Biasing 'Faces by ear: rules of thumb

[mongoonlypawn]

My MultiFace lets me toggle between different NPN Ge and Si trannies without opening the box.  It made sense, therefore, to put the Bias knob right out front with the Fuzz and Volume controls.

Someday I'll look into the art of biasing with meters, but right now I'm interested in rules of thumb for biasing by ear.  What criteria do you use to optimize your 'Face?  Clearest tone, minimal decay, "just this side of gating rasp" or something else?  Is it easiest to fine tune with the fuzz/volume turned up/down?  What are the tradeoffs?

Thanks.

[Dragonfly]

Only rule that matters....

"If it sounds good, then it is good".
                             -Joe Meek

[tcobretti]

Yeah, something to remember, is that at some point you may want it to sound nasty and misbiased.  It's all about the context.

I like to say the only bad tone is an inappropriate tone.  It's the same with drum sounds.

[burnt fingers]

I did the 4.5 volt bias on my first fuzz face clone.  It was cool but in turning my trimmer a little I found where I liked it which is closer to 6 volts.

I decided to build another fuzz and put the bias pot on the outside so I could tweak between "proper" fuzz bias, and Nasy gated almost intollerable sounding fuzz.

Just go with what you like to hear.

Scott

[stobiepole]

Joe Gagan's Nitroburner pedal used an automotive voltmeter and an external bias pot...it's a good idea.

Chris

[soulsonic]

Biasing with a meter isn't any sort of art; biasing by ear IS art - your art. Don't ever let any "tone guru" tell you otherwise.

I don't even know what voltages are in the last fuzz I built, because it sounded perfect on the first try - why bother adjusting or measuring when it sounds so sweet? I'm much more prone to swapping transistors, but once I've found what type is "happy" with a new circuit, I can stick that kind in any future ones and there's no need to adjust because the circuit is made to work as is.

[mongoonlypawn]

I can't disagree.  It's my pedal, they're my ears, and sometimes my soul cries out for atrocious sputterage.

My question is more to get a sense of how folks use biasing to approach their admittedly subjective "optimal" sound.  By way of metaphor, a mechanic I know recommends running a car on cheap gas (2 tankfuls, if possible) prior to a tune-up.  This, he says, makes rough spots more prominent and allows more thorough adjustment.  The first tankful of "good" gas effectively polishes off the process.

For example, I've only just noticed that at certain settings, notes above the 12th fret on the E and B strings quickly decay quickly from ballsy to flatulant.  Since I dislike this, I will probably use this as a criterion for fine tuning.

[Gus]

old news about ext pots.

The ZV fuzz factory

http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/3tran.JPG

the rocket and others in schematics.

[aron]

I tried to compile a list of Fuzz Face links here in the schematics section:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=34866.0