Message To All New Builders!

[MrTonesNZ]

If this is your first attempt at building a pedal. DON'T build a fuzz face, speaking from experience here. Or you can, but you're in for a challenge!

I definitely would have gone for a booster or simple distortion, if i knew the hours of pain I'd be putting myself through

Just wanted to give some good advice

[CynicalMan]

Or a fuzz factory. It seems like half of the troubleshooting threads we get are about them. 

[Gordo]

If this is your first attempt at building a pedal. DON'T build a fuzz face, speaking from experience here. Or you can, but you're in for a challenge!

I definitely would have gone for a booster or simple distortion, if i knew the hours of pain I'd be putting myself through

Just wanted to give some good advice

You would think that such a simple little circuit would be a breeze.  I still have nightmares troubleshooting my first few attempts.  I've been building since we had to carve our own transistors out of wood and getting a good sounding FF is still a challenge.

On the plus side you're a whiz-bang at troubleshooting now...

[Earthscum]

I definitely agree about the FF. I didn't touch that circuit until I had folded a thousand paper bazz fusses. I had to hit that point of enlightenment, first. Lol.

[familyortiz]

I was curious... what's the issue(s)?

[digi2t]

I started with a ready made PCB kit first. Just to learn about the different components, soldering, etc. All the parts and instructions provided, so all I had to worry about was putting things in the right place, and soldering tidy. As I felt more comfortable, I moved on from there, i.e. order just the board, and shop for my own parts. Then, I got into vero, and transcribing schematics.

Always baby steps.

Fuzz Face is like a hand grenade... with the pin pulled... and a faulty detonater... in your pocket. When they work that's fine, but when they don't, well, they can be rather difficult to disarm. 

[asatbluesboy]

I'm greedy, so I started off with what I called a "Multi Fuzz". It's a LPB-1 (with switchable back-to-back 1N4148s at the output for boomy overdrive) into a Green Ringer ineto two Bazz Fusses (the first one with a Si diode and a 3904 for a sputtier, grainier sound; the second one with a Ge diode and a 5088 for a smoother, more compressed thing). Or maybe it was a different order, anyways. I merged the LPB and the Green Ringer layouts from Tonepad, along with a Bazz Fuss one of my own (copy/paste in MS Paint...). As I always check things much more often than necessary, everything worked properly right away--to my amazement, as I was sure to screw it up...

[MrTonesNZ]

On the plus side you're a whiz-bang at troubleshooting now...

Yea, i plan to build a super hard on next, or some kind of mosfet booster. Bet it'l take me like 10mins lol

[MrTonesNZ]

I was curious... what's the issue(s)?

See my other thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=93216.0

I'm )( <this close to getting it right i think

[MrTonesNZ]

I'm greedy, so I started off with what I called a "Multi Fuzz". It's a LPB-1 (with switchable back-to-back 1N4148s at the output for boomy overdrive) into a Green Ringer ineto two Bazz Fusses (the first one with a Si diode and a 3904 for a sputtier, grainier sound; the second one with a Ge diode and a 5088 for a smoother, more compressed thing). Or maybe it was a different order, anyways. I merged the LPB and the Green Ringer layouts from Tonepad, along with a Bazz Fuss one of my own (copy/paste in MS Paint...). As I always check things much more often than necessary, everything worked properly right away--to my amazement, as I was sure to screw it up...

Yea well you dont count  . You mustve had some electronics experience before hand right? My only prior electronics experience is curcuit bending a few kids toys

[WGTP]

Hang in there guys.  Whatever you build the first time can be hard if your not an electronics guy like I was.  This place is a great help.  Be sure and use sockets for your transistors/op amps, or parts you may want to modify or that are easily over heated. 

SHO's are cool (especially 3 in a row) but Mosfets are sensitive to static and will blow up/quit on you.  Definitely a summer project because of less static electricity. 

Bread boards are really nice once you get them figured out.  You can build all kinds of stuff, modify it, tear if apart and start all over. 

[thedefog]

Agreed. FF is finiky. Scrap the fuzz face and build a DOD250 or MXR Dist+ as your first. You'll find it way more useful anyway, as well as more customizable to your needs.

[Greenmachine]

 

The fuzz face was my fourth or fifth and most troublesome build!

I eventually just replaced every component with fresh ones and I think that did the trick.  Nice to see I'm not alone.

[jpiddy118]

Rangemaster was the first time i attempted to understand a circuit, and it was great for that purpose.

Octavia was my actual first pedal, but that was strictly a paint-by-numbers kit. I've since fixed, rebuilt it, and now understand the circuit.

Si FF was my third, i think. It was tricky, but worth it.

[smallbearelec]

Two suggestions to beginners for avoiding FFF (Failed Fuzz Face) syndrome:

--BREADBOARD before you commit to solder:

http://www.smallbearelec.com/HowTos/BreadboardSiFF/BreadboardSiFF.htm

This way you will get to know the circuit and hear it work. The walk-through makes it almost impossible to screw up, and easy to see mistakes. The process of setting this way will make you sensitive to just how easy it is to make One error that results in a build that doesn't work.

--Try doing it in silicon first. The devices are cheap, readily available and not temperamental. Changing to carefully selected and matched germanium if you want is then easy.

Regards
SD

[deadastronaut]

its always the 'look simple' circuits that can really kick ya butt.....

boogies/echo base/rebote....no problems..no debugging.....but those 'easy' ones..arghhhhh....i think its the ' i can quickly knock this up factor ' that makes it more frustrating........

[MrTonesNZ]

Couple of people mentioned breadboards and sockets. Think i'll invest in a breadboard. But because of my fail's on attempts 1 and 2, i socketed EVERYTHING this time. Good decision i say

[petemoore]

  Only 1 way is 'right' then mod from there...
   We're still counting the ways that it can be wrong.

[Paul Marossy]

Or a fuzz factory. It seems like half of the troubleshooting threads we get are about them. 

Pressing the "like" button right now...

[LucifersTrip]

--Try doing it in silicon first.

...and let me add to that. Try doing an npn silicon first. Many of the troubleshooting posts concerned either biasing germaniums or confusions with positive ground.  

On a side note, if you already have the FF on the breadboard and can't get a good sound, you can make a couple small changes and get a loud brutal fuzz without much hassle. Though, lower gain (< 70) transistors are recommended.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=92714.0

schematic:
http://www.luciferstrip.com/fuzz/fuzzface-fy2-mod.jpg