Sanspur sundial

SillyOctpuss

SillyOctpuss

Well-known member
I want to build a Sandspur without a sundial. Can I jumper pads 1 and 3 of the sundial and then just use the internal bias trimmer?
 
Cheers. I just went ahead and chucked the sundial in anyway. I tested it out with some bc183 and bc109c. Sounds great and so far I prefer the bc109c but I've got a load of different transistors to checkout. I've had most of these for about 7 years now and haven't used any of them.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
Cheers. I just went ahead and chucked the sundial in anyway. I tested it out with some bc183 and bc109c. Sounds great and so far I prefer the bc109c but I've got a load of different transistors to checkout. I've had most of these for about 7 years now and haven't used any of them.
Click to expand...

How is the cleanup?
 
Nowhere near as good as the germanium sunflower I built last week. This is the only the second silicon Fuzzface I've used in my life. I've never got fuzz and avoided it like the plague for the last 28 years until last week.

I've got some Bc108, 109b, 2n2222 and a load more transistors to try out on it. I've not mucked around with the bias either. I just set the bc183 and 109 to 4.5v on the collector of q2. My goal for tonight was just to get it populated and make sure ai was getting some fuzz from it.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
Nowhere near as good as the germanium sunflower I built last week. This is the only the second silicon Fuzzface I've used in my life. I've never got fuzz and avoided it like the plague for the last 28 years until last week.

I've got some Bc108, 109b, 2n2222 and a load more transistors to try out on it. I've not mucked around with the bias either. I just set the bc183 and 109 to 4.5v on the collector of q2. My goal for tonight was just to get it populated and make sure ai was getting some fuzz from it.
Click to expand...

What are the gains on the BC109C you have in there?
 
Big Monk said:
What are the gains on the BC109C you have in there?
Click to expand...

I think they're about 470 q1 and 510 q2. I just checked hfe on a few and threw these in to test it was working. Would you have any suggestions or recommendations for hfe? I'm assuming I would need to go for bc108 with a lower hfe if I want decent cleanup?
Any help would be appreciated I know very little about fuzz tbh.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I think they're about 470 q1 and 510 q2. I just checked hfe on a few and threw these in to test it was working. Would you have any suggestions or recommendations for hfe? I'm assuming I would need to go for bc108 with a lower hfe if I want decent cleanup?
Any help would be appreciated I know very little about fuzz tbh.
Click to expand...

I like the new production Diotec BC547A. They are about 285 hFE across the board, roar like nobodies business and clean up very nice.
 
I just built a sunflower and sandspur not long ago... Both are amazing to play.
I love the BC108A's I've got in it at the moment... ~150Hfe.
Cleans up really nicely and sings when flat out. I tried BC108B's and they were around 400Hfe... it was a bit too much like a big muff for me.
Gotta agree with you though, the Ge version is somehow nicer...
 
Is there a formula for working out hfe of the transistors in relation to each other or does that not matter as much as a germanium unit? Should q1 still be lower than q2? If so by how much? Or does that not matter?
 
I used some 2N2212 in my Twin Face and they turned out glorious. "Almost" the same as the the Ge side. They were pretty low gain, but I'd need to test them again to check the actual range.
 
szukalski said:
I used some 2N2212 in my Twin Face and they turned out glorious. "Almost" the same as the the Ge side. They were pretty low gain, but I'd need to test them again to check the actual range.
Click to expand...

Thanks @szukalski I'm going to check all of my bc183s and bc108s tonight to find the lowest gain sets and try those. I found a post from analog Mike claiming that cleanup on the silicon diodes relates to hfe.
 
Well I've been getting in some high volume testing before my kid goes to bed and so far a pair of bc183 with hfe of 212 and 232 are my favourites. They clean up really well and don't get too wooly with the guitar volume and fuzz dials up full. I have a lot more to try but won't get anymore playing at serious volume tonight. I'm going to record some clips of my fav sets so I can listen back and decide. I'll add them to my soundcloud and post them here.
 
Do you keep the Fuzz knob maxed out or do you turn it down a hair? It makes a big difference in the cleanup.
For silicon I also like hFE around 250
 
So after trying a ton of different transistors tonight I've settled on some BC183L with HFE of 210 and 221. I was surprised how different the sets of BC183 and BC183L sounded from each other. I had to stop testing at proper volume when my kid went to bed so I'll go on with this later. I still need to get an enclosure, finish it and box it.

Here's a really quick clip just running my test box into my helix

https://soundcloud.com/user-45390730-129135678%2Fbc183l-test%2Fs-Fj8owNrzIEZ
 
I did a short video today showing the dynamic range I get with a Fuzz Face and the control set on my Les Paul.

I start with the neck pickup in parallel and the Bass Cut up with the volume on the guitar around 6.

This is my spare parts Fuzz Fave with BC547A Q1/Q2 at 285 hFE. I also have a 10 ohm resistor in series with the wiper of the Fuzz pot so it doesn’t go to maximum and I can turn it all the way up (😂).

Pardon the other effects. I had the El-Cap and Flint on so it was a bit washy.

 
Last edited:
Big Monk said:
I did a short video today showing the dynamic range I get with a Fuzz Face and the control set on my Les Paul.

I start with the neck pickup in parallel and the Bass Cut up with the volume on the guitar around 6.

This is my spare parts Fuzz Fave with BC547A Q1/Q2 at 285 hFE. I also have a 10 ohm resistor in series with the wiper of the Fuzz pot so it doesn’t go to maximum and I can turn it all the way up (😂).

Pardon the other effects. I had the El-Cap and Flint on so it was a bit washy.

Click to expand...

What amp are you using in that clip? As great as the El-cap and flint are it would definitely be easier to make out the detail with less of the other effects.

I've just spent the last 30 mins playing American woman over and over on repeat working out the lead parts. I've never been into fuzz so now I need to learn all those classic fuzz tracks I didn't bother learning before.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
What amp are you using in that clip? As great as the El-cap and flint are it would definitely be easier to make out the detail with less of the other effects.

I've just spent the last 30 mins playing American woman over and over on repeat working out the lead parts. I've never been into fuzz so now I need to learn all those classic fuzz tracks I didn't bother learning before.
Click to expand...

It’s my little EL84 Champ. I’m going to record a few more clips over the next few days dry.
 
andare said:
Do you keep the Fuzz knob maxed out or do you turn it down a hair? It makes a big difference in the cleanup.
For silicon I also like hFE around 250
Click to expand...
Sorry I missed this. With the germanium I built last week the fuzz pot was up full and it was dialed back a bit with the silicon unit tonight.
 
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