fuzz transistors

[mhartington]

so i got a BBE free fuzz laying around and decided i want to mod it. the Fuzz that i got from it seemed to but dull and kind of dark even though it is said to use silicon transistors. I want to mod it to get that mid era pink floyd sound as heard on money and the live from pompeii. the sound i want to produce comes around 4:10 in the video below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ_QVfT_wM

what kind of transistors do you guys think could produce that.

[Schappy]

The BBE is a silicon fuzz face.

Gilmour is know for playing a Big Muff and thats what is sounds like in the video.

[CynicalMan]

It sounds like a fuzz face to me and to gilmourish.com (great site):

"ECHOES
Stratocaster
- violin effect/intro & verse (bridge pickup); mild Fuzz Face with echo using a slide
- intro slide solo (neck pickup); clean signal and echo
- rhythm (middle pickup); clean signal
- main riff/run-down from chorus (middle pickup); clean signal
- solo (bridge pickup); Fuzz Face and echo
- "funky part"/rhythm (middle pickup); clean signal
- "funky part"/lead fill-ins (middle pickup); Fuzz Face and echo
- "seagull effect" (see below); guitar through a reversed wah wah with echo
- rhythm/build-up from mid-section (middle pickup); clean signal with echo
- echo melody (bridge pickup); clean signal with echo
- outtro solo (bridge pickup); clean signal and echo"


IMO, you should tear out the circuit and build a fuzz face into the enclosure.

[zombiwoof]

The Free Fuzz is supposedly a silicon Fuzz Face with a couple of tweaks.  I have one, and my impression was that it just doesn't sound right.  There is a mod that lifts one cap that is supposed to make it sound much better, but I don't remember which one.  You might find that mod if you do a search for "Free Fuzz Mod" (on the net, not on this forum).  I haven't gotten around to checking the circuit closely, but I was told that it is very close the silicon Fuzz Face already.

Al

[zombiwoof]

I found the mod for the Free Fuzz I was talking about.  Remove C4 (it's labeled on the board), this is supposed to bring back some high end and make it sound much more like a standard silicon Fuzz Face.  Try this and see what you think, if you don't like it, it's easy to put it back, and then think about doing more extensive mods.  I'm going to try it myself when I get around to it.  I think you can just lift one leg of the cap if you want.

Al