A fuzzy couple of days (Hipster baby build + Lunar Module + rant)

[midwayfair]

Had a very fuzzy couple of days ...

Thistledown, boxed up last night (Hipster).

Edit: I've fixed the bypass switch since taking the picture. Durf. ]

Some notes: This one was actually a bit of a squeeze to get into the case - much more so than the Afterlife. It won't fit horizontally, but I doubt it was meant to. I originally had a big RCA 2N2270 metal can in Q1 and just couldn't get it to fit. The transistors are a 4JX11B1634B (I got it from Luciferstrip's yardsale on DIYStompboxes, which is a really good source for low-gain NOS silicons) in Q1 and a NOS BC107 from Smallbear in Q2 that I didn't bother measuring. I like how it sounds. It cleans up extremely well in this configuration. I had a couple matched sets from Luciferstrip (one had a gold heatsinked M9763 that looked awesome), too, but the transistors were a little too big for this build.

I ended up clipping one of the legs so I could squeeze it out of the way of the larger transistor that I ended up not using, and clipped the wrong one (is there a facepalm icon). It still works, just ... backwards.

I reduced the input cap and raised the treble cut cap for a midsier output.

All the modern BC109s and BC108s I have were squeely or just too much. And despite the relatively lowgain transistors for a silicon fyzz, this pedal is still insanely loud. I decreased R4 to 330Ohms and at full volume it's still pushing the amp. Crazy. I'm not used to all-silicon fuzz faces, so maybe this is normal. I considered reducing it even further, but it's not going to be my main fuzz or anything, so I'm leaving well enough alone.

Next, a Lunar Module clone for my buddy Keith:


He's been jonesing for a Lunar Module, and I was studying the circuit a bit and offered to make him one. The board is from ... somewhere that isn't Madbean, and frankly I regret not just making it on perfboard. I'm not going to say that the board wasn't good enough or anything, but I just got a really bad taste in my mouth from the seller when I inquired why my stuff hadn't shipped or been confirmed after 11 days and got directed toward his shipping policy and told that he was "within the stated 7 business days" proving that he can't count (I waited until the 8th business day to inquire). It just felt very hostile and defensive, and the build wasn't so complicated that I couldn't just have made it on perfboard and saved myself some headache associated with etched boards. Also, I thought their documentation was terrible for what they're charging for their boards. The board-mounted LED holes were in a completely ridiculous place that wouldn't be centered in any standard drilling template. And they blow a lot of smoke up peoples' butts about how much "design" work they do. (They claimed to have "improved" the Skreddy build, while all they did was change a couple components to more common values, like making the 500pF cap a 470 and making the fuzz knob a 1KB instead of a 1KC, which is clearly *the opposite of* an improvement. The proper way to do this is to just tell people what you changed and why. Also, they don't provide DIY etching layouts, which rubs me the wrong way even though I don't etch.)

Keith wouldn't let me decorate it since he wants to use labels instead of paint. I did tell him how he I think he should decorate it (a green crescent moon cradling the switch). The enclosure is mercedes sparkle from Pedal Parts Plus. It was predrilled and as you can see Josh's board didn't fit with their drilling template and enclosed jacks, so I used the opportunity to use the switch board as a battery holder.

There's a hidden cap under the board to get to the right value on the 500pF. Transistors are all NOS BC109s from Smallbear. It sounded basically the same almost no matter what I put in there, though. Kudos to Skreddy for an idiot-proof design! I think Keith is convinced to buy a couple "real" Skreddy builds, which makes me happy since I have a lot of respect for them.

[gtr2]

It's to bad you didn't have Haberdasher etch you a cosmopolitan board.  You just would have to make a few changes to make a lunar module.  It's in a thread somewhere around madbean land.

Josh

[midwayfair]

It's to bad you didn't have Haberdasher etch you a cosmopolitan board.  You just would have to make a few changes to make a lunar module.  It's in a thread somewhere around madbean land.

Josh

Yeah, I found Haberdasher's thread literally the day after I ordered the board and would much rather have supported him. I'm planning on getting a couple things from him, I just have a ton of irons in the fire at the moment.

Thanks for the DPDT boards, by the way. I'll be ordering more very soon when I start on some more 1590B builds. I think they cut the boxing time in half.

[gtr2]

Forgot to mention...nice builds!  I like the artwork.  If I tried hand painting the result would not be good. 

Josh