I fixed the volume drop on my Colorsound Fuzz wah but not sure how!

[Josh_bb]

HI.

i was wondering if the electrolytics were causing the volume drop on the fuzz section of my fuzz wah, (I already swapped out the 5k trimmer for a 100k one on the advice of Stu Castledine)  I swapped out the 33uf (schematic says 25uf) but it made no difference, so i left it off as i was going to try a few caps just by touching the to the pcb, but lo and behold without that cap in place i get good volume and it all sounds great. so i have left it off for now

Could anyone please explain why removing that cap seems to 'fix' the low fuzz volume (Schematic attached)

many thanks

[Josh_bb]

What is the purpose of the 25uf cap in the fuzz circuit?   cheers

[antonis]

IMHO, it's just a PS filter cap..
(in case of a leaky one, it could be gain, hence volume, troublesome..)

[Josh_bb]

cheers for the reply, seems like whatever cap i put in there you get some volume drop

[GibsonGM]

Maybe check the resistances around that cap? Make sure they are of the right value?

[duck_arse]

might we see a photo or two of the offending board and parts?

[Josh_bb]

might we see a photo or two of the offending board and parts?

here you go (hopefully) . its the larger 33uf cap that is the issue, I actually have two of these pedals and they both seem to work much better when that cap is removed, Actually I thought my other was fine as it was always a louder pedal,  then i tested the cap and it was dead, must have been like that a while.

cheers

Josh

[PRR]

> work much better when that cap is removed, ...  i tested the cap and it was dead, must have been like that a while.

Maybe you have been putting them in backward, +/- ?

A fresh cap backward tends to short-out the power, stage won't work good.

After a while a backward cap goes "dead", open, and is "nothing".

[Josh_bb]

no definitely not backwards.

[PRR]

> why removing that cap seems to 'fix' the low fuzz volume

The 8.2k:100r divider is pretty brutal. Chopping that cap reveals a 8.2k:1100r divider which may be what your hot guitar likes better. Instead, leave the cap (to keep the rail smooth) and change the 100r to 1k, 1.5k, 2.2k, whatever works for you.

[Josh_bb]

> why removing that cap seems to 'fix' the low fuzz volume

The 8.2k:100r divider is pretty brutal. Chopping that cap reveals a 8.2k:1100r divider which may be what your hot guitar likes better. Instead, leave the cap (to keep the rail smooth) and change the 100r to 1k, 1.5k, 2.2k, whatever works for you.

thanks for the input, so what is the purpose of that cap? fuzz faces don't have a cap there which made me wonder what its purpose was, it looks like a lowpass filter the way its set up with the 1k resistor, i wonder why it makes the output so low? I did try a few smaller caps and that recovered a little volume, conversely larger caps reduce the volume.  I did try a 1k in place of the 100r but it must have messed up the bias as it sounded horrible

[duck_arse]

might we see a photo or two of the offending board and parts?

here you go (hopefully) .....
cheers

Josh

yes, yes?

[Josh_bb]

aah did it not work first time...   does this work

[bluebunny]

does this work

"Preview"   

[PRR]

> fuzz faces don't have a cap there

Original FFs were ALL powered by battery (no buzz).

Many clones follow this plan, and do buzz when fed bad DC from a wall-wart.

This 2-in-1 pedal also has cross-talk from one effect to the other.

How is it sounding with a bigger resistor?

[Josh_bb]

> fuzz faces don't have a cap there


How is it sounding with a bigger resistor?

it sounded terrible with a bigger resistor in place of the 100ohm