super bee

[cjkbug]

here's a DAM super bee clone I built this afternoon.I got the layout a while ago on fsb IIRC. I had everything on hand more or less so It went together pretty quick, aside from biasing it, I really gotta start breadboarding these things first, cuz pulling parts on vero is a royal bitchfest. It's got an oc75 for q1, and a mullard oc76 for q2. havent etched an aluminum enclosure in quite some time so I figured I'd work on my technique a little. it came out really clean and sharp. It is etched super shallow, you almost can't even feel it on the surface.

soundwise this thing is bad ass! nice sag on the lower notes that bloom into warm sustain. and the upper range has a crisp presence without being harsh at all. It resides squarely in the tonebender camp. but cleans up much better than any mkII or III I've played.

powered by the madbean road rage of coarse.

[irmcdermott]

great build! i was just reading the thread on this one at FSB today! it's in the "Ready to Build Effects" section, and not the Boutique, so it's still accessible!

[snz728]

Like the Etch
I was thinking of doing a similar thing with an Albrecht Durer print

[dwstanford]

Beautiful as usual.  Ive gotta build one of these.  I think i have all the parts lying around.  Ill have to clear my plate a bit.  Ive got a stack of madbean boards to finish first.

[gtr2]

very nice...again 

Josh

[cjkbug]

Like the Etch
I was thinking of doing a similar thing with an Albrecht Durer print

this one was from one of his woodcuts. ya see his book of revelations stuff show up on pedals all the time.

[nzCdog]

Cool build bro 

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing, I went and checked out the thread on FSB. I love DAM fuzz pedals and this just found a place high up on my list. Can you explain the bias process briefly, I'm unclear on that?

[cjkbug]

well the 20k trimmer is supposed to make it easy. but even all the way down it was still off. I had to lower the 1k biasing resistor to 470 ohms to get it dialed in. It sounds awesome now but I'm gonna lower the value of the trimmer and drop the resistor a bit to give me a little more range on the biasing. I would suggest breadboarding it with the transistor pair you intend to use to get your values worked out before soldering anything in. it is a simple circuit so it will be easy enough to mock up. breadboarding these types of circuits is a good practice to get into. I usually rush into populating a board before getting my ducks in a row and a lot of fuzz circuits end up in my junk box as a result.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

That makes a lot of sense. I haven't worked with germaniums on a DIY build yet so that's probably why I don't know. I gotta start practicing!

[cjkbug]

In quite a few of these circuits, if you just plug in the values listed on the schematic and toss whatever transistors you have on hand, chances are good that what you end up with will sound like poop. ge transistors vary widely from device to device, even with the same type of transistor. the circuit needs to be "tuned" to the exact devices used for the best result. some circuits like ff's like the collector around 4.5v whereas some bender circuits like 7.5-8.5v always use your ears.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

More specifically, your referring to adjusting the collector resistor? Would I be looking for those voltages on each transistor or just the final one in the circuit? 
Thanks 

[dwstanford]

In quite a few of these circuits, if you just plug in the values listed on the schematic and toss whatever transistors you have on hand, chances are good that what you end up with will sound like poop. ge transistors vary widely from device to device, even with the same type of transistor. the circuit needs to be "tuned" to the exact devices used for the best result. some circuits like ff's like the collector around 4.5v whereas some bender circuits like 7.5-8.5v always use your ears.

+1

Ive definitely have learned to breadboard ge fuzzes.  They will rarely sound great without tweaking.  I think thats why so many people dont like buildinig them.  But once you hear a good one, you wont want to build anything else.  Im still working on the elusive mk1 tonebender and a rush pep box that i cant get exactly right.  I have the mk1 about 90% where i want it, but ill get it there one of these days.