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Howdy gang,

I just recently built up a GE Fuzz Face using the Mangler 2011 pcb. It sounds great, but it is LOUD. The volume knob doesn't seem to dump out entirely to ground, as at fully CCW, it is louder than unity. It just gets much louder from there. I pulled the 500k volume pot and replaced it with a 100k, and while I like the brighter tone better, much like the 500k, the pot seems to do very little—it just goes from loud to a bit louder at the last 20% of the pot's rotation. My voltages are right where they should be, and all of my component values seem to be correct.
Has anyone else expereinced this with the Mangler 2011 board?
I've built many a Fuzz Face in the past, both GE and SI without problems (the vol goes silent at full CCW) but this one has got me stumped.

Transistors are old TI 2G308 at 60 and 120 hfe, very minimal leakage.

So, I built me a couple of Harmonic Percolator clones on the MB Pepper Spray pcb. As I often do, I listed one on Evilbay to make a bit of scratch to fund more transistors, enclosures, beers, etc...

I wake up this morning to find my listing has been removed for "copyright violation" and was being called a "counterfeit item". The complaint was lodged by Chuck Collins, the guy who builds Interfax Harmonic Percolator clones.

Now... this pedal looks nothing like the Interfax unit (bright pink 1590B) nor did the listing claim it was an Interfax unit. As a matter of fact, the word "clone" was used throughout the listing. I have no recourse through ebay, and Chuck's complaint used a dead hotmail address.

I am I not correct in my understanding that the only thing that can be copyrighted is the PCB art?

I dunno, there are plenty of HP clones for sale on ebay. I don't know why he'd go after my single pedal.

Are the "mojo" pcb layouts a thing of the past? I just recently built up a TB MKIII on one of the old boards with the spacing for axial caps, and it sure did look pretty.

Anyone know of a reliable, affordable source for 3101 clock chips? I try to support Smallbear as much as I can, but $8 a chip seems rather dear...

I won't fuck with Chinese sellers and roll the dice as to whether the chips are legit or not.

I've got a dozen legit 3007's I've had for years, and I want to start building with them, but I'm out of clock chips...

Or is SB's price the going rate these days? I'm just getting back into the pedalbuilding game after being away a few years...

Hey folks,

I've got one of these PCB's burning a holein my vise, but I can't for the life of me find a build doc anywhere on the interwebs. There was a link posted in a thread a few years back, but it has since gone dead.

Anyone have one saved on an old hard drive or whatnot?

Thanks

Hey folks,

Sitting in my test rig I've got here a Current Lover 2015. Biasing it by ear has been a bit of a struggle as I can't seem to get a deep flanging effect without distortion.

I believe it was mentioned in the build notes that modifications to the bias may be necessary when running at 15v. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might need modification? Perhaps raising the value of the bias pot?

I've seen it said that this circuit is best biased using an oscilloscope. I do own a nice, old school scope and sig generator, but it has been years since I've used either. Is there a basic procedure for biasing this baby up using the scope? Ideally one that might take into consideration my incredibly rusty skills on the scope?

Thanks so much folks.
Y'alls rock.

Hey guys,
This feels like a dumb question, but I've never worked with voltage regulators before and I am unsure subbing the vr on the 3PRR board.
I do not have access to the recommended LM78L15 in the TO-92 package, so I'm assuming I can use one of these big, honkin' TO-220 L7815CV in it's place. At least that's what I gather from the datasheets. Am I correct?
Now comes the dumb question...
Does this voltage regulator put off heat under normal use?
In order to get it to fit, I had to bend the pins 45 degrees and lay it down touching the 10uf electrolytics. And well... I don't wanna cook up some capacitors.

So yeah... I super appreciate y'alls help.

Howdy gang,

Is there a place where documentation for earlier version pcbs live? I've got me a Pork Barrel 2011 board here and some good 3007's.

But I've got no build docs.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Hey guys,

Maybe y'all might be able to help me out with this...

I've got here a Pastyface board, built up all sexy with Mallory axial caps and carbon comp resistors and a trio of OC75 from Smallbear and it's quiet... like below unity quiet.
It sounds good... But it's very quiet...

I used a TB MkII tranny set
gains/leakage/voltage

Q1 63hFe L 238
C-1.96v
B-1.67v
E-1.62v
Q2 70hFe L 197
C-1.92v
B-1.63v
E-1.53v
Q3 111hFe L306 (leakage read in the 400's on my Peak DCA, but it's hella hot in my office)
C-1.93
B-73mv
E-0v

Any of these readings look suspect to you guys? I couldn't find anything concrete about ideal voltage readings for the Soulbender/MkIII.

And yes... I did indeed box prior to rocking.
Speaking of which, I came across some threads out there where folks were having the same problem, and it was resolved by boxing up the circuit... any of y'all know anything about this? Is my grounding somehow incorrect for this circuit using a test box?

Thanks, y'all. Hope everybody had a fantastic holiday!

Hey y'all,

Anyone have any sage wisdom regarding ideal gains for the GE/SI pair in the Pepper Spray?

I built mine up about a year ago and shelved it. It just sounded like a fuzzy, muddy overdrive. I just dusted it off last night and decided to go to town swapping trannies in and out.

I had originally had it set up with a 2N404A with a gain of about 70 and a 2n3565 gain 140. After swapping in and out the 5 2N404A's I've got here and a gazillion different SI's, I've got an improvement with a GE at 190 gain and a 2N2222A at 114 gain.

But it still sounds rather lifeless. Not nearly as raunchy and noisy as many of the youtube videos I've seen. It's definitely lacking that crispness and raunch... Though the diode lift setting sounds plenty sweet and shimmery with the volume backed off on my Jazzmaster...

I suspect the transistors might need a little help in the biasing dept, but I'm unsure as to what I should be looking for in regard to voltage readings. From what I gather, it's not as straightforward as shooting for 4.5v on the collector of Q2...

I appreciate any help you folks might be able to offer.

The big-ass fuzz/wah from the 70's...

The wah is pretty useless and has a big volume drop, but the fuzz circuit is amazing! The 3 way tone selector takes it from metalic mosquito buzz to full on sludge.

I don't think anyone produces a PCB for it...

Hey folks,

So, I've been plugging away at this Buzzaround all day now, and finally have it completed. I just plugged in the transistors, and they sound kinda crappy...

I started with the set Smallbear sells specifically for the Buzzaround. Q1 is a Chinese 3AX31C, Q2 is an OC76, and Q3 is a 2n404A. Unlike the Tonebender sets he sells, it did not come with substitute resistors to bias the trannies.

They sound kind of gated, with a hissy decay to the sustain at higher gain ratings. Q3 only makes it up to about 2.8v with the Balance knob dimed.

Am I correct in my assumption that the Balance pot acts as a baising control for Q3?

After subbing a bunch of transistors in and out of the circuit, I found that the 3AX31C for Q1 is the likely culprit. The gain is labelled 71 on the bag without a listing for leakage.

Should I futz with the resistors for Q1, or is this transistor most likely bad? I plugged in an OC75 with a gain of 68 and leakage in the 200's and it sounded fine.

The circuit actually sounded fantastic just dropping in a SB Tonebender set of OC75's with no regard to the resistors supplied with the set.

I know SB accepts returns on hissy transistors so long as they haven't been soldered or clipped... I'm just not sure if this transistor qualifies.

And I know... I should have breadboarded it first. This is the last GE fuzz I build without first auditioning it on breadboard.

Though the OC75's sound great, I could only get the bias to on Q3 to 3.7v or so...
Anyone have any input as to the ideal voltage readings for each transistor, and which resistors to tweak to get them biased correctly?

Thanks!

Hey folks,

I just populated the Bumble Bee PCB, SB Buzzaround GE's soon to follow.

Before I get to drilling the box...
How worthwhile is the Volume Control mod? Does it add any sort of a volume boost, or just cut? That said, does this circuit need a volume cut? Is it way louder than unity gain?

And does anyone have anything to chime in about the pros and cons of using the 25kB vs. the stock 5kb balance control?

Here's my populated board. Sexy carbon comps, BC Electros and Mallory 150's!



Cheers!

Hey folks,

So I've got this old Red Ram's Head Big Muff case with no guts and I'm going to stuff it with a Mudbunny built to Violet Ram's Head specs. I'm using all carbon comp resistors and mostly NOS caps per Kit Rae's schem.

Now for my questions...
Since it will be powered by battery only, can I just omit c14 and d5, or will I need to jumper those pads?

I'm torn as to whether to use the slider switch for an on/off control like the original, or to hook up some clipping diode options... hmmm...