Axis Face or Axis fuzz?

[jpm83]

 i'm planning to do a more stabile substitution to my germanium fuzz face, so whitch one has more germanium like sound?

Janne

[petemoore]

 Axis fuzz is a different thing than a FF, similar..works best reportedly/personally through an already cranked amp.
  Axis Face is an Si FF derivitave fashioned to be 'GE like' in tone, does great job, very stable.

[jpm83]

Thanks for answering. I think I'm gonna build that Axis Face.

Janne

[tcobretti]

Those two are my absolute favorite fuzzes.  You certainly should build both.  However, as Pete said, the Axis Fuzz is hugely affected by the amp and guitar you use with it, which is why some people hate it.

[nooneknows]

I tried the Axis Face and it does a very good job, I've never tried an Axis Fuzz, what kind of guitar and amp this pedal is known to work well with?
thank you

[tcobretti]

The Axis Fuzz is very bright sounding, so it works best with darker sounding amps.  Its sound also depends heavily on your pickups.  I think it sounds a bit thin when using the back P/U unless it is a humbucker.  So, if you are looking for a fuzz you can use with your front pickup without it sounding too muddy, the Axis Fuzz is perfect.  If you only use the back P/U on your Strat or Tele, you probly won't like it.

[nooneknows]

Uh, it seems it doesn't work for me, I use  strat and tele and my amp is quite bright, the worst combination,,,
thank you very much!
ciao

[Branimir]

Hah a recent topic!

I've ordered parts for Axis Face last week...

Finally got tired of my FF's temperature instability. Every day in the week, it has got it's own sound, heh..

Anyways, how does axis face do the "ge" thing?

Things i like about FF:
1. it's dark sounding
2. it's not hi gain
3. works with C standard tuning
4. cleans up great (i use a 500k vol pot on my ff)
5. has healthy mids
6. makes my p90s sound really heavy

what i don't like about FF:
1. there's always an another unit that sounds a bit different then mine
2. sounded excellent on friday but yesterday, huh, it was a bit farty on the bass

and there's one odd thing... i have a tuner after FF, it's buffered, so I guess it eats up some signal in the path, but I find my FF sounding better with tuner in chain, unlike when it's only guitar - FF - amp, wierd!

How does Axis Face cope with these things?
1. is it dark sounding?
2. is it low gain-ish as ge FF?
3. don't care about clean up, i used to clean up even with a rat pedal!
4. will it sound the same every day of the week?

can't wait for parts to arrive, my diy FF is my main/favorite pedal ever, and i'm planing on retiring it with Axis Face...

[tcobretti]

Yes on 1, 2, and 4.

3 isn't a question.

Mine sounds and acts very much like my Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz, but with slightly more midrange.

[slideman82]

Do you want a really good fuzz? Try the Big Cheese at Geofex. You'll have to bias the 2nd tranny, and it's Si! 2N5088 sound excellent. Also, you'll have that "transistor drive" sound... really versatile.

[Dragonfly]

EZ Face...simple to build, less stabilty problems...

[petemoore]

EZ Face...simple to build, less stabilty problems...
  'EZ' doesn't equate to 'beginner' in EZ face contexts, seasoned veteran FF builders can appreciate the stability and ease of bias too, a '1/2 Ge' Fuzz Face that is desirable because it's easier/more reliable to bias than a Ge/Ge FF.
  Socketing transistors/adjustable bias is recommended for Ge FF testouts anyway, at that point why not try a Hybrid Si/Ge or Si/Si ?
  take a look Axis face, it's very near to a FF, you have plenty of options, maybe just need some low gain Si's to try out in FF Q1, or in FF Q1 and Q2...worth the wait IMO but you could also piggyback...as in my 'Rangepig' title.
 

[jpm83]

I made the Axis Face and it sounds great. Only problem is that I accidently ordered 10k pot for gain, and I used a parallel resistor to make it 1k and now gain control works a bit strange (more like a on-off switch) so I have to order a correct value pot to make this thing work at it's best.

Janne

[shredgd]

You might also increase the cap across the two trannies to 220p instead of 100p... smooooooooooth!! 

Giulio

[Gus]

Just looked at a Axis face rev 3 layout.  I searched here and found one by jpm83 I did not find the schematic.  This I thought of when I drew the schematic from the layout

http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/studio/2987/britface.html
fulltone input series pot
http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/gusFuzzFace.gif

I am not a fan of the 100K feedback resistor and trim pots in drain or collector legs.  And if what I saw is correct it looks like there is a lot of highs rolled off.  .033uf and 1.2K lowpass filter and the 100pf C to B.

[jpm83]

Here is the link to the schemo. http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/axisface.php