Pushme Pullyou – simple DIY octaver, slightly modded

Posted 2007-10-22 in Effects by Johann.

So I experimented with various transistor types in the Pushme Pullyou which is a simple DIY full-wave rectifier designed by Tim Escobedo. I finally settled on a 2N5089 (NPN Silicon) and a low-gain AC128 (PNP Germanium) transistors in the rectification stage.

The AC128 sounded nice, with a bit more dirt and “Germanium feel” than the AC125 that I also tried. The differences were subtle however.

Modifications

The mods I made to the original circuit:

• No bypass cap.
• 2 2N5089 transistors, 1 AC128.
• 0.047 µF input and output capacitors.
• No 470 Ω resistor.
• 4.7 µF capacitors in the rectifier.

The Pushme Pullyou verboard layout I used. The 1 K gain pot and the 50 K output volume pot aren’t included.