WOW Signal Fuzz dissection...

[digi2t]

Seems I'm on a Spaceman Effects run here. Here's the video;

I now have one on my bench. Here are some teaser shots;





Seems a bit more Spartan than the Gemini, but this time they've gone to town with the grinder. All ID's have been deleted on the IC's and trannies, except for the Russian one. No matter, that's what a voltage meter, breadboard, the internet, and of course, my fine feathered friends here, are for. The tracing has begun.......stay tuned.

[FUZZZZzzzz]

sounds awesome! good luck with the tracing.. will definitely build one when possible
never heard of the company before.. why would they put the depth switch inside the box? toggle would be better.

[digi2t]

sounds awesome! good luck with the tracing.. will definitely build one when possible
never heard of the company before.. why would they put the depth switch inside the box? toggle would be better.

Exactly my first thought as well. No reason why it shouldn't be on the outside. I'm going to toggle mine.

Spaceman Effects has to be one of the finest boutique pedal companies around today (IMO). Everything is limited quantity, top notch quality, and great tone as well. And for all that, they're no more expensive than any other "boutique" pedal out there. They've got their $hit together. Every pedal is a work of art.

[timd]

Yeah guys - that switch on the inside NEEDS to be external. There's 2 8 pin IC's here. Is one op-amp type and the other a 555 timer? I noticed the tremolo effect and immediately thought of the 555 chip - LED/LDR combo ala a Dead Astronaut build....But didn't see that combo in the gut shot. Or is it more EA trem style with transistors?

[Jaicen_solo]

Is that thing pulling some sort of PWM effect? It's quite cool, but i'm not sure how usable it is, certainly for myself.

However, above all else that is beautifully built.

[digi2t]

Yeah guys - that switch on the inside NEEDS to be external. There's 2 8 pin IC's here. Is one op-amp type and the other a 555 timer? I noticed the tremolo effect and immediately thought of the 555 chip - LED/LDR combo ala a Dead Astronaut build....But didn't see that combo in the gut shot. Or is it more EA trem style with transistors?

I think you're on the money....





More to come soon.

[slacker]

Is that thing pulling some sort of PWM effect?

Does sound like PWM the way the timbre changes as it sweeps. I wonder if it could just be tremolo before the fuzz so it's effectively changing the amount of fuzz as well as the volume.

[digi2t]

Is that thing pulling some sort of PWM effect?

Does sound like PWM the way the timbre changes as it sweeps. I wonder if it could just be tremolo before the fuzz so it's effectively changing the amount of fuzz as well as the volume.

That would make sense. We'll know more once I trace it. One thing for sure though, if you listen carefully, it almost has a vocal quality on the repeats. In the video with a regular guitar, I can hear a yoyoy coming through, and the baritone gives it a wayowayo. Mine does the same., it's pretty cool.

[~arph]

Could also be a small uC like a ATTiny45    Is there a 5V regulator in there? ( next to that blue box cap perhaps? )

I think it sounds terrible btw.. 

[FUZZZZzzzz]

Could also be a small uC like a ATTiny45    Is there a 5V regulator in there? ( next to that blue box cap perhaps? )

I think it sounds terrible btw.. 

Strange thing to say, coming from a guy who made this:
http://www.friedair.com/arrfx/index.html



(and now back on topic)

[~arph]

 

Yeah, I'm caught.  

(btw I could have fixed that page title, but as soon as I had that working I was on to better things in life, don't know why its still online either. )

[digi2t]

Alrighty... been on the bread board awhile, but I finally got it done. Here is the schematic, and the verified vero;





C8 should be tailored to taste, and VR1 replaces the 16K resistor that is in the original. These two components tailor the Vactrol to the circuit. The VTL5C3 works great, although I'm thinking that a VTL5C1 might be what's in the original. In any case, adjusting C8, and using a 25K trimmer allows for adjustment to get a variety of Vactrol or LED/LDR combos to work here. Set the trimmer with the speed toggle on double speed, with the depth set to max, and the speed to max. Dial the trimmer to get a good square wave chop, and test the result by slowly dialing the speed down. The chop should be good throughout the speed range. As for the cap, test between 820pF to 2200pF (or higher if you wish), to get a good balance between the high and low frequency in the wave. Your ears will guide you. My unit is at 2200pF, and a side by side test says pretty well spot on to the original.

IC1 is an MC4558 (or RC4558), and IC2 is a TL072. Besides sounding good, the unit takes a moment to come to life, just like the original, so I believe that I have a good combo here. A TL072 in IC1 WILL NOT WORK!! It's as if the IC latches up when power is applied, and no sound comes out of it. The 4558's don't have this problem. Even a NE5532 works alright here.

Video will be posted tomorrow, A/B'ing the two. It's not cased, but it's operational. I'm still short a 62K resistor, so I'm using two resistors in series right now. It's not a fuzz for everyone, but with the LFO dialed down, still sounds pretty good. The fuzz section alone is worth the build.

[timd]

Awesome work!

[digi2t]

Just a small error on resistor R19. It's 430K, not 420K. I've updated that, and I'll be uploading the works to the Gallery. Here's the video, as promised;

Quite honestly, I prefer my clone. The fuzz sounds better to me, having a better harmonic finish on the decay, and better overall sustain and "roar factor". Maybe I happened on the magic trio of trannies, who knows.

R15 (62K) can be adjusted as well. It seems to set the LFO range, so I'm thinking that anywhere between 56K to 68K should be alright. 62K isn't a common value, and these Spaceman Effects circuits seem to enjoy using oddball values.

Anyway, just waiting on the resistor, and the 9mm pots right now. Basically, I'm stickin' a fork in this... IT'S DONE! I'm moving on to a vero of the Infinitphase. Oh woe is me!

[FUZZZZzzzz]

how could I have forgotten about this pedal? I even replied. So, I saw a wow signal fuzz video today and got back here. Has anyone build this? I cannot believe no one replied to this.. Thank you once again for all the hard work you're doing / have done!!! cheers!

gonna look into this.. yesterday I build to 2 pedals (demo tape fuzz & stupid box) from scratch in only 6 hours. Including drilling etc. You guys are probably way faster, but its a new personal record for me.. because everything worked the first time yes, I know they're easy builds...

[LucifersTrip]

there's another thread for this:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=99850.0

I built the fuzz section, which is actually one of my favorites of the modern stuff. It's based on/similar to the Tripple Fuzz


I don't know the history of that topology in fuzzes, so not sure where the earliest examples are.

[digi2t]

+1 on what Lucy said, it's worth building the fuzz section alone. Just use the values and info from the WOW vero, I would run it through the three trannys, and then a tone and volume.