Kay Fuzz / Super Fuzz

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
   Well....with some tweaking of some of the resistor values I've ended up with a very useable [and unique]  BIG sounding fuzzzzzzz that is a welcome change from the typical  "Fuzz Face Doldrums" .   There are some settings of the knobs that yield a splatty, gated, grinchy sound too, but I just avoid those settings!   Maybe Dan N. or somebody with more experience could offer some help on the circuit.  I didn't want to hijack Marty's thread so I started a new one!
Brian.

[MartyMart]

........ so Brian ...... tell us what you have done.......
Which version ?
Where's the schem ?
What's the scam ?

Marty. :wink:

[brian wenz]

Hello Marty--
    The schematic I used is in Arons'  "Schematics" .   There is one correction to that particular schematic, though, but I'll have to wait to get back home to get it for you.  All of the other resistor value changes that I made are ALSO at home!   The first two trannys are the 220 hfe ones that I mentioned earlier [I used BC-182]  and the second two are 400hfe [BC-183].
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Great !
Please keep me posted !
I'm off to bed ....

Marty.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Marty--
    Still not at home but I remembered that I was wrong about the trannys .  The higher-gained ones go in the FIRST part of the circuit [NOT the last part!]   and the lower-gained ones go in the "octave" section.
Go to Aron's "search" and type in "Kay fuzz"  for more info.
Sorry about the confusion...
Brian.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Marty--
      O.K.,   at the far right side of Aron's schematic [ near the output and after the diodes] there is a point where a 22K and a10K and a 50K pot meet.  Right at that point there should be a .1 cap going to ground.
  At the second stage [where the two 2SC828R trannys are connected] there is a 100K going from the collectors up to the 9V.   I kept lowering this value until the "fuzz"  got better.  Actually, you could probably wire up a 100K pot  to the 9V side and check a few points along the "collector" side of the circuit.
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Hello Hello Marty--
      O.K.,   at the far right side of Aron's schematic [ near the output and after the diodes] there is a point where a 22K and a10K and a 50K pot meet.  Right at that point there should be a .1 cap going to ground.
  At the second stage [where the two 2SC828R trannys are connected] there is a 100K going from the collectors up to the 9V.   I kept lowering this value until the "fuzz"  got better.  Actually, you could probably wire up a 100K pot  to the 9V side and check a few points along the "collector" side of the circuit.
Brian.

Thanks brian,
a 0.1uf to ground seems like a LOT of rolloff !! wouldn't between 0.01 and 0.001  be enough .... ?
I may try reducing those 100k's on my Univox - though the "octave"
may suffer ....

Cheers,
Marty.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Marty--
      Any new developements with your Super Fuzz??
B.

[MartyMart]

Hello Hello Marty--
      Any new developements with your Super Fuzz??
B.

Well, its "better" but still not "FAB"  !!
I upped a couple of caps so that the "normal" fuzz setting is a bit fuller
sounding and used an extra 1N4148 for asymetric Clipping.
I used a 50k trimmer for Q3 ( I think! ) and biased that in a bit better...
also "futzed" with the trannies a bit more, which helped ...

These circuits just need a better "Fuzz" for the front end really, Dragonfly
posted a "smooth silicon fuzz" a while back which sounds great, or even
a "Muff fuzz" would be better, followed by the "octave" section.
Both the SOU and NeoOctave generally sound better .... !!  :shock:

Still, the build/de-bug was worth it and also valuable "learning"  

Marty.

[brian wenz]

Hello Marty--
       Hmmmm......yeah, I wouldn't call my Kay fuzz smooth but it really sounds huge and nasty!  It's one of my faves........maybe just because it's so different then the others.
Brian.