Fuzz Aldrin (Skreddy Lunar Module)

MichaelW

Well-known member
Build Rating
5.00 star(s)
So this wasn't in my "backlog of drilled enclosures in the garage" list. (I still have one to go).

But after building the Danube (Skreddy P19) yesterday, I liked it so much I was eager to build the second Skreddy board from @Robert.

I was torn between building it stock or with some of the mods that have been done here on the forum. I decided to build it stock to see what it sounded like then I could either mod it or order a couple more boards for the variants.

So like the Danube, this fuzz was designed to nail one particular David Gilmour sound, and in particular one solo from Dark Side of the Moon. The solo from "Time".
(The Danube was designed to nail the solo from "Mother" from "The Wall").

I am SO glad these pedals were recommended to my by the forum, these are fuzzes but in some ways not typical fuzzes. But they are both RIGHT UP MY ALLEY!

I LOVE how these both sound. I've read that the Lunar Module was voiced with a Strat in mind, so that's what I tested it with. I also pulled out my Powersound Overdriver to push it a bit for the full Gilmour experience. I can't quite nail that sound from "Time" yet but I'm close, a bit more fiddling and I'll be there.

Aside from the whole Gilmour thing, this is a versatile pedal and can do the whole low gain edge of breakup thing with the fuzz turned down. With the fuzz dimed it's infinite sustain. Some interesting controls from pre-fuzz bass control (body) and being able to set the input gain on the BC109 for a more aggressive or less aggressive fuzz sound. There doesn't seem to be a ton of output, unity for me is past 12 o'clock. But it sounds superb.

I used 3 BC109C's from different mfgrs. (Phillips, TFK, and CDIL). I recently got a few NOS Phillips which were all pretty low gain compared to the typical BC109C's.
So I wound up using a mid-500's one in Q1, a 280-ish in Q2, and a low 600's one in Q3. Not sure if this is optimal but I socketed them so I can swap them around a bit.

Another super smooth and fast build.

Recommended if you're chasing that Gilmour-esque sound.

This rattle can color is called "Fire Orange". A bit reminiscent of the Tayda Burnt Orange color, I rather like the color.

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I wasn’t trying to be cryptic, just getting some end of the year work stuff done!

If you read up on Gilmour’s setup during the Meddle-WYWH era, he’s using high gain BC108C/BC109C Fuzz Faces and do some active limiting of the signal, usually with his DeArmond Volume pedal.

The delay on those solos is pretty standard at 310 ms with 5-7 repeats and various delay mix values. On Echoes, it’s mixed higher and on Time not so much but still high.

The overall effect in general besides delaying the notes is that is smooths off some of the more aggressive high end frequencies.

@MichaelW If you are really chasing the Time solo tone, try adding some light compression in as well, as that would have probably been standard in the studio and may help to tweak the overall sustain, gain structure and frequency response.
 
After Chuck’s build report and this one, now I also want to build these! Love me some Gilmour tones.
 
I wasn’t trying to be cryptic, just getting some end of the year work stuff done!

If you read up on Gilmour’s setup during the Meddle-WYWH era, he’s using high gain BC108C/BC109C Fuzz Faces and do some active limiting of the signal, usually with his DeArmond Volume pedal.

The delay on those solos is pretty standard at 310 ms with 5-7 repeats and various delay mix values. On Echoes, it’s mixed higher and on Time not so much but still high.

The overall effect in general besides delaying the notes is that is smooths off some of the more aggressive high end frequencies.

@MichaelW If you are really chasing the Time solo tone, try adding some light compression in as well, as that would have probably been standard in the studio and may help to tweak the overall sustain, gain structure and frequency response.
Aren't monks supposed to be cryptic?:)
 
Been playing this pedal as well as the Danube quite a bit today working on a demo. Man I can't get over how versatile this thing is.

Even with (gasp) humbuckers....it can sound like a fuzz or it can sound like a smooth high gain overdrive/distortion.

Loving it!
 
I’m building this right now and found one with an hFe of 22. Is that even usable for anything?

I have 1 and 2 with ~500 and 3 with low 400s I think.
You can probably use it as a diode. Not sure there are circuits that could use a 22 hfe transistor.
 
I think there is no ideal value. There's only what sounds good to you. Higher HFE in Q3 will produce more high-order harmonics. Some people like the tone, I'm not one of them. When I build pedals based on the Skreddy Lunar Module, Screw Driver, etc., I used transistors with HFE around 60 - 70 for Q3. All of the MP38A and a good number of the AC127 I have fall in that range.
 
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I intentionally used quite low gain transistors in this circuit and love it, since it gets me many more OD tones, and still a bit of fuzz at the extreme. Much more usable to me that way.
 
I think there is no ideal value. There's only what sounds good to you. Higher HFE in Q3 will produce more high-order harmonics. Some people like the tone, I'm not one of them. When I build pedals based on the Skreddy Lunar Module, Screw Driver, etc., I used transistors with HFE around 60 - 70 for Q3. All of the MP38A and a good number of the AC127 I have fall in that range.
That’s interesting and does Skreddy’s use the 109Cs that are called for in the BOM? I just looked and those run 420-800. I know it’s all preference, and I should try some others that are that low and see how they sound.
 
I would definitely play with different transistors. I measured and started with 600+ hFE, dropped down to 400, and then settled somewhere closer to 100-200. Each level sounded great, and quite different. This is probably my favorite ever circuit, along with the variants like the HFD and Screwdriver, and a big part of why is how easy it is to swap parts and transistors and get radically different (and good!) tones.
 
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