Fuzz Face ok for bass?

[Soulfinger]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and to DIY pedal making in general.  So first of all ... hello!  I'm primarily a bass player (though I play guitar as well).  In my band, I play a Rick 4001 into a Traynor YBA-1 head and usually use no effects at all as I get a nice growl out of the amp alone.  Here's a sample if anyone is curious:  http://www.fatalfilm.com/music/Thrillr/Uniform.mp3  [there is a bit of the old foul language in there in case you're at the office or in front of your kids or whatever]

Anyway, I recently got the pedal building bug and have chosen a basic Fuzz Face design from Jack Orman's site (http://www.muzique.com/schem/fuzzface3.gif) as my first project.  I chose the design as it seemed a good all around pedal to have and it for its simplicity. 

Now, as I said, I don't usually use effects with my bass but if I had a good sounding fuzz there are times when I'd probably kick that thing into overdrive.  If that particular Fuzz Face design is very much geared for guitar, I'd have no problem just having it for guitar and using another design for the bass down the road (such as Mnorbye's bassdrive design which looks promising:  http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/mnordbye/own_creations/mnordbye_schematics/bassdrive.png.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1).  However, if a slight alteration in the Fuzz Face design would make the pedal appropriate for bass, I might as well alter it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  And I'll be sure to share my experiences on here.

[nosamiam]

You would probably be less than satisfied playing through a FF on bass in a band setting. They seriously roll off bass frequencies. If you're playing alone, it sounds great. With the band, as soon as you click it on, your bass totally disappears. What I would recommend is that you go ahead and build the FF if that's what you want to do. Like you said, you play guitar too. But if you eventually build on of these:

http://www.runoffgroove.com/splitter-blend.html

you'll be a happy camper. It allows you to run a combination of fuzz and clean, full-range signal thereby keeping the bottom end intact. That pedal does a whole lot of cool stuff too!

[Soulfinger]

Cool.  Thanks for the advice.  I thought the basic fuzz face might filter out bass as you describe.  Nice to have a confirmation.

I'll probably go ahead and build the fuzz face for guitar as a learning experience (and because I just ordered a specific set of parts for it).  But I'll take a look at the design you suggested.  As I'm somewhat new to circuit diagrams, this one is laid out a bit differently than I've seen but it seems pretty clear.  I assume you just link up the "+V" and "Vref" points to the portion of the circuit in the lower left.

That design sounds perfect.  Getting a little fuzz on top but keeping the bottom end is essentially what I'd want for bass.

Thanks again!

[jakehop]

Vref goes to the other Vref's, and the V+'s goes to the other V+'s. But I think that was what you meant :-)

Kind regards, Jake

[nosamiam]

If you go a bit further down the page past the schematic, there's an actual perfboard layout for the Splitter-Blend. It's not the most basic circuit, but it's not too terribly difficult either. There's lots of drilling to be done in the enclosure. It has signal in, signal out, and two sets of send & return. But it's a reeeeally cool pedal to have in your arsenal. When you get around to building it, pop back in and ask questions if you have any.

[caress]

fuzz face with a clean blend.  you'll be happy!

[bassmasta17]

i too am a bass player looking for a fuzz. I have found mine and moded the layout slightly, Tone knob. I highly suggest making this or the one you have here even more. If you can find a pedal that you like the sound from you could always make a FX blend pedal. Do your self a favor and learn from my many (8 pages) of mistakes.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=72209.0

[Soulfinger]

i too am a bass player looking for a fuzz. I have found mine and moded the layout slightly, Tone knob. I highly suggest making this or the one you have here even more. If you can find a pedal that you like the sound from you could always make a FX blend pedal. Do your self a favor and learn from my many (8 pages) of mistakes.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=72209.0

I'd actually started reading this thread already.  I'll definitely read the rest. 

I've also been thinking of just using a boost as my amp has a nice natural growl as it is.  I've noticed that Fender P basses tend to have a much "bigger" signal than my Rick when plugging them into my amp.  That could be the pickups, the thicker heavier wood ... a variety of things.   I'll probably play around with different boost designs, starting with the AMZ Mosfet Booster which I'd guess most people on here are familiar with:  http://www.muzique.com/schem/mosfet.htm.  Has anyone used that with bass and had decent results?

Cheers!

[23]

I found that a single transistor design like the CREAMPIE to off a very useful amount of overdrive, if you can find that schematic I dont have it anymore. I did a 70's FF from General guitar gadgets and it works great for bass and it doesnt seem to suck the bass out as bad as a germanium reg. old FF. Play with the input caps.

[Soulfinger]

I found that a single transistor design like the CREAMPIE to off a very useful amount of overdrive, if you can find that schematic I dont have it anymore. I did a 70's FF from General guitar gadgets and it works great for bass and it doesnt seem to suck the bass out as bad as a germanium reg. old FF. Play with the input caps.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll google around for a creampie schematic.

As for the input caps (C1 in this diagram, right?:  http://www.muzique.com/schem/fuzzface3.gif) am I correct in understanding that a cap with greater capacitance will allow more low end to pass through?

[bassmasta17]

if you like the growl out of your amp just make a very clean booster and make your amp do the growling.

[Gus]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/gusFuzzFace.gif

Adjust C3 the input cap for bass and amp you are using go bigger and smaller maybe start at .1uf film

Adjust C4 for more high end rolloff

Think like you are mixing a CD etc slot the frequencies so parts of the band are not overlapping.  Again what might sound good solo might not sound good in a mix or live.

[snarblinge]

I have been making Bass FF with 22uf on the input and 1uf on the output, sweet as and lets all the bass through, but dies and starts to splutter with an active bass after about 10 mins of use, any ideas.