Friday, 2 January 2026

Mesa Boogie Mk. 1 Preamp

 A verified layout by Sebastian, thanks mate!

In his own words...

 

I forgot about this layout I did ages ago, built up (it works), and never got around to boxing up: a Mesa Boogie Mk.1 preamp. I'm personally partial to pre-gain tone stacks (e.g. '60s Fenders, Orange Graphic MkII), so I was disappointed with the Runoffgroove Uno having its gain control before the tone stack instead of after. So I knocked together the schematic below, which is basically a straight JFET emulation of the actual Mk.1 preamp if you plugged into Input 1 (i.e. the input with the extra gain stage). This gives the user both pre- and post-tone stack gain controls. I added a Marshall-style "treble peaker" bright cap between the input and 2nd gain stages, just for some extra clang, which can be engaged or disengaged with the "TP" switch. After the master volume control, there's a mu-amp output stage to mimic the push-pull amplification of the Boogie's phase inverter.

I used BF245A JFETs just because that's what I have the most of, but I tested it with PN4393s and J201s, and it worked just as well. The gain boost can be either a toggle or stomp switch; as the original boost was operated by footswitch, I opted for that in my build.

This thing's pretty fun. Like actual Boogies, it takes a bit to dial in a great tone—it's absolutely packed with bad tones, LOL—but it can do everything from crystaline Fender cleans to Weezer "blue album" growl to thrash grind. I hope other folks enjoy it!

 

 

 

PedalPCB / Chuck D. Bones Altered States

 Per request.

Schematic is avaiable HERE

 


Sunday, 14 December 2025

EHX / JHS Big Muff 2

 Schematic is avaiable HERE.

Two thumbs up to Lacesensor at Gigahearts Fx for doing most of the footwork for the trace. 




 

Saturday, 22 November 2025

Jürgen Haible Wasp CV Filter LM13700 version

 Chris Stelloh have been playing around with Jürgen Haible Wasp CV Filter and sent me two verified layouts..

In hi sown words:

 I had a chance to build up that LM13700 version of the Wasp Filter and found that using a much different value of potentiometer for the cutoff control made for a better filter sweep.

This one is also verified. It contains a level pot that cuts or boosts the CV level. The oscillation switch implements the modifications that people have come up with for the Doepfer A-124 - which is a module that is basically a wasp. Albeit with some minor part value changes, as well as a HEAVILY modified CV and frequency/cutoff section.