I've got an itch that I can't scratch. I've got a few 1590b enclosures staring at me and they need a use. My current idea is to whip up 2 One Knob Fuzzes in a single enclosure with a single switch to select a fuzz and a single volume knob. Not too difficult I think. I'll put a dpdt switch for the selector (input and output of each fuzz) going to a single volume pot. Yea, that sounds about right.
Anywho, I stumbled down the breadboarding hole of making my own one knob fuzz. Now I know what you're thinking, "There's tons of them out there!" Not really. If you google one knob fuzzes you'll get tons of fuzz faces and DAM Meathead variants. I wanted to make something more original in the true DIY fashion. After an hour or two going back and forth with work (quiet work day but have things to do), I managed to put something together that I really like that I want to share with you all.
Behold, the
NUT FUZZ. In more simpler terms, this is a shunt feedback amplifier into an asymmetrical BMP clipping stage. Of course you can build this on any sized breadboard since it's just a one knobber.
This circuit is
incredibly interactive with your guitar knobs. With everything maxxed out you get a lot of low end coming through with the signal hitting the BJT's
HARD and almost to the point where gating occurs, but not quite. A high gain fuzz/drone sound for sure! As you turn down your guitar's volume knob the gain is significantly reduced, the low end drops out, and the treble comes through a lot to hear pick attack. To reduce the treble further you'll need to back off your tone knob or switch to your neck pickup. With the guitar volume down significantly, almost to the point of 0, you're in the bright, low/medium gain fuzz territory. As you turn down the circuit's volume the low end starts to drop off. I tend to like it more maxxed out, but I can see others tweaking it to their tastes. Maybe some day I'll make this into a PCB, but need to learn the software first. Another day, i guess.
I haven't built this on vero yet, but I took the time to make a layout this afternoon. This will probably be my project tomorrow on my day off before Thanksgiving. If you make this (and I hope you do or at least breadboard it), you'll have a standing resistor and a standing capacitor but you can counter that by just bending the leads a bit to make them more flush with the stripboard. The next one knobber I make I'll decide whether or not to separate the layouts or combine them to fit in the enclosure.