Taper of the Fuzz pot on the Fuzz Face

[Ben Lyman]

btw, if the last 10% is what's cool, why not use a 900 ohm fixed resistor with a 100 ohm pot?

That's a cool idea. How about 2 fixed resistors (1K & 900r) on a toggle switch, then wire up a 500K "Pre-Gain" pot on the input.
Simulate low gain FF plus guitar knob control
Simulate hi gain FF plus guitar knob control

In fact, how about the 2 fixed R's on a footswitch instead of a toggle...

[Plexi]

update: I try with B250k pre-gain pot.
Wonderful how it cleans and leave a nice OD almost at CCW.
At 0 it cut the sound, it easily can be solved with a 1k or some resistor.

[Ben Lyman]

The first time I did the pre pot, I did the same thing, didn't like it so I wired it as a variable resistor instead of a divider. Now all the way down just put 500k and it is almost totally clean, turn it up and there is no resistance at all and best of all, no connection to ground as your 250k pot will always be doing

[Plexi]

Maybe that's why I noticed more "harsh" or compressed high frequencies ... for the 250k to ground.
I'll try the 500k pot as you said, or replace the 100k "blend" pot in my Lovepedal Fuzzmaster.

[Plexi]

Update!
After notice that with almost any buffered pedal (like BD2) before it, sounds awful... I remembered the MXR Classic 108 buffer.


I'll try this one later, but now I set a common LPB1 before, as some kind of 'buffer', set vol at minimum; the FF gain knob cleaned very very well.

Looking for solve one problem, solved another in the way.

[Ben Lyman]

... for the 250k to ground.
I'll try the 500k pot as you said...

You can still use a 250K pot for this but what I meant was the way it's connected. There's 2 ways and I don't know any technical term for them so I refer to them as either a "voltage divider" or a "variable resistor" here's a visual:

As a divider there is always a connection to ground equal to the pot value, in your case 250K.
In the next pic you can see there is no connection to ground at all. Wide open is equivalent to an open wire, as in stock with nothing in the path at all. Turning the pot will provide resistance up to the pot value. 250K is probably plenty to clean it up but 500K will clean it up even more.
Hope that makes sense.

[Plexi]

Thanks Ben.
Yes, I understand when you told me before, and I tried both ways, with both pots.
That's why I tried 500k; To clean better.

What I meant is that if you use grounded connectors, like the output volume, they will have an impact on the maxima.
The same effect that they have volume pot on our guitars.

Groundless, used as variable resistance, does not have that influence on highs, apart from closing completely the signal at the entrance (send it to ground).

[kaycee]

I usually use a 1kC for the fuzz pot, which seems to give a much wider range of usable fuzz. I also include the 820R resistor between the ground and the pot as per the Vox Tonebender/Tonebender mk1.5.

I wonder how placing this resistor elsewhere on the gain network would effect the control, say between cap and ground, or straight off of the emitter before the pot, I'll have to try. anyway, as is, I know some people bias the FF in this area, the low value R can help tame gain and noise I think (particularly Ge FF). For silicon high gainers, a 100R off the Q1 emitter calms them as well as the collector/base cap.

[Plexi]

http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/voxbender/voxtonebenderschematic.gif

I've never noticed that resistor before 
It's seems that they expand the resistance to ground; like a 2k pot with fixed first 50% of the pot.
I can see that they reduce the feedback resistor (from 100k with 1k resistence, to 47k to almost 2k with ground resistence).

I have to try this fuzz...

[kaycee]

Well, I really like FF's and this is my favourite. The smaller input and out caps make it less woolly, more of a furry treble boost. I go 150n and 4n7.

[Plexi]

Yes... that's whay I read, "sounds like a Rangemaster and Fuzz Face combined"
I have there a few 2SB54 to try a PNP version.