Second Fuzz Face build - opinions needed

[MartyMart]

The pre-gain and fuzz pots work well together, though I simply use my gtr volume pot
as the "pre-gain" !! ( often ignored as a gain changer )
I would advise you to perhaps try that first before adding it.
Some people are not big fans of trimmers, but i use them on almost every fuzz to dial in
the right bias and to adjust when it drifts !
The "RockFace" is another goodie, has a kind of temp stability circuit built in, I got a cracking
good FF out of that using some HUGE russian trannies ( snigger snigger )
Also the reverse diode between base/emitter can help, see fuzzcentral site for that.

MM.

[axg20202]

Thanks again. Yeah, I really like they way the Germanium FF cleans up with the guitar volume knob. I guess with the pregain it allows me to preset this roll-off, although I guess a lot depends on whether the pregain pot is connected to ground or not.

[Skydog]

I have a question. Hope this thread will do. I just got a Dunlop Ge Fuzz Face recently and have been experiencing the "idiosyncrasies" of fuzz face for the first time. The biggest problem I have is it doesn't like my other gear: wah-wah pedal and chicken salad Vibe. I now want to build a Si backup. I want this to "go with" my other effects, but I need to know WHY it won't get along with others. Is it impedance matching? Is it negative ground on the NTK? Is it that it doesn't like buffers? Is there a design that avoids this? I'm sure this is a common question, so I apologize for not seeing it in the FAQ or whatever, but it's a first timer!

EDIT: I was robbed! I looked again at my transistors that say "NTK" and the only numbers are NTE102 (963L). The guy told me it had NKT275s!

[axg20202]

The fuzz face not getting along with a wah pedal is a common problem, ...and yes it is because of the low impedance of the FF.

The solution is to either add a pedal that has a buffered output in between the wah and the fuzz (e.g. a booster, overdrive - try your pedals to see) or, even better, add a small buffer circuit to the output of your wah. Third option I think is to add a buffer to the input of the FF itself, but I personally wouldn't do this. Do a search for buffer circuits and you should find the info you need. I think there is one at General Guitar Gadgets, but haven't checked. Very simple circuit and easy to add to your existing wah with no irreverible changes to the wah. Useful control too because the on-board trimpot allows you to adjust it for unity gain when switched in versus bypassed. You should make sure your wah is true bypass at the same time.

[kvb]

I just noticed on the PDF: Gagan says "Thanks to Oskar Bruil for this idea."

The "Bruil Blend" sounds good too.

So a Fuzz Face could have "Gagan Gain", "Bruil Blend",  . . . . Vinnie Volume, Tammy Trim . . .

[Skydog]

The fuzz face not getting along with a wah pedal is a common problem, ...and yes it is because of the low impedance of the FF.

The solution is to either add a pedal that has a buffered output in between the wah and the fuzz (e.g. a booster, overdrive - try your pedals to see) or, even better, add a small buffer circuit to the output of your wah. Third option I think is to add a buffer to the input of the FF itself, but I personally wouldn't do this. Do a search for buffer circuits and you should find the info you need. I think there is one at General Guitar Gadgets, but haven't checked. Very simple circuit and easy to add to your existing wah with no irreverible changes to the wah. Useful control too because the on-board trimpot allows you to adjust it for unity gain when switched in versus bypassed. You should make sure your wah is true bypass at the same time.

Thanks for the advice. I tried a couple of pieces before it, the ibanez tubescreamer and the wah-wah  (an old korg  mr  multi) and the wah portion still had that scratchy pot sound but the phaser pedal part did nice with a buffer in between! By itself the fuzz face (even with the NTE102s) still sounds like the apocalypse (no infringement meant in case there's a pedal named this:). But it's still the stupid Chicken Salad that is sucking the tone big time (on and off) though the battery powered one sounds a bit less fizzy (there should be mod to fix this ... yes I've already done "the other mod:). Will have to try another "buffer" before the vibe next. Was trying to get a whole chain to work with my practice amp w/o resorting to an outboard solution.

I'll do the research as you suggested. Thank you!!! When I make the ff pedal, I'm going to design as much flexibility as possible, si/ge, hybrid, phase switch, buffer trim, bias trim, the kitchen sink!