the SWinGeR bOx!!! schem/verified layout

[PRR]

[pinkjimiphoton]

thanks paul!

[Mark Hammer]

Question:  I had some misgivings about that 1M resistor on the output.  Do you find the maximum volume with the 1M in place is satisfactory?

[pinkjimiphoton]

its just a bit above unity when cranked with it, i haven't tried it without, but it could absolutely be reduced to get more output if needed i'd imagine. drop it to 100k or so.   

all comes down to what ya like, i guess. my bud ed loves it. its an alright sounding simple fuzzular as presented, but could be improved upon. i think gus posted his take on it back years ago.

i'm just a damn monkey with a breadboard dicking around mostly still, so....@#$% the laws, i refuse to bow to any reality but my own.

[PRR]

Question:  I had some misgivings about that 1M resistor on the output.  Do you find the maximum volume with the 1M in place is satisfactory?

The last stage swings 8V p-p. The 1Meg+50K is a 20:1 divider. We get 0.4Vpp or roughly 140mV "RMS", allowing that this is far from "sine RMS". That's not an uncommon guitar level.

Of course if it takes a 220k there to keep up with your un-fuzzed fist, nobody will laugh.

[pinkjimiphoton]

the updated swingerbox. i decided to go a little different.
1 meg resistor to output dropped to 100k, ditched the 22k series resistor on the audio input
pregain control knocked up to 100k
pre-bass cut added with 2.2n cap and b50k pot ... standard hi pass filter, located at input to input cap.
my very own tone control added.... i figured out years ago, that you can use a "fake variable cap" in place of a "snubber cap" on one of the transistors
to get a treble cut that doesn't lose volume, and doesn't @#$% with the midrange. use a 47p cap on one side of a  b250k pot and a 2.2n on the other side. join the free ends of the caps together. input to the pot is one side, junction of the two caps is the other. wire between b and c of q2.
boom. instant treble cut that don't suck.  i've tried other tone controls over the years, and to me, this plain works better.
q's are 5088 in this case, only cuz i was out of 5089's.
so now there's pre, post, bass and treble. boom. sounds great, and more versatile than the original.
trimmers probably will sound best just about pegged. just turn 'em til they sound good.
higher gain transistors seem to sound better.
i'll update the schematic and a vero layout when i get to it.
have fun
PjP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll39bYOMH5Y

[Mark Hammer]

Jimbo, ya needs a haircut, or braids.

[pinkjimiphoton]

naaah. i'll let my freak flag fly.

[pinkjimiphoton]

there ya go. vero and qnd schematic.  have fun. 

you can use pretty much any old q's, but the higher the gain, the better. 5088 or 5089 in q2, q1 can be pretty much anything. sounds @#$%in great. one more fuzz that sounds slightly different from all the others lol.

again... you can NEVER have too many fuzzes in your rig.

PjP out

[pinkjimiphoton]

if ya build this, ditch the output resistor. it's simply not necessary. by modern standards, anyways.
you'll get more balls, and THAT means you can use the trimmers to dial it in a bit. first trimmer will sound best about full blast. this thing works by q1 being driven hard and overdriving q2.
q2 can be biased wherever sounds good. full up is the loudest. half way down sounds ok if ya like a more tame aminal to mess with.
i tend to set it up so that there's less of a drastic change when ya kick the diode switch on and off.
like everything, there's sweet spots.
if you already built this, just bridge that 100k resistor with a piece of wire. done.
sounds virtually the same, tho it DOES drive the diodes just a little bit harder.
you could also just replace the resistor with a smaller value...
as paul and mark noted, the 1m resistor stock to the original circuit is just about unity gain.
ditching it makes the pedal a lot louder, so you can overdrive your amp with it easier.
still sounds best to my ear into a breaking up amp, but now it can drive a cleanish amp into a nice sustain.
not super dirty... more tickles your tone than anihilating it.
anywho... onwards n' upwards...