Need help from fuzz masters!, boost with superfuzz??!

[nate77]

I'm building a superfuzz forms friend of mine that's in a pretty successful doom rock style band. I want to put a boost in the box with it, ideally with an order switching toggle. In my experience (limited as it is, as I'm an od kind of guys, but I have built myself a dozen fuzzes) boost before fuzz seems to cause chaos while after just drives the signal louder, while maintaining a fair amount of the original signal integrity. However, this is just my limited observations. What I'm looking for is a boost that will fatten up the superfuzz signal for solos, aggressive breakdowns or just a plain old kick in the ass from the guitar. He plays trough a 100w plexi using an sg or a jagmaster. Sooooo, the moral of the story is, I would like my peers and mentors around this site to point me in the right direction or share their experiences with using boosts with fuzzes, specifically the univox superfuzz (non-modded). I'm not sure if this is even the right place for a post like this, but this particular forum seems to have the best collection of minds and ingenuity of the forums I typically hang out at. As always, any help or advise is much appreciated!!!

[kaycee]

Mostly guessing, but if you look at the SF schemo you'll see it has a booster as the last stage which is probably a good clue. The diodes clip the signal pretty hard, so if you push that signal more before those diodes I think it's going to get even harsher.

You could try an idea like putting a pot to ground from the diode tails that will reduce the clipping and thus raise the volume and put that on a switch? Take a look at Mark Hammers post, 'Oh, Kaaay' about his work on the Kay fuzz tone, a SF derivative, for some ideas.

[Giglawyer]

I have never experimented with this, but I think the other poster may be right.  My guess is that your guitarist will want to find the right tone with the fuzz, and boost that signal, rather than driving a boosted signal into the fuzz.  But, like I said, I never really tried it. 

Maybe the better option is to build both without boxing them up, and see if he can determine which order he likes them in. 

[nate77]

Thanks guys, that's something I haven't thought of. I whipped up a SF for myself a bit back and have a few boosters on hand ( a SHO, mosfet boost and and couple others) and the boost first is admittedly harsher. What I'm looking for is a boost that will retain the majority of the signal integrity while giving it and extra kick. In the context the circuits will be used the fuzz will be on most of the time already, so the ability to push some extra fatness and volume when appropriate in his band setting. In my experiments I've come to the solid conclusion that boost first is to chaotic for my tastes but I will set his box up with the ability to switch the effect order should he decides he can find a use for the hectic din of a boost pushing the SF further. My main issue is what we'll known fuzzes will work with a high gain fuzz. There seems to be relatively little info out there despite the wealth of knowledge on our forums and such. Most of my circuits I use regularly are ODs and such, so it's a little out of my wheelhouse. 

[kaycee]

You've got a couple of boosters there to try so that should move you on a bit. Another idea is two volume pots controlled by a footswitch, just set one louder for solo's?

There are a ton of simple boosters out there, easy to breadboard - maybe a treble booster to cut through even more?

[Quackzed]

on that note , you Could use that 22k at the input for the 'normal' setting ,then say a 22k in parallel  for the pre boost...

[LucifersTrip]

I want to put a boost in the box with it...What I'm looking for is a boost that will fatten up the superfuzz signal for solos, aggressive breakdowns or just a plain old kick in the ass from the guitar.

what happens when you just put another boost identical to the one already in there at the end of the circuit?

[pinkjimiphoton]

look up my liberal komrade boost. i tied one on the end of a superfuzz with good results for a customer.

[nate77]

I've got a naga viper clone I built and for some reason haven't tried it yet. I feel a bit foolish now that treble boosters were mentioned. I'll give it a shot. Ideally he would like something with just a volume knob, maybe a gain as well but hopefully no more than two pots on the boost. The idea of recreating the superfuzz boost itself is a good idea, I'll give that a shot. And Jimi, I'll check out your boost you worked up. I was hoping you'd chime in on this, since you are kind of the fuzz guru around here and I dig your playing style (sucking up a bit). I'll give all these ideas a shot, and I appreciate your help guys. It would take me forever to wade through and test all the options out there. I worked up a Briggs modded EP boost last night (runs at 18v with the mod) but I seem to be out of the correct ic so I have to wait to give it a run. I'll post results soon. Thanks again. Keep the ideas coming!

[pinkjimiphoton]

hi nate, what MAY make that a cool boost for the superfuzz is the way it biases the ge transistor by leakage alone... for all intents, the transistor is half on all the time, and as soon as a signal is applied at the base, it comes SLAMMIN' out the collector at the full amplification of the transistor... like automatically turning shit to 10 for ya so it's pretty touch sensitive and adds a bit of octave to it too.  i built one for my friend terry, called the sunshine superfuzz... when ya stepped on the boost, it could rip off your head. one knob. i think i demo'd it in a stupid pedal trick.

i gotta get back to my fuzztones... i've been experimenting with doing things wrong with some kinda cool results...... reverse beta'd germaniums at curious bias ranges can produce some pretty wild sounds.

if ya need it npn, just reverse the power supply and use npn germs if ya have any. if not, you may need to add a voltage divider between b+ base and ground, i'd say 10-100k would work fine. but if ya can find a ge npn it will give you more of the cool effect i mentioned earlier.

[nate77]

Thanks Jimi, I appreciate the input. That's a pretty great idea. I'm curious about your liberal komrade boost as well. Do you have a link to that circuit? I'd love to take a look at that as well.

[pinkjimiphoton]

let me see if i can find it for ya






but it's gotta be ge, it's the leakage that makes the thing work. if ya need to make it npn and don't have a ge, you'll wanna add a voltage divider like i mentioned.

but if ya got a ge npn, you should be golden

[pinkjimiphoton]

hell, you can directly ground the emitter, too. save a couple parts. you can almost hook the b+ directly to the collector with some transistors.

[nate77]

Thanks man, I'm gonna give that a shot. I appreciate the advice. I'll whip it up and throw it inline with the SF and report back.