Pungent Bzzz pics and soundclip

[theblueark]

I built PenPen's Pungent Bzzz found here: http://www.elixant.com/~stompbox/smfforum/index.php?topic=40917.0
Thank's to Dragonfly too, I used his vero layout 

Man this effect is LOUD. The bias pot is supposed to change the sensitivity of the Pungent Bzzz. However I found that it controlled the sensitivity only slighthly and interestingly, affected the tone quite a bit. The tone brightens as the sensitivity is turned down.

Now it's housed and painted and everything and I even did a soundclip

Here's what it looks like now (it's the one on the left):


And here is the soundclip:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3513625&q=lo

I set it up so the volume and tone remains the same when the effect is ON.
Here's a rundown of the clip:
0.00 Clean
0.10 Pungent Bzzz with a light touch
0.18 With a heavier touch
0.28 Going all out
1.05 Overdrive only
1.15 Overdrive into Pungent Bzzz with a light touch
1.22 Going all out again with the overdrive this time
2.20 Distortion alone
2.44 Distortion into the Pungent Bzzz

[PenPen]

Hey there.

Thanks for the build report. I do apologize, I hadn't seen before where you were having issues getting the build to work. I've been a bit out of contact with the board lately, between my work and all the rest of my time has been spent working on guitar modifications, restoration, or just simply playing more. I didn't like how bad my playing has gotten lately.

Sound clip sounds fantastically like my own builds. Was that through a tube or SS amp? I found that the effect sounds best for my use into an overdriven tube amp. However, some other friend's I demo'd the box to liked it through an SS amp better.

I love how you ran it with both OD and dist boxes to show how this thing shines. For all purposes, it sounds best as an enhancer for either OD or distortion, it responds differently. It makes a nice accessory to add to an already distorted passage, like for a chorus in a song.

Its funny you mention the sensitivity control being very subtle. I noticed this as well, and I've actually been considering testing out bigger values for that pot to get a bigger change. The problem is, the most buzz you're going to get is when the pot is at a 0 value, which is all the way up. The only thing upping the pot value would do is make it not clip as easily. But, its something I've been wanting and meaning to address.

Thanks again for building. It feels good to have someone else out there build and enjoy when its your baby. Kind of like a validation of the design, when others enjoy it.

[theblueark]

My problem with the build was a silly one haha. Misread capacitor values. This was my first build after all.

I've been searching for the Neil Young tone on My My Hey Hey and his work on Dead Man. I read in an interview that they dropped his amplifier down the stairs on the way to the studio, damaging the speaker and maybe the circuitry. He plugged it in and liked the sound and that was that. So I thought this would come close to what I was looking for. Something really grungy and nasty.

I recorded that through a Trace Elliot 15W SS amp. Haven't had the chance to try it through a tube amp yet, though I imagine it would sound great and smooth those rough edges a bit.

I actually don't mind the sensitivity control as it is now, as although the sensitivity is subtle, the affect on the tone is quite significant. So I'm using it more of as a tone control. But I do wonder how it would sound with a higher pot value. I may try it if I build another.

Thank you PenPen for this effect cos it's what I've been searching unsuccessfully for quite a while. I heard that the Effector13 Torn's Peaker may have a similar sound but have not had the chance to try one out yet.

[RLBJR65]

Very nice build! Clips sounds er... uhmm... great?
I have a Garage Fuzz on perf if I get a chance this weekend I will convert it and check out some different pot values.
On the G.F. I used a fixed 1K and a 10K pot that measured 13K (surplus store special) that arrangement had a very dramatic effect.
But never really got the G.F. to stop oscillating so it wasn't working correctly. I'll keep you posted.

I wonder how it will sound with Tim E's LoFoMoFo? Should be some really lofi mayhem!

Richard

[RLBJR65]

Played around with it some today. It's very picky transistor wise. Meaning I get a pair that sounds good
then try to swap 1 or the other and it sounds like crap or doesn't work at all?!? It's like the bias is being thrown out of whack.

When I had a pair that sounded OK I changed the 10K pot to a 1M also used a .01uF cap in place of the 220pF sounded better / fuller to me (might try socketing so you can play with that cap) . The 1M is good all the way through you go from the nasty splaty sound to a pretty decent distortion / boost.
I think what is happening as you get close to the end of the 1M it is killing the negistors oscillation allowing just the boost to come through? Tone changes are less noticeable with the .01 as well.

The transistor problem is the same problem I had with the GF, never could quite get the sound I was satisfied with. Don't get me wrong I think it's great but there should be a way to make it more consistant. I think that I will start from scratch and use a few trim pots.

Almost forgot to mention that I also tried a 2N7000 mos fet for Q2 it seemed promising as a sub! Needs some tweaking but those are very easy to come by compaired to those old 2N2222.

I'm determined to get this working as I think it should! Successful or not I will post my results

Richard

[theblueark]

Wow I must have been very lucky then. I didn't test out the transistors at all, just soldered the whole vero layout before trying and it worked ok.

I'm lucky to have a large shopping complex with lots of shops selling electronic parts over here. The 2N2222As are easily available and I went to several shops selling transistors and have gotten a few that look quite different. Their labelling and colours are different, and there are even plastic ones. I'll take some pictures of the ones I've used and the ones I haven't. Maybe some manufactorers are less consistent than others?

The 1M pot sounds very interesting. I can imagine the Pungent Bzzz as a booster as it was very loud when I turned it all the way up. Its around 1/4 of the way up for equal volume. How does the 220pF actually sound? Or is it one of those things that just sound better but we don't know how to explain? The one I have gives me the exact same tone bypassed or in effect once the knobs are tweaked right.

[Harry]

I like your pedal, just now noticed the monster face.

Very Lofi.

[PenPen]

RLBJR65,

You are modifying the garage fuzzz? There were a few changes I made to that circuit to make it more tolerant of different transistors for Q1. Changes to bias, removing diodes, and the resistor to kill ocillations. If its ocillating please make sure you have a 10 ohm resistor on that second transistor to kill it.

I agree, changing the 220pf cap will create a fuller sound, since it allows more of the low frequencies to pass through. The problem is that this is at the expense of those frequencies being clipped by the negisistor. I selected 220pf to be closer to the sound of a damaged speaker. High frequencies are typically clean and lower ones cause the cone to buzz.

The upping the value of the pot will cause greater resistance to the signal trying to turn on the neg. The higher the value, the harder it is to get the second transistor to operate, and so the frequencies will have to pass through the cap to be heard. As you turn the pot 'UP' it actually decreases the resistance, at fully open it passes the signal straight to the base of Q2.

I tested several different transistors for Q1. You can use just about any with a gain of 200-300. I'm not sure how it behaves with a hotter transistor. Q2 is very picky. All transistors I tried there wouldn't work except for the 2N2222A.

[RaceDriver205]

Geez, i cant stand noise-maker pedals, they have like zero musical appeal. Its like getting an instrument and then purposefully making it sound bad.
But hey, some people like that.
(This category includes PWM, crash sync, most Octave-Fuzz devices, the demo that guy did with the Rebote delay with infinite repeats and non-tastefull use of octave or ring mod)
Well thats just my 2 cents, I recon the enclosure looks da bomb though.

[RLBJR65]

Easy simple solution, use a 5K trimmer at Q2s collector! New MPS2222a, 2N2222a and others work now (just adjust the trimmer down to where it starts to squeal then tweak it up a bit) some transistors still sound much better than others (more or less Bzzz) but all NPN switching type transistors I had gave at least some Bzzz.

PenPal, yes it does sound more like a bad speaker with the 220pF cap with a tube amp but with an SS amp it's to harsh and piercing IMO. Also making it buzz the cone is cool too. It would be a nice mod to add a switch for 2 or more caps (adjusted to taste of course) Also after more testing I would say that a 100K pot is about as high as I would recommend there are some very usefull settings up to 1M but there is also alot of crap in between where it will oscillate badly! It would be much more reliable to just bypass the negistor with a switch if someone wanted to use it as a booster.

As a result of experimenting I have a new synth type pedal for bass (sounds terrible with a guitar) that I'm working on. Tim Escobedos utility boost for the gain stage and using a 2N5088 in the negistor. It makes my bass sound kinda like a cheap Casio. When I get all the bugs worked out I will post it.

Richard

[Lukas]

As a result of experimenting I have a new synth type pedal for bass (sounds terrible with a guitar) that I'm working on. Tim Escobedos utility boost for the gain stage and using a 2N5088 in the negistor. It makes my bass sound kinda like a cheap Casio. When I get all the bugs worked out I will post it.

Ooh! Anything to make my bass sound like a cheap synth! Keep us posted!!