Honey Special Fuzz.

[digi2t]

The principle how this circuit  works is that the inductance of the coil is changed with the DC-current flowing through the coil (as it was done in the Schaller - Rotor Sound too).

So both values are important:
The inductivity for the cut-off frequency and the dc-resistance for the DC-current flowing through the coil - and as a result how much the inductance is changed (and with this the cut-off frequency).

If the DC-resistance of the coil is higher, than less current is flowing through the coil and therefore changing the inductance less.

analogguru

OMG!!! DUDE, I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT! That is the most exquisite description I've gotten to date. I stand and salute you (insert saluting smiley here). Many thanks!

Dino

[analogguru]

You are welcome - I like your honest efforts to trace the unit and build a clone.

BTW, the TDK-coil is not a big mystery, you can make your own.

"Inside" it is made of a pot-core:



and some magnet wire (as used in guitar pickups):



When the AL-value of the pot-core is 250 (as shown) you will need about 4000 turns, with an AL-value of 400 you will need (only) 3162 turns - resulting in less DC-resistance.  The bigger the pot-core, the thicker the copper-wire can be.  A thicker copper-wire results in less DC-resistance with the same amount of turns.

analogguru

[digi2t]

You are welcome - I like your honest efforts to trace the unit and build a clone.

I really appreciate that. That's why I hold this forum, and many of it's members, very dear to my heart. This pedal building business only developed out of a curiousity to understand very basic electronics. Now it's grown into a fascination with the old pedals, and how they went about trying to expand the tonal palette before the digital age. Besides, they sound so brutally organic at times.

I really enjoy digging up these babies, and bringing them back to life. Most of all, bringing them to all of you here, is the best part. 

[Ronan]

Nice one Dino, another resurrected gem! This one of particular historical interest too, it seems. Man, this one goes back 45 years or so...hard to imagine what it would have been like for the designers back then...and the opportunities presented by the new-fangled and expensive transistors which made small electronics boxes and battery power feasible, compared to tube electronics. As opposed to these days, where you can get a few trannies shipped to your door from Hong Kong for less than a bar of chocolate!

[digi2t]

Nice one Dino, another resurrected gem! This one of particular historical interest too, it seems. Man, this one goes back 45 years or so...hard to imagine what it would have been like for the designers back then...and the opportunities presented by the new-fangled and expensive transistors which made small electronics boxes and battery power feasible, compared to tube electronics. As opposed to these days, where you can get a few trannies shipped to your door from Hong Kong for less than a bar of chocolate!

What I find really fasinating is the ideas presented by these pedals. I mean, it must have been like the old Wild West days, exploring new frontiers. Some hit gold, while others went bust. It never ceases to amaze me what they could come up with, with the technology of the day.

The coolest part is when I pull out one of my "little grey boxes" when my newphews are here, and pummel them with this harsh, analog sound. Their eyes just bug out, and they can't believe that something could sound so nasty, or cool. When I tell them that this or that was originally conceived when they weren't even a glint in their Daddy's eye, they always respond with a chorus of, "What do you mean, they don't make them anymore! I want one!".

The big wheel keeps turning....