View allAll Photos Tagged fuzzface
Dual fuzz made for Ian Jones of Code Blue. (Note: this is a custom one-off and won't be produced since Schumann Electronics makes the original "Two Face Fuzz")
Well not really Russian, just soviet themed.
FuzzFace with Ge transistors on perf.
Jumbo white LED in vintage green bezel.
Switchable smoothing cap on Q2
Glow in the dark paint, waterslide decal then clear.
Just to give you guys a heads-up, I got in a couple of pounds of new powder colors yesterday. That's, "Double Blue Vein" on the left, which is supposed to be two different colors of blue all kind of liquid-light-show'd together. On the right is a similar thing that's supposed to be orange and silver, called (appropriately enough), "Orange/Silver Vein."
I've got a shipment of enclosures that should be here Monday. My plan is to do the big ones in the orange color for the Fuzz Face boards and the small ones in the double-blue for the Rangemasters.
I'd like to list a few of each next week, if all goes well.
The Fuzz Face boards are finished and on their way!
A few things to note about the design. First off, the transistor pads are spaced so I can solder in the nice Mill Max transistor sockets, so anyone who wants to experiment with transistors can do it easily.
Second, if you'll notice, C1 and C5 are set up for big axial capacitors. I have a pretty big stash of old-school axial caps for the turret builds and I thought the mojo would be nice for these.
C2 and C3 are for trimmer capacitors (25-120 pF), so the high end response of each transistor can be tailored to suit the player's tastes.
R5 is the Vactrol controlling the auto-bias circuit. I have high hopes for this. This pedal should never drift out of bias due to room temperature, which has always been a problem with germanium circuits. You set that, "Bias" potentiometer and it's going to keep the transistors at that level of current consumption no matter how they drift operationally.
If you'll notice, there are jumpers in the bottom right area to switch from PNP to NPN and there's a socket for a voltage inverter, so this can be built for either polarity of transistors.
I'd like to imagine that this is the Fuzz Face that solves all the issues people have ever had with Fuzz Face pedals. Time will tell.
OK, you can't mess with the input cap on the Fuzz Face. I tried several workarounds to change the input impedance, but it kind of stops sounding like a Fuzz Face the farther you get from the original circuit. And not in a good way, IMO.
Here you can see I've gone back to a 2.2 uF input cap, although now a ridiculously overkillified 250 volt cap. And it works like it should again. It doesn't care if it's a polarized electrolytic (my first guess, since I was using a non-polarized .68 uF), but it does want a certain amount of input impedance. Essentially it wants what goes there.
Now it makes more sense to me that Analog Mike builds those Sun Lion pedals that combine a Rangemaster and a Fuzz Face in one pedal. Those two were built for each other.
So then there's this for the side panels. I probably wouldn't use 3/4" SpectraPly in the future. A pedal would be fine with 1/2" stock, but this is what I had.
These Russian Germanium transistors are pretty amazing. None of them register any leakage on my meter. I've never come across Germanium transistors with no leakage before.
On the right is an MP39B and on the left is a GT308V. This is the pair of transistors used in the Joe Bonamassa Fuzz Face pedals.
The MP39B transistors seem to be testing out at around 40-50 hFE. The GT308V are all around 60-80 hFE. So ideal for a low-gain Fuzz Face that will work with humbuckers. No wonder they chose this pair for the Joe Bonamassa Fuzz Face.
You know, these date from the 1990s. Most of the world stopped making Germanium transistors in the 60's. So that may have something to do with why these are built so well. They're from the very sunset of the age of Germanium transistors.
The new Infinite Fuzz circuit board is pretty compact with the transistors moved off the board. Yeah, that's a 1971 Denver quarter just like on EVH's old Frankenstein guitar. I never said I wasn't a nerd.
So if a guy was to make a fuzz pedal using one Germanium transistor and one Silicon transistor...well, he'd pretty much have to call that pedal the, "GErm SIckness" pedal, right?
Man, if I was smarter my R&D process would take a LOT less time. I've been waiting for some diodes to come in to finish this little voltage inverter board that attaches to the 3PDT footswitch. They finally showed up today. I'm like, "That'll be a perfect solution!"
Just one tiny thing I hadn't considered...
Yowza, Cletus! I think we done struck gold!
Replacing the 2.2 uF Input Capacitor with a .68 uF (same as the Cathode Bypass cap on a Super Lead) done turned the big, farty fuzz into a mean, cutting overdrive. You know, that should probably be switchable.
The .68 uF input cap is nice, but I didn't think about the input impedance of this circuit being directly related to the input cap. The Fuzz Face input impedance, depending on the position of the Fuzz control, is normally between 5200 and 8400 ohms. It already loads the signal coming out of the guitar. That's why it doesn't play well with humbuckers.
It's doing some strange fizzy, warbly stuff.
Well not really Russian, just soviet themed.
FuzzFace with NOS Ge transistors on perf.
Jumbo white LED in vintage green bezel.
Switchable smoothing cap on Q2
Glow in the dark paint, waterslide decal then clear.
Yeah, Analog Man Guitar Effects is run by a genius. This is the answer to sharpening up the attack of the Fuzz Face. Post-processing it with a Rangemaster. No wonder people love his Sun Lion pedals.
I am lovin' my new hair. Y'all in the metro area need to pay Kimm @ Kaleidoscope a visit. She is the most!
www.myspace.com/kaleidoscopesalon
She completely bleached out the "Starry Night" on top, then put "kicky red" or something on the hair underneath. I am livin' the platinum dream.
Photo by William Benton
Nice Fuzz by @marco_bovelli: Formula B FUZZ MACHINE -fuzzbox.it- The original Fuzz Face circuit NKT275 nos transistors #fuzz #fuzzface #germanium #pedalboard #pedaleffects #pedalporn #guitarist #gibson #jimihendrix #fender, via Instagram: bit.ly/1qWT9Jw