I Modded My Fab Tone

[Dulouz]

Hi Guys! This is my first post and first mod. I didn't know exactly where to put this. I hope its ok here.

I have an old Danelectro Fab Tone that I haven't used in forever and I saw a few mods in Wampler's beginner book that I thought I would try out. I picked up some parts from my local Radio Shack. Probably not the highest quality, but they will work just fine.



Here's what I did:

R25: 22k to 10k
R27: 100k to 47k
C5: Removed
R15: 10k to 1k
C19: 0.33 µf to 1 µf
D4: Changed to 1N4148 + LED  in series
R9: 2k to 4.7k
Switched the indicator LED from red to UV (just for fun)



This thing is now a  FUZZ MONSTER. With the Fab (gain) knob at 0 it's a very heavy amp-like chug, but turn that knob up just to 9 o'clock and its full on fuzz, but a nice musical fuzz. Anything past 9 o'clock and its just a wall of sheer terror. The 0.33 µf to 1 µf change made the bass control much more usable. I'll probably keep the treble control dialed back almost or at 0 as it can still get quite fizzy.

One problem that I've had with this pedal since the day I got it (back in 99) and still persists even after the mods is that it doesn't always come on when I hit the switch. Let me clarify. It comes on, but the effected sound is not always present. The signal is very faint. I'll knock it around a bit and the sound comes back. That has always made me think that something must be loose. But I've opened it up a million times and can't find anything loose. Maybe just a consequence of the cheap plastic jacks?

Does anyone know how I might change the treble control to be more usable?