzer using thrift store cookie sheet.
Schaller Bow Wow Yoy Yoy - Some general info about this rare super cool and
great sounding wah pedal made in West Germany in the late 1960s.
Curve Tracer Fun - Various ways that you can use an "oscillocope octopus" to test inductors, guitar pickups, etc.
DIY Guitar FX Aids - 12 different things that make life a little easier when building DIY stompboxes.
Ergonomic DIY Pedal Board
- If you use wah pedal and/or volume pedal a lot, this just works helluva lot better than a rectangular pedal board.
DSO Shell Handheld Oscilloscope - A review of the counterfeit DSO Shell that I built. Works fine but didn't know it was a clone at the time.
Re-Building A Dissected Ebow - This is a whole series on the Ebow, from rebuilding torn apart Ebow to attempting a clone from the incorrect
internet schematic. Lots of testing too.
1965 Fender Showman - Repairing badly damaged speaker cabinet and more.
Parker Fly Deluxe Repairs & Mods - Stealth coil tap mod and repairing/replacing broken peizo saddle.
Estimating Guitar PUP Resonant Frequency - Contrary to popular belief, DC resistance DOES NOT tell you everything about a guitar pickup.
Ibanez DDL Hi-Cut Mod - Stealthy way of adding a hi-cut switch to Ibanez DDL delay without drilling any holes.
DIY ICL8038 Audio Oscillator - Revisiting one of my very first DIY projects.
DIY Jamman Loop Selector - Simple and cheap way to make you own loop selector for the ORIGINAL version of the DigiTech Jamman.
DIY Korg MS-01 - DIY workalike of a stupid expensive "vintage" Korg product.
My Desert Strum Amps - Little Gem MKII variants. Can you guess why I named it "Desert Strum"?
Real McTube Re-Visited - Improving upon my original build which was many years ago now.
Seymour Duncan Convertible PT Protection Mod - Adding a couple of resistors to protect the irreplaceable power
transformer in the 100 watt Seymour Duncan Convertible guitar amp. This is a must do!
Seymour Duncan Convertible Load Plug - How to make a simple and cheap load resistor plug for your Seymour Ducnan Convertible guitar
amp.
Seymour Duncan "Wattage" Control - What you need to know about that "wattage" control. I bet you're using the wrong tubes!
100 watt Seymour Duncan Convertible
- An overview of the amp and its features.
Seymour Duncan Convertible Preamp Modules
- An overview of the preamp modules that were made available for the Seymour Duncan Convertible guitar amps (there were 100 watt and 60 watt versions).
Shaka Tube Guitar Pedal Remodel
- Revisiting one of my early DIY builds and making it just a little more awesome.
Sine Wave Tester
- An interesting educational circuit that allows you to do waveform studies.
ssguitar.com Honey Amp
- Completely scratch built mini guitar amp (minus the PCB supplued by ssguitar.com).
Tektronix 453 Repairs-Mods
- Fixing burned out A Sweep Triggered light, fixing cooling fan and replacing power supply filter caps.
Fixing Dodgy Control on Zoom 9030
- That dodgy control might only need a little tweaking to make it work properly again.
Parker Fly Deluxe
- Added PCB layout of the circuit board used in the "pre-refined" Parker Fly Deluxe.
Pitchmaster SA-60 Guitar Tuner
- This obsure unit from 1975 uses an interesting circuit.
Black Cat Ring Modulator Schematic
- This schematic has all of the component values on it.
Black Cat Ring Modulator PCB Layout
- PCB layout that I derived from actual unit I had in my possession at one time.
Colorsound Inductor Wah PCB Layout
- PCB layout that I derived from only pictures. I'm not sure what exactly model it applies to.
Vox "Grey Wah" Wah Pedal Clone
- Added PCB layout of the orginal circuit board found in the first pattern enclosure.
Heathkit IO-4541 Quasi-Resurrection (YouTube) - Going thru o'scope that was
given me to and determining what if anything had to be done to it.
Heathkit IO-4560 CRT Replacement (YouTube) - Replacing the dodgy CRT in Heathkit IO-4560 with a NOS CRT. Also goes over some repairs
I had to do to get it 100% functional.
Heathkit IO-4541 FULL Schematic - The only full schematic in existence on the web as far as I know.
Mooer Shimverb - A Look Inside (YouTube) - I was curious as to how they packed so much into a tiny enclosure. This was my first mini-pedal, and
I really like it.
7/23/11: An error on the second schematic shown on the Fat Wah Page has been corrected - I had the switch shown in the wrong place. Sorry about that!
4/17/11: Page added about my 1995 Parker Fly Deluxe highlighting its features and design.
4/15/11: New Maestro Boomerang Page written by Joe Gagan has been added. Still under construction but mostly completed now.
4/7/11: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with a schematic for the "Mark XXX" bass amplifier.
2/24/11: The Seymour Duncan Convertible Troubleshooting/Mods Page has been updated with some information on how to eliminate channel "cross-talk".
8/18/10: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some information on the "Saturn 80" model.
8/18/10: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some information on the "Mark XV" model.
8/7/10: Details on how I added digital reverb to my Octal Fatness tube amp build.
6/30/10: Page added on what needs to be done to replace the noisy OEM switches on the Parker Mojo Nitefly. Click Here for all the details.
6/25/10: Information on a third version version of the Gregory Mark XX has been added to the Gregory Amps Page.
5/30/10: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with a some new information on the "Mark Sixteen" model.
5/17/10:
The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with a schematic for the "Mark XX" model.
4/26/10: A page has been added on how to repair an EQ Module for the Seymour Duncan Convertible guitar amp.
3/21/10: A page has been added about how I added a Fernandes Sustainer to one of my guitars.
2/25/10: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with a link to some pictures from the 1966 Gregory Amplifier Corp. catalog (at bottom of page).
2/19/10: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some information on the Atlas 1000 model.
12/24/09: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some information on what I believe is the original version of the Mark Eight.
12/19/09: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some information on the unusual "Handi-Amp II".
11/27/09: The DOD FX-17 page has been updated with a troubleshooting & repair section.
10/1/09: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with pictures of the Twenty One A head, the Twenty Two A head and the "Add-Verb" standalone reverb unit.
9/21/09: Parts 3 and 4 have been added to the Fundamentals of Signal Processing pages - the decibel and harmonic distortion.
9/18/09: The Seymour Duncan Convertible Page has been updated with a link to an ad from the 1987 issue of Guitar Player magazine showing Jeff Beck as an endorsee.
9/8/09: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with a schematic for the "Reverb 900".
9/4/09: I'm a roll lately. I added a new page on what has to be done to install a Seymour Duncan Allan Holdsworth pickup in a Parker Nitefly Mojo guitar. The pickup AND the guitar both had to be modified to make that work!
8/29/09: The Gregory Amps Page has been updated with some info on a previously unknown model - the "Reverb 900". Also a schematic for the Mark V & Gemini 700 has been added.
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