Low Gain Fuzz?

[Haberdasher]

Is there a project here that fits that bill?

I've built the gruntbox into a triangle.  It is truly awesome, but I find myself playing a lot with the gain almost at zero a lot, and I always feel like I'm trying to keep it under control.  I wish there was a sweet lower gain unit I could put together where I wouldn't always be tapping the brakes.  The ones I'm thinking of trying are Colorsound Overdriver, Colorsound 1KF, or maybe a fuller 69?  Is it difficult to build a good 69 though?

Suggestions?

[eniacmike]

swap the gain pot for an audio taper to give you more control over the low-gain settings...

I use my zombii for low-gain fuzz sounds and it sounds really cool it gets really squeaky clean when you back off on the guitar.

I also think a rat gets into the fuzzy territory when cranked even though it is a distortion.

[Haberdasher]

I just swapped out all the 5089's for bc549b's. It doesn't quite get the ultra high gain now, but it's very creamy.  I think Ill play with it like this for a while.

mike, which GEs from smallbear do you use for your zombies?  It looks like he's out of a bunch of stuff.

[eniacmike]

I used the all-american and I also used the SINO. I think the SINO comes in a really weird TALL hat package so it might not fit if you do board mounted pots and sockets, but if you leave room or mount your pcb flat it won't be a problem.


thats the SINO pair. kind of hard to tell but they are almost an inch tall.

honestly you don't need any mojo and any matched pairs steve sells will work. I even tested crappy NTE germaniums and they worked.

[madbean]

You can make almost any traditional fuzz a low gainer by adding a pot before the input of the circuit. Check out the documentation for the newest Zygote: that 50k pot at the input will reduce the overall amount of fuzz into low to moderate fuzz territory. It's much more useful than a stock 1k pot fuzz control, IMO.

[Haberdasher]

cool.  if i was going to stick one of those on the sprout, which pot value do you think I should try first?

[Myramyd]

I have a GGG Octavia that has a "Pre-Gain" control on it. I'm not an expert but I *think* it's identical to what Madbean describes in his previous post. It's a 50k pot right before the input. When I switch off the Octave and turn down that pre-gain knob it's exactly what you are asking for. It gains down really well. If I knew that would work on any fuzz, I would probably add it to all of them! It sounds really great and makes the fuzz more "under control" and usable. I have the knob at about 25-30% all the time and it's a perfect low gain fuzz IMHO. Sounds good when you kick the Octave back on too.

J

[madbean]

Yep, a 50kB before the input. My personal preference is to set it up so that when you turn the pot up, it reduces the fuzz, but it can go either way. To set it up that way, the input wire from the 3PDT goes to lug2 and another wire goes from lug1 to the input pad on the board. As you turn it up, resistance increases and this reduces the overall fuzz.

To do it the opposite way, where fuzz reduces as you turn the pot down, simply move the input pad wire from lug1 to lug3.

[Haberdasher]

I have a GGG Octavia that has a "Pre-Gain" control on it. I'm not an expert but I *think* it's identical to what Madbean describes in his previous post. It's a 50k pot right before the input. When I switch off the Octave and turn down that pre-gain knob it's exactly what you are asking for. It gains down really well. If I knew that would work on any fuzz, I would probably add it to all of them! It sounds really great and makes the fuzz more "under control" and usable. I have the knob at about 25-30% all the time and it's a perfect low gain fuzz IMHO. Sounds good when you kick the Octave back on too.

J

I found a demo of that pedal on yt just now.  Sounds really good!  That fuzz sounds so great, the octave is just kind of a bonus.  It's definitely got me thinking about throwing one of those together.

[pandadandan]

The BJFE Folk Fuzz might fit the bill.
You cannae get pcbs any more, but there are vero layouts abound.

[Haberdasher]

Yep, a 50kB before the input. My personal preference is to set it up so that when you turn the pot up, it reduces the fuzz, but it can go either way. To set it up that way, the input wire from the 3PDT goes to lug2 and another wire goes from lug1 to the input pad on the board.

Just so I understand: run a wire from the very center lug of the 3pdt to lug 2?  Correct?

[cjkbug]

I have a GGG Octavia that has a "Pre-Gain" control on it. I'm not an expert but I *think* it's identical to what Madbean describes in his previous post. It's a 50k pot right before the input. When I switch off the Octave and turn down that pre-gain knob it's exactly what you are asking for. It gains down really well. If I knew that would work on any fuzz, I would probably add it to all of them! It sounds really great and makes the fuzz more "under control" and usable. I have the knob at about 25-30% all the time and it's a perfect low gain fuzz IMHO. Sounds good when you kick the Octave back on too.

J

I've done this type of thing on ge fuzz faces before and it works great, but It's also just as easy to use the volume control on your guitar whitch is what I've gravitated towards. fuzz face with the volume rolled back, mmmmmmmmmm...tasty!

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Yep, a 50kB before the input. My personal preference is to set it up so that when you turn the pot up, it reduces the fuzz, but it can go either way. To set it up that way, the input wire from the 3PDT goes to lug2 and another wire goes from lug1 to the input pad on the board.

Just so I understand: run a wire from the very center lug of the 3pdt to lug 2?  Correct?

If your following the madbean layout, then yes the input wire (coming from the center lug) would go to lug 2 of the pot rather than straight to the pcb board.

[Haberdasher]

Yep, a 50kB before the input. My personal preference is to set it up so that when you turn the pot up, it reduces the fuzz, but it can go either way. To set it up that way, the input wire from the 3PDT goes to lug2 and another wire goes from lug1 to the input pad on the board.

Just so I understand: run a wire from the very center lug of the 3pdt to lug 2?  Correct?

If your following the madbean layout, then yes the input wire (coming from the center lug) would go to lug 2 of the pot rather than straight to the pcb board.

Thanks, that's what I thought.  I guess that means my no bypass signal problems lie elsewhere.  Back to the drawing board I guess.

[jtn191]

how 'bout a "muff fuzz" or "double muff"?