What’s on *YOUR* workbench?

Can anyone explain why I shouldn't replace the standard tele jack with this curved jack plate? I'll have to take the old one off to see how flush it gets with the body but if it fits well enough I may go for it. Otherwise I also got an electrosocket
 

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If you can guess what this is you're a total nerd. Well done!

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For the rest of us, it's a Tone Bender Mk1. I'm not done yet as I learn more about these circuits and try to emulate the tone of the originals and the official modern recreations but I'm also starting to feel out what this circuit sounds with my rig and I'm trying to tailor it to my preferences.

Tweaks that worked:
  • R3 to 330k. 470k has a lot of gated tones, 180k very few. The lower the value the higher the gain. Doh! for you, a realization for me. 330k is a happy medium.
  • R7 to 120k to lower Q3c below -8.5V. Upping it to 200k brings it closer to -8V. Can't really tell the difference.
  • Attack pot A50k. B50k had almost no sound at 0 and a sudden increase in gain at 9 o’clock. The log pot has sound at 0 and a more gradual gating range at the beginning of the sweep. Big improvement in usability.
Tweaks that didn’t work:

Swapping transistors with different hFE and Iceo didn’t fix the sound with Q3c above -8.5V.
Lowering the 2.2M resistor to 1M made it a tad louder but it ruined the decay of the notes. 2.2M can go above unity if Attack is high enough. I need to see what happens if I get rid of R9 (47k).

Q1
  • #002 in my stash
  • AC125
  • hFE 86
  • Iceo 202uA
Q2
  • #029 in my stash
  • ASY34S
  • hFE 117
  • Iceo 43uA
Q3
  • #031 in my stash
  • ASY34S
  • hFE 490 - Huh? Very suspicious...
  • Iceo 133uA
Attack at 0
  • Q1e -1.25V
  • Q1b -1.3V
  • Q1c -9.14V

  • Q2e 0
  • Q2b -0.05V
  • Q2c -9.11V

  • Q3e 0
  • Q3b 0
  • Q3c -8.60V
Attack at 10
  • Q1e -1.26V
  • Q1b -1.3V
  • Q1c -9V

  • Q2e 0
  • Q2b -0.19V
  • Q2c -4.61V

  • Q3e 0
  • Q3b -0.01V
  • Q3c -8.34V
What does it sound like? It's weak, farty and gated with the Attack knob from 7-10 o'clock - I love it - then the real distortion kicks in and it's glorious. Note decay is smooth at 11 o'clock. As I turn it up the decay starts to be fizzy and weird (which is not a bad thing) and the gain increases.
Not much noisy at all. Unity is at 2-3 o'clock with very little change up from there.

Today I'm going to try different transistors to see if I can get it to gate across more of the Attack sweep. At this point I'm not so concerned with it sounding true to the originals because they all sound different. The recent ones from Sola Sound all sound pretty similar, however mine sounds cooler to me :)

Any suggestions and tips are welcome!
 
Today I breadboarded a Germanium fuzz face. I got low leakage trannies around 70 and 120 so it biased to -0.7V and -4.5V with the stock values.

Plug it in and it sounds crazy.
The cleanup is fantastic. Super bright.
Sunfaces got nothing on it.

However it splats my amp, it sags and sputters, especially in 4th position with my Strat.

My Dunlop FFs (JDF2 and JHF1) don't do that. Is it just a matter or lowering the gain or should I bias Q2 higher?
 
andare said:
Today I breadboarded a Germanium fuzz face. I got low leakage trannies around 70 and 120 so it biased to -0.7V and -4.5V with the stock values.

Plug it in and it sounds crazy.
The cleanup is fantastic. Super bright.
Sunfaces got nothing on it.

However it splats my amp, it sags and sputters, especially in 4th position with my Strat.

My Dunlop FFs (JDF2 and JHF1) don't do that. Is it just a matter or lowering the gain or should I bias Q2 higher?
Click to expand...
Are you playing it into a clean amp?
 
Harry Klippton said:
Are you playing it into a clean amp?
Click to expand...
No, I'm playing into a dirty tube amp, a bit of breakup w/Strat volume on 10.
I just tried it into a Rumble - a clean SS bass amp - and it doesn't splat.

BTW to be precise I built a Tone Bender 1.5, not a Fuzz Face. Practically the same, I know, but just to be exact: 4u7 input cap, 47k on Q1c, 25u emitter cap and A100k volume pot.

Q1 hFE 79, leakage 26uA
Q1 hFE 122, leakage 57uA
 
Ge Fuzzrite. Stock. I've added resistors across the pots to get the classic values but can't tell the difference without.

20221001_181926.jpg

Q1 hFE 79, Q2 hFE 39

I've tried both at 90, both at 30, Q1 at >200 and Q2 at 50 etc. Gain varies but the background hiss just won't be tamed.
10n cap from input to ground helps get rid of weird noises but that's it.

This is a fuzz that must be played into a clean or cleanish tube amp otherwise mayhem ensues. This also keeps it very bright and the volume varies across the sweep of the Depth knob.
If I push my amp into light breakup, it gets darker and compressed. So much so that taking out the 22k high pass filter doesn't even register.

On to the Rush Pep Box.
 
jimilee said:
Found it on FSB. A klon style od with no buffer or charge pump. Should be interesting.
Click to expand...
I saw your post there and was wondering how the build went and then saw your post was so recent. I'm really curious about how close this simplified circuit can get to the real deal.
 
Germanium Rush Pep Box.

Q1 80, Q2 59

I like the gated tone, I don't like how noisy it is. A lot of Germanium sizzle. Sounds like bacon in a cast iron skillet but it tastes rather metallic. Too bad because it cleans up well. Maybe different transistors would help but I ain't got 'em. It's dark as well.

20221001_185110.jpg

I think my Tone bender Mk1 is done. I need to put together a turret board diagram and order the mojo parts. It's a thing of beauty.

I also went back to yesterday's TB Mk1.5. I lowered the gain on my amp and now it doesn't sag anymore. I fully believe the Germanium hype now. With the right amp settings and Attack at 10, this thing goes from obese fuzz (with that crumbliness that I'd only heard in demos of original units and Sunfaces) to "glassy cleans" that sound like chorus. And I didn't have to sell a kidney and half my pancreas to buy NKT275s.
It really is a magical circuit.

I also have a TB Mk2 on another breadboard that needs tweaking because right now it's a bit underwhelming.

Yes, I've been breadboarding exclusively because I'm broke :)
 
andare said:
That's just beautiful. I wish my dad played guitar.
Click to expand...
He doesnt play as much as i do he just owns an electric acoustic. He doesnt know anything about pedals or effects haha i hope this will open his eyes on this hobby. It should play very nice with his acoustic though.
 
Before I build my Ge Tone Benders (on turret board) I'm trying to wrap my heard around pedal power with battery, power supply and a voltage inverter.
Is this correct? The LED is missing but the anode would go to + on the DC jack and it would be connected to ground by the 3PDT footswitch of course. The 1N5817 for polarity protection is also missing. I'll have to add it to the voltage inverter board.

Screen Shot 2022-10-03 at 14.28.14.png
 
Last edited:
andare said:
Before I build my Ge Tone Benders (on turret board) I'm trying to wrap my heard around pedal power with battery, power supply and a voltage inverter.
Is this correct? The LED is missing but the anode would go to + on the DC jack and it would be connected to ground by the 3PDT footswitch of course. The 1N5817 for polarity protection is also missing. I'll have to add it to the voltage inverter board.
Click to expand...
Connect the battery negative terminal to the ring of the input jack. Remove the connection between the ring and the DC jack and connect it to the sleeve instead. You want the battery to only be shorted when a cable is inserted into the input. Otherwise, I think it looks good.

Since the DC jack is switching, you could also bypass the voltage inverter board for the battery and arrange it as positive ground. The same principle of using the ring to switch the ground would apply.

EDIT: This would require a bit more to work. Go with the first suggestion.
 
Last edited:
benny_profane said:
Connect the battery negative terminal to the ring of the input jack. Remove the connection between the ring and the DC jack and connect it to the sleeve instead. You want the battery to only be shorted when a cable is inserted into the input. Otherwise, I think it looks good.
Click to expand...

Like this?

Screen Shot 2022-10-03 at 15.44.46.png

benny_profane said:
Since the DC jack is switching, you could also bypass the voltage inverter board for the battery and arrange it as positive ground. The same principle of using the ring to switch the ground would apply.
Click to expand...

I can't figure out how to do that...
 
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