Black Sabbath riffs through several DIY fuzzes

[Diamond]

For another forum I made this compilation of random sloppily played Black Sabbath riffs through several DIY fuzz pedals.
[cloudset]http://soundcloud.com/knepperaudio/sets/sabbath/s-v1jvw[/cloudset]

TB = Tonebender MKII w/ OC75's
BM = Triangle Big Muff
MH = DAM Meathead std.
SF = Univox SuperFuzz

The signal chain is: Gibson Iommi SG -> FUZZ -> Vox AC30 AMPLUG -> Laptop.

The Big Muff clip could be dialed in better, but I'm happy about the rest. The SuperFuzz really stands out here.

[jtn191]

nice taste in fuzzes, dude!

[Bret608]

Hey, I really agree about the Superfuzz...I've been on the lookout for DIY versions of this besides the BYOC kit. I even found what looks to be a good etching layout. Can I ask where you got your board/kit?

Thanks!

[mgwhit]

My fave was the Tonebender Mk II.  Where the Superfuzz has nice fizz on top, the Tonebender has serious hair.  Thanks for the comparison!

[redbean]

DAMN! Meathead rules!!   

[Diamond]

Thanks for the comments!

The SuperFuzz was a vero layout, actually. I added it to this post. I did mod it somewhat though. I had quite low output initially, just a little above unity, so I doubled the germanium diodes. I also adapted the layout to the Wattson Superfuzz schematic, which can be found on their website. I think it was just two capacitors and two resistors different from the vero. I used 2N2222a transistors, but others like 2N3904 also work great.

I also really like the MKII! It has an external bias pot, so it can actually get hairier than heard here. I believe most originals were actually biased hotter than I did, but I like it this way. Part of the 'magic' is in the OC75 transistors btw. I also tried OC84s which sounded smoother with better definition, but there's just something about the hair and aggression the OC75 can give this circuit.

The Meathead is also great! I'm surprised that I hear similarities with the Tonebender in this demo. I cloned this one directly from my original Meathead and they sound exactly the same. I like the simplicity of the circuit, and the fact that it can get really fat and fuzzy. You can't play it after a buffered pedal though, well you can but it sounds a lot brighter, like other Fuzz Face type pedals to after a buffer.

I feel bad about the Big Muff though. I know I can make it sound better than in this clip. Maybe I will make a new clip in the future. I'm planning on building a Lunar Module and a Buzzaround, as well as a hybrid pedal composed of parts of my favorite fuzzes, so perhaps I could add those clips in time.

[pryde]

Very cool demo man. My vote is for the Tonebender MKii.

To me it sounds more classic and natural. The others seam more scooped and a little over the top (which isnt a bad thing) 

I have  pastyface pcb coming and will def check out some OC75's

[Diamond]

Thanks! The C# tuned SG with Iommi signature humbuckers might have added to the 'over-the-top-ness' of the clips though.

[claytushaywood]

MEATHEAD!  I just built one of these with a 2n5306 in Q2 (and 2n3904 in Q1)- very bad ass!  also a bc108 in q2 is cool.  still waiting for the bc182 though.

I also built it according to a vero layout at tagboardfx, the layout included 2 three way switches with 3 different caps on each- 1 switch for input cap selection and 1 switch for output cap selection.  So you can get a nice variety from standard meathead to meathead dark to some bass cut lofi sound.  such a sick pedal. 

Every tonebender mk ii I hear sounds different.  I wish I could build one that sounds like the dude from DAM's tonebender mk ii.  Just has that super thick 20 second sustain.  yours sounds great too!

[Diamond]

Thanks! I added a bias control on my ToneBender so I can adjust the decay from smooth to sputtery. There is a lot of range in this control, which could account for the differences in MKII clips. Germanium transistors are sensitive to temperature changes after all, so it's useful to make this an external control.

[claytushaywood]

Thanks! I added a bias control on my ToneBender so I can adjust the decay from smooth to sputtery. There is a lot of range in this control, which could account for the differences in MKII clips. Germanium transistors are sensitive to temperature changes after all, so it's useful to make this an external control.

I'm all about external bias controls.  Totally key.  I just replaced the 'strain' control on my zygote build with ann external bias control.  most fun thing ever.  I'm actually gonna start trying out some bias control stuff on some of my silicon fuzzes