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[A silicon Fuzz Face.]

Hi guys!

Here is my latest big project. It is a 3 Fuzz-in-one-box pedal, with a switchable upper octave. This is my first prototype, I will make another one with some changes, but I wanted to share this one with you.

There are 3 fuzz circuits inside this pedal :
- A silicon Fuzz Face. I wanted to make it germanium, but the NPN germanium that I have found (russian MP38A) are waaaay to big for the available space in this tight, tight (and messy) build. So silicon it is! Cleans well with guitar volume, nice on saturated amp, cool fuzz!
- A Muff Fuzz. I used the circuit with a feedback loop. However, it sound really similar to the Fuzz Face, so I plan on replacing it by a OP amp version of the muff fuzz.
- Companion Fuzz / Sin Ei FY2 I have never built it before, it is a nice spitty, gritty velcro fuzz! I guess that it can sound very cool on bass, on guitar, it gives a nice "brass" feeling, a bit like the old Maestro fuzz. Low output volume though

A rotary switch allows you to choose between no fuzz, Fuzz Face, Muff Fuzz or Companion Fuzz;



Then, there is a Klon buffer to diminish the impedance, and a low pass filter to remove some trebles.
Finally, a LPB1 restore a full volume and can also boost the signal.

Before the fuzz, tone and volume section, there is a Green Ringer that is switchable (on-off), to add a nice upper octave. Depending on the selected fuzz, it can make a classic jimi sound, or a crazy noisy stuff (with the companion fuzz  )
I replaced the 10k resistor of the emitter of the first transistor to adjust the octave (there is kind of a sweet spot, but other settings with less octave are interesting too).
I am not sure that it is better that the Green Ringer is before fuzz though... I heard that it sounded quite good after the fuzz....

I designed the PCB, made mistakes, and several modifications to it, so it is quite a mess inside! Well, prototypes are for that!



As mentioned before, I plan on modifying it a bit:
- replace the LPB1 by a classic OP amp boost using the second OP amp of the TL072 used for buffering the signal before the tone section. I will gain some space, some output volume, and it will be more transparent.
- Replace the muff fuzz by the OP amp version of the muff fuzz. The Muff Fuzz with the feedback loop is really close to the Fuzz Face so it is not really interesting.
- I looking on increasing the output of the companion fuzz. I guess the volume drop is due to the scooped mids tonestack. I have read topic with people recommending to place a trimpot below the capacitor going to ground... Have you ever tried that ?

Finally, what do you think about the green ringer before the fuzz ? Should I place it after ? Or is there another octave circuit that can be easier to use ? (but also works on a clean sound)

Thank you !

Benoit

I finally finished to make a tap tempo tremolo!

This was a huge amount of work, but it finally works correctly This is my second prototype. It uses my relay bypass switching scheme. It uses the TAPLFO from Electric Druid, and is quite close from the circuit presented in the datasheet.



The mini switch allow to change between classic true bypass or "temporary bypass" (effect is on while you press the switch only), which is nice to use the square waves for instance.

Next, there are 6 potentiometers (many options!). From left to right, top to bottom:
    Depth: set the tremolo's deepness, from very subtle tremolo to huge choppy tremolo!
    Rate: speed of the tremolo
    Symmetry: changes the waveform, by modifying its duty cycle.
    Waveform: 6-way rotary switch to choose the waveform: square, random, sweep, triangle, sin or "ramp up" waveform
    Volume: can boost a bit the output signal
    Tempo subdivision switch: set the ratio between the tapping or rate knob and the rhythm of the tremolo 2:1 (the tremolo is twice slowler), 1:1 (same speed as tapping), 1:1,5, 1:2, 1:3 et 1:4!
   
I really love it, and it is on my board now


I had a troubles with noises (ticking LFO noise, very annoying with square waves), but bypassing power supply 100R resistors and adding a huge 470uF resistor on the other side of the board got rid of it



In order to use rotary switches for selecting waveforms or tempo ratios, I used a Alpha mini 1P6T rotary switch. I added 2 adaptor boards so it fit perfectly ! (you can also see the vactrol)


Overall, I am very satisfied with it. it was very complex, but also very rewarding ! Moreover, it sounds very good and can do plenty of different stuff, from vintage tremolo with sin wave, to choppy Rage against the machine music bits, I really love it! The random waveform is also quite interesting and is very nice combined with a delay at the same tempo.

A big thank to everyone who helped me in the process, from Tom (Electric Druid), David Rolo and other forum members!

I wrote an article on my blog if you want to read a bit more about it: http://www.coda-effects.com/2016/05/tap-tempo-tremolo-diy-complex-project.html

I have build quite a lot of pedals recently, and made no build reports about it



So here a a few pedals that I build recently.

A Dead Astronaut Chasm Reverb :



Really cool pedal, fun and easy to build ! I like a lot with a delay, it allows very deep sound and lushing delays, really cool!
I did a small video for it (sorry the sound is not that great... I am not very good at recording)

A Pharaoh fuzz clone :




I used my own PCB for making Big Muff, it is quite easy to work with as I used the same component names as the Big Muff Page, so I just have to grab the schematic of the Big Muff I like and start building.

It is a nice sounding muff, with a bit more mids that classical ones. The trebles knobs is not really useful, it is only working with a tone quite high (so why would you want to roll off trebles if you set the tone knob high? Weird stuff)

However, the diode clipping option is really cool, germanium diodes do sound quite nice in a Big Muff! I becomes more a "classical sounding" fuzz like fuzz face, a bit more compressed though.

A madbean pork barrel (with a sticker):



It was easy and fun to build!
However, I realized I am not very found of chorus: it sounds a bit cold to my ears... And when I turn it on, I have to play "Come as you are" or "message in a bottle" !

Last one : a classical 73' rams head with my own PCB (I wanted to test the "no mid knob" option)



There it is !!


BONUS :
a pedal I am currently prototyping, tap tempo tremolo

However, I have an annonying "ticking noise" with square wave setting...
If you want to help me with that, I created a post here:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=21954.0

Thanks !

Hello !

Do you know if there are any relay bypass PCB out there with a "latch / unlatch" function ?
I mean the possibility to wire a switch that would let you choose between normal switching or a temporary switching while your foot is on the switch.

I am currently designing a tremolo, and I think it could be a nice feature to add to it (especially with square waves)
I am also learning PIC programming, but relay bypass is not as easy as it seems to program...

Thank you !

Benoit

Hello!

Just asking: do you know a way to diminish mouser shipping costs ?

Thank you!
Hard to get through this website, so many references !

Hello !
I am looking for a "special" enclosure. Just a simple enclosure like this one :



But a lot smaller
Like almost the size of a 1590B... Just a small slopped enclosure
Do you know if I have a chance to find this somewhere ?

Hello all !
I recently finished to mod my Soul Food by adding a DPDT allowing to choose between stock diodes and germanium D9E.

I wrote a step by step guide for those who are interested in doing the mod:
http://codaeffects.blogspot.fr/2015/03/electro-harmonix-soul-food-diodes-mod.html

However, I am really surprised with this mod..
I cannot hear a real difference between the stock and germanium diodes! Maybe the germanium diodes sounds a bit better at higher gain setting, but it is really a "maybe". I do not know if anyone could tell in a blind test...
Surprisingly, when I remove the diodes (no clipping), there is still saturation! And the sound is really close to the stock version! I just do not get it... Why is there saturation whereas the clipping diodes had been removed?
Are the "real" clipping diodes somewhere else ? (IC?)
So what is the role of these diodes? Just for the look ? So why putting it on the top of the PCB where no one could see it?

I am a bit confused....
Why are there builders still doing it ?

Have I done something wrong along the way ?

Thank you all for your input!

Benoit

Hello !
Just finished a rams head clone !

Big muff are really fun to make and to mod, so I added some features to the original design (musikding pcb) :
- a switch to boost the mids a bit, by selecting a different value of the capacitor on the tonestack (4.7nF or 10 nF)...Does not work that great. I hear a small difference but not that much... Maybe I'll try something else.
- a switch to select different input capacitor and input resistor. This is great, I have either 33k + 0.1uF or 15k +0.01uF, so I have either a smooth bassy sound or something more trebly and agressive.

I used the 73 version values all along the rest of the design, true bypass in a BB polished enclosure.
I used Wima MKP2 capacitors for most caps.
I changed the transistors to diminish a bit the gaininess of the unit and noise:
BC559C at the beginning
2n5089 for the clipping stages
MPSA18 for the volume section
I tried to get the original knobs to make it look a bit like the first big muff (smaller and with side jacks ^^)

It sounds really good, like a muff ! A huge doom machine for stoner and deaf people's music. I wanted to test it quickly, but then I spend one hour playing QOTSA, Kyuss, Sleep and Fu Manchu ! (and a bit of Pink Floyd of course)







If you have any ides for the mid switch, it would be great !!
Thanks !

Hello !

I have just finished this clone.

I made it on a veroboard, using the scheme from Guitar FX Layouts. Not much to tell you about the making, this is quite a straightfoward pedal to make, evenif the board is quite compact in the end ! 1uF Panasonic SMF capacitors are very space-consuming, so maybe it would be better with a slightly bigger board. I started with by drilling the holes and placing the linkers (and checking connections with a multimeter), then the IC socket, resistors, capacitors, pots and jack inputs. I used a PCB for the 3PDT to make it a bit cleaner looking, as there is already a lot of wires going everywhere (4 pots is quite a lot)... With high gauge wire (like 50), I tried to twist the cables to make a structure to maintain the veroboard in the enclosure.

I used a prepainted enclosure from Banzai music (the european version of Mammoth electronics), in vintage orange sparkle. It is a little bit more expensive than raw aluminium boxes, but it is really cleaner looking (my painting skills are not super good when it comes to enclosure spray painting...) I used the same knobs as in the Jan Ray (vintage fender, yeah !), and used a laser engraved logo.

The conception "work" done to create this pedal can be criticized a lot, but I have to recognize that it sounds very very good. Nice saturation that goes from something light like a klon, goes through blues / rock like AC/DC, to finish with a nice overdrive / distorsion. Always very nice sounding, not compressed and mushy, with a possible huuuuuge volume intake. The volume equivalent to the bypass volume is at one quarter of the knob value ! Great for soloing or to play with a volume pedal placed after it. Equalisation is reactive and allows you to add or withdraw bass and treble efficiently. It is a very transparent overdrive which respects the guitar and amplifier that you use.





I am currently looking at the schematics, and I have some trouble in understanding how the bass control works exactly... Can someone enlighten me on this matter ?

Thank you !

Hello all !
I have just finished this Fuzz face, following Scruffie's layout http://music.codydeschenes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Fuzzface-Scruffie-TRANSFER.pdf
(by the way, thank you all including scruffie for the help with understanding the power supply system)

I tried to make the best looking pedal I could do, so I used a black enclosure with an aluminium faceplate I made. I engraved the letters and painted it with black ink.

I used vintage NOS NKT275 red dot transistors. I am not a lot into mojo stuff, but I was curious and I wanted to give it a try ! There are little differences with the AC128: they are a little bit smoother, darker sounding and clean up really well. But nothing really impressive really, just a bit different.





The transistors


I made a really quick video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iyCyoosh88&feature=youtu.be

Hello !
I am currently finishing a fuzz face following Scruffie's layout ( http://music.codydeschenes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Fuzzface-Scruffie-TRANSFER.pdf ), but I have a stupid question : what does the "J Sw" output / input ? stands for ?
This is the last solder I have to make, and I am quite impatient to test it (I even got old NKT275 for it !)

Thank you for your help !

benoit

Hello
I am currently having some fun creating small PCB for pedals I make. However, when I try to find a supplier to manufacture it, it is always super expensive like 15 euros / PCB or more (they are really small PCB made for 1590A enclosures...). For now my best hit was the fritzing fabric (fritzing is a free software to make PCB, really intuitive ! And when you're finished, you can directly send your design to a fabric they have to make it. However, it is quite expensive if you do not make more than 10 PCB)
Do you know a place that could manufacture double layers PCB with or without silkscreen for not a lot of money?

Thank you !

Benoit

Hello !
This is my first post here, I am from France, and I am really glad to join the madbean community !
As a first offering, this is my build report for a analogman sunface.
Quite a easy job (except for soldering the transistors which are really fragile... sockets next time !), but really gound sounding device here ! I had some fun in collecting old components to match the vintageness of the transistors.



For the enclosure, I tried reverse etching according to Cody's tutorial (http://music.codydeschenes.com/?page_id=2035) I think it came out great ! Long process, but totally worth it !



Thank, and I am in for any suggestions / advices to improve !
Sorry for the bad english also