what affect will changing this capacitor have...?

[AdamB]

Hi,

I'm trying to build an axis face fuzz, and have hit a small problem.
I can't find a 15microF electrolytic radial capacitor anywhere. Apparently I could put in a 10mF and a 4.7mF one together in parrallel and it will sort the problem, but I don't want to have to design my own PCB layout, I just wanna print off the one on the fuzz central site, as I have never done this sort of thing before, so I wanna keep it as simple as possible for the moment.

If I just use the 10mF one will it make much difference? I'm not sure what the 15mF one actually does, but it's on the layout over here:
http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/axisfacesi/axisfacesi3layout.gif

Thanks,
-Adam

[wampcat1]

Instead of altering the cb in any way, just solder the two caps together (in parallel). If you don't have enough space on the board, solder wires to the legs and then run the wires down to the board.
Take care,
Brian

[Stevo]

Actually this is a common circuit...A 22uf will work just fine maybe a little more gain to it..a 10uf would work a little less gain..A 47uf will work...I have seen all different caps in this position use a 22uf and you shouldnt have any trouble.....If not than you can change it to a 10uf if these are all you have!!!!

[formerMember1]

I built that pedal, i had a 15uf electro in there, i put 22uf in there(the original fuzzfaces of the 60's had 22uf) and only noticed a very minimal difference, if any, there was this difference.

The 15uf was smoother, the 22uf was fuzzier and bassier, but really hard to tell the difference, repeated A/B testing was needed and i still wasn't sure if i was hearing a difference or not.

Make sure you socket the input and output caps, and the highend rolloff cap, and Q1 and Q2,...  Try both a 500k volume audio pot and a 100k audio pot, also make sure you get a 2.2uf electro radial cap for the input cap,(in case you might want the traditional bassy tone of the fuzzface jimi used.

hope that helps.....   

oh yeah, the 1kreverse taper pot from smallbear is good for the fuzzpot since it spreads the fuzz along more of the pots rotation instead of being bunched up at the end...

[AdamB]

formerMember1: What do you mean by 'socket' the input and output caps?

And which is the input cap?

-Adam

[petemoore]

  Socket..
  I use 6 or 8 pin IC sockets cut in half for transistor socketting.
  Small Bear sells nice 'inline' sockets, they are more 'hard mounting' than the 'ribbon wiper' type sockets [most IC Sockets are ribbon type, sturdier if the 'other side' is soldered down, sturdy enough though].
  you still of course have to watch transistor pinout and correct connections, just put in a socket wherever you want and plug the component in.
  The input cap on a FF connects to Q1B [also to 100k]], and is found at the far left of the middle of the schematic.

[formerMember1]

Sockets are fairly cheap, and what you do is solder them into the board instead of a capacitor or resistor or transistor etc...   There is a hole in the top of them, and what you do is just stick the capacitor you want to try in the socket,(kinda like changing tubes on an amp) then you play and see if you like that value capacitor, you might want a warmer or bassier tone, so you pull the cap out and stick a bigger value cap in,

One usually sockets both transistors, so that you could try different ones, socket the input cap and outputcap. 
The input regulates how much frequency gets into the circuit and the output cap allows how much frequency leaves the circuit,

here is a picture of a socket,....

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=101     <<<<<<<you snap them off with pliers and use them for caps and resistors, etc...

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=147     <<<<<<<you solder them where you use transistors,  (in the axis face though you will use the other sockets, since you want to snap 4 of them off and solder them to board,(if you use phillip's layout from fuzzcentral)

in the stock axis face the input cap is .22uf and the output cap is .01uf   in a stock fuzzface probably like jimi hendrix used was a 2.2uf input cap and a .01uf output cap, the fulltone '69 pedal uses a .1uf output cap though i think this is too bassy, maybe not for a marshall supre lead though,....

Make sure you get a bunch of different values of avx boxed metal film caps, if you are ordering off mouser to insure you can swap different values and see what you like,.. 

Phillip suggests on his site under what values to try in the written document for the axis face silicon rev 3,  http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/axisfacesi.html

i tried different material caps and found out that the avx boxed metal film caps are of great sound and quality,.....

hope that helps... 

PS:you could P.M. if you have trouble building the Axis face, i could probably help you if you get stuck,...

[AdamB]

ok, now I'm confused.

Can't I just solder the components to the PCB directly?

Also, to put in the 2.2 radial electroytic input cap, I need to add a bit to the PCB design on fuzzcentral between Q1B and the 100k resistor yea?

Cheers,
-Adam

[AdamB]

Ah, ok, I posted that before you replied formerMember1, lol.

Thanks, I see what you guys mean now

I shall order some of these socket things...

-Adam

[formerMember1]

cool,...

what i do is uses sockets for a first build, and then when i am sure that i done all the swapping i wanna do, i write down what i like, un solder the sockets and solder the parts directly to board, or you got use a glue gun as petemoore suggests and glue the parts in the socket for permanent use,
(sometimes when traveling and gigging if a pedal is dropped or whatever, a part could fall out of a socket,...

Can't I just solder the components to the PCB directly?

yes, you could, but for those few parts i mentioned it is a pain to unsolder and solder, way easier to just plug and remove parts till you are sure what you like,...

oh yeah,  i liked the BD139 for Q2, make sure you buy about ten of each transistor when ordered off mouser cause they are cheap anyway, and that way you could swap ones,  for more info read my post about the axis face silicon rev 3 that is a  current thread,...

good luck 

PS:the bd139 transistors don't fit quite good in a socket, but good enough for trying them,...

[Eric H]

cool,...

what i do is uses sockets for a first build, and then when i am sure that i done all the swapping i wanna do, i write down what i like, un solder the sockets and solder the parts directly to board, or you got use a glue gun as petemoore suggests and glue the parts in the socket for permanent use,
(sometimes when traveling and gigging if a pedal is dropped or whatever, a part could fall out of a socket,...

If you remove the plastic on the strip-type sockets it makes them a little harder to install in the board, but when you're done modding you can simply solder the part to the socket.

-Eric

[AdamB]

I can't order from mouser as I'm in the UK and they won't take my debit card.

I will try different caps and stuff, but for the moment I just want to get it working so I know I can build them, lol. I just ordered some of those sockets so I can swap stuff around easily, sounds like a much better idea so I can easily mess around with the sound. I'm still terrified by the prospect of etching, it's blatently gonna go terribly wrong first time I try it.

I got some silicon fuzz face 'special' transistors off of banzaieffects for my axis face, if I swap caps around and am still not happy with it, then I'll just find some other place to order a bunch more transistors from and swap around until I am satisfied, but for now I just want it to work to build my confidence up.

I'm sure if I get this working then I'll be building many more pedals in the future so extra transistors would be used. My goal in the longterm (like by the end of my uni course, which is 4 years away) is to be able to build a new valve amp head that I can gig with, if such a thing is possible. Would be class turning up to gigs with an amp stamped with my own name, lol. Properly protentious.

By the by, you wouldn't happen to know a good way to keep PnP sheets clean between printing htem off and using them, as I think I'll have to do it at uni and I want to make sure it stays in perfect condition before I get it home to use it.

-Adam

[formerMember1]

AdamB:

etching is simple, here is a great article on etching and ironing pnp from tonepad, you probably already read it,  if you want to keep your PnP clean, put it in a ziplock bag,...

http://tonepad.com/photoessay.asp?photoEssayID=10&sequenceNo=1

http://tonepad.com/photoessay.asp?photoEssayID=11

best advice is clean the board as much as possible, don't touch it with fingers,

good luck,

[AdamB]

Thanks,

I should have everything I need by the end of this week, and hopefully somewhere to print my pnp sheets...

Cheers,
-Adam