Fuzz War V1 Question (Transister-related)…

[Coda]

Are the transistors on the PCB silkscreen already flipped, or should I flip them?…

 

[Robert]

Well.... they're upside down like the original. (Collector to ground)

 

[music6000]

Are the transistors on the PCB silkscreen already flipped, or should I flip them?…

VCC going to Emitter instead of Collector, Can cause Confusion!

 

[Coda]

Well.... they're upside down like the original. (Collector to ground)

VCC going to Emitter instead of Collector, Can cause Confusion!


View attachment 36175

Yea, that’s what I figured out from the schematic, I just wanted to double check. I built the circuit and it sounds…rough. Of course. Of course that’s just par for the course with this circuit…

 

[Robert]

Alright.... Let's put an end to this mystery.



I'll verify the trace, all values, and will measure the parameters of all of the transistors.

This has gone on long enough.

 

[Harry Klippton]

Hooray! I had a DBA apocalypse that I bought "broken" for very cheap. I was absolutely disgusted with the build quality, fixed it, and sold it off for a nice price. But I miss the fuzz war setting

 

[GizzWizzKing]

I really enjoy mine. just took some playing with the transistors to negate weird blooming sounds or strange attack. and combing through a few forums to check which cap values to use in one or another locations. It is kinda ridiculous how many threads there are on this one pedal.

 

[Robert]

I feel like the original trace and component values are probably correct, but I've seen a couple different versions and the lines are a bit blurred.

This way we'll have a definitive set of component values and transistor specs to use as a baseline.

 

[cdwillis]

A while back I looked into building one on stripboard and the v1 layout basically disappeared because people were having an impossible time trying to bias the transistors or something. It'll be interesting to see how it's actually laid out

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

The transistors in that circuit are operated in "reverse-beta" mode. The HFE (current gain) is very low, like around 10. The voltage gain can still be very high.

 

[ColorMeBaddFann]

Alright.... Let's put an end to this mystery.

View attachment 36180

I'll verify the trace, all values, and will measure the parameters of all of the transistors.

This has gone on long enough.

After seeing this post, I opened up the V1 I picked up cheap locally some years back (Ty Segall/Ohsees fan here). At the time didn't know there was a more recent 3-knob Muff based variant of the Fuzz War. Expected to see 7 transistors, but found only 4... Perhaps this is some sort of v1.5 or transition version with the two pots and one trimmer? Did yours end up being the 7 transistor model?

 

[Robert]

Well now that's interesting.... I haven't had a chance to look inside mine yet, but now my curiosity is through the roof.

Could you possibly snap a head-on pic of both sides of the PCB?

 

[ColorMeBaddFann]

Sorry, the camera on this phone isn't great. Can never seem to fully remove the glare. And that is another partially obscured 2n5088 in the left-center area.

Also noticed one like it on Reverb (https://reverb.com/item/59025978-death-by-audio-fuzz-war-v1-2011?bk=) that has a similar looking rear of the PCB. Perhaps all of them around this time were this in-between variant?

 

[Feral Feline]

I played a late model recently, used-stock at L&M, well a month or so ago. Liked it enough to research the circuit, but not enough to buy the pedal. There was some info I came across and I was able to come up with a rough time-line of the changes, but not sure if I wrote it down...


Sorry, Nope!

Here’s the best I could get given I wasn’t buying it…

 

[Harry Klippton]

Man every time I see the insides of a DBA pedal I'm like

 

[GizzWizzKing]

Man every time I see the insides of a DBA pedal I'm like

But given the aesthetic of the outside.... I wouldnt expect a work of art inside

 

[Harry Klippton]

But given the aesthetic of the outside.... I wouldnt expect a work of art inside

You're right, the outside is awful too

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

That has got to be one of the most amateurish board designs I have seen in a long, long time.

Who's going to trace it?

 

[Robert]

I'll be on it shortly, turns out mine is the same version....

I suspect this is going to be the same as the current 3-knob version, just with a trim pot instead of a "Fuzz" control....

This is unfortunately not the version I wanted to trace.

 

[Big Monk]

What’s up with the fucking GIGANTIC solder pads for the pots and switch?