The directory
15 circuits
Grouped in signal order rather than alphabetically, so the list reads the way a board is laid out. Every entry says what the circuit does, what to listen for, and where it belongs in the chain.
Filter
Dynamics
Fuzz
Fuzz Face
Two transistors that want to be plugged straight into the guitar.
Big Muff Pi
Two cascaded clipping stages and a tone stack that scoops the middle.
Octavia
A fuzz with a ringing octave above the note, produced by rectification.
Drive
Tube Screamer
Soft clipping and a midrange lift, built to push an amp that is already working.
RAT
Hard clipping to ground, and a tone control that runs backwards.
DS-1
A transistor boost into hard clipping, bright and unsubtle.
Centaur
A drive with headroom, because it runs its rails well above the battery.
Modulation
Phase 90
Four all-pass stages sweeping two notches, and exactly one knob.
Small Stone
A phaser with a resonance switch, wider and more vocal than a plain sweep.
Uni-Vibe
A lamp and photocells driving four deliberately mismatched phase stages.
CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
The chorus circuit out of a Roland amplifier, put on the floor.