Boss FZ-2 clones?

[drgonzo1969]

So I have built the PPCB hyped fuzz and I bought a Behringer SF300. The Boss FZ-2 sound is my favorite fuzz sound that I have come across so far in my fuzz pilgrimage. So now I am curious about this circuit. I read a cool article on the "Kula's Corner" portion of the Catalinbread website that I will link below. Are there any other commercially available FZ-2 clones out there? Have you guys read any good articles about the FZ-2? Seen any good videos? played any good clones? built any other FZ-2 pcbs? Heres the catalinbread article and some more Monolord.

Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz

You’re well aware of Boss’s status as effects innovators, but today I’m here to talk Boss, genre influencer. Boss got in on the ground floor with what would become death metal with the HM-2. The walls closed in on the US from both sides, with the Bay Area and Florida producing equally...

catalinbread.com

 

[DailyDovetails]

I have been listening to Monolord also and enjoy this fuzz on Electic Wizard as well. I saw there is an Aion board https://aionfx.com/project/hypercube-fuzz-distortion/ and it uses transistors instead of OPs like the pedal Pcb. I’m planning on building one and wonder which people who have done both prefer.

 

[Nostradoomus]

The abominable electronics demon lung is a take on the FZ-2, same with one of those one knob Does It Doom pedals.

The version from here sounds pretty much exact to my Behringer and what I remember of my actual FZ-2 I sold awhile ago, I don’t imagine the extra effort involved with the Aion board is really worthwhile haha

 

[drgonzo1969]

I have been listening to Monolord also and enjoy this fuzz on Electic Wizard as well. I saw there is an Aion board https://aionfx.com/project/hypercube-fuzz-distortion/ and it uses transistors instead of OPs like the pedal Pcb. I’m planning on building one and wonder which people who have done both prefer.

Nice! I hadn't checked Aion. I will definitely build it. I like his pcbs. I'm reading that build doc now.

 

[drgonzo1969]

The abominable electronics demon lung is a take on the FZ-2, same with one of those one knob Does It Doom pedals.

The version from here sounds pretty much exact to my Behringer and what I remember of my actual FZ-2 I sold awhile ago, I don’t imagine the extra effort involved with the Aion board is really worthwhile haha

Oh ya! The Sabbathi is the one knob Does it Doom. I forgot about Abominable Electronics. Both the Demon Lung and the Sabbathi seem pretty cool. I was hoping there would be some vero layouts out there but I havent found any for those two projects yet. Both are sold out too.

 

[jesuscrisp]

I have been listening to Monolord also and enjoy this fuzz on Electic Wizard as well. I saw there is an Aion board https://aionfx.com/project/hypercube-fuzz-distortion/ and it uses transistors instead of OPs like the pedal Pcb. I’m planning on building one and wonder which people who have done both prefer.

To be exact, those transistors make up a "discrete op amp". I guess just using a dual op amp IC for the input buffer and input boost/gain stage instead of 4 transistors + 3 extra resistors and an extra cap was probably an "economic" decision on Robert's part to make it fit on a single 125B size PCB. As you can can see the Aion one comes in a 2 PCB configuration.

Have you guys read any good articles about the FZ-2?

Not sure you need an article to understand it, but for a quick breakdown, it's a tricked out Univox Superfuzz.
The input/gain stage of the Superfuzz was swapped for a buffer into a discrete op amp gain stage for high input impedance and likely also lower noise operation so it doesn't care about placement in the signal chain. After the clipping diodes it goes into either a notch T filter for the massive mid scoop or into a lowpass filter, each path with a gain recovery stage to even out the volume jumps between the 2 modes. Then it goes into the EQ section, which is a mix of a gyrator bass band and a "TS-style" treble control, the rest is just volume knob and output buffer. The boost mode jumps directly from the input gain stage to the EQ, so what you get is a discrete op amp boost with an active EQ.

 

[Fuzzonaut]

The abominable electronics demon lung is a take on the FZ-2, same with one of those one knob Does It Doom pedals.

The version from here sounds pretty much exact to my Behringer and what I remember of my actual FZ-2 I sold awhile ago, I don’t imagine the extra effort involved with the Aion board is really worthwhile haha

I can confirm that: I bought an FZ-2 in '94 I guess and used it for over 20 years (well, there was a 4-5 years break from music in there, but anyway) ... until I built the PedalPCB version. They sounded more or less identical, so I sold the Boss.

Regarding clones/interpretations: the Peppers one gets some love (has a clean blend, the "hidden mode" and "extra").

 

[Robert]

I guess just using a dual op amp IC for the input buffer and input boost/gain stage instead of 4 transistors + 3 extra resistors and an extra cap was probably an "economic" decision on Robert's part to make it fit on a single 125B size PCB.

That's pretty much it... It saved board real estate and made the build a little easier.

I've considered reworking the layout to use discrete transistors a few times but decided it wasn't really worth the effort, not to mention would increase the parts cost considerably (assuming we're building it with 100% authentic through-hole components, if you can find them).

I generally try not to stray far from the original schematic with PCBs, but in this case it seemed to made sense.

 

[Nostradoomus]

I can confirm that: I bought an FZ-2 in '94 I guess and used it for over 20 years (well, there was a 4-5 years break from music in there, but anyway) ... until I built the PedalPCB version. They sounded more or less identical, so I sold the Boss.

Regarding clones/interpretations: the Peppers one gets some love (has a clean blend, the "hidden mode" and "extra").

Remember buying a real FZ-2 for 50 bucks?

 

[dcfvgb]

Remember buying a real FZ-2 for 50 bucks?

I bought one new for 100 when they came out then sold it for 50... still regret it