owlexifry
Well-known member
earlier this year i finally took the time to breadboard this fantastic fuzz circuit and just went with a pair of MP20 pnp units (cos they’re large and easy to handle) and i was immediately impressed with just the standard thick fuzz face sound it does with the controls in ‘normal’ positions. i knew i had to build it.
and im super stoked to finally have one, it’s heckin crazy and capable of a lot of cool sounds.
when it came time to build it, i actually spent some time auditioning combinations for Q2 and Q3.
i tried everything i have.
MP20, OC71, GT310B, AC128, AC126, AC125, 2SA49.
oddly, what i found didn’t make much sense to me when i was factoring in gain / leakage values when selecting units.
the OC71 units didn’t have a lot of gain, and ranged around 25-40 hfe (@~16’c, probably)
but somehow they sounded better than any of the other options which had higher hfe and good leakage.
(i was also quite pleased with the MP20s in comparison to the other options)
as it turned out - an OC71 worked out the best for Q2.
for Q3, on the breadboard i noticed MP20 offered more gain/saturation and gets a bit noisier, where OC71 was smoother and probably the better choice, but i liked how the MP20 was a bit more aggressive.
in the end i couldn’t decide whether to go with MP20 or OC71 for Q3, so i put them both on a 3PDT.
there’s a really nifty interaction between the gate + comp controls, and the most interesting thing i noticed is how they can affect the tone / grit of the fuzz within the range of ‘normal’ fuzz sounds (that aren’t gating, oscillating, or doing other cool crazy shit that this pedal can do)
and then just backing off the drive does strange things i didn't expect.
it even does an almost-octave thing that sounds really wild and filthy. gnarly
what a ridiculous and hectic unit. love it.
highly recommend this one to all fuzz nerds.
here’s my demo.
starts off with a disgusting octave-ish fuzz tone (one of my favourite things it can do)
in the end with the final build, despite what i found on the breadboard… vs. OC71, MP20 does have slightly more gain/saturation, but tbh it's a very subtle difference. for this demo, MP20 was selected for Q3.
and im super stoked to finally have one, it’s heckin crazy and capable of a lot of cool sounds.
when it came time to build it, i actually spent some time auditioning combinations for Q2 and Q3.
i tried everything i have.
MP20, OC71, GT310B, AC128, AC126, AC125, 2SA49.
oddly, what i found didn’t make much sense to me when i was factoring in gain / leakage values when selecting units.
the OC71 units didn’t have a lot of gain, and ranged around 25-40 hfe (@~16’c, probably)
but somehow they sounded better than any of the other options which had higher hfe and good leakage.
(i was also quite pleased with the MP20s in comparison to the other options)
as it turned out - an OC71 worked out the best for Q2.
for Q3, on the breadboard i noticed MP20 offered more gain/saturation and gets a bit noisier, where OC71 was smoother and probably the better choice, but i liked how the MP20 was a bit more aggressive.
in the end i couldn’t decide whether to go with MP20 or OC71 for Q3, so i put them both on a 3PDT.
there’s a really nifty interaction between the gate + comp controls, and the most interesting thing i noticed is how they can affect the tone / grit of the fuzz within the range of ‘normal’ fuzz sounds (that aren’t gating, oscillating, or doing other cool crazy shit that this pedal can do)
and then just backing off the drive does strange things i didn't expect.
it even does an almost-octave thing that sounds really wild and filthy. gnarly
what a ridiculous and hectic unit. love it.
highly recommend this one to all fuzz nerds.
here’s my demo.
starts off with a disgusting octave-ish fuzz tone (one of my favourite things it can do)
in the end with the final build, despite what i found on the breadboard… vs. OC71, MP20 does have slightly more gain/saturation, but tbh it's a very subtle difference. for this demo, MP20 was selected for Q3.
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