Hello, Does anyone know if the fuzzface schematic on freestompboxes.com actually works? I've been thinking of building a fuzz box that's more "vintage" flavored, but I've never built a stompbox before, and I'm not very good at reading schematics. Will any transistor work? Or do I have to use the very same one it calls for? I was also thinking about ordering one of those DIY mosrite fuzzrite kits.I have a seymour duncan tweak fuzz pedal that I use every day, but it does sound a little dark and muffled. Any advice on building a fuzz box? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Post a direct link so we all refer to the same schematic.
Without seeing it, in principle it should work, we are talking simple circuits here, few parts.
Transistors are usually easy to interchange, but yours probably uses obsolete PNP germanium transistors, somewhat more difficult to find.
*There is* a more modern, silicon transistor version, although it has a somewhat buzzier sound.
Worst case, build it anyway as to get your feet wet , you may even love it.
A fuzz circuit plus a 70's Sears will certainly be a classic combination.
"Classic" fuzz boxes almost all use germanium transistors. That said, I'm not much of a fan. My first stompbox was such a build (because it was easy) and I never use it anymore. There are other great sounding stompboxes available. But if fuzz is your thing, go ahead and build one - they're easy.
Thanks alot guys, Unfortunately All I remember is the freestompboxes.com part I'll have to look it up again. I really like the fuzz effect(I'm into the old psychedelic stuff),But I like a brighter, more aggressive fuzz. Here's a list of the pedals I use: Vox V847 wah;Johnson EAD-2 analog delay;Johnson SC-2 stereo chorus;Johnson DEQ-2 distortion; Boss OC-2 octave; and the seymour duncan tweak fuzz. I'll look the fuzzface schematic up again and see if I can post that direct link.Thank you for the replies. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.
Hey, guys. Here's that link you requested; http://www.montagar.com/~patj/fuzzface.gif
I'm also going to look for a Vox Tonebender schematic, If I can find it, I'll post a direct link to it, too
QuoteBut I like a brighter, more aggressive fuzz.
In that case build a silicon transistor version, much easier to get parts.
Check http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/fuzzface.php and build the Silicon one.
They suggest a PCB too.
What the heck, you gave me ideas, I'll build one too, lots of fun. :tu:
Thanks, i've been thinking about building my own fuzz pedal for a while now, but I've been afraid to try it.
Quote from: LJN on April 26, 2011, 10:37:51 AM
Thanks, i've been thinking about building my own fuzz pedal for a while now, but I've been afraid to try it.
No need to be afraid. Only 9v power source and they are easy to debug. Let us know if you decide to go ahead and build one.
Thanks,Joe. I'll build one if I can find the parts. As far as testing it, I'll use my starcaster amp.
No need to be afraid. Only 9v power source and they are easy to debug. Let us know if you decide to go ahead and build one.
[/quote]
I'm just afraid of blowing an amp is all.
In that case build a silicon transistor version, much easier to get parts.
Check http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/fuzzface.php and build the Silicon one.
They suggest a PCB too.
What the heck, you gave me ideas, I'll build one too, lots of fun. :tu:
[/quote] Thanks, Juan. Let me know if that works out for you. I still have a question, Can I just use any PNP transistor? :-\
No worry about blowing an amp either, totally safe.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to build one as soon as I can.
The page I linked to carries different versions, NPN, PNP, Silicon, Germanium.
Each of the schematics call for a specific transistor, follow the recipe faithfully.
As a suggestion:
*nobody* today uses the original Germanium transistors, because of unavailability, so they use any one they can grab, including *very* unsuitable *power* germaniums (AC187/188) , RF types (2SAxxx, originally for early transistor radios), etc.
Yet most find them "superb" .... the power of Mojo :loco
As of Silicons, any TO92 cased, small signal, general purpose will do, of the right polarity of course.
Argentina is an "European" country, so here we use BC547 family NPNs and BC557 family PNPs, maybe somebody can suggest what's popular and widely available in the US.
Small signal means transistors that handle 25V , 100mA, 500mW, have beta (gain) over 100 ; good for any pedals or preamps you may want to experiment with.
Buy 20 of each (they cost cents) so you have an ample supply for future projects.
A Protoboard is great for experiments without soldering, allows instant, hassle free parts swapping.
I'm going to build a fuzz pedal soon, but I'm not sure which one. there's alot of them to choose from.
I've printed out a large assortment of fuzz pedal schematics from fuzz central.com, but I've been too busy to try and find the parts, and they don't tell how to wire the switch into the circuit. I have schematics of a whole bunch of fuzz boxes, the big muff(which is another one I want to build), my wah pedal, and the very infamous clyde mccoy wah pedal. Maybe one day I'll get to build some of them(there are quite a few I'd like to experiment with). Thanks for all the advice. So, on the fuzzface, how do you wire the switch?
Quote from: LJN on June 12, 2011, 07:21:47 PM
I've printed out a large assortment of fuzz pedal schematics from fuzz central.com, but I've been too busy to try and find the parts, and they don't tell how to wire the switch into the circuit. I have schematics of a whole bunch of fuzz boxes, the big muff(which is another one I want to build), my wah pedal, and the very infamous clyde mccoy wah pedal. Maybe one day I'll get to build some of them(there are quite a few I'd like to experiment with). Thanks for all the advice. So, on the fuzzface, how do you wire the switch?
This is how you do it:
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/StompboxWiring/
Alright, I'll look into that the first chance I get. Thank you.
Hi, new here. This thread may be dead already but seeing as I have recently been spending many frustrating hours buildinga fuzzface - I thought I would chime in with an answer about leaky germanium transistors :grr
Yeah you can get away with using just about any germanium transistor so long as it has sufficient hFE (forward current gain).
I would suggest reading this old article by RG Keen http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm)
In the article, which is well written and easy to understand for us newbs, it explains how to measure your transistors gain and actual leakage voltage. Sticking a germanium into your dmm won't cut it. In the article he shows a small schemo/diagram for setting up a test device and a couple of small calculations you need to do.
Anyway to cut a long story short hFE of 80 to 120 - is the magic number you need to make a classic fuzzface. I had a bag of germaniums AC128 (pnp) and AC176 (npn) that I got off ebay - tungsram new old stock - avoid these like the plague - as the old motto goes - buy cheap buy twice. Of the the few that had the correct gain the leakage was too high, vice versa - i think out of 50 I got 3 usable ones. I did however get the pedal going with Q1 a BC108 and AC176 in Q2 - sounds pretty good. You can get matched pairs of transistors but it'll cost $15.00 + shipping from smallbear Http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories.bok?category=Germanium+Transistors (Http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories.bok?category=Germanium+Transistors)
There is some good news about all those left over leaky transistors - apparently they can be used to make a buffer - http://www.muzique.com/news/leaky-transistor-buffer/
(http://www.muzique.com/news/leaky-transistor-buffer/) and as clipping diodes, so at least they will avoid becoming land-fill :)
This looks like a great forum and I will have a ton of questions for you guys for an upcoming amp build I am planning.
Hope this helps someone.
cheers
Steve
Great first post, Steve. Welcome aboard!
Hi,my client wants me to put a fuzz in his bass.the bass has an active onboard preamp.
Where would be best to put it.before or after the preamp?parallel?
Thanks guys.
Quote from: yustech on September 20, 2011, 01:41:19 AM
Hi,my client wants me to put a fuzz in his bass.the bass has an active onboard preamp.
Where would be best to put it.before or after the preamp?parallel?
Thanks guys.
After the preamp would be my suggestion. That said, I'm not a fan of "fuzzy" bass at all.
Easiest way to build your own first pedal (mine was a Systech Harmonic Energizer)is cheat slightly and get a PCB from somewhere like Madbean.com or GGG. That way you will usually get a parts shopping list of components and detailed instructions on how to wire all the off board parts like switches at pots.
If you are going "try bypass" and using a 3PDT you can just find a diagram online (Beavis Audio is a good place) and use that to guide you as it will be more or less the same for the pedal you are building.
edit.. should read page 2 before posting, didn't see this thread had one lol