the "russiagate" fuzz... ge npn gated russian 404 fuzzy goodness

[pinkjimiphoton]

waiting on a shipment of 25 1590b's to come in.
i'm out of enclosures other than ones already slated for other builds, and i'm in the middle of an analog flanger project, so....


SPT will have to wait. soon, tho. i promise. 

larry, i sent ya the right q's, so why don't YOU build it up and make ME a stupid video?

[rutabaga bob]

No video capabilities, as well as no twang-abilities...  😉

[Kennt82]

The gate works really well, but had a small dead spot at the beginning. Adding a 2k4 in series (either lug) solved that. It transitions very smoothly now from noisy to gated.

I left the diodes as sockets since I've seen them as a common mod for Bazz Fusses. I tried germanium, LED and Schottky diodes, but they sounded similar. Or is it like the 3 knob Tone Bender, where the diode helps bias the leaky transistors?

The gate works so well I was mostly using it in front of a distorted amp and getting some HM-2 chainsaw type sounds once I lowered the output cap.  I'll make that switchable, or maybe a bass cut pot?

[Fancy Lime]

Curse you, Jimi for triggering my Urge To Build Fuzz again!

This one looks fun. BTW I was wondering if anyone had a schematic or layout of the Conquistador for comparison? Or knows what topology that is? I love me some gated fuzz!

Andy

[pinkjimiphoton]

The gate works really well, but had a small dead spot at the beginning. Adding a 2k4 in series (either lug) solved that. It transitions very smoothly now from noisy to gated.

I left the diodes as sockets since I've seen them as a common mod for Bazz Fusses. I tried germanium, LED and Schottky diodes, but they sounded similar. Or is it like the 3 knob Tone Bender, where the diode helps bias the leaky transistors?

The gate works so well I was mostly using it in front of a distorted amp and getting some HM-2 chainsaw type sounds once I lowered the output cap.  I'll make that switchable, or maybe a bass cut pot?

i had forgotten all about this thing, damn wes still has it lol

i gotta build another i guess. i really don't recall much about it. i think the ge's had very little leakage, but as i recall reverse biasing the ge diodes like that made it sound less buzzy and more fuzzy. i may be wrong. glad some folks tried messing with it.

[SpencerPedals]

No schematic, but I was curious and found Conquistador guts here:  http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=103475

Not the best shots, they show how simple it is and that (unless something is hidden) it's a straight silicon or FET-based fuzz.