How to use Akashic
Akashic indexes thousands of DIY guitar-pedal circuits from PCB vendors, layout sites, blogs and archives, with each one's parts list read into a single database. It does not sell anything: every circuit links back to the place you get the board, the layout or the schematic. This guide shows how to find what you are after and how far to trust what you find.
A first look
- Type a pedal, a part or a kind of effect in the search box at the top, for example Rat, and press Enter.
- Narrow the list with the filters on the left: vendor, category, enclosure, knob count, controls, how it is built.
- Open a circuit. Its page has the vendor and price, the build document, the controls and the full parts list.
- Press + My bench to keep it, then buy the board from the vendor with the button at the top of the page.
Questions it answers in one step
| Go to | What you get |
|---|---|
| Based on the ProCo RAT | Every board and layout that clones one pedal, from every source, in one list. |
| LM308 | Every circuit whose parts list names a part, with its datasheet. |
| 125B, 3 knobs | Boards that fit the enclosure you have drilled. |
| What can I build | The circuits the parts in your drawers already cover, and the ones a part or two away. |
| Originals | The commercial pedals behind the boards, with how many clones each has. |
The words Akashic uses
- Circuit
- One board, layout or schematic from one source. The same pedal from two vendors is two circuits.
- Based on
- The commercial pedal a circuit clones or adapts, the original. Sources spell them differently; Akashic files “Pro Co RAT Distortion” and “ProCo RAT” under one original.
- Source
- Where a circuit comes from: a PCB shop, a layout blog, a code repository, a schematic archive. The Questions page lists the kinds.
- Build
- What you build it on: a bought PCB, or vero (stripboard), perfboard, tagboard or turret board from a layout drawing.
- Parts list
- The bill of materials (BOM), one row per part. Ref is the designator printed on the board (R1, C4, Q2).
- Normalized
- A value rewritten one way, so 4k7, 4.7K and 4700 all read 4k7 and match each other across every source.
- Box
- The enclosure size, in Hammond's names (1590A, 1590B, 125B, 1590BB…).
Install it and use it offline
Akashic loads its index once, then searches in your browser. Once it has loaded, the search, the filters, the Originals, Parts and Workbench pages and this guide work without a connection; a circuit or part page works offline once you have opened it. To keep it as an app, use your browser's install option: Install in Chrome or Edge's address bar or menu, Add to Dock in Safari on a Mac, or Add to Home Screen from the share menu on an iPhone or iPad and the menu on Android. The library is refreshed every week, and the app picks up the new data the next time it opens online.
In this guide
- Searching and filtering: what the search box matches, the filters, sorting, and sharing a search.
- Reading a circuit page: the header, the buttons, the schematic and the parts list with its marks.
- Originals and parts: comparing clones of one pedal, a part's page, datasheets and substitutes.
- My bench and What can I build: keeping circuits, notes, sharing, and matching your parts.
- Questions: prices, sources, missing schematics, privacy and reporting a mistake.
Something here wrong or missing? Open an issue.