Help cloning this fuzz pedal Please

limlam · July 12, 2007, 05:10:55 PM

ve never built an effects pedal before but i have dabbled in some diy electronics making a very simple monosynth, though all of this was done using printed boards so its pretty much match by numbers.
Ive had this weird fuzz pedal for a while now and it sounds awesome though can be sometimes be abit noisey, so i would like to build my own clone and re-house it in a smaller more appropriate housing and add a DC power output.
I know i could just re-house this but id like the learning experience of building another one.
anyway the reason i post this:

do you guys think this is a do-able project?
how easy do you think these parts will be to source?
and last of all, what do you think i could do to quieten this circuit?

il get better pictures up tomorrow if theyre needed (i left my camera charger in the garage and theres no light in there :p ) so these took on my macbook will have to do.

I have sketched out wiring diagrams i dont think that should be a problem at all, just hoping all the parts are readily available, im pretty much capacitor retarded, i dont particulary know what all the different ratings etc mean just know to put the right labelled/coloured ones in certain places.

this pedal is awesome though, a real agressive fuzz, with high and low pass filter switches. I hope in time to quieten this circuit and maybe a a clean/dirty blend function, though dont wanna get ahead of myself right now just like to get a working clone of this pedal.

Bernardduur · July 12, 2007, 05:12:16 PM

It looks nice

How is it called???

limlam · July 12, 2007, 05:15:58 PM

its called a t-fuzz, made by a guy in italy, iv asked him for help finding vaules etc but no reply yet. Seems like a simple board and it sounds awesome so i thought itd be cool to clone. Plus it also sounds badass.

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 05:18:44 PM

Unusual looking enclosure...what I can see of it. Looks homemade. Sorry, handmade. Booteek?

caress · July 12, 2007, 05:25:18 PM

really cool enclosures...

http://www.fetishguitars.com/mrt/index.html

i mean here: http://www.t-pedals.com/

(although some cool pics in the first link)

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 05:29:22 PM

Forgot to answer your questions.

1. It certainly looks do-able.
2. Parts look basic. Capacitors. Resistors. Probably/possibly Germanium transistors. Need more information
3. Don`t know. Again, more information.

limlam · July 12, 2007, 05:29:36 PM

yeah there in transformer chassis, kinda cool looking, but looks clumsy in my pedal board being taller than all my other pedals, and it takes up alot of space for something that could fit in something lot smaller

limlam · July 12, 2007, 05:30:58 PM

thanks for the help already, later tonight il get some more detailed better pictures up, i really appreciate any help.

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 05:32:37 PM

Quote from: caress on July 12, 2007, 05:25:18 PM
really cool enclosures...

http://www.fetishguitars.com/mrt/index.html

i mean here: http://www.t-pedals.com/

(although some cool pics in the first link)

Ha! They look %$*"£!g brilliant.

EDIT: Errm, I guess it`s alright to be dissecting this stuff ? I`m not sure. Current production and all that. Can someone advise please before we get into trouble.

limlam · July 12, 2007, 05:44:30 PM

haha i was worried about that, though i guess ive informed "mr T" and its not for any financial gain just for a personal project. so hopefully no worries

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 05:53:57 PM

limlam, I`m not doubting your intentions, just it`s a bit of a touchy matter round here. More pictures then.

limlam · July 12, 2007, 08:03:14 PM

ok i got more pictures, still not the best, but my camera doesnt seem to like taking close up pictures:

thanks again

soulsonic · July 12, 2007, 08:21:55 PM

I like the way that looks. It looks like you get your money's worth with one of those.

That box is great..... it's a transformer endbell!

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 08:23:27 PM

Ok, my initial confidence has deserted me. Several things I`m not familiar with. The wacky looking resistors. No markings? What`s the yellow thing attached to the pots? What sort of pots are those anyway?

Can you make out any writing on the Trannies?

soulsonic · July 12, 2007, 08:32:01 PM

The resistors are standard mil-style metal films. The yellow thing is a capacitor. The transistors appear to be two germaniums and one silicon...... *cough*.. fuzz factory?

GREEN FUZ · July 12, 2007, 08:39:42 PM

Quote from: soulsonic on July 12, 2007, 08:32:01 PM
*cough*.. fuzz factory?

Nah!! Surely not. Pity the fool who..sorry, just following the "Mr-T" reference.

I`ll have to get back to this.

ambulancevoice · July 13, 2007, 03:59:09 AM

i love the sound of this thing
specially those les paul c tuned samples

nah, its definetly not a fuzz factory, that t fuzz looks like it has twice as many parts as the FF
and those two silver tranies are most likely germs
im not sure which though, does it have any markings?

trevize · July 13, 2007, 05:47:54 AM

-the tone control is a low pass filter place just before the volume pot.

-we need resistor and caps value to trace the schematic.

-probably an lpb-1 -> volume pot (i will be called gain) -> an germanium fuzz face -> low pass filter
will sound similar...

darron · July 13, 2007, 06:57:35 AM

very doable. you mean a DC input, output I guess. That would be easy, and you would just wire it in where the battery goes in on the board. Then you can have it switched to the battery when there is no plug in the DC socket. That's why the sockets have three terminals on them.

The transistor look like they might be some new production germanium tin cans, especially with that red dot on them. They look like the RS ones:

you'll have to get the numbers off them to take a look.

in terms of lowering noise, the enclosure is already very shielded so you can't add any quality there. don't use the carbon composite resistors like he has there. he actually uses so many resistors that it looks like it's made from heaps of vintage scraps! kinda cool, kinda not. use metal film resistors. avoid ceramic capacitors where you can.

if you plan to run the unit off dc power, then make sure that the adaptor is a very well regulator power supply. you'll find that it's often very important with transistor fuzzes. also, you might want to increase the value of the dc ripple filtering capacitor, which will probably be that black tube one with the white stripe. if you want to run the pedal from the same power supply as other pedals in your chain then be careful to isolate the dc socket from shorting to the enclosure if you are using the standard BOSS, IBANEZ etc. style polarity.

you won't need to ask for the component values as you can work them out yourself easily enough. the colours and codes on all of the parts will tell you what they are.

it's such a very neat board that i would copy his layout and not make a printed circuit board. usually i will always say that PCB is the way to go, but that looks really nice in the photo.

the blue 3pdt foot switch you probably won't be able to find in any of your local electronics shops. you could buy one from the forum's store, or small bear electronics, or pedal parts plus.

good luck!

GREEN FUZ · July 13, 2007, 01:08:02 PM

Right I`ve made a start, reverse engineering the Fuzz. It`s still pretty sketchy, I`m having problems working out some of the components in the bottom right corner. Q2 is also a bit vague so anymore pics of those areas would be handy.There`s probably enough there to start filling in some values. Limlam, any text or numbers on the Trannies? Also, how are you at reading Resistor and Capacitor values?

Obviously wiring is still to follow.

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Help cloning this fuzz pedal Please