It's Alive! but...

[steppenbar]

First completed pedal. I started 7 years ago and got a little discouraged when my first two pcbs didn't work.

I've gotten into some deep rabbit holes since the pandemic started and I gave it another shot. After some frustrating moments and reworking a few joints I completed it last night and it works!

There's some ground hum, is that normal for this circuit or did I mess up some things? It's a Sandspur fuzz.

My only real issue besides the ground hum is that I need to crank the fuzz knob in order to get the gnarly going, is that something I'd need to adjust with the trim pots?

It was also my first time using a 3pdt breakout board, so let me know if it looks decent. Go easy on me haha.

Hope I followed all the forum rules with this post! It's my first post after lurking a while.

 

[Coda]

Fuzz Face really only sounds good with the Fuzz control maxed. Did you bias the circuit?

 

[steppenbar]

Fuzz Face really only sounds good with the Fuzz control maxed. Did you bias the circuit?

I have very little experience with fuzzes in general so I was wondering about that. I didn't bias it yet, I finished the build last night and tried it for a bit. I couldn't find anything on the documentation about biasing it so I figured I'd ask first. Is it more of a set it to your preference thing?

 

[Coda]

I have very little experience with fuzzes in general so I was wondering about that. I didn't bias it yet, I finished the build last night and tried it for a bit. I couldn't find anything on the documentation about biasing it so I figured I'd ask first. Is it more of a set it to your preference thing?

Well, there are few rules and lots of guidelines with pedals. It can be a preference thing; sometimes the pedal sounds best with the bias a bit off. The Sandspur is a bit unique because of the Sundial control, which adjusts the bias, allowing you to dial in different tones. However, it helps to have the bias set in tandem with the Sundial. Now if you don't have a multimeter, then its definitely a preference thing...

 

[HamishR]

One trick with fuzz face style fuzzes is to max the fuzz but roll the volume back a tiny bit on the guitar - it takes off some fizz but stays fat and fuzzy. That's what one of the trimmers replicates. You can pull the trimmer a hair back from max so that you can leave the guitar vol on full and get that sound.

The bias is not so hard once you know what to listen for. As a starting point put the Sundial knob at noon, fuzz at max or near max, and tweak the bias trimmer until it sounds fullest and most responsive. In one direction it may cut out and gate, and in the other direction it can sound lifeless and thin. Usually IME the sweet spot is not long before it starts gating. So find that point and dial back a bit. Then using the Sundial should help you go from gating to fat.

 

[steppenbar]

One trick with fuzz face style fuzzes is to max the fuzz but roll the volume back a tiny bit on the guitar - it takes off some fizz but stays fat and fuzzy. That's what one of the trimmers replicates. You can pull the trimmer a hair back from max so that you can leave the guitar vol on full and get that sound.

The bias is not so hard once you know what to listen for. As a starting point put the Sundial knob at noon, fuzz at max or near max, and tweak the bias trimmer until it sounds fullest and most responsive. In one direction it may cut out and gate, and in the other direction it can sound lifeless and thin. Usually IME the sweet spot is not long before it starts gating. So find that point and dial back a bit. Then using the Sundial should help you go from gating to fat.

Thank you, I was wondering about the relationship of the sundial knob and the bias trim pot. I'll be trying this out tomorrow!