Lots o Fuzz

[slimtriggers]

Nice!  It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think I'm leaning toward the straight up Fuzz Face.  They all sound so good, though!

[JakeFuzz]

So I got into my friends studio with a Russian rock band full of oldie soviet rockers tonight. I tagged along as a tone consultant and let the two guitarists use my board. We testing using many old-school amps and the pedals everyone really liked were the Screwdriver and a tie between the Timmy and Fulldrive 2. It should be said these guys were looking for a fat heavy tone and their cleanest settings were crunchier than how I play 90% of the time.

We were playing through a brownface vibroverb, a brownface deluxe, a silverface bandmaster piggyback and a vox ac50. The 1970's JMP was not working because of a missing tube. He also has a supro thunderbolt (head conversion) but we recorded with that a few months ago and it sounds epic all alone. One player was using an American Tele and the other a baritone Danelectro.

They also loved the Warhead vibe despite it still having a slight bit of distortion that I haven't been able to troubleshoot out. They loved the pedals so much I have been enlisted to design and build some custom jobs in the next month or so. Just wanted to let everyone know which pedals have been studio and pro musician approved!

[jtn191]

huh, no love for a sunking?

[JakeFuzz]

huh, no love for a sunking?

Yeah that surprised me too. They played with my Sunking for quite a while. They said it didn't have enough gain for what they wanted. This is the second Sunking of mine these two guitar players have tested and both times they liked the Fulldrive 2 better for what they were playing. I really think if they were a blues band with bright clean Fenders they would have chosen differently. Also we weren't really able to showcase the insane amount of boost the Sunking has on tap, maybe next week.

[JakeFuzz]

Tested a few of the 2n404's Julien hooked me up with. They sound good, much more treble and bite out of these than the OC140 or CV7112 which also makes them sound less smooth. Sounds very much like every other fuzz face I have heard though. Also tested a high gain pair (170~210) and it sounded awesome, very muff like wall of fuzz. The decay still remains smooth, not crackly. Also tried a hybrid config (2n3906 in Q1) and it sounds very cool, different but cool. The hybrid actually sounds like the wooly mammoth that I tried a while back but with slightly less gain.

Definitely need more testing and different circuits but these are A+ in the FF as far as I am concerned (thanks a bunch Julien!). I think keep the 500K output pot, a 68n output cap and a 47uF fuzz cap should sound good!

[night-B]

I'm glad to hear they please you  I'm happy with them too! I had good results when using the same hfe for q1 and q2 too!
I'm trying lots of combinations at the moment, searching for my holy grail...

[JakeFuzz]

Picked up a pair of high gain CV7112's from Aron over at DIY stompboxes. Gains are about 500 and 650. Definitely get that peppermint fuzz tone, sounds awesome. I also tried flipping them and they sound very FF like. I am going to experiment with different hybrid configs but I sense some switching action possibilities with these. Just spreading the word if anyone was in the market for some CV's.

[k.rock!]

Picked up a pair of high gain CV7112's from Aron over at DIY stompboxes. Gains are about 500 and 650. Definitely get that peppermint fuzz tone, sounds awesome. I also tried flipping them and they sound very FF like. I am going to experiment with different hybrid configs but I sense some switching action possibilities with these. Just spreading the word if anyone was in the market for some CV's.

I would love to try 'em out...those were your recommendation for my fuzz and I placed the order at SB and got OC140's from them instead...

Do you think it's worth it? I mean, I remember you saying the OC140s and the CVs sounded about the same...

-Kaleb

[JakeFuzz]

I love both actually. My OC140 FF is a bit more clear and cleans up better but the CV's are really smooth, I use them for different things.

The ones Aron is selling are all super high gain. The ones I have are both close to hfe 600 so they wont sound like a fuzz face at all. They sound really compressed and sort of gated, if you check out the vids for the AM peppermint fuzz they sound very similar to the dark version (but I am betting you could brighten it up with output cap changes). I definitely need to experiment with different configurations. Aron also found out that these are symmetric devices so you can flip the emitter and collector and get a different gain (although they still wont be in classic FF gain ranges). I think it would be worth it if you wanted this specific sound.

[JakeFuzz]

Just played around with this more. Putting a high gain silicon in Q1 makes things much brighter and more aggressive, i don't like it. The best sound is with two CV's, super smooth, somewhere between the peppermint dark and a really good sounding FF. The decay isn't as crackly as the Pepper but the attack and bloom of the notes is the same. I used a 15n output cap and it sounds really good, I think I am just going to box it up like that (and an external bias knob) when I get a chance. It is different enough from a FF where I can justify having it alongside my other fuzzes. I may just buy another set [ ] if my new amp project doesn't come out to be too expensive.

[shawnee]

Awesome demos. I really like your guitar playing as well. You have great dynamics and I can hear that "pluinkiness" when you play that I really love. Just great!
Question for the Fuzz master: I am a fuzz noob and never really could get use to that sound compared to the cranked Marshall or a Mesa sound. That being said, how do you cover Hendrix on a Mesa! So I need a fuzz but I like a warm "woofie" sound that isn't splatty or gated sounding. I actually like the MXR MR173 classic 108 demo (pro guitar shop demo on youtube) but everyone says that germanium is warmer than silicon. I also liked the sound of the Fulltone 69 slight return better than the original in those demos. So what the heck do I build and what trannies should I try? I think I liked the sound of the purple box with the CV7112's the best. Would you agree that it is the closest to the description of what I like? If so, could I build that on the Zygote PCB?

[jkokura]

Hendrix played a Ge Fuzz Face, and was known to use a Big Muff and other Fuzz pedals as well. The classic Fuzz Face is the associated tone for Hendrix though. If you built a Zygote/Mangler with matched Ge transistors you'd be most of the way there. Smallbear sells a bunch of great transistor pairs.

However, the Silicon Fuzz Face is still a great fuzz, and it's less tempermental. If you want something a little more utilitarian (and a little cheaper) build one of those with some BC108 or BC109 transistors.

Jacob

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Hendrix played a Ge Fuzz Face, and was known to use a Big Muff and other Fuzz pedals as well.

Wasn't it a Guild Foxy Lady? Which is when Mr. EHX was commissioned to build fuzzrites..

However, the Silicon Fuzz Face is still a great fuzz, and it's less tempermental. If you want something a little more utilitarian (and a little cheaper) build one of those with some BC108 or BC109 transistors.

I agree that the sili version is very simple and still produces a nice sound. Another version to look into is the sili/germ hybrid FF. Paul can tell you all about that one!! 

[JakeFuzz]

Ahh, sorry didn't see this one for a while. Works been ridiculous. Shawnee, yes I think you would like the germanium fuzz face the best. I agree with Jacob, check out smallbear he has quite a good selection of pre-matched germanium pairs. I really like the sound of my CV7112's but I have yet to get that particular sound out of anything else (even my OC140's). I really want to try the BYOC ac128 pairs to see how those sound. Anything with two silicons is going to sound more splatty and gated than the Ge's, they are usually more trebley and harsh than the Ge's i've built. You could do what Magic is talking about and put a Si in Q1 and a a Ge in Q2. This gives me great results, sounds like a germanium FF but with better note clarity.

The thing I would absolutely recommend is the bias knob. This can help you clear up the wooliness or get you back to that woofed out fuzz. The other thing I really have started to like is the Gagan input cap blend. This controls the amount of bass going into the FF circuit which drastically effects the texture and amount of fuzz you get. The Joe Gagan easy face is a good place to start, it has a bias and the input cap thing. You can put a really wide range of Ge's in the Q2 position.

The exact configuration of that purple FF is the NPN continental pair from SB in a GGG boutique 60's PCB arrangement with the bias knob on the outside. All the main resistor values cam from the packaging on the transistors fro SB.

[shawnee]

Thank you very much Jacob, Magic, and Paul for the insight!