bias voltage , bass fuzz options

[petey twofinger]

first off to check the bias voltage i just put the meter on the collecter pin , correct ? like black lead to grond red lead to traanys c pin ? are any other points relevant ?

so i have been reading quite a bit about this , and i still cant really make sense of what i should do (noobish).

i would like to make this circuit go from as clean boost or lil od as i can to total insanity . whatever bad side effects , farting , zipper , blooming , the better , but if it could clean up a lil that would be great . i realize i am prolly expecting way too much .

i breadboarded the bass fuzz and i tried a 2n5088 , mpsa13 , 1n914 , ge diodes , led , tons of random diodes i scrounged plus many cap combos . i also used a pot for the collector resistor , and it helped to focus it a little more , thanks mac ! at this point i feel it needs some help . i am using a guitar not a bass , its a strat with cheap pu's . i noticed the 2n5088 seemed to bloom which is great , the mpsa did not , now these are actually nte so is that bad ?

i am thinking a second stage i needed , should i dual up 2 bazz fuss circuits ? or is this too noisy . if i use gain controls it maybe would work to make this flexible ? not sure if you can get a bf circuit to go clean or what happends with 2 at once ! ,  should i go for a boost in there instead . it just needs a little more imo . and it would be nice to get it to go goofy . not sure if the boost would go before or after , also with the blooming effect on the 2n5088 would i put the mpsa before that or after ?

has anyone built a dual , anyone built a 2 stage bf ? do you use dpdt switchs for each or can you cheat and use dtst ? if i were to just use a boost what would you recomend , lpb-1 or simpler  , i have a lm386 chip here too .

now for a tone control i saw one where at the input is a pot with 2 caps , then i could also use a bmp tone circuit , ideally both but ... i am not sure how that first one works i imagine it would change the character of the distortion different also making it more compatible for a bass . or i could just use a switch in stead of pot for the same result ? both would be ideal i guess but $$ and "real estate" .

i have not yet tried a home made darlington , i do have a pair of 2n5088's here . when you use this what is the effect , would that maybe solve my issue of it needing more ? will it get super nutty with the darlington ?

sorry for all the questions , i have a serious back injury so i can only work for a little at a time . i do enjoy monkeying around and experimenting , but i get in too much pain after a half hour , i was hoping for some help , or experinced folks to throw in their 2 cents .

thanks alot . i am gonna go monkey with this for a while !

[petey twofinger]

i added a second stage , tried different mix and match combos of 5088 / mpsa13 . the mpsa13 didnt bloom , but it has its own nice tone . i have 2 ge diodes and 2 914s , it sounds good with both . i ended up using the 2n5088's on the first stage i had 2 1n5401 large diodes , then i had a ge on the second . that had a nasal tone and it bloomed really well . so i ran an odd cap arrangement , like a .056 first that one is like a dark brown chicklet  , then a tan rectangular .022 from a vcr , then a mylar .1 .

this sound is great for one note leads , not so great for chords . gotta see if i can figure out a switching system for the diodes and what it sounds like with those caps in the other "mode" .

it really didnt seem to make much of a difference having the second stage . i thought it would be way crazy , self oscilating . it really wasnt , just some noise at 11 . huh .

i do have mpsa13 but i think i may try ver 2 , the one were it mention making a darlington and see how that runs . it may be simpler / smaller .

im curious what others have done to "beef up" the performance of this . it just kind of crackles out at the end , it breaks up a lot , like it doesnt "track well" . maybe i should try a different amp / guitar . ill do that tomorrow . i am using a mini strat , and a homebrew amp .

i'll have to do some more snooping around here tomorrow . i read 2 pages of bf threads and my eyes were hurting .

wish me luck .

[petey twofinger]

not sure what voltages i should be seeing . when you bias do you check all three pins ?

today i tried a ver3 (?) , the one with a home made darlington , 2 5088's . it wasnt bad ,i think i liked the dual version a lil more , that one i had 2 large 5401 si doide diode on the first and then a ge on the second . it was very smooth , kinda compressed i guess and it bloomed . oo wah eee !

i think i may try that again .

i also did an lpb-1 and tried that pre and post . it seemed to work really well on the pre version . also then i tried starving it , with some success . i tried it with a full 9 volt , a dead one , and then a multi adapter , on different settings . i could get it to do some neat tricks .

thats waht i am looking for is out of the ordinary with this , i have a big muff , a few other distortin things around here (dano) a french toast , then i got a gt-6 , digitech rp-1 and a lil zoom . im set for normal sounds .

some of the splatty , farty , brass like stuff this pedal was doing was fantastic . now if i can just get it to jump thru as many hoops as it can when its all boxed up . the voltage sag thing . i wonder if i could use a regulator , or have batterys in segments with switches . hmm .

the thing is the bazz didnt seem to react to the voltage sag (just a pot on the hot side going in) much at all !

coupled with the lpb-1 it really made a difference for tone , using a battery . then with the adapter set to 3 volts i got it to really act up , it was cool !

[petey twofinger]

tried a version i found called bass fuss with mods , like a dual version . well this one was jumping one octave down when i changed the caps to the brown chicklet type . i didn't care for that too much . also when i did the voltage starve it oscillated , really nasty . so i am going to try macs versions , he has one called synth fuzz and a nother called guitar fuzz , although these use transistors that i dint have so , maybe i should hit Fry's or just wing it . i have a feeling i am going to end up going back to the design that i came up with , which was just duplicating the original circuit , i just cant remember if i put a cap in between em or anything !

i also tried a Lil circuit called a thingamabob in front of it , that was pretty terrible sounding !

the lpb-1 didn't work well at all in front of it , but after it , its kinda nice , i may end up putting that in there , but i have to do some tests with different amps and a different guitar for sure !

that's what i should do first thing tomorrow .  i have been using a mini strat ... and a diy amp !

i am curious if anyone has had success with adding something to the front end of this circuit to make it really shine / act up . it seems a little dull , like it needs a Lil help .

[petey twofinger]

well i tried both transistors . what i ended up with is a gus smally boost on the front , then 2 darlington bazz fuss' , the fisrt with a germanium diode , then 2 5401 large silicons , then a 2508 bazz fuss with another germanium . the caps i used are yellow things , i think the number is 473 . i tried a bunch of caps . the smally has stock a .1 brown ish chicklet cap and a 10 uf electro for now . then it runs into an lpb-1 with only one cap on the input another yellow 473 . i took the out cap off cause there is an in cap on the BF .





so the brownish chicklet cap , is that mylar ? 

what are the yellow ones ? they have a clear coating on them .

i want to try the fatness control , and maybe a switchable mid scoop . also i may see if i can eliminate a stage here or there . or replace some darlingtons with reg 2n5088 . it has too much fuzz . i have a pot going between the smally and the bf's it helps , but . there is a voltage starve pot , that does a few things too .

i am wondering if it will eat batteries , with all the trannies , it has 5 now , but ...

i didnt try it with out the lpb on the back yet . i had that in front , and when i switched it it was alot brighter , and the starve acted better . that was before the smalley . i tried a muffer too , but it added another fuzz satge with diodes and didnt sound good . now it sustains really well , but i need to tame it a lil . if i had room for a lot of knobs it would be cool but ... put a pot for gain on each bf , so i could tweak a lil more .

for some reason the smalleys control didnt work well ... hmm . tommorow ...

[petemoore]

i am wondering if it will eat batteries , with all the trannies , it has 5 now
  2n5088:
This device is designed for low noise, high gain, general purpose amplifier applications at collector currents from 1µA to 50 mA.
   It might be fun to try to calculate.
  Or you can use the DMM, Ma Mode, insert it in the supply line so the current runs through it and be measured.

[petey twofinger]

cool , i am gonna try that , i am guessing i set it for dc volts , and see what it reads ?