A question on the basics of circuit design

[Bunkey]

Hello all,

I'm in the process of setting out a circuit and like most beginners I need to know something I imagine is laughably simple to the electrical engineers amongst you..

Take the bazz fuss layout below (which I have rearranged from the original schematic to make it more comprehensible):



For practical reasons relating to the physical layout of what I'm building - Does it matter if I rotate the top branch around 180 degrees and have the diode to base effectively 'after' the collector (as viewed on the schematic and in terms of what I imagine to be the flow of DC)? Like this:



I'm taking a steep learning curve here and would appreciate the education
Many thanks, Ben.

[PRR]

> Does it matter if I rotate

No. Wires can run any which direction or length. "Rubber bands"

This is an approximation. Radio waves can be fussy. Audio waves over a few thousand feet need thought. But in guitar pedals, the *connections* can go any way is convenient. The diode is not "after" because the whole run of wire acts as a single point (for audio at pedal-size).

In a higher-gain pedal there is a different constraint. Outputs and inputs should be separated. Just like you don't want your septic tank over your drinking well. But the plan you show is not prone to much trouble from that.

[Bunkey]

Thank you sir!

I think I'm beginning to see how this electricity thing behaves.

Yes, septic leakage does sound rather unpleasant 

[Fancy Lime]

Hi Ben,

welcome to our mad little circus!

"Septic Leakage" is a good name for a pedal, though. Or a Metal band.

One thing about the Bazz Fuss is, that it is actually not a very easy circuit to understand. But it is easy to build and you don't need to understand it in order to build it or even modify it in interesting ways. And it is a lot of fun. Was the first circuit I built and here I am, decades down the road, still at it. So it is a good beginners project but don't worry if you don't understand what is going on exactly. We had a bit of a discussion on the topic recently:
https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=122821

A good resource for beginners, in my opinion, is Electrosmash.com. They have in-depth circuit analyses for a bunch of nicely diy-able pedals for all skill levels. A good distortion, which is a bit more complex to build than a Bazz Fuss but easier to understand, is the MXR Distortion+:
https://www.electrosmash.com/mxr-distortion-plus-analysis

Cheers,
Andy

[Bunkey]

Hey,

Thanks for the warm welcome Andy 


I came across some of these resources on my journey already and they have been an invaluable source of information!


Its true, I've had a great deal of fun playing with diode types and stray resistors in an attempt to sculpt the sound in interesting ways.
As I'm sure you can appreciate, I'm never truly satisfied until I know not just how to do something but why I'm doing it - The lateral application of thought is a powerful tool!

With that I'm truly grateful for the knowledge and advice you guys put into the public domain.


The circuit I'm working on I have already built from scraps pulled from a crusty old VCR:



I'm now trying to flex my creative muscles and replicate this as an aesthetically pleasing free-form circuit..

I'll be sure to log my progress and look forward to asking plenty more dumb-as-mince questions in the future!


All the best.

[vigilante397]

If there's a question on circuit design and Paul (PRR) is already here there's nothing I can add except another welcome

[amptramp]

Join the thundering herd!  We all started with simple circuits and progressed to bigger things so welcome to the forum and keep up the good work.