Hi guys
Lockdown has really stoked my pedal building fires again and I keep asking people here for recommendations, hope you lot don't mind.
I'm looking to build a Fuzz Face clone with an added input level knob (so I can do the Hendrix volume roll off trick within the pedal rather than at on my guitar) and ideally some form of tone control. Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions for an available PCB that fits the bill?
Thanks as always
Brian's Woodstork 1590G board is what you are looking for :)
Strip Board. How's that for a challenge?!
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Another option is Joe Gagan's Easy Face.
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_ff5_sc_easy.pdf
dave
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check them all out.
Cheers guys.
In my research for this I came across this handy video from Josh from JHS explaining some good Fuzz Face nods
It's all simple enough but could anyone explain to me why when he switches out the bias control trimmers for regular 16mm pots he only connects lugs 1&2? Wouldn't it just make sense to remove the trimmer and hook the
three lugs on the replacement pots up to all three trimmer pads?
Thanks as always
Quote from: Guybrush on July 13, 2020, 11:01:54 PM
In my research for this I came across this handy video from Josh from JHS explaining some good Fuzz Face nods
It's all simple enough but could anyone explain to me why when he switches out the bias control trimmers for regular 16mm pots he only connects lugs 1&2? Wouldn't it just make sense to remove the trimmer and hook the
three lugs on the replacement pots up to all three trimmer pads?
Thanks as always
My thought is that you set the "optimal" bias using both the internal trim pot and the external pot at noon. Then you use the external bias pot to get your different bias settings, hopefully having usable settings at either end of the pots rotation, as opposed to unusable or no signal at either ends on a one bias pot setup. Think of it as a coarse and fine control. The internal is the coarse, getting you in the ballpark, while the external is your fine control of the bias.
Or at least in some of the fuzz face's I have made, that's the way I approached my bias pots :)
Hmmm... Thanks, that makes sense in general but in the video he completely removes the trimmers. Guess it's just his personal preference to how he likes the pots to work. I'll experiment.
Cheers!
If you're looking for a PCB with all of the options, Aion's Solaris fits the bill. I own one to help others looking for a particular fuzz sound dial in their tone, then try to replicate it without that many controls.
I also greatly support the Vero/Stripboard option. My first pedals were Joe Gore's tonefiend projects, and I think there's a lot to be learned by building on that medium. Plus, the Fuzz Face is a simple enough circuit that the layout shouldn't be too bad.
The last couple Fuzz Faces I did for people were basically this (obviously add power filtering):
(http://www.dropbox.com/s/rws4ef0j16yfd2b/ff_modded.png?raw=1)
The volume control is taken from the Rangemaster -- it can get way above unity. The input fuzz control is from the easy face. The bias pot hanging off the emitter of Q2 is from the Rust Bunny, you can use a 10K there if you like, it doesn't really matter, but if you want to put it external it's got a lot of cool sounds and it's honestly just a better usage of Q2's emitter than the fuzz control was, because the Fuzz Face never really sounded that good without the fuzz maxed. Anyway, I feel like it solves literally every complaint people have about the Fuzz Face: The fuzz control is actually useful. You can put it after a buffer, because the input control helps with that as well. You can adjust the bias. You can get above unity volume. And there are fewer parts needed total (R2 is optional if you aren't putting the bias outside).
There are few enough parts that you might as well just do the pedal on stripboard -- or hell build it freehand on the back of the pots and the jacks, it's seriously few parts here.
I took the liberty to make a little correction there Jon.
Thanks for these extra responses. Really appreciate the guidance.
Jon, this looks brilliant, thank you.
Thank again.
Quote from: TFZ on July 15, 2020, 06:45:27 AM
I took the liberty to make a little correction there Jon.
Thanks, it's been a hot minute since I drew a schematic.