Fuzz Factory for a friend (Ghostbusters themed)

[xefned]

A friend asked for a Ghostbusters-themed Fuzz Factory.
I documented my experience in this photo essay.

Warning: no sound samples—just my nasally voice talking about building it.

He's reporting that it picks up A.M. radio. I didn't have that problem on my test bench. If anyone has any suggestions on how to clear that up, I'm all ears. Thanks.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Sweet.

AM Radio is usually from your guitar pickups, not a pedal. The gain from the pedal doesn't help, but the source is bad shielding.

 

[jwin615]

Sweet.

AM Radio is usually from your guitar pickups, not a pedal. The gain from the pedal doesn't help, but the source is bad shielding.

^^^this + proper grounding.
If it the pedal, it will pick up AM with nothing plugged in. Next try it with only a cable plugged in. No plug in the guitar. Whenever the radio starts is you antenna.
If the radio stops when they touch strings/metal on the guitar, they have a poor ground from the bridge (I've seen multiple cheap guitars that just skip grounding the bridge). If the radio is omnipresent with the guitar, it's likely the shielding or just the pickups(lipsticks, gold foils, and cheap single coils are especially bad IME).
It could be the cable with a bad ground. If it's the pedal, make sure the jacks are grounded(or at least the input jack, thought being a single ground contact and the output *should be grounded via the next device) and you can try cleaning the powdercoat out of the groove on the lid to ensure metal on metal contact. Long thin RF leaks are way worse than holes. Also, make sure there's 1 solid ground connection to the enclosure (clean jack holes of powdercoat).

Wonderful photo diary. Cool way to do a build report!

 

[xefned]

Thanks for the tips and the kind words, gentlemen.

I asked him to try a different guitar and report back. He's using his Gibson 335 exclusively lately, but he's got several others to choose from.

Once he starts playing, the radio noise is drowned out by the notes, so it may be mostly a non-issue. Still, I'll be interested in hearing if a different guitar or cable (or power supply!) helps out.

 

[jwin615]

Oof. Yeah. 335s aren't known for their superior shielding...

 

[juice886]

Fuzz Factory is an interesting one in this regard in my experience. Sometimes it's just so noisy in some settings and the shielding doesn't help. Mine could pick up AM just with a guitar cable plugged in acting like an antenna.

 

[spi]

Getting a free radio with your pedal should be seen as a bonus.

 

[juice886]

Getting a free radio with your pedal should be seen as a bonus.

Yeah, that's definitely a feature as long as you can sell it