Moonrock

Legendary fuzz box by G.S. Wyllie, recently back in the spotlight thanks to the JHS Coyote.

Their take is pretty much a 1:1 with the original two-knob circuit, which you can build if you want. However, we'd recommend going for the full-fat version with tweaks and improvements by Cozybuilder at DiyStompBoxes.com, and incorporated in the Moonstone by DeadEndFX.

The basic box has Volume and Swell/Fuzz/Octave knobs. The latter is where the fun is. At low settings you have various degrees of swell control, from a slow build from silence to sound when you hit the strings. Further up and you have immediate fuzz with no swell. More and you have octave'up fuzz.

Go for the five-knob + toggle version to add a tone control, a fine tuning knob to tweak the swell attack, and a gain control rather than fixed fuzz amount. The toggle switches the swell on/off. We've ditched the Hi/Lo gain toggle to keep the control layout tasty. If you want lower gain, turn the knob down!

Designed for tiny, fiddly 3mm resistors which are super-neat, or you can go for standard 6mm if you're happy to mount them vertically. The codes are much easier to read on those.

The kit is supplied with vertical-mount pots which have round shafts, so you'll need set-screw fitting knobs. Pot spacing is 17.5mm so small knobs are a must.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components (depending on selected options), pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is available as an option with full kits, and will not take a battery. Knobs are not included.

Builds are only available with full kits including enclosure and vertical-mount pots. Please choose appropriate knobs.

Inspired by: Wyllie Moonrock / Coyote

Difficulty: Medium

PCB size: 50 x 50mm

Knobs required: 5

Enclosure: 1590B

Direct-Connect compatible (4-way)

Download the INSTRUCTION PDF