Crysis

Based on: Amount of parts: Enclosure type:

Suhr Riot Low, total 45 components 1590b
Effect type: Technology: Get your board at:
Distortion Double dual Op-Amp Crysis
Build difficult: Power consumption: Get your kit at:
Average 8mA (9v-18v) Das Musikding (Europe)

Project overview:
Crysis is a versatile high-gain distortion pedal with the sonic characteristics and touch sensitivity of a
high quality 100 watt tube amplifier.

Especially good for tight crunch rhythms and dynamic solos.

This board features an internal Presence trimmer.

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Index
1. Project overview 6. Build Notes
2. Index, Introduction & Controls 7. Schematic
3. Bills of Materials, BOM 8. Wiring Diagram
4. Shopping Lists 9. Drill Template
5. Components Recommendations 10. Licensing and Usage

Introduction
The Crysis is a circuit inspired on the famous Suhr Riot, without being an exact replica, through the
years they have been many different versions of the Riot and the riot Reloaded, most of them with
small values changes on the components and in the clipping section. For this project I’ve made a
research of the most common versions of this pedal and many schematics provided by the DIY
community in order to lay down an ultimate boutique version of it that captures the best essence of the
original Suhr Riot.

If we take a look to the schematic we can find many similarities to the M-Audio Crunch Box, later also
cloned and modded by JHS as the Angry Charlie, you can check our Angry Carlos if you want to build
either of these.

The Crunch Box it also has roots on some other famous pedals as the Marshall Blues Breaker and the
Fulltone OCD. So we can proudly say that PCB Guitar Mania’s Crysis is the prodigal son of a long family
of Marshall-like pedals, taking the best of each model through the years and refining it as one of the
most lauded high-gain “stack of amps” pedal.

Controls
 Drive: Adjusts the amount of gain added to your tone, taking you from classic crunch to high-
gain heaven.
 Vol: Adjusts the output of the pedal. Riot provides enough level to push the front end of any tube
amp into natural overdrive.
 Tone: Shapes the overall tonal response of the pedal, from smooth and warm to cutting lead
tones.
 Presence: affects the overall ‘shape’ of the tone of the pedal. It interacts with the tone control.
 Diode Switch: Select In between 3 Different clipping options. To the left engages the
symmetrical Germanium diodes + the LED pair, to the right the asymmetrical Silicon diodes +
Led pair, on the center we got just the Pair of LEDs, being the loudest of all the 3 options, with
more open and organic tone. The pair of LEDs clip are hardwired as always on.

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Bill of materials
Resistors Diodes
Part Value Part Value
R1 2m2 D1 1n4001
R2 1m D2 1n914*
R3 1k D3 1n914
R4 1k D4 1n914
R5 10k D5 1n34a
R6 1m D6 1n34a
R7 470r D7 1n34a
R8 220r D8 1n34a
R9 470r D9 3mm
R10 100k Red Led
R11 100r D10 3mm
R12 4k7 Red Led
R13 100r LED 3mm
R14 22k LED
R15 22k

IC
Capacitors Part Value
Part Value IC1 JRC4580
C1 22n IC2 JRC4580
C2 33pf
C3 100n
Potentiometers
C4 100pf
Part Value
C5 220n
DRIVE 100K B
C6 100pf
TONE 10K C
C7 2u2
VOL 10K A
C8 22n
PRES 20k
C9 22n
C10 1uf
C11 10u Switches
C12 10u Part Value
C13 10u SW1 SPDT ON-
C14 100u OFF-ON

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Shopping list
Resistors Diodes
Qty Value Parts Qty Value Parts
1 2m2 R1 1 1n4001 D1
1 100k R10 3 1n914 D2, D3, D4
2 100r R11, R13 4 1n34a D5, D6, D7, D8
1 4k7 R12 3 3mm D9, D10, LED
2 22k R14, R15 Red LED
2 1m R2, R6
2 1k R3, R4
Potentiometers
1 10k R5
Qty Value Parts
2 470r R7, R9
1 10K C TONE
1 220r R8
1 10K A VOL
1 100K B DRIVE
Capacitors 1 20k PRES
Qty Value Parts
3 22n C1, C8, C9
IC
1 1uf C10
Qty Value Parts
3 10u C11, C12, C13
2 JRC4580 IC1, IC2
1 100u C14
1 33pf C2
1 100n C3 Switch
2 100pf C4, C6 Qty Value Parts
1 220n C5 1 SPDT SW1
1 2u2 C7 ON-
OFF-ON

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Components Recommendations
As many people like to experiment some pedals with higher voltage, always ensure the max tolerance
of your electrolytic capacitors is over 25v.

This board has been tested using Film box capacitors for most of the values over 1nf, and ceramics
discs for the ones under 1nf. However, high quality components such as Wima’s Capacitors and
Panasonic’s electrolytics can deliver a better performance.

All the resistors used for testing this project are 1/4W Metal Film.

The BOM and Shopping list are exclusively regarding this project. It doesn’t include all the hardware like
the 3PDT bypass switch, audio/dc jacks, enclosure, etc.

D2* in many schematics online D2 is actually a BLUE 3mm LED. Feel free to socket and experiment
with it and tell us which one you like the most.

Build Notes
If this is one of your first projects I recommend you to take a look on our Pedal Building Guide

For a successful and tidy build it’s recommended the following order:

1. Resistors & diodes

2. Capacitors, starting with the smaller ones and the ceramic ones.
3. Electrolytic capacitors (always check the polarity)
4. Transistors
5. Wires
6. Potentiometers and switches
7. Off board wiring

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Schematic

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Wiring Diagram
All our projects include a free 3PDT Board to make the wiring easier and tidier. Also all of our PCBs
feature the status LED on board.

The pad named “Ctrl” or “LED” is the one that controls the status of the led, wire it to the “LED”pad on
the 3PDT board, or in control slug of your 3PDT.

You can take a look on the following diagram to understand the general connections. For further
information check our Pedal Wiring guide.

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Drill Template
This Project has been planned to fit into a 1590B enclosure type (122x67x35mm approx.)

Check the Attached “Drilling templates” to drill the box properly. The files are on Scale 1:1, ready to
print in an A4 page.

Licensing and Usage

We really appreciate your trust and support buying this PCB, as well as your will to dive into the DIY
electronics world. That’s why for us is really important that you can make this project work properly and
to enjoy not only the building process, but also to experiment and play with it on your rig.

We try to reply to every question we receive on our email or in our social media, but we try to encourage
all our customers to join our PCB Guitar Mania – Builders Group on Facebook, in order to post all your
doubts, issues, suggestions or request, as well to share your builds and have some feedback from us
and other fellow builders!

All of our projects have been tested following this same guide on their standard configurations.
Although, not all of the variations and mods have necessarily been tested. These are suggestions based
on the schematic analysis, and on the experiences and opinions of others. Feel free to share with us
your opinions and suggestions regarding the mods your own personal experimentation.

These boards may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specifically noted. No
attribution is necessary, though accreditation or a link back is always greatly appreciated.

If you are a builder planning to make your own run of pedals we also offer the service of custom made
boards with your brand and logo, design according your specifications.

The only usage restrictions are that, first, you cannot resell the PCB as part of a kit without prior
arrangement with us, and second, you cannot scratch off the silk screen, or other way of trying to hide
our logos and the source of the PCBs. Like it’s written above, if you want to have your own designs, with
your brand and logo we could certainly reach an agreement.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay in tune with the latest projects!

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Document version 1.0v, 16th January 2019