andare
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Here's my most satisfying and simultaneously my mostly frustrating build to date: another germanium Fuzzrite.
The silicon Fuzzrite was the first circuit I breadboarded. I instantly fell in love with its buzzy, thin sound.
I since built a germanium version that is IMO the superior circuit. This pedal sounds amazing but the signal to noise ratio is too low and single coil hum is unbearably loud.
I started experimenting with some GT404B transistors that are NPN and lo and behold, they are gated. No more hum. I knew this circuit needed a special enclosure so I commissioned a wedge from our resident metal bender @temol
Here it is:
Cheap greenies, a mix of carbon film and carbon comp resistors (what I had on hand), Alpha pots and Lumberg jacks.
I built it on a 2x8 eyelet board using this layout:
Completely stock with the addition of a 10nF cap at the input to filter out some noise, a pulldown resistor and a Bass pot.
The transistors have a gain between 90 and 100 and leakage around 280uA.
Dual power supply. No difference in tone between the battery and the power supply, though I did hear a difference on the breadboard. The toggle switch turns the battery on and off so I can leave it plugged in.
The enclosure is amazing. Not only is it extremely well made, the finish has a beautiful texture. I highly recommend Temol's work. He helped me find the best position for the holes and then I added holes for the board mounting bolts, the Bass knob and the LED.
I mean look at this thing:
Numbered knobs courtesy of my Epiphone Coronet.
I had a bunch of issues with this build. The first board didn't work properly. Engaging the second transistor dropped gain and volume. In the end I trashed it, recovered the transistors and built a new board more carefully. However I must've burned the footswitch because the board output was always connected.
Once I fixed that I realized that the volume pot wasn't going down to zero. So I replaced it but the new one has a longer shaft than the Tone pot, so the Volume knob sticks out. I'll have to file it down one of these days.
Anyway this is an extremely usable Fuzzrite: it sounds great, it gets to unity (and above with Bass turned up) and it's gated so I can use it with single coils and a P90.
Here's a quick demo of both Ge Fuzzrites featuring some noodling on familiar riffs and a modern riff I came up with. The blue Fuzzrite sounds amazing, the Wegemite sounds better. At the very end you can hear how the blue one cleans up, the Wegemite farts out
The silicon Fuzzrite was the first circuit I breadboarded. I instantly fell in love with its buzzy, thin sound.
I since built a germanium version that is IMO the superior circuit. This pedal sounds amazing but the signal to noise ratio is too low and single coil hum is unbearably loud.
I started experimenting with some GT404B transistors that are NPN and lo and behold, they are gated. No more hum. I knew this circuit needed a special enclosure so I commissioned a wedge from our resident metal bender @temol
Here it is:
Cheap greenies, a mix of carbon film and carbon comp resistors (what I had on hand), Alpha pots and Lumberg jacks.
I built it on a 2x8 eyelet board using this layout:
Completely stock with the addition of a 10nF cap at the input to filter out some noise, a pulldown resistor and a Bass pot.
The transistors have a gain between 90 and 100 and leakage around 280uA.
Dual power supply. No difference in tone between the battery and the power supply, though I did hear a difference on the breadboard. The toggle switch turns the battery on and off so I can leave it plugged in.
The enclosure is amazing. Not only is it extremely well made, the finish has a beautiful texture. I highly recommend Temol's work. He helped me find the best position for the holes and then I added holes for the board mounting bolts, the Bass knob and the LED.
I mean look at this thing:
Numbered knobs courtesy of my Epiphone Coronet.
I had a bunch of issues with this build. The first board didn't work properly. Engaging the second transistor dropped gain and volume. In the end I trashed it, recovered the transistors and built a new board more carefully. However I must've burned the footswitch because the board output was always connected.
Once I fixed that I realized that the volume pot wasn't going down to zero. So I replaced it but the new one has a longer shaft than the Tone pot, so the Volume knob sticks out. I'll have to file it down one of these days.
Anyway this is an extremely usable Fuzzrite: it sounds great, it gets to unity (and above with Bass turned up) and it's gated so I can use it with single coils and a P90.
Here's a quick demo of both Ge Fuzzrites featuring some noodling on familiar riffs and a modern riff I came up with. The blue Fuzzrite sounds amazing, the Wegemite sounds better. At the very end you can hear how the blue one cleans up, the Wegemite farts out
