Probably Most Intense Fuzz Sounding Build so Far

[fuzzymuff]

Just finished building this Mastadon Fuzz from GuitarPCB.  Its similar to the Zvex Woolly Mammoth and has such intense and cool sounding fuzz that Ive heard and built.

Great pedal for basses aswell from what I've heard.

[garcho]

Not trying to be bossy, but the pictures thread is a great place to post these things, instead of a new thread for each item.

Love the colored knobs on white, looks like classic audio gear!

[chptunes]

Looks sweet.. congrats.  Have you built/heard a Bazz Fuss.. if so, how does the Mastadon compare?

-Corey

[fuzzymuff]

Not trying to be bossy, but the pictures thread is a great place to post these things, instead of a new thread for each item.

Love the colored knobs on white, looks like classic audio gear!

Oops.  My bad then....new to this place.  I'll know next time to post in the appropriate place.

[fuzzymuff]

Looks sweet.. congrats.  Have you built/heard a Bazz Fuss.. if so, how does the Mastadon compare?

-Corey

Sorry, not familiar with the Bazz Fuss.

[chptunes]

Looks sweet.. congrats.  Have you built/heard a Bazz Fuss.. if so, how does the Mastadon compare?

-Corey

Sorry, not familiar with the Bazz Fuss.

Looks like you're a fan of Fuzz boxes.. you should give this circuit a go also.

I like version 2 the best.  Link:  http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html


pic upload

-Corey

[fuzzymuff]

Looks sweet.. congrats.  Have you built/heard a Bazz Fuss.. if so, how does the Mastadon compare?

-Corey

Sorry, not familiar with the Bazz Fuss.

Looks like you're a fan of Fuzz boxes.. you should give this circuit a go also.

I like version 2 the best.  Link:  http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html


pic upload

-Corey

Yup...big fuzz fanatic here.  Hey, that looks interesting...I'll put that on a breadboard.  Thanks!

[tomfoy]

While we're here, where is everyone getting those plastic covers for the backs of the potentiometers?

[davent]

While we're here, where is everyone getting those plastic covers for the backs of the potentiometers?

Those look like the Alpha pots from Tayda and they come already on the pots. Small Bear have them available separately and Mammoth has the coolest looking ones available.

[LucifersTrip]

Not trying to be bossy, but the pictures thread is a great place to post these things, instead of a new thread for each item.

Love the colored knobs on white, looks like classic audio gear!

Oops.  My bad then....new to this place.  I'll know next time to post in the appropriate place.

If you're just posting a pic, then yeah, the pic thread is where to go....but if you wanna help others out and post a bit of a build report and review (post the schematic and voltages where it sounds best and any tweaks you made), this is where you'd go...

[pinkjimiphoton]

+1

[totes]

Looks sweet.. congrats.  Have you built/heard a Bazz Fuss.. if so, how does the Mastadon compare?

-Corey

Sorry, not familiar with the Bazz Fuss.

Looks like you're a fan of Fuzz boxes.. you should give this circuit a go also.

I like version 2 the best.  Link:  http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html


pic upload

-Corey

In this build, the input cap seems to be a polar cap. I've never seen a polar cap being used as the input cap. Anyone mind shedding some light as to why it would be this way?

[pinkjimiphoton]

nah, if it were polarized, it would have  a plus on one side. technically you're right, sorta kinda.

the caps aren't even marked, you can literally use almost anything in this circuit, it's pretty forgiving.

if you do wanna use polarized caps, you can...just make sure the higher voltage side of the circuit goes to +

[totes]

According to the perf board layout and text in this website http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html, the input cap is 4.7 uF with the positive connected away from the input.
The output cap is a nonpolar cap.

By the way, at what point does increasing the input cap capacitance significantly affect the sounds? 
Sorry for all the newbie questions, I'm just starting to learn about guitar pedals and how they work. 

[tomfoy]

You might use a polarized capacitor if want to use a large value capacitor there. Using a larger input capacitor allows more low frequencies into the circuit. The input capacitor and the input impedance of the stage form a high pass filter. The input impedance of a common emitter stage without an emitter resistor is pretty low, so you need a large capacitor to let all the bass in. That's why some fuzz circuits, like the Fuzz Face, have a big electrolytic capacitor at the input, but other circuits with a higher input impedance have a smaller capacitor, like the Tube Screamer, for example.

Polyester film is good up to around 1 uF; above that they are big and expensive. Electrolytics are typically polarized, but you can get a lot of capacitance in a small package. Just make sure you orient them the right way. The positive side needs to be connected to the place with higher DC voltage (so, to the base of the transistor, for the input capacitor, or to the emitter of the transistor, for the output capacitor).

[EATyourGuitar]

I see a lot of beginners use the battery snap to nowhere and the complementary switched power jack. probably a lack of foresight in drilling. could also be that they supplied you with a battery snap and a switched power entry and directions telling you to use it. next pedal you build will be better. that is the mantra.

[kodiakklub]

got a link for UNswitched power jacks? ^^^^ thanks........

[garcho]

I think he just means that if you don't use batteries you can remove the battery snap (you should do that especially if there's no room) and therefore just use 2 mono jacks (instead of wiring a stereo jack to interrupt the ground without a cable plugged in).

EDIT: i'm an idiot, didn't read this close enough

[kodiakklub]

bummer. oh well. nvrmnd then.....

[davent]

Depends where you are, there's a Mode piece available in Canada, Jameco carries the same piece in the states and in Europe someone else carries it.