Overcast Fuzz

S

Strat68

Active member
Just built it today and had some questions. There is a bias pot and I wondered if biasing needs to be done or is it for something else? It works but seems to be just another distortion/fuzz pedal. I need some more time with it before I decide if its worth boxing. Also, what are the chances the 3903 transistors are the issue? Are there fakes out there?
Thanks
 
No trimmer just a bias pot. But the closer to max the better it sounded. I obviously did not spend a lot of time with it but I could not dial in the sound I expected for Spirit in the Sky. As mentioned, it sounded like a generic distortion box.
 
Haven't built it but I suspect you'd need to roll back the guitar vol and likely go in unbuffered. Then roll back bias to get the broken, sputter.
Did you check gains on the transistors?
It's a bosstone, and it's sounds like it sounds like a bosstone.
Maybe check the demos for what settings were used to coax out the friendly Jesus.
 
jwin615 said:
Haven't built it but I suspect you'd need to roll back the guitar vol and likely go in unbuffered. Then roll back bias to get the broken, sputter.
Did you check gains on the transistors?
It's a bosstone, and it's sounds like it sounds like a bosstone.
Maybe check the demos for what settings were used to coax out the friendly Jesus.
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Great ideas. Thanks. The HFEs are about 135
 
Strat68 said:
It works but seems to be just another distortion/fuzz pedal.
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It is.

Strat68 said:
But the closer to max the better it sounded.
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Try things dialed lower than you think they should be... the goal is off-bias / starved voltage. Neck pickup, tone rolled off.

Strat68 said:
Also, what are the chances the 3903 transistors are the issue?
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Where'd you get them? The originals measured around 125 so yours should be close enough.
 
Robert said:
It is.


Try things dialed lower than you think they should be... the goal is off-bias / starved voltage. Neck pickup, tone rolled off.


Where'd you get them? The originals measured around 125 so yours should be close enough.
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Took a chance and bought them on ebay. I had to toss the first one I tried due to a low hfe. Good suggestion on starved voltage.
 
Feral Feline said:
Don't toss stuff out. That first one with low hFE could be used as a clipping-diode, or there ARE circuits that require stupid-low hFE.
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The Superfuzz for example. Just built one and had to track down three NPNs in the 50-70 HFE range for Q 4, 5 and 6. Idk if that exact range is really totally necessary in the circuit or not, but I just followed the info Aion provided from an original unit and it sounds great.
 
Robert said:
It is.


Try things dialed lower than you think they should be... the goal is off-bias / starved voltage. Neck pickup, tone rolled off.


Where'd you get them? The originals measured around 125 so yours should be close enough.
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I finally got around to your suggestions and now it sounds very close. I built a clone of Durham Crazy Horse and it gets even very close as well as the voltage starve control woks well. Thanks for the help. I need to see which guitars and amp settings work best.
 
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Betty Wont said:
I built one of these and I think it is dead on and sounds great. One of the rare instances where the copy lives up to its own hype.
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I wonder why this is. Other people said it doesn't sound like the song at all. What rig are you using?
 
andare said:
I wonder why this is. Other people said it doesn't sound like the song at all. What rig are you using?
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Dunno. Maybe substitutions. I’ve build a couple of these now and I dig them. My customers praise them too. When I test pedals I use an Orange Terror and a Mosrite copy. The recording has a lot of reverb and compression that the pedal doesn’t make so I wonder if people are missing that part.
 
andare said:
I wonder why this is. Other people said it doesn't sound like the song at all. What rig are you using?
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The sound in the song is more than just the pedal. A lot of it is the playing technique and the guitar tone control being fully rolled off on the neck pickup. Just rolling the tone off will get you pretty close.
 
This circuit is so dang simple, y'all should just breadboard it and tinker until you get what you want / adjust it to your rig to match your ears' perception, to your taste, etc., before you commit to solder.

The "it doesn't sound the same" argument is the same renamed road the diy community has been walking since time immemorial. One person's klone, TS, 'vibe, muff, bender, face isn't going to sound like another, because of too many factors apart from component manufacturing tolerance.
 
BrainDrain said:
The sound in the song is more than just the pedal. A lot of it is the playing technique and the guitar tone control being fully rolled off on the neck pickup. Just rolling the tone off will get you pretty close.
Click to expand...

I still think there was a cracked surround or torn speaker cone going on in addition to the fuzz built into his Tele.
 
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