Fuzz Factory Compared to the T.M.K. ? (Plus Build Report)

[Paul Marossy]

Has anyone ever compared how the two sound? I'm just wondering how close the T.M.K. can come to replicating the Fuzz Factory sound.

BTW, I read this thread in my search to see if there was a comparison of the two: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=27016.80

I have a few comments about this thread:

1. The Fuzz Factory is not just a "slightly modified Fuzz Face". It's a completely different circuit. Claims that Z. Vex stole an already existing design are completely bogus.

2. That Fuzz Factory page on the now defunct French website was accurate in terms of it working. Some reliable sources (who will remain anonymous) have reported this to me.

3. I PM'd Z. Vex about the French webpage as soon as I learned about it. That was around Oct. 2004

4. That same French webpage was up around six months ago, but I see that it is back down again.

5. No wonder Z. Vex doesn't come around often - he gets attacked most of the time when he does! (Or at least it used to be that way)

OK, that's it for now. Flame away. Enjoy.

Back to the T.M.K. - has anyone compared the two? I'm simply asking because have a friend who's looking for a Fuzz Factory type sound without having to actually buy one or make a clone of/buy a Fuzz Factory.

[slacker]

If you mean the weird self oscilating sounds then yeah I think it will probably sound similar. I haven't actually built the TMK but I've tried the positive feedback idea out on a couple of different circuits and the results sound similar to the fuzz factory.
You could also try Joe Gagan's skyripper fuzz if you can find a schematic, the one on ampage seems to have disappeared.
There's some samples on tungngruv's website.

[Paul Marossy]

I've tried the positive feedback idea out on a couple of different circuits and the results sound similar to the fuzz factory

Cool. I'm building the T.M.K. this weekend to check it out. I'll let y'all know the results when I get it done. Pics, too, of course. 

[Tim Escobedo]

I have no idea how the TMK compares to the FF. I will say that the TMK was inspired by the Zoom Ultra Fuzz, which I have heard described as a "poor man's Fuzz Factory", at least when they were still in production. So we have one degree of separation.

Playing with the Zoom Ultra Fuzz, and looking at the innards, I immediately thought, "There has to be a simpler way to come up with at least this many sounds with a much simpler circuit". The Zoom has at least six or seven op amps, IIRC, all surface mount stuff. And frankly, after hearing all the praise on the Zoom, I was a bit underwhelmed.

Originally, it was a one op amp circuit. However, I'd used a dual op amp, with one idle, and decided it may as well be put to use to get a real honest to goodness octave up. The rest of the circuit is a collection of goofy gimmicks, decoupled feedback, positive feedback, crossover distortion. It can be quite interactive with the guitar's controls if plugged directly in. Tunable oscillation effects controlled via volume and/or tone knobs. The Gain control doubles as a weird sort of tone control. No real low gain tones available from this circuit.

FWIW, I did find the TL062 to work best to my ears.

[Paul Marossy]

OK, it's all done now. It does get some similar sounds as a Fuzz Factory, but it doesn't seem to sound as fat. All in all, I think it's a pretty cool little circuit. Here's some pictures. The first few are of the enclosure that I re-used. I filled the holes with JB Weld and drilled some new ones. Also a couple of gut shots of my messy wiring, too. The graphics were originally a little different, but I had to rearrange all of the knobs to get everything to fit in there. Hey! Too Many Knobs!! 

Oh, and BTW, I used a TL082. It doesn't seem to work at all with opamps that aren't JFET types. 

[John Lyons]

Well it sure took you long enough!! Just kidding, Jeez! you build faster than I do. I'm always missing something and have to wait.
Soundclips?

John

[Paul Marossy]

Well it sure took you long enough!! Just kidding, Jeez! you build faster than I do. I'm always missing something and have to wait.

I started the project Thursday evening - I etched the PCB. Friday afternoon, I populated the PCB and did the JB Weld thing. I wired it up and painted it this morning. I think I spent about 6-7 hours on it. Anyhow, I didn't have everything I needed, so I raided "the boneyard" for some parts. It was a pretty straightforward project once I figured out how to get everything in the enclosure. I'll think about some soundclips. I'm not really set up to get any quality soundclips at the moment.

EDIT: Oh, and one other thing... I had to use a 1M volume pot to get enough volume out of it. That might also have something to do with my test battery - I think it's a little low...

EDIT #2: I forgot to mention that I used Munky's PCB layout. Thanks Munky!

[jimbob]

The first few are of the enclosure that I re-used. I filled the holes with JB Weld and drilled some new ones.

I have done that quite a few times w Jb weld too! Works great.

again-

Anyhow, I didn't have everything I needed, so I raided "the boneyard" for some parts

I'm starting to get quite a graveyard as well. Most buried there were from my early days of perfing. Since I learned to etch my own boards I have rebuilt most of those projects.

How does this TMK compare to the Tone burner in sound? I finished one last week and that damned thing has if i recall - 6 knobs?  Sounds great and very versatile.

[Paul Marossy]

How does this TMK compare to the Tone burner in sound?

Don't know. I've never even heard of the Tone Burner! 

[petemoore]

  Here's one,
  http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/tb3tb_sc.gif
  Looks a bit different than the TMK.
  A Darlington + Transistor Fuzz.

[jimbob]

Don't know. I've never even heard of the Tone Burner

Its a tonebender with some mods and extra. I had came across it a few weeks ago and until then hadnt heard of it either. Very cool and fun to mess with.

[Paul Marossy]

Speaking of the Tone Bender, I just finished my Jordan Bosstone that I started probably last year! It's similar to the Tone Bender, but it has clipping diodes on the output. It can really burn!

EDIT: On the T.M.K., I forgot to mention that I put it on my scope this afternoon. Wow, it really destroys the original waveform! Everything from some soft asymmetrical clipping to hard clipped octaves.

[trevize]

okay paul that's heavily off topic but how did you close the holes in your box?

[Paul Marossy]

okay paul that's heavily off topic but how did you close the holes in your box?

I put a piece of aluminum tape on the inside of the pedal, covering the holes. Filled the holes with JB Weld. When it cured, I used a grinder to take of the excess and sandpaper after that. The inside needed no work because the tape held everything in place. Didn't take too long - maybe 45 minutes total (not counting curing time).