Bazzfuss:buzziness:Beatles

[MartyB]

People who have built a Bazzfuss/variant :  Does it sound anything like the fuzz-type effect on Sgt. Pepper's LHCB or Hello-Goodbye?  I'm looking for a build that'll get me close to this buzzy sound.

[the_badcliff]

there are sound clips on www.home-wrecker.com.

But I would say no way, not even close.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello-
     The Beatles used a Vox Tonebender MK I  [two trannys] through amps as well as direct into the board for different fuzz effects.  [They also overloaded the mixing board for different types of distortion...]
Brian.

[MartyMart]

I agree with Brian on this, whilst my "BuzzBox" is a fantastic sounding circuit, its more '70's fuzz/distortion to my ears.
The Beatles and Mr Martin were way ahead of their time and i'm sure they had all manner of "tricks" going on, up in Abbey Road Studios.
Overloading the desk.... hell yes ! i love doing that to my Mackie, it also crunches up drums really well......... rock on !.
Marty.

[stm]

Talking about overloading the desk, Beatles and Abbey Road, is this how they produced the distortion for Revolution?

I've always wondered how they got that sound!

Regards,

STM

[tcobretti]

The guitar sound for Revolution definitely involves an overloaded desk, as does the one from nirvana's territorial pissings.

[petemoore]

Legend seems to have it...guitar>mising console >[?]
 Getting a 'normal' guitar sound [the Beatles recordings helped 'shape' what an electric guitar is supposed to sound like...not so easy.
  Getting A cool distortion sound is easy [IME] compared to obtaining a 'normal' electric guitar sound...it takes more effort/money.
 Yer gonna need a Rick, a top shelf tube amp [like vintage AC30 rebuilt or Matchless amp], VOX Bulldog speakers or Matchless...not exactly easy to come by cheep.
 The tube amp can probably be well approximated DIY...but the guitar and speakers..easiest way is to buy them.
 They had top engineers figuring out how to get a guitars strings to 'twang' just right, world class engineers designing/building tube amps and speakers to reproduce a 'modified' Twang through the speaker...alot of behind the scenes technology involved with the 'British Invasion'.
 Boldly going where no guitar has gone before...

[brian wenz]

Hello Marty--
      Have you built a Vox Tonebender yet??  [Two germanium trannys].
 It'll give you a BUNCH of great fuzz.  I like the TB circuit a little better then a stock Fuzz Face.......more variation and less "tubby".
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Hi Brian,   no  is the answer !  but a nice vintage Fuzz is on the list, can you recommend a good version to build ( which schem /perf layout? )
I have a matched pair of AC128's medium gain from steve, and some BC109C's to use up !

I have not got into the PCB etching stage yet, so far "perfing" seems good for me, although i have an on going English channel problem, shame as the wiring/pots/box and general "Pro ness"  looks great, it just wont work !!! lol

Might need a re-build as i can,t spot the problem unless 1 component is playing up   ......  onwards earthling

Marty.

[DDD]

Hi guys,
Has someone enulated lead guitar sound from "Happiness is a warm gun" (the White Album)?

[petemoore]

Hi Brian,   no  is the answer !  but a nice vintage Fuzz is on the list, can you recommend a good version to build ( which schem /perf layout? )
I have a matched pair of AC128's medium gain from steve, and some BC109C's to use up !
  >>>Runoff Grooves Multi Face [trim on Q2's collector], I find it's an excellent board for tuning FF's.
 I just 'cleaned up' my MF, using a smallish output cap [.068uf] a 4u7 emitter bypass cap, and a .22uf input cap. This tinnies it a bit, gets rid of most of the bass wool, and makes it respond very nicely to adding the third stage [boost] to the front end. [My other MF is stock]. Both use low gain Si for Q1 and 2n7000 for Q2's.
  >>>I was messin with a MF using BCxxx for Q2 and NTE123 [low gainer like 2n2222] or BCxxx for Q1,///sounded very good I think I'll box it and further test it. What amp it goes into...FF's can be quite picky about what pickups and what amps are used with it...I. I like the FF through the tube amps, you'll have to ask others what works as far as FF into SS amps. Same goes for Tonebenders and Rangemasters.
>>>Edit: correction, I was getting cool results using a FF to drive a 12AX7 [aka 2nd half of Shaka Tube] into SS amps.
I have not got into the PCB etching stage yet, so far "perfing" seems good for me, although i have an on going English channel problem, shame as the wiring/pots/box and general "Pro ness"  looks great, it just wont work !!! lol
 >>>Audio probe will greatly reduce the scope of needed debugging and will tell you more specifically where to look for the solution in the circuit.

Might need a re-build as i can,t spot the problem unless 1 component is playing up   ......  onwards earthling

Marty.

[bioroids]

Happiness (and other Lennon riff's) tend to sound like he's using the guitar with the tone control all the way down to some kind of fuzz unit.
Also he used to play with very long cables, so that may have something to do with the treble loss.

They were still playing with Vox at the time, then changing to Fender in Let it be/Abbey Road sessions (as far as I know)

Luck!

Miguel

[brian wenz]

Hello Marty--
     The schematic and layout are at "Fuzz Central".    I'm pretty sure all the values are correct.  I use perfboard all the time  for my fuzzes and so-far-so-good!
Brian.

[MartyB]

Thanks guys!  IB chekin out fuzzcentraaal.

[MarkB]

it ain't cheap - but if you want to overload the vintage EMI/Abbey Road desk like the beatles... here's probably a good place to start.

FWIW - Chandler (not the old pedal/guitar maker) gear absolutely rocks.

http://chandlerlimited.com/products/clchannel.php

[MartyMart]

Thanks, Pete, Brian, MarkB !
That chandler rack looks fantastic........... how much ??. . . . . .so . . . .

How about a nice clean preamp circuit, Baxendall tone control  with Q control, combined with an enhanced version of the Ross compressor . . . . . . . . .   I feel a nice BIG schematic coming on  !!!  lol

Marty.

[MartyB]

Hey Brian,

I built the Vox Tonebender this weekend.  I do like it better than the fuzz face.

MartyB

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Marty--
    Great!  Which trannys did you use??  Did you go to Fuzz Central for the schematic and layout?
Hey, did you see the tagboard Orange Sunshine??  I'm thinking of putting together a Fuzz Face [or something like it..] on tagboard and see if there is any differences  [noise, etc.] from a regular layout.
Brian.

[MartyB]

Brian,
 I used scrounged Japanese germaniums I've been collecting.   Q1 is 2SA234 ~79hFE. Q2 is 2SB172 ~ 146hFE.   I 'perfed' it using the schem from Fuzzcentral.  

Martyb