Ken’s Take On the Wylde Drive – MXR ZW-44 Berzerker Overdrive Clone

Almost a year ago I had made a clone of the MXR ZW 44 Berzerker Overdrive using a layout from Tagboard Effects that didn’t work very well for me. So I had done some research into how the ZW 44 is designed. That had lead me to a forum post at Guitar-Gear.RU where a group of Russian pedal makers developed the schematic for the Wylde Drive. Discovering this post was great. It shed light on how to correctly make the ZW 44 clone.

The Russian Version of the Wylde Drive

This is the Wylde Drive Russian Version layout based on this schematic. I don’t understand why the 4.7 uF capacitor is used in the feedback gain loop in the Darlington transistor? I could not find anything like it in all of the Darlington transistor circuit examples I have researched. But the Russian dude placed it in there.

My Version of the Wylde Drive

My version of the Wylde Drive uses a standard Darlington transmitter follower with the input connecting at the 1.8M resistor. I have eliminated the 102 pF capacitor connecting pins 1 and 2 because it’s not needed. There is a DPDT switch that connects to a clipping board with asymmetrical silicon Zener 1N914 diodes and 3 mm red LED lights. The red LEDs give the drive a very fat sound. The drive works very well. This may be the best overdrive I have. The Wylde Drive saga is over is over for myself.

Wylde Drive

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