Marigold fuzz!

Synchrony Pedalworks

Synchrony Pedalworks

Well-known member
I know that not everyone enjoys Led Zeppelin, but I have always enjoyed Page’s riffs and Bonham’s grooves. The Tonebender is one of my favorite fuzzes. I made a purely Ge version which sounds great, but I did want a little more “hair” to the fuzz. This Hybrid fuzz does the trick. I tried several Ge transistors. I had a 2N169, Ac127, and 2n1308. I need to measure the transistors with the bare bones method, but my DVM measured them at 70, 56, and 80. Mr. Fig encouraged and was kind to send goodies with an OC140 (hFe 93), BC107 and BC109. I “taste tested” the Ge transistors, and hands down, the OC140 won. If someone is thinking of sourcing the original mojo, I would encourage it. The pedal truly embodies my ideal Tonebender and Page’s sound.

The artwork is to reflect my appreciation of Zeppelin. The artwork was done with Cricut vinyl stickers. The only problem with using Cricut is that it is messing up by YouTube feed. I used to get guitars, pedals and soccer, but now I am getting tons of middle aged women teaching people how to use a Cricuit machine! 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

2BE7DEA1-2C06-4A9C-A857-F7FFC708CC1B.jpeg BD17D9FC-6A36-44EE-AEB2-FB5C862CBC43.jpeg
 
Chuck D. Bones said:
Looks great.

What's the DC collector voltage on Q3?
Click to expand...
Q3
C: 2:49
B: 0.11
E: 0

I think your question may have been “leading the witness.” Did you notice that the transistor was installed incorrectly? If so, fabulous eye. I had C and E flipped. Fortunately, I did ruin anything! Thanks for the help!
 
I realize this is a Fuzz pedal, but why is the gutshot so fuzzy? I can't tell which way the OC140 was oriented.

The reason I asked about the collector voltage is that's every bit as critical as the transistor selection. When comparing the tone of Ge transistors, their bias point has to be the same, otherwise it's not a fair comparison. Since Q3 is leakage-biased, changing the part number, or even swapping out for another tranny with the same part number, is pretty well guaranteed to change bias point unless you tweak something to bring the bias back in line. 2N1308s are low-leakage (most of them anyway) and will not sound right in this pedal. I ended up with an MP38A in mine, Vc = 2.7V.

Marigold on a quarantine board
 
Chuck D. Bones said:
I realize this is a Fuzz pedal, but why is the gutshot so fuzzy? I can't tell which way the OC140 was oriented.

The reason I asked about the collector voltage is that's every bit as critical as the transistor selection. When comparing the tone of Ge transistors, their bias point has to be the same, otherwise it's not a fair comparison. Since Q3 is leakage-biased, changing the part number, or even swapping out for another tranny with the same part number, is pretty well guaranteed to change bias point unless you tweak something to bring the bias back in line. 2N1308s are low-leakage (most of them anyway) and will not sound right in this pedal. I ended up with an MP38A in mine, Vc = 2.7V.

Marigold on a quarantine board
Click to expand...
That makes good sense to me. Thanks for the thoughtful explanation. I will have to keep that in mind with future builds like this one. Thanks again.
PS- The picture is blurry due to taking it in “portrait mode.” I tend to like it for the outside pictures, but I shouldn’t use it for the gut shots.
 
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