grrrrr fuzzface !

[Fast Pistoleros]

no idea why the fuzz wont work when boxed..spent a few hours on breadboard tweaking around these two trannies for a fuzz face ..worked fine until I boxed it , now it works but barely any sound..you can hear it faintly and sounds like hella fuzz ..I cant debug it..felt a public writing out would help settle down the frustration lol

I have it all ripped apart, dont even remember voltages ..VCC on Q2 was like 8 volts

its my own layout. so no reference to go on ..I think all the good transistors are already picked through and hoarded ..you can buy some but they probably would be seconds ..Its a hypothesis I have about people buying large quantities, sorting them, into two categories keepers and sellers ...pure speculation and conjecture ..probably cuzz i am angry

I actually had the bias a bit better after video and it was even a bit louder ..

[Gus]

Are the transistor cans touching the bare wires?  The metal cans are often connected to the collector.

[Fast Pistoleros]

I ripped it apart gus. I have two new 2n404's one is around 80 and the other around 120 ..so I am going to redo the layout and give it a new test. I looked close all night to make sure no ground outs in the enclosure , couldn't see anything .

I was thinking that is what it was, some sort of ground issue. its just strange how it stopped working out of nowhere though..mind boggling lol ..and I do feel better now , going to build this one today with happy spirits , I was pissed last night after working on this thing for hours..every time I have perfect bent and length (clean arse wiring) they never work ..only when I get a rats nest it seems rotfl

I even called it, I said to myself, the wiring is so tight and neat again this time, it wont work ..and it didnt

getting ready to do some more tests here ;

update 1

before any tweaking, q1 is at -8.82 volts and q2 is at -.249 volts

1k and 22k ( dont have an 18K) voltage divider mod - I have q1 at 33k but have a bias pot ready to set fixed R if needed or just make a bias pot there, seems a 100K pot works better than a 50 K pot - dont have a 2k emitter pot, using a C5K instead




well its the voltage divider mods - I went back to stock and got my amplification back - biasing emitter of q1 with pot seems to do nothing past 40-50 K , only under 20 then starts to pinch off

the SI sound pretty good ..and looking more and more good by the minute lol

[Fast Pistoleros]

well..my conclusions are:

its the voltage divider but more importantly its the transistors. Only the sets I got from small bear actually work right and sound good. I guess without calling anyone by name as they have other good stuff to get, but I stand by my words..all the the good germanium is pretty much sorted through and long gone.

makes you think, you get that one magical circuit together better hang onto to for life. I wish I had more spare time to scrap and scrounge for parts ..yard sales etc

[smallbearelec]

a hypothesis I have about people buying large quantities, sorting them, into two categories keepers and sellers ...pure speculation and conjecture

Not speculation at all, but reality: We routinely buy large lots, sort and audit to get our--necessarily expensive--matched pairs and then post the "remainders" at much reduced prices.

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/low-gain-and-high-gain-1/

When shopping, as I have noted in my FF FAQ:

http://diy.smallbearelec.com/HowTos/FuzzFaceFAQ/FFFAQ.htm

the issue is whether the seller is honest and tells you what to expect: Are the parts sorted, audited and guaranteed to work on drop-in to a correct circuit? Or are they (supposedly) completely unsorted? If they are like my bulk devices,

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/bulk-rough-sorted-lots-1/

the seller may have tested a small number and guarantees a range of gain and reasonable leakage.

While it is true that bargains are scarce, if the seller is honest, the price will usually correspond to the quality of what you get. The ripoffs (and absolutely they exist) occur when an unscrupulous seller offers leaky or low-gain remainders at the price of raw, unsorted stock. If you buy on eBay, etc., and the seller isn't specific enough, don't be shy about asking exactly what is being offered.

You did say that circuit worked on the breadboard, and apparently also when soldered on tagboard, right? If you got to the tagboard stage, the layout had to be correct and the problem would be in packaging. Patience...you'll work it out.