Jordan Bosstone build report

[bluesdevil]

Just finished the Jordan Bosstone fuzz circuit last night and came out pretty good. With the stock input cap (.022uf) it sounds a bit nasally kinda like a wah pedal half %^&*ed maybe.... Mick Ronson must've used this during the Spiders from Mars days!! When I changed out the input cap with a larger one (.22uf as I read in Aron's previous post) it really opened up and smoothed out quite a bit with a great wall of heavy fuzz that sounded a lot fuller. I wired a toggle switch to select between the two, but I think I'll be using the .22uf all the time.
   As stated in some previous archived posts, oscillation was a problem. I get a howling feedback sound when I back off on my guitar's volume pot, so I replaced the gain pot with a fixed resistor (10k) as someone else recommended and it got rid of the problem. I may go with a toggle to select a few different resistors as well. The circuit at full blast makes my guitar seem very microphonic  and picks up any movement on it. The high compression really brings out the finger squeaks too. (I'm no Segovia).
    With the bigger input cap mod it sounds more Black Sabbath doom than the Mick Ronson/Brian May tone of the original (at least with my set up).
     Just wanted remind the beginners (yeah, I'm one too!) there's a heavier sounding easy fuzz circuit worth trying.  Thanks to all the previous posters who built this and originally shared the tips I used.

[squidsquad]

Interesting.  I had an original...the one that plugged straight into the guitar jack (NOT a good idea)...back in the late 60's....early 70's.  I must have gotten a *freak* one...had TONS of Voo Doo in it.  Would clean up great with ax volume roll off...and scream for days.  I put it into an old Maestro box and loved it to death.  Broke my heart when it was stolent.  25 years later...I bought the *re-issue* from Voodoo Labs...close...but no cigar.  Just attempted a build...it failed...RATZ!  I'll try again when I cool off.  Trying to re-captue the old magic.  
Squid

[bluesdevil]

Hey Squid, don't give up. Make sure you didn't copy from the original factory schematic..... there's a few mistakes in values. One I remember offhand is the 47uf cap doesn't work, it should be 47pf. Look in the schematic section of this site for a few links with corrections.
    About the oscillation problem I have:  I didn't have it in an enclosure when I fired it up so that could have something to do with it.  I'll try reconnecting the gain pot when I get a proper box for it.
    Man, I'm sorry to hear your original got nicked. Hopefully, since you actually know what it's supposed to sound like you can probably tweak the circuit for a fair replacement.
      Up next on my build list: The Octave Up Sick Box!!!!!!!

[jmusser]

Hopefully the schematic I pulled off and bagged parts up for, is the correct one. I've heard several people on the forum tell about how great a circuit the Jordon Bosstone, so I figured I make one up. I see you have a Sick Box on your horizon. I built it a couple days ago, and I like it a lot. The Simple Octave Up should not be underestimated either. That's also a great little ciruit. The more I play it, the more I like it. They're different from each other. The SOU can really get some ring mod stuff going on, if you like weird to the extreme. The OUSB will do it a little, but the fuzz is so overwhelming, that it hides most of it.

[Mark Hammer]

The Bosstone is a worthwhile build for the parts count and cost, and nicely modable.  Aron observed that increasing the value of the input cap (stock is .02uf) produces some interesting octave down effects.  I did this to mine and can confirm it adds a nice growl.  Kinda like the difference between straddling a 350cc bike and an 850cc.  The octave-like effect does not extend over the entire fretboard but it does turn the pedal into a slightly different effect for lower frets on lower strings.  Being able to select a different effect simply by your note choice is nice.

On mine I installed a 3-position switch that gives me stock, added cap on the input, or regular input plus filter cap in parallel with the diodes.  I forget the values but they are to taste anyways.

[jmusser]

Thanks for the mod info. I was surprised how well the Crash Sync tracked on one and two octaves down. It would be great, if somehow it could be modded to do octave up also with all that sustain. That thing is an incredible circuit. I want to get the timer pot into an expession pedal somehow, then I can do all those Star Wars light saber sounds!