Buzzy Fuzzy

[fuzzo]

Hi folks,

I made some fuzz face pedal with different cap/resistor values , all sound good, but now I wanna build a fuzz pedal with some buzzy sound like the Analogman peppermint or zvex wolly mammoth (with the "pinch" control) do. But not a fuzz pedal really buzzy and noisy like the shin EI companion fuzz or the Fuzzbrite are , that must stay a musical fuzz pedal working with power Chord and leads part.


Ideas ? (expect the fact of making exact clone of those pedal )

Thanks !

[MikeH]

The wooly mammoth is pretty similar (if not VERY similar) to most 2-transistor fuzz arrangements out there.  If you take a look at a schematic, you should be able to adapt the 'pinch' control into most fuzzes with a similar setup.

[fuzzo]

Actually I made a wolly mammoth clone, but the sound is very bassy and it misses some highs. So I think tweaking it .

Actually I tried adding a pinch knob (500K pot in addition with the 100K resistor which links the base and emetter of the second transistor) in a regular fuzz face circuit , nothing change.

 

[Top Top]

I think this circuit by doug deeper was more or less based on the shin ei, and was designed to be very buzzy.



here's the thread where doug introduced it:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=77939.0

[fuzzo]

I made a shin EI companion fuzz and It's not exactly what I want, too buzzy.

The circuit I want must stay fuzz before all, and a knob to add a kind of buzzy .

What will happen if the 100K resistor in the fuzz face is reduced ?

[petemoore]

What will happen if the 100K resistor in the fuzz face is reduced ?
  The feedback path would feed greater amount from Q2e to Q1b.
  Why not perf-bread it ! The 100k with slightly longer legs [but I'd start with 150k] could have a pot clipped across it [250k or so], then any value between ~150k and 0 ohms could be tried.
  Orange Sunshine is another fairly quick build up.
  Maybe build a test-jig [clips from box mounted jacks protrude through the 'tray' on top of the jack-box, cardboard/insulated that clip the ground, input, and output wires, battery clip and ready to test.
  Boxes built so circuits can be 'slapped in' relatively quickly also makes it easier to test the boxes, tweek the knobs, try different circuits in there.
  Those buzzy fuzzes tend to be on 'edges', like bias or barely letting any bass in or whatever, tweeking and fiddling with various ones is probably the best way to find what suits your needs. Also notice the size and ratio of the emitter and collector [as well as bias resistors and input R's and] to get an idea what is high gain, what is voltage starved, what happens when th'is R value is altered...

[foxfire]

you could try the sunn buzz...

[fuzzo]

I breadboard a vox tonebender and I tweaked it, changed some value and.......I have my buzzy fuzzy  !! Like I want !! fu***** great!

I'm still tweaking it and I may post the schematic soon if some people want it.

[petemoore]

  Find out what the transistor needs to do 'good work' and cut back on it.
  Drop the power input.
  Demand greater power output, say..ground emitter, use large collector resistor, float the base in case you want to oscillate.
  Reduce the current / stick huge resistors in there.
  Try exactly 'some' + or - feedback. 

[fuzzo]

Actually I haven't a lot of transistor , the current ones are 2N3904.

use large collector resistor,

I saw that yeah, for the first transistor I switch the 10K for a 22K .

The cap in the feedaback loop works great to tame high , I tried 1n in both but that seems to be too high, 470pf could be better , maybe less for the second transisor.

I put a 1K/10uF for the drive part. The pot , as always with my fuzz face design works only at max , the rest if of the curve is totally useless. In tweaking the 100K resistor which link the base of first transistor and the emetter of the second and I noted the fuzz level change with the resistor's values, so I decide to see what happens If I  use a 220K pot instead of fixed resistor.

For the buzz, I just put a 4K7 + 5K pot on collector of the second transistor.

Maybe it's the happiness of the moment but I think that's good for the buzzy fuzzy I looked for . I'll continue tweaking that little beast soon, I have to go.

Thanks petermoore for your advices and help !

[fuzzo]

Hi,

I worked a little on my circuit today, and I didn't manage to find a simple way to add a "gain control" better than the 1Kpot which doesn't work (no linearity of fuzz , all fuzz at max).

I tried to put a resistor + pot instead of the 100K feedback resistor, the minimun resistor was 10K and I tried a bunch of values for the pot.  100KL was useless on the half of its curve, or there's a difference I can't hear, the 50K/25K worked good . The  10K too but a tinny fuzz gain.

The issue is that way to implant a gain control isn't similar to the sound produced with  100K resistor.

Maybe a pot in front of the circuit ? but I remember that cuts a little the bass response , that acts exactely like the volume guitar I do a similar thing on another fuzz pedal, that's cool but no really what I want for that  noisy fuzz. 

So , folks, ideas ?