BLM Fuzz: stripboard layout assistance

[cab42]

looks like a Darlington pair? with base pull-down, sometimes seen.

That would mean that Q1 and q2 are acting like a single transistor, making it more like a Fuzz Facey thing rather than a Tonebendery thing?

[mdcmdcmdc]

I swapped the transistors out for lower gain than the schematic recommends and it sounds much better—gating and sputtering is gone, fuzz control is usable throughout the whole range. I used some 2N3440s for Q1 and Q2 (hfe ~100 per DCA55) and a 2N2222a (hfe ~200) in Q3, so if anyone feels like building one up I'd start with transistors in that ballpark. I'll probably sort through a few more options and see if anything sounds noticeably better.

I don't have the schematics in front of me, but the "range" control on this seems similar to what catalinbread and others have added to the rangemaster circuit to change it from a treble boost to a full range boost. It definitely changes the flavor of the fuzz pretty substantially.

In any case, it's a cool fuzz pedal that you can probably knock out in an hour.

[mdcmdcmdc]

looks like a Darlington pair? with base pull-down, sometimes seen.

That would mean that Q1 and q2 are acting like a single transistor, making it more like a Fuzz Facey thing rather than a Tonebendery thing?

I believe the big difference between the TBMKII and TBMKIII/IV is that the MKIII/IV arranges Q1 and Q2 as a darlington pair. A TBMKII is more like a boost in front of a fuzz face.

[cab42]

I believe the big difference between the TBMKII and TBMKIII/IV is that the MKIII/IV arranges Q1 and Q2 as a darlington pair. A TBMKII is more like a boost in front of a fuzz face.

Ah, another thing I didn't know! Thanks for the info.

I have a TB MKII on the breadboard, maybe I should experiment with a darlington pair

[mdcmdcmdc]

Tone Benders are wonderful, build them all!