A fuzz pedal is a good excuse to explore the boundary between analog sound and digital control. Anthracite from Trope, designed by Hayata Yamamoto, keeps its audio path analog while an STM32 handles switching and MIDI control. Its newly packaged v1.1.0 engineering release gives curious builders editable schematics and board layouts rather than just a set of manufacturing files.
Analog fuzz, with a digital control layer
Anthracite combines familiar hands-on controls with MIDI-controlled bypass and input loading. The interesting engineering question is how the control circuitry can change the pedal’s behavior without turning the audio processing into a software effect. The source files make that division available to inspect, from the analog circuitry to the microcontroller and switching interfaces.
What changed in v1.1?
The v1.1.0 release was published on November 12, 2026 at 18:21 Pacific time, and is included in our November 13 engineering-file selection. This is an update to an existing project, not its first launch. The revision includes an input soft-start, JFET gate-resistor changes, and changes to op-amp and tone-circuit components. The MIDI OUT driver changes to a 74HCT04-based circuit, addressing the storage-delay issue described for the earlier transistor driver.
Version matching matters: hardware v1.1 requires firmware v1.1, not the earlier v1.0 firmware. The footswitch board intentionally remains at v1.0 within this release.
Files you can actually edit
The official KiCad release ZIP contains editable KiCad 10 projects. The top, bottom, and footswitch boards include both schematic and PCB source; the panel has PCB source only. The top and bottom boards use four copper layers, while the footswitch board uses two. You can also browse the fixed-revision hardware directory before downloading.
The hardware and enclosure designs are licensed CERN-OHL-S-2.0. Included library derivatives have their own KiCad-related licensing notices, and the firmware has separate licensing; consult the repository’s REUSE declarations rather than applying one license to every file.
Worth studying before building
The project is presented as a finished pedal as well as an open design, but an editable release is not a guarantee that a new build will work first time. We inspected the engineering package and licensing; we have not assembled, powered, measured, or listened to this revision. Check component availability, the revision notes, and the matching firmware before ordering boards. For anyone exploring MIDI-controlled analog effects, that combination of circuit design and documented revisions makes Anthracite a useful project to study.
source https://blog.tindie.com/2026/11/open-hardware-files-anthracite-brings-midi-control-to-analog-fuzz/
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