Best or Most Versatile Fuzz?

[mindwave_21]

Hey all!  I'm planning on my third build and I was thinking about either a fuss or a tremolo.  My senses told me to go with the fuzz cause I would get a little more use out of it.  I'm wondering if you guys have any suggestions on a beginner to intermediate build.  I've already built a tubescreamer and got it working, and I'm currently working on the Ross compressor (both from GGG).  Right now, I'm looking into either the Foxx Tone Machine or the Tonebender MKII (from Phillip's fuzzcentral) as possible fuzz builds.  However, I've also heard good things about Joe Gagan's fuzzes.  I think I want to keep everything NPN, so I can use the same AC adapter for all my pedal builds.  Any ideas?  I'm looking for a warm ***ahem*** vintage style fuzz (a la Page, Hendrix, Santana, etc.)

[Mark Hammer]

That's an awkward request.  There IS no "best", plain and simple, and that's the god's honest truth.  People will tell you what they LIKE the best (this week) but that is separate from what IS the best.  

On the other hand, there are designs that more easily and reliably achieve a specific sound than comparable designs aiming for the same goal but only achieving it under certain circumstances..

Then there are those which easily and reliably serve up something surprising, that may not sound at all like what you were looking for.

Then there are those which may not do one thing sublimely, but do a lot of different things reasonably well.

[phillip]

My vote for "best fuzz" always goes to the Colorsound ToneBender MKII...with a few circuit tweaks here and there.  It's a monster of a fuzz

See my post with the schematic in this thread that I made a few minutes ago:

http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=21279&sid=3db4d64d579539d935801fc7a5f3e36d

Phillip

[petemoore]

Not the first typing of this...
 Miss Piggy...'ya gotta love her. if you didn't see the 8 pin socket idea here goes...looking at 8 pin IC socket so you see two columns of pins going up and down.
 The Bottom two pins are for the emitterS resistor, for Q1a and Q1b. The top left three open pins on the right side connect like CBE in a regular FF, as does the 'dummy' transistor, except it's collector is left not connected.
 So you end up with it loaded with the two transistors in the top three pins on either side of the IC, and the two bottom pins [jumpered to the emitter pins] are for the new resistor. You have 2 transistors where there were one, repeat for Q2.
 Leaving a few spaces before the input on your board allows you to easily add a Buffer, which I did today, and can recommend.
 Mine, since you asked about variability, has the input cap blend mod and the input gain mod.
 I always use a trimpot to adjust Q2's's collector resistance.
 You can work with this setup for a wide variety of tones, wider if you use a bypass on the buffer, which morphs your guitars vol. into a gain knob.
 A rolloff cap can be added from signal path to ground to reduce high end/harshness. At the input is a good place for it to reduce possible radio or oscillation, as is the B/C connections of the transistor. At the end of the circuit tends to take out any harshness of the entire circuit...[.~0047uf].
 Then you can add another transistor booster at input.
 This board will allow as wide a variety of sounds.
 My personal take is that a Tonebender can be more difficult to get all right' [results may vary], this is very much like a TB but I find it easier to work with the FF module, then put the extra transistor in front.

[Alpha579]

You could try a roger mayer axis fuzz...I breadboarded one once, and it sounded very good... http://www.geocities.com/j4_student/axisfuzz.gif

[EdJ]

Don`t know best but i always find pedals like the various faces and their derriviates sound best in a tube amp.When you for instance go to a jam where you don`t know which amp will be available i usually take a pedal like the Shakka Brada with me so i know i will get a good tone regardless the amp i will play.
Hope this is of some help,greetings,Ed

[mindwave_21]

Thanks for the reply all!  All are of these using NPN germanium or PNP?  I can't seem to find the 2n3888A NPN diodes that you used for your Mindbender, Phillip.  I also found that GGG has the tonebender in PNP, but the dcjack is wired so you can use it with a negative ground.  Is this possible to do with any PNP box?  I'm guessing there could be some sort of inuslation problems here and there with that approach though.  Anyways, I guess I'll have to do some more research and listening, but it's hard to find soundclips of homebrew or these pedals.  I've looked at Tonefrenzy and soundforge...do you guys know of any other sites like these?

[phillip]

The 2N388A is hard to find now for some reason.  I just for lucky with mine...I got them right as they were about to be throw in the dumpster (!) at a local technical college when the electronics department was doing some house cleaning.  Small Bear Electronics sells three-transistor PNP sets for the ToneBender MKII which work well.  The problem is that you can't use the same power supply with NPN and PNP pedals since they have a different ground potential.

You could still build the ToneBender MKII and power it with only a battery, since it won't eat batteries up like modern effects with the JFET switching.  I would suspect that a battery would last for months and months under regular use...I've had the same battery in my Clyde McCoy clone for two years and it still measures 9.6V, and it sees daily use!  I wouldn't think that the MKII draws any more current than it does, either.  A LED indicator would speed up the battery drain though.

There are some sound samples of various DIY pedals here:

http://sounds.ampage.org/

Phillip

[toneman]

Most versatle Fuzz??
It's *got* 2 B Hollis' "Omnifuzz".
sooooo many emulatons, sooo many knobs & switches!!
pdf @ GEO.
Hollis' web page says---

Code Select Expand


DistortionType     Boost     Filter     Octave     Mode    Drive    Blend
EH Big Muff          Off       On      Off        FB      Max        Min
Fender Blender      Off       Off      On        Clip     Max       Blend
TS-808               Off       Off      Off       FB      Low       Min
SRV                 On        Off      Off       FB      Low         Blend
MXR Distortion+      Off       Off      Off      Clip     50%       Min
Ampeg Scrambler      On        Off      On       FB      50%       Blend
Octavia              Off       On       On      Clip     Low        Min
Clean Boost          Off       Off      Off      N/A      Min        Max
Treble Boost         On        Off      Off      N/A     Min        Max


Oh Kay, no FuzzFace but, geez..
U could order the "proposed" 3FF-in-a-box for $399(?)
but, dat wouldn't B DIY, now would it?


tb

[petemoore]

Heres' today's tryout diatribe...
 Orange Sqeezer Compressor, if you like good clean strong notes with a just a hint of dist. this pedal just sounds great and brings out qualities in other pedals that I sometimes find preferrable, can be used a great boost sound, or to boost lead of already Distorted sound etc. Does the basic compression/boost trick [which I am quite fond of] extremely well.
 Boss DS-1 mods from GM arts. Very good 'generic'    Distortion, Crunches nice, I don't use it for strumming type playing...3 controls
 SD-1 My build of this has a 'blend' sound, retains alot of the original timbre, can hear clean guitar mixed with Fuzz type sound, excellent note definition, Bass response, enough Grit to make playing fun, yet retains a mellow quality that a bar owner reported really liking [go figure]. A very usable and fun player.
 Blackfire W/Tone Control...Serious monster Overdrive/Dist/Fuzz [terms..lol], I could make a short story...I'ts a killer circuit...long, or suggest that it's worth the build [no crossing wires...not too tuff at all] to find out. Over the top gain, nothing else really resembles itself.
 Fetzer Valve, great booster tone, drives other pedals or makes great boost on the end of a Fuzz for lead boost, Super Easy, possible...add this and a bypass switch to the front or back of a nice soemthing else in a box, great stand alone Jfet [one of my fave type] booster.
 Mosfet Booster...seems like it's a little trickeir to get one going, according to personal accounts of mine and others, for super clean, powerful boost with 1Q [or more] this ones top shelf. I have two. What I use when I want what I have already, but only louder, 'tagged on the end of a circuit like a Small Stone for instance.
 FF...build and tweek a Miss Piggy, [supports 2Q FF circuits also, just pull Q's 1b and 2b], for hours, days, weeks, months [you may come back a year later and mod it], of modding madness and fun, with a wide variety of fantastic tones that it's capable of at your disposal. Bias after Q swaps, tune caps, turn knobs on guitar and amp...go NIKE with this one and just do it...there's a veritable plethora of information on FF's around here.
 Axis Fuzz...outrageous...kind of a loud/wild FF type sound, IMO best for large venues or outdoors, tweeked and cranked through the right amp...whew...I haven't messed with this one all that much yet, best served I think in a rather loud band....[?]
 Dist +...this is a good one, I just like the sound of a Dist +, similar somewhat to the DS-1 'sort of', great EZ build diode clipper of legendary status...
  I agree with whoever said "I Love all my children equally" but would add "When I can get them to Behave Well"
 Once you get used to working with FF's, you most probably will have found many sounds you like. OA clippers like the Dist+ are also easy, and provide great Dist+ sounds...lol, but will be less 'variable' in general, when compared to a FF. They are 'different type horses', FF is definitely Not a one trick pony, and can do different tricks on demand with just the guitars vol knob.
 FF can be turned into something that provides the Extreme Fuzz/Sustain of a Tonebander. Tons of mods for this one.
 Playing in a two guitar band, I use OA Clippers, O.S. Comp, and 1Q boost circuits more than the FF, partly because of having to reset things on the amp and other pedals to tune in the FF properly.
 OTOH, you could probably get through Gigs in style with a FF as your only Fuzz/dist/Boost...I have.
 Modulation, Octave, Reverb, Echo and Phazers will have to be in another post...