Panspermia Fuzz - Problems when Guitar Volume is turned up

O

ohnge

New member
Hello Everybody!
I'm new to the fourm but did not find a solution for my problem so my first post here has to be a question...
Can anyone help me?
I've built the panspermia fuzz and it works perfect - but only when i turn down my guitar volume. -
As soon as i turn up the volume on my guitar and the sustain level is turned up the sound messes up.
I have tried three different guitars with humbuckers and with single coils- same problem.

See / hear in this video file:https://www.dropbox.com/s/jlw9z2v0iom69la/MOV_0064.mp4?dl=0
Any Ideas?
It's not in a enclosure yet, but that should not be the problem, right?
 
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Hello Old Thread...

I am having this same issue. Pedal works as it should but only when guitar volume is turned down a bit. When guitar volume is up there is a compressed attack, the sustain knob is less versatile and just messy overall.

Any guesses?

I've already eliminated the redundant 10k resistor that was on the old pcb that I have.

Other old threads mention swapping the 1n34a for a 1n4148 - might that change this or is that something else entirely?
 
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I had some issues with this pedal myself. It helps to understand what the circuit is actually doing. There are four sections: boost, octave up, fuzz, and volume.

The boost section (controlled by the sustain pot) will amplify your signal before sending it to an octave up (diodes + lm386) based on Tim Escobedo's Rambler. These first two sections and volume are roughly SeppukuFX's Octave Drone pedal minus an input cap toggle.

The Space Fuzz (aka Panspermia Fuzz) inserts the third section which is a two transistor fuzz that then goes to the volume control.

Having said all that, imo it is better to think of sustain as boost.The guitar volume and sustain knob are really interactive because they'll cause more signal to clip into a square shape with the diodes before they enter the LM386 where it performs full wave rectification, basically doubling the amplitude of your signal and producing an octave up.

You could try some diodes with higher forward voltages for less clipping or try and match the diodes for better rectification. But having a number of Seppuku FX pedals, I highly doubt he matched diodes for best octave up performance...

It's a fun fuzz that isn't exactly subtle and heavily dependent on the signal strength entering the octave up section. Hope this helps!
 
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