Build reports: Neoctavia HP amp FF

[rove]

Build reports:
Neoctavia: I used torchy's vero layout for the neoctavia, my first real octave up fuzz, though the scrambler, superfuzz, and axis fuzz pedals I've made all have that element.  I think it sounds great, more defined octave up than any of the above, and more gain, iirc, than the fulltone octave pedals that I have played through.  At first I had some trouble, the pedal was passing fuzzy sound, but it just wasn't right.  So i turned around the transformer and... still not right.  After checking and re-checking, I realized I had neglected to put the jumper that goes under the transformer on the board.  I rigged it up with an insulated wire on the copper side of the vero and I was up and running. 
Fit easily in a 125B sideways leaving plenty of room for the battery and LED.  The only strange thing I have noticed with this build is that when plugged into my EZ build headphone amp I get a drop in volume when switching the pedal on and off, as if a cap is charging for about a second.  this does not happen when plugged into any of my amps.
I'd be curious to hear how this compares to the tyco..

EZ build headphone amp (from the big man's layouts gallery): I needed a way to check out my pedals without making much noise, and it didn't need to be hi fi, just plenty loud an clear enough to get a feel for a pedal in progress, for example.  For a total of about 5 or 6 bucks in parts I was able to throw this circuit together. 
I added a volume pot--essential as this thing gets LOUD--ended up using a 5kB pot (probably 10kA would be better, but this suits), and a Gain control in place of the switch on the layout which took a little more experimenting after which I determined a 10kC pot would be best for my tastes here, but since I didn't have that I settled on a 10kA pot wired backwards, so while the gain knob works "opposite" how one might expect, the taper provides the most usable range. Helped me to understand tapers a little better.  goes from slightly fuzzy to pretty fuzzy with gain all the way up, somewhat bright, but not overly so. 
Overall, for the ease of building and cheapness of parts (all spares really) this thing works great.  I used a plastic enclosure, SPST mini toggle for power and added an LED power indicator-- its more of a table top type box--, definitely not for stomping.

Fuzz Face: finally ordered the FF transistors from smallbear and, using RLBJR65's layout, I put together my very own fuzz face.  I used the resistor values provided by smallbear, though I had to create most of them with pairs of resistors, and changed the output cap to .047 from .01. 
Again this thing just wasn't sounding right, very frustrating given the apparent simplicity of the circuit.  I left it to sit overnight and woke up with  fresh eyes that allowed me to see that I had again neglected to put a jumper on the board.  I put that in, and tested with some BC108 transistors, no sound, till I turned the battery around, now that sounded like something... put the GEs back in and, presto, awesome sounding fuzz (I suppose the Si transistors worked with batt backwards as they are npn).  Very thick with lots of sustain and a wide range of tones for 2 knobs.  needless to say it sounds awesome paired with the neoctavia, either before or after it. 
It won't replace my superfuzz (thanks again for that layout, slacker), but its a fine addition to the arsenal.

I resisted the urge to post when I was pulling my hair out debugging as I knew that, as usual, it was some silly mistake that I would ultimately discover, but I still couldn't have built this stuff without the knowledge shared here; after about a year I have over 20 builds under my belt, not much compared to many here, but I have learned so much in the process.
thanks.

[MartyMart]

Well done Rove
Neoctavia is a real good octave circuit - one of the best IMO, not sure what's happening when
plugged into your headphone amp though, some sort of "miss-match" going on !

FF - a classic, when done "right" they are superb, good idea to get matched trannies from SB as
"hunting in the dark" with FF's can get quite frustrating !
The only problem I have with them is the "positive ground" hookup, so I've tended towards building
either Si NPN versions or even a few Ge NPN versions, standard negative ground here, so can be
powered along with other pedals from a normal PSU.
A few of my AC127's worked here along with some OC140's - aron and SB have these, though finding
them with Q1 gains of 90hfe or so is hard ! ( more like 140 to 200 )
The "Easy Face" makes a nice compromise and a good sound, as does Tim's "Tripple Fuzz" and John Hollis's
"Rock Face" is a cracker - temp stable circuit too.
MM