"RM Octavia" - sounds like a wasp in a jam jar !

[MartyMart]

Another "de-bugging" project, which is now "perfect" even down to exact
resistor values and a matched pair of diodes ( .71v 1N4148's)
It just sounds awful ... !!
Splatty, no sustain to speak of and some "octave" but its about the worst
"fuzz" sound I've ever heard !!

Schemo is from Fuzz central.......

Any one "fixed" this to sound/bias a bit better ?
Or should I use a "FuzzFace" at the front end ?
I've tried two sets of 3906/MPSA13's with no change as yet ....

Cheers,
Marty.

[u1061810]

Hello,
 I just built that circuit myself,so I know where your coming from.I much prefered the Tyco to the RM pedal. I used NPN germaniums for Q2-4, which cut down on the harshness of the sound.  I also changed some cap sizes:.001uf to .0068, 22uf on drive pot to 100uf, and changed the caps before the diodes,(I used 1n34a's), to 33uf.I also put a 47K trim pot in place of the 39K resistor that goes to the collector of Q2.

The octave is not that noticeable until you roll off the drive pot quite a bit.That seems to be the case with most of these octaves

I'm still not satisfied with the sound of it , but  it  has improved the sound considerably to my ears.

Like I mentioned before, IMHO the Tyco is a far better sounding pedal.For the Tyco I used a 2N3906 for Q1 and NPN germaniums with hfe of 220 in  Q2-3.It  really smokes with that set up.

Hope this helps.

[ibanezts808]

man, It must suck when you build a pedal and it doesn't sound good.  it's just like going on a blind date.

[octafish]

Well I quite liked the RM as long as you junk everything before the phase splitter. I don't have one anymore but I replaced the fuzz section with a (refined) silicon FF and it was a big improvement. I've been thinking about building another with a tripple as the fuzz source, its well on the back burner though.

[puretube]

like a wasp in a jar, or a bumblebee in a glass? :




:lol:

[MartyMart]

like a wasp in a jar, or a bumblebee in a glass? :




:lol:

Nice photo !
For the "bumble-bee" tone, I would have to use 1uf in/out caps  !!   :lol:

0.1 is more "wasp like"  .......
0.01 is a "perfect" house fly .......
0.001 "mosquito" ......

Marty.

[jmusser]

I'll probably still build it anyway to see what it sounds like. I was surprised, that this one and the Tycho used Si transistors. I've wondered if the Fuzz Central schematics are the originals, or updates of the originals to Si? I don't know much about their origins or the time line, but I figured they were made originally with Ge trannies. Would you put it's tone as being similar to the FTM?

[vortex]

Hey Marty, here's something to consider when you are using the Octavia. Take this with a grain of salt as I haven't built one!

While watching a live Austin City Limits featuring SRV, I was noticing that he used his octave pedal (not sure which one it was, Tycho?) very sparingly and on top of his already distorted lead tone. Only as an accent to his phrasing really.

I made a mental note of it as he nailed Hendrix note for note and tone for tone.

Try it after your FF perhaps?

[MartyMart]

Hey Marty, here's something to consider when you are using the Octavia. Take this with a grain of salt as I haven't built one!

While watching a live Austin City Limits featuring SRV, I was noticing that he used his octave pedal (not sure which one it was, Tycho?) very sparingly and on top of his already distorted lead tone. Only as an accent to his phrasing really.

I made a mental note of it as he nailed Hendrix note for note and tone for tone.

Try it after your FF perhaps?

HA !
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but i think that "SRV's" talent has a
LOT to do with how he makes 200 bucks of pedals and a valve amp sound !!!

Running octavers before a good "fuzz/OD" does seem to help with the
tone/sustain though .... ?

Marty.