Fuzzrite build report. Oh my goodness!

[brett]

Hi
I just built a Fuzzrite using this schematic:
http://www.montagar.com/~patj/mfuzrite.gif
The only changes I made were a 250k (linear) pot for the 350k, a 100k output pot instead of the 33k, and two BD139 transistors (with hFE around 150, these offer some similar characteristics to the kind of early small-signal silicon transistors that would have gone into this).

Well, if this doesn't scare your granny, and put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.  It does dirty and swampy blues (Black Keys, Doors etc) in a particularly compressed, buzzy, sweaty, damp earth kind of way.  I don't know why, but it sounds like malaria to me.  Before I played it, I looked at what it does on my scope, and Oh my goodness! it is a fact that it turns sine waves into double-crested things that look like the horns of the Dark Lord himself. 

Messing with the fuzz control reveals:
1/10 =   3/10 = 5/10 = 8/10 = and 10/10 =

Yes, between 8/10 and 10/10 on the fuzz control the sound mellows a bit, which is great, coz 8/10 sounds so wild you're not gonna need it often.  Given that the fuzz control mixes two quite different signals, you can imagine how some intermediate "blends" might be better than others, and there might be "sweet spots" and "sour spots" in the fuzz range.

By the way, it cleans up very well with use of the guitar volume control as well. 

I think this will stick in my lineup - it's right up there with my clean booster and germanium Fuzzface.
cheers