My Little Pink Fuzz

[peccary]

Today I was able to put the finishing touches on my first germanium fuzz pedal.

This is a PedalPCB Gnat board that was modified to clone an Elka Dizzy Tone (dubbed The Dizzy Elk by @music6000 who actually figured the mod out, all I did was build it!). You can see the mod thread here: https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/pedalpcb-gnat-mod-the-dizzy-elk.7189/

This thing sounds mean. Like, nasty mean. I'm talking like drunk on MD 20/20, angrily shouting at the top of your lungs with spittle and flecks of leftover vomit flying from your lips nasty and angry and mean.

I am really amazed at how well the bass is preserved with this. As a bass player I always thought that I couldn't get this kind of sound without losing all the bottom end, but this has proven me wrong. I look forward to using it in a live situation to see if it's still usable with cymbals and distorted guitar. I feel like it might, especially since the guitar player I usually play in a band with typically has a pretty bright and clean tone.

I'm not sure why, it's probably all in my head, but it seems to sound better all boxed up like this than it did in the experimental rig. I didn't label anything since I'm keeping this one and I wanted something really clean but also really busy. And you can't go wrong with pink and black. Pink is one of my favorite colors. I'd only used the viola pink before from Tayda, but I really like the way that this light pink looks.

Gut Shot:



Full Frontal:



Edit to add a photo with the light, because why not?

 

[Barry]

Today I was able to put the finishing touches on my first germanium fuzz pedal.

This is a PedalPCB Gnat board that was modified to clone an Elka Dizzy Tone (dubbed The Dizzy Elk by @music6000 who actually figured the mod out, all I did was build it!). You can see the mod thread here: https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/pedalpcb-gnat-mod-the-dizzy-elk.7189/

This thing sounds mean. Like, nasty mean. I'm talking like drunk on MD 20/20, angrily shouting at the top of your lungs with spittle and flecks of leftover vomit flying from your lips nasty and angry and mean.

I am really amazed at how well the bass is preserved with this. As a bass player I always thought that I couldn't get this kind of sound without losing all the bottom end, but this has proven me wrong. I look forward to using it in a live situation to see if it's still usable with cymbals and distorted guitar. I feel like it might, especially since the guitar player I usually play in a band with typically has a pretty bright and clean tone.

I'm not sure why, it's probably all in my head, but it seems to sound better all boxed up like this than it did in the experimental rig. I didn't label anything since I'm keeping this one and I wanted something really clean but also really busy. And you can't go wrong with pink and black. Pink is one of my favorite colors. I'd only used the viola pink before from Tayda, but I really like the way that this light pink looks.

Gut Shot:

View attachment 13529

Full Frontal:

View attachment 13530

I have a friend who is colorblind and also loves Pink, I think it's one of the few colors he can see

 

[peccary]

I have a friend who is colorblind and also loves Pink, I think it's one of the few colors he can see

I'm colorblind as well (red/green), though I can still see color I can confuse them, I guess. I don't really understand how it works, actually. My daughter has these foam blocks that she loves playing with in the front lawn. A couple of weeks ago I went to pick them up and it was just starting to get dark. The next morning I walked out on the porch and saw almost every single red block (probably 10 of them) scattered throughout the lawn - I had missed them all!

It also helps that I am a big fan of the 80's and early 90's aesthetic. Pink and green and blue and yellow and all in neon - sign me up.

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

Gorgeous in and out.
The light pink is a great colour, it really shines paired with black or cream IMO.

 

[peccary]

Gorgeous in and out.
The light pink is a great colour, it really shines paired with black or cream IMO.

Thank you! I was thinking of going with cream cupcake knobs and a silver foot switch at first but then just ran with the black because I thought that just two contrasting colors would play together really well.

Great build inside and out. Did you heat shrink the transistor heads blue!?

I did heat shrink them blue! The base on these transistors is actually connected to the case, and because there's potential for them to come in to contact with all kinds of things in there I figured it'd be a safe bet to keep them covered.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

That is one SNAZZY pink pedal!

 

[fig]

Absolutely smashing Joe! That pink really pops!

 

[peccary]

Is that a uv print or film free decal, it looks fantastic!

Thank you!

It's film-free waterslide. I have gotten pretty comfortable working with them. My real issue is design: I am terrible at it and I have zero photo or graphics editing experience. I just kind of flub my way through Inkscape. I don't even really know how to use it properly, it's just a bunch of patchwork, honestly.

I've read through a good amount of the UV print thread and being honest with myself I'm just not going to take that much time to learn the process when I have zero artwork or design skills, especially when I can get good results that I am happy with using no-film.

I'll be going back in to the office soon and while I am not happy about that, it does mean that I will have access to a high quality color laser jet printer, so I've got that going for me. Being stuck with black isn't the worst, but it will be nice to be able to experiment with color.

 

[Feral Feline]

What a way to burst your Ge Cherry!


Fantastic build, Peccary!


Just had a thort... paint the white markers on the knobs the same pink as the enclosure? If you go to a nail-polish shop with pedal in hand, I bet you can get a good match...


Gotta get some of those black 3PDTs myself still. They're perfect for a booster I've planned.


Congrats on the sweet build.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Thank you! I was thinking of going with cream cupcake knobs and a silver foot switch at first but then just ran with the black because I thought that just two contrasting colors would play together really well.



I did heat shrink them blue! The base on these transistors is actually connected to the case, and because there's potential for them to come in to contact with all kinds of things in there I figured it'd be a safe bet to keep them covered.

Looks great! Love the description of the tone. I can picture a drunken bass player threatening to expose himself to the audience if they don't STFU. You know it's ok to trim the transistor leads. The Mojo is inside the can. Although I'm not sure how those blue Jimmy-Hats affect the Mojo.

 

[peccary]

What a way to burst your Ge Cherry!


Fantastic build, Peccary!


Just had a thort... paint the white markers on the knobs the same pink as the enclosure? If you go to a nail-polish shop with pedal in hand, I bet you can get a good match...


Gotta get some of those black 3PDTs myself still. They're perfect for a booster I've planned.


Congrats on the sweet build.

That's a great idea with the nail polish! I might have to do that one of these days...

I like these black 3PDTs from Tayda. They have a pretty nice soft click with a little feedback.

 

[peccary]

Looks great! Love the description of the tone. I can picture a drunken bass player threatening to expose himself to the audience if they don't STFU. You know it's ok to trim the transistor leads. The Mojo is inside the can. Although I'm not sure how those blue Jimmy-Hats affect the Mojo.

I gotta admit it, Chuck: I kept the long legs on purpose so I could snazz them up with some color (though I did trim them a little bit). I am not sure if the shrinkwrap is necessary on transistors like this where the base is attached to the case, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. And since they were getting a fun little hat I thought I might as well have some more color popping in there and kept the legs long! I kind of like the flying saucer beaming stuff up look, too.

Even though only a handful of people will ever see the guts I still want to make them look nice and have fun with it.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Insulation is a good idea if there is any chance at all that they could come into electrical contact with anything else. If you touch your finger to the transistor case when the pedal is operating, you can use it as a radio receiver.

 

[finebyfine]

Wow absolutely killer Joe! The film slide wizard.

Stealing that pattern for an enclosure somewhere down the line. I’m really surprised by how much I like the double black decorative footswitch nut - I haven’t really liked them in any other colors before.

 

[JamieJ]

Looks awesome Joe. As everyone says - you are now the film slide wizard. I love the design and the black FS works so well.

 

[almondcity]

wow it looks amazing!

 

[lmajcen]

Hi Guys! I need help. I'm building an Elka Fuzz and I need some recommendations for the transitors as I cannot find any SFT*** type transistors available. Are there any equivalents for them? Thank you!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

If you are new to Germanium, then your best bet is to buy a matched set from Small Bear. Follow their instructions for resistor values.

https://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/transistor-set-3-knob-tone-bender-pnp-continental/

 

[fig]

Here's mine...still rockin' it after two years Joe. Thanks again

 

[Betty Wont]

View attachment 53361

Here's mine...still rockin' it after two years Joe. Thanks again

I've never seen uncircumcised transistors before.