DD7 Guitar Pedal Creation
DD7 Guitar Pedal Creation is a group project by Lewis Cook and Saiyab Ranjit. We set out to create guitar pedals from scratch.
Lewis Cook--Pollution Machine Fuzz I am a huge guitar gear nerd and I'm obsessed with fuzz so I wanted to try my hand at creating a fuzz pedal from scratch. However, I am a CS major and I have no background experience in anything ECE or circuit-related so there was a learning curve. I started out with this circuit design. First I had to acquire the parts. I talked to the ECE department at WPI and I received most of the common parts I needed. For the more specialized parts (like knops and stomp switch) I had to order them on Amazon. I then started building the circuit. This was a long and complicated process because as stated earlier I had no prior experience of circuit building. But I eventually figured it out and got the pedal to produce a fuzz sound--albeit not a great sound. I then drilled holes and attached the hardware to my metal case. In the end, I had no time to figure out shielding so to use the pedal you need to take the breadboard out of the case to prevent any interference or feedback loops. I named my pedal the pollution machine because the sound coming from that box should be classified as noise pollution and dangerous to the public.
There are many things I would’ve loved to fix/add if I had more time. Firstly, and most importantly, I would’ve liked to fix the shielding issue. Currently, there is absolutely no space inside the stomp box to include any sort of shielding. If I had more time I would find a way to either use some acrylic spray or try to fit some cork inside the case to make the pedal actually useable inside the box. Furthermore, if I were to restart this project, I would probably try to use a different circuit than the one I selected. The circuit I selected produces a lot of unwanted static and feedback, and I am pretty sure the design is the culprit because I re-soldered multiple times and nothing changed. Finally, I would’ve loved to add more aesthetics and possibly paint the stomp box.
Hardware:
-Guitar, Guitar amplifier, cables, 9-volt battery
Software:
- None