Joe Gagan's Easy Face build...wow

[scott1568]

   A few years ago I discovered fuzz via the forums and decided to give it a try. My first build was a BYOC Muff type circuit with a rotary tone knob which I thought was cool. In practice though, I wanted the pedal to clean up with the volume knob on the guitar, which it wouldn't.

   So after looking further into the world of all things fuzz, I ordered up a Fuzz Face kit from General Guitar Gadgets and some PNP Ge transistors from Small Bear. I built one of the boutique versions with the extra knobs.

When it was done, a couple of friends heard it and they each had to have one. This left me without fuzz for quite a while.

Finally, I went back to GGG and ordered another kit with the boutique parts and set out to build another.

I was ALWAYS curious about the Joe Gagan's Easy Face setup, but I decided to continue on the same version as before.

   I finished it, check my voltages, etc and tried it out. This time I was really critical. The sound was not so great with certain settings on the other two added knobs. The decay was not good at all. I wanted more. I had some extra parts and decided to modify it to Joe Gagan's Easy Face circuit.

   OH MY GOD....I know this is going to sound a little dramatic, but this is the best pedal I have built so far. I woke up with sore hands after playing until 3 o'clock this morning (that's a good hint that you have an inspiring piece of gear right there).

   The blend and Pre-Gain knobs are so useful, it is hard to describe. The Pre-Gain, (as some others have mentioned) does kind of work like the volume pot on your guitar, yet it's different. So far I use the Pre Gain to determine the max fuzz I want when using full volume on my guitar, then back off on the guitar a little.

   The blend knob really lets you dial out some low end , cleans up the wooliness as you might like especially with humbuckers and neck pickup selections.
Overall, this pedal is more responsive sounds and feels head and shoulders above the 2 knob FF or the other boutique option I have tried.

I think Joe Gagan's schematics for some of his other circuits are out there on the interwebs....makes me very curious.

THANK-YOU Joe Gagan, you are a genius!

[Mark Hammer]

Too often overlooked, Joe knows his stuff, and has introduced a number of simple-but-useful innovations over the years.  They've been floating around long enough that people treat them as if "they have always been there", rather than being the distinct contribution of an identifiable individual.

I still think the "skillet-box" builds that Joe used to do over a decade back, before switching to Hammond boxes, were some of the coolest-looking pedals around.  A supremely royal P.T.A. to build, I'm sure, but as hip and elegant as the early spaceship Mayer pedals or original Klon Centaur chassis.

[davent]

Aron has a bunch of Joe's schematics conveniently stashed here, next up... you need a Skyripper.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/tungngruv/J-Gagan-NVN-Schematics/

dave

[tubegeek]

but as hip and elegant as a pair of Mark Hammer overalls.

Fixed that for you.