DIY Octavia pedals, boosters and treble boosters

Posted 2007-06-22 in Effects by Johann.

There’s a huge amount of DIY circuits available but most of them are scattered across the various DIY websites. In this post, I’ll provide you with links to simple circuits I have either built myself or heard good things about.

Octavia pedals

Green Ringer

The majestic Green Ringer (schematics). A classic. Downsides: Low on sustain. You can try my Atmos mod that adds LED distortion and a lot of output.

The Octo-Booster

Extremely simple and apparently a very clean octaver.

Bobtavia

JRC386-based octaver. Bobtavia video demo.

Pushme Pullyou

One of Tim Escobedo’s octavers (schematics). Pushme Pullyou clip, Pushme Pullyou transistor experiments.

Boosters

Boosters make your signal louder. Most of the time, they will add some distortion on their own. Boosters using J201 JFETs provide “juicy,” soft compression.

Boosters are some of the simplest circuits. If I can build and package one in two hours, you can do so, too.

Stratoblaster

Super easy and nice, round sounds.

Booster recommendations

Great review of popular boosters and the most creative packaging I’ve seen in a while.

AMZ Mini-Booster

Jack Orman’s highly popular booster/overdrive.

Fetzer Valve

A booster with some theory behind it. Easy, too.

Discrete FET Guitar Preamp

This one is just perfect to have around as a utility boost.

Treble boosters

Omega

Runoffgroove’s attempt at making a better, modern Rangemaster.

Brian May treble boost

No knobs – just boost!

Happy building!