Hey Guys!
Just thought I'd chime in, better late than never, right?!?
I own a couple of 70's MSA steels, and one of them that I purchased back in '07 still had the fuzz unit in tact. I gigged with it up until a couple of years ago, when a cap started to leak and it would squeal whenever engaged.
So.... I pulled the unit, and it's been sitting on the sidelines until now... I always loved the sound, and my intention has been to box it so I could use it with all my instruments. I stumbled on this thread/forum just doing a simple search of the circuit... It's a really simple dual transistor fuzz circuit, and I always assumed it was silicon, but I dusted it off, and here's what I found:
Q1: T1598 PNP Ge
Q2: 2N4059 PNP Si
D1, D2: 1N4901 zener
So, yeah... I read this thread, and the presumption that the circuit was a Jordon Boss Tone struck me odd. Back then, Emmons, Sho~Bud, and MSA were the big three, and products/options such as these were self-developed with very little cross-pollination. The Boss Tone circuit is close, but to me it's more linear/compressed.
Im going to try to post some photos... bear w/me.
Being an old thread, feel free to email me w/ any questions off the board...
Just thought I'd chime in, better late than never, right?!?
I own a couple of 70's MSA steels, and one of them that I purchased back in '07 still had the fuzz unit in tact. I gigged with it up until a couple of years ago, when a cap started to leak and it would squeal whenever engaged.
So.... I pulled the unit, and it's been sitting on the sidelines until now... I always loved the sound, and my intention has been to box it so I could use it with all my instruments. I stumbled on this thread/forum just doing a simple search of the circuit... It's a really simple dual transistor fuzz circuit, and I always assumed it was silicon, but I dusted it off, and here's what I found:
Q1: T1598 PNP Ge
Q2: 2N4059 PNP Si
D1, D2: 1N4901 zener
So, yeah... I read this thread, and the presumption that the circuit was a Jordon Boss Tone struck me odd. Back then, Emmons, Sho~Bud, and MSA were the big three, and products/options such as these were self-developed with very little cross-pollination. The Boss Tone circuit is close, but to me it's more linear/compressed.
Im going to try to post some photos... bear w/me.
Being an old thread, feel free to email me w/ any questions off the board...