Parenthesis Whale of a Fuzz

[desmondtencents]

Built this one a couple of weeks ago as a custom request. The basic idea for the graphics were from the customer, I put this together and got his seal of approval.
I had already laid out the control labels before even considering the clipping diode arrangement so I just moved a few things around to match the labeling. Ended up going with Germanium along with Silicon or LED instead of symmetric/asymmetric. Also used BAT46 diodes in the octave section instead of Germanium as I figured the bias voltage was more important than any "mojo" from using Germanium here. It's also important to make sure those diodes are as closely matched as possible for the best octave effect and Germanium bits sway a lot with temperature variation.
The enclosure was UV printed on an ivory enclosure from Tayda.

 

[Dreamlands]

Love the flying whale. Is that a nod to Gojira?

 

[twebb6778]

Looks fantastic! Is that the Tayda UV printing?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Beautiful! Smart move with the diodes.

 

[desmondtencents]

Looks fantastic! Is that the Tayda UV printing?

Yup, Tayda printing.

 

[twebb6778]

Super tidy, gotta be happy with that.

 

[desmondtencents]

Love the flying whale. Is that a nod to Gojira?

Not sure. I know the guy who I built it for really likes whales. He even had a version of this graphic as his profile picture on facebook.

 

[Dreamlands]

Looking again, I also really like the knob choices here.

The black knobs hide the dominant "V" shape of the layout.
Instead, we have a subtly framed diamond pattern of silver points.
Very appealing.

 

[jnash85]

I am getting ready to build this. It you use a toggle switch do you not lose one of the clipping options? If so, which one do you lose?

 

[r.callison]

Looking again, I also really like the knob choices here.

The black knobs hide the dominant "V" shape of the layout.
Instead, we have a subtly framed diamond pattern of silver points.
Very appealing.

Agreed, really highlights the different functions of the pedal

 

[desmondtencents]

I am getting ready to build this. It you use a toggle switch do you not lose one of the clipping options? If so, which one do you lose?

Yes you do lose one of the clipping options. I think it's laid out so you would lose the Ge diode pair.......
But you can put the diodes in whatever place you want on the board. So technically you could still have whatever clipping diode options you want, just not as many.

 

[jnash85]

Completed the build today. I have not boxed it up yet, but I did try it out. Sounds amazing. However, I notice a moderate volume drop when I change to symm clipping. And a larger volume drop when I go to GE. Is this normal?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Yes.

 

[jnash85]

Yes.

Thanks. I found some clips online where it did seem like there was a volume drop, although I felt like mine had a larger drop. I will try and box it up today. Honestly, the OP amp sounded so good I doubt I will ever change it. But it would still bother me if I knew that there was something wrong somewhere...

 

[Feral Feline]

Looks great!

I'm a big fan of subbing Schottky diodes for Ge. I've got enough instability in my life without adding germania to it.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Thanks. I found some clips online where it did seem like there was a volume drop, although I felt like mine had a larger drop. I will try and box it up today. Honestly, the OP amp sounded so good I doubt I will ever change it. But it would still bother me if I knew that there was something wrong somewhere...

Volume is very subjective and videos can be misleading. You don't know how much processing was applied to the sound during the encoding process.