Switching Out Transistors in Hylian Fuzz...Sounds Sick but INSANELY LOUD

Champagneperfume

Champagneperfume

Member
Hello.

I just finished a Hylian Fuzz. I love it. I swapped the 2n2907 with a Soviet T308a. It sounds so damn good. The problem is...The volume level is just far too loud. Like explosively loud. A punishing volume level. I experimented by swapping out pot values above and below B100k, the selected resistance value, with no real success.

Is there anything I can change within the circuit to get the volume under control?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Have you tried a log taper pot? that might help the volume feel better. The pot is a voltage divider so changing the value will affect the filter made by the last capacitor but not change the overall level. You could also put a resistor between pot leg 3 and the board to set the maximum level lower on the volume.
 
I just did, it definitely helped with the over smoothness in the volume changing, but still is super loud.

Would I be attaching a resistor from leg three to the output?
 
Looking at the schematic, there’s not much you can do. It’s just a few cascaded transistor stages (oversimplified of course). Changing the value of the volume knob won’t do much other than the output impedance.

IMO you can do one of two things. Dial back the volume knob (it took me a looooong time to realize that not everything on my board needs to be dimed all the time). Or you can increase the values of R3 R5, R7, and R8. Doing that alters the bias of the transistor stages but there will be a volume drop the more you increase the value. The tone will also get affected.
 
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You could strap a pair of oppositely-oriented diodes across lugs 1 & 3 of the volume pot. You'd get more clipping / distortion out of the pedal but depending on what you used it would significantly tame the volume.
 
Add a resistor in series with lug 3 of the volume pot.

Remove lug 3 of the volume pot from the PCB, connect a 100K resistor to the pad of the PCB, then connect the other end of the resistor to the lifted lug of the volume pot.

You can adjust the value of the resistor for more or less volume.

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swyse said:
You could also put a resistor between pot leg 3 and the board to set the maximum level lower on the volume.
Click to expand...

What @swyse said. Look at me, out here cloning folks posts. I have no shame. 😂
 
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