Radio Shack Fuzz

[tunghaichuan]

Cool thread on an easy fuzz to build entirely from parts available at Radio Shack:

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11899

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=65426.0

I believe this is the multipack of transistors as mentioned in the article:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062586&cp=&sr=1&kw=transistor&origkw=transistor&kwCatId=2032058&parentPage=search


I may have to try this when I get a chance.

tung

[duhvoodooman]

You would post this, wouldn't you, you evil man. I need another fuzz pedal like another hole in my ***. But that looks pretty irresistable to try....

[tunghaichuan]

You would post this, wouldn't you, you evil man. I need another fuzz pedal like another hole in my ***. But that looks pretty irresistable to try....

Keep in mind that Rat Shack parts are marked up like, 300%. You may even have some of the parts on hand. I'm going to stop by RS tonight after I get off work and pick up a bag of those transistors. I'll send you a couple if you want.

See, I'm only semi-evil. :D In fact the wife calls me Dr. Evil because I shave my head. I'm really only the Diet Coke of Evil, I'm only quasi-evil :rotflmao:


tung

[thearabianmage]

Keep in mind that Rat Shack parts are marked up like, 300%. You may even have some of the parts on hand. I'm going to stop by RS tonight after I get off work and pick up a bag of those transistors. I'll send you a couple if you want.

See, I'm only semi-evil. :D In fact the wife calls me Dr. Evil because I shave my head. I'm really only the Diet Coke of Evil, I'm only quasi-evil :rotflmao:


tung

Is your avatar a picture of your Mini-You? :D

[tunghaichuan]

Is your avatar a picture of your Mini-You? :D

Pretty much, except that I don't own an SG, yet ;)

tung

[Axis]

Hey Tung,

I too have been getting parts from Radio Shack to build the Fuzz Face.
Unfortunately the closest transistor they carry is the 2N3904, and they
don't sell sockets, have to order online elswhere.

Another downside is they don't have heavy duty DPDT switches, yes
order online elswhere.

What I did do is order the BYOC PCB board for the Fuzz(my 1st build)and
get the DPDT and sockets later. Other than that I have all the components
I need except the Hammond enclosure,yeah I know...elsewhere.

If you'd like I'll keep you posted.


We do this because our Guitars tell us to!

[tunghaichuan]

Cool, I'd like that. :dude:

tung


Hey Tung,

I too have been getting parts from Radio Shack to build the Fuzz Face.
Unfortunately the closest transistor they carry is the 2N3904, and they
don't sell sockets, have to order online elswhere.

Another downside is they don't have heavy duty DPDT switches, yes
order online elswhere.

What I did do is order the BYOC PCB board for the Fuzz(my 1st build)and
get the DPDT and sockets later. Other than that I have all the components
I need except the Hammond enclosure,yeah I know...elsewhere.

If you'd like I'll keep you posted.


We do this because our Guitars tell us to!

[Spudman]

See, I'm only semi-evil. I'm really only the Diet Coke of Evil, I'm only quasi-evil :rotflmao:

tung

Thanks for the new sig line.:D

[duhvoodooman]

I have all the parts, just haven't gotten started on this yet, with my hand in healing mode. Maybe this weekend....

[Kazz]

Hmm I read around that forum a bit.....book marked it even....We have a few electronics parts stores here so I can stay away from over priced Radio Shack items. :-)

[duhvoodooman]

Finally got around to building this pedal this weekend. This is the first time I've built an effect pedal without a PCB. Just took piece of straight perfboard (all isolated eyelets; no traces to connect any of them), cut a piece to size, and placed and soldered in the components per the diagrams in Tung's links. Then you just bend the component leads around on the backside where the copper eyelets are, and solder them together to make all the required connections. There was only one single connection (between the two transistors--necessary because I used sockets and didn't solder those to the board) where I had to use a separate piece of wire. Worked the first time I plugged it in! :AOK: :D

Actually, though you can supposedly build the entire thing from parts available at Radio Shack, their 'a la carte' prices would make the thing much more expensive. So the only part that came from RS was the perfboard. All the rest came from my favorite part sources: Mouser, Pedal Parts Plus, and Small Bear Electronics.

The original design has just a single knob for volume control. But since I socketed the two transistors, I substituted a 4.7K fixed resitor and a 10K pot for the 10K fixed resistor in the original design. This allows me to rebias the transistor voltage if I decide to try some other types. With the trannies that are in it right now (2N2222's), the sweet spot seems to be between 10K and 12K total resistance to the collector on the second tranny.

No tone control, but it sounds pretty good without one--not too harsh/trebly and not too bassy/boomy. LOTS of gain--I've been running the volume knob at about 9 - 10 o'clock range for unity gain. It's quite a nice, warm fuzz, surprisingly smooth for such a simple circuit. I may post a clip when I have a chance to record one.

Here's a gut shot; the wiring is a little sloppy because I just wanted to fit it up and make sure it worked, so I left extra length on several wire runs. Still have to remove the board and grind off most of that extra unused margin on the left and top. The enclosure is a prepainted hammertone medium blue-gray that I had bought for a different project and then hadn't used. When I get it decaled, I'll post a pic of that, too.

http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/RS_Fuzz_fitup_gut.jpg

[Ch0jin]

I like how your "Sloppy" builds are like my "neat" builds :)

But forget hammertone. It's all about denim :)

http://imseeingvoices.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/denim2.jpg

anyway, shameless self promotion over...

I've got a BMP, Fulltone '69, and a Fuzzface, reckon this one covers any new ground? Just wondering before I build -another- fuzz :)

[duhvoodooman]

I've got a BMP, Fulltone '69, and a Fuzzface, reckon this one covers any new ground? Just wondering before I build -another- fuzz :)
With those three fuzzes, I wouldn't bother to build this one, since it won't really add anything fundamentally new (of course, that didn't stop me! ;) ) It sounds like a variation on the Fuzz Face to me, which isn't surprising, given the similarity of the circuit. I just wanted to try a fairly simple perfboard build, since I hadn't done one before.

I like that denim finish! What's underneath?

[duhvoodooman]

Here's the schematic incorporating the small modification I made (outlined in red) to be able to adjust the bias voltage to the collector of the second transistor stage:

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/7449184ee9314cf.gif

[tunghaichuan]

Cool! I'll have to try that. I think I have most of the parts, but I've got this 18W build I need to finish :thwap:

tung



Here's the schematic incorporating the small modification I made (outlined in red) to be able to adjust the bias voltage to the collector of the second transistor stage:

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/7449184ee9314cf.gif

[duhvoodooman]

....but I've got this 18W build I need to finish
Yes, you do!! :nono: ;)

[duhvoodooman]

Finishing concept:

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/74491867bae6373.gif

[Ch0jin]

With those three fuzzes, I wouldn't bother to build this one, since it won't really add anything fundamentally new (of course, that didn't stop me! ;) ) It sounds like a variation on the Fuzz Face to me, which isn't surprising, given the similarity of the circuit. I just wanted to try a fairly simple perfboard build, since I hadn't done one before.

I like that denim finish! What's underneath?

Thanks DVM. Underneath my old jeans is a Fulltone '69 replica from GGG (with germs of course).

As an aside that pedal is also cursed..

I've rebuilt it so many times and changed just about every part and it's still intermittent!!! It's not just the electrics though, that pedal has had FOUR attempts at a covering and every time something went wrong :thwap:

I've lost interest in fixing it for the moment as I've got my Wah (converted to tru bypass, removed buffer, calibrated components for both guitars and added switching for bass wah and two "Q" settings), a really exciting TS clone (I used some of you ideas actually), and a Rangemaster all under construction right now, and I just finished hot-rodding my old Squier so the PITA fuzz has been cast aside (for now). The bummer part is, even when it works, it doesn't really sound close to how cool my vanilla fuzz face kit (with different type of NOS germs) sounds. I really hit the jackpot with that one.

[duhvoodooman]

Thanks DVM. Underneath my old jeans is a Fulltone '69 replica from GGG (with germs of course).

As an aside that pedal is also cursed..

I've rebuilt it so many times and changed just about every part and it's still intermittent!!! It's not just the electrics though, that pedal has had FOUR attempts at a covering and every time something went wrong
Funny you should mention it, but I also built that Fulltone '69 clone using the GGG board and project documentation, and had a lot of trouble with mine, too. The build was a ***** (see details in THIS THREAD (http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=5920)), and then I had reliability issues with it, too. But I had socketed the switchable transistors I modified it with (could run 2 germaniums, 2 silicons, or either combination of the two), and that caused connection/cut-out problems. Finally had to just solder them to 3PDT toggle switches, and managed to break one leg off a $15-a-pair NOS germanium tranny in the process. As I recall, my exact words were something along the lines of "Well, gosh darn it all, anyway!" But it works very well now....

[Ch0jin]

At least the ggg boards can take a bit of soldering/de-soldering. I've been working on a Dunlop Crybaby and damn those PCB's are cheap and nasty. I rate myself as pretty experienced with an iron, but I was still lifting pads on the thing all over. Ironic considering the case is totally bulletproof. I now have parts of TWO 1.5mm drill bits permanently embedded into that f**&^&^*% chassis after trying to drill screw holes for the two slide switches I'm mounting. Murphy's law I buy an uber expensive bit, get 3 of the 4 holes perfect and snap the bit 98% though the 4th hole :(

Drill Drill Drill, Squeak, Snap.....(protracted bout of foul language)


Anyway, more on the crybaby another time :)

[duhvoodooman]

All done!

http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/RS_Fuzz_top.jpg

[Ch0jin]

Cool :AOK:

[tunghaichuan]

Cool :AOK:

+1

Very cool indeed. Now we need some sond clips :poke: :D :rotflmao: (yeah, I know me first).

tung

[Ch0jin]

+1

Very cool indeed. Now we need some sond clips :poke: :D :rotflmao: (yeah, I know me first).

tung

Indeed. Someone ban Tung until he posts sound clips ;)

[warren0728]

looks great dvm....but how does it sound....clips.... :poke:

[duhvoodooman]

Clips? What are weekends for?! :dude:

[warren0728]

Clips? What are weekends for?! :dude:
building phasers.... :whatever: :poke: :beer: :pancake:

[duhvoodooman]

building phasers.... :whatever: :poke: :beer: :pancake:
AAMOF, I just checked and the BYOC kits are on the local UPS delivery truck this morning. :dude: So there SHALL BE SOLDERING in the DVM abode this weekend! That's the good news. The bad news is that you're at the end of the line on the four builds, Warren, since I always build in the order I receive the purchase commitments. So that'll teach ya to take so long to decide! :poke: ;)

Seriously, they don't take all that long to build, so I'd expect to have yours done in a couple of weeks....

[warren0728]

The bad news is that you're at the end of the line on the four builds, Warren, since I always build in the order I receive the purchase commitments. So that'll teach ya to take so long to decide! :poke: ;)

Seriously, they don't take all that long to build, so I'd expect to have yours done in a couple of weeks....

i'm sure it will be worth the wait....and now i have time to change the design 4 or 5 times... :poke: :rotflmao:

[sunvalleylaw]

AAMOF, I just checked and the BYOC kits are on the local UPS delivery truck this morning. :dude: So there SHALL BE SOLDERING in the DVM abode this weekend! That's the good news. The bad news is that you're at the end of the line on the four builds, Warren, since I always build in the order I receive the purchase commitments. So that'll teach ya to take so long to decide! :poke: ;)

Seriously, they don't take all that long to build, so I'd expect to have yours done in a couple of weeks....


So what did the build line up end up being after everyones' orders? Off the top I can remember one Rodent, two Phasers, and I can't remember what else.

[duhvoodooman]

One 5-Knob Compressor (Hubberjub), two Classic Phasers (Gil Janus & Warren) and one Mouse, a.k.a. "Rabid Rodent" (CB). Plus there might be a pedal kit or two for me in the box.... :rolleyes:

[Tone2TheBone]

Is that pedal affected by impedance buffers like a Fuzz Face?

Did I say that right?

:)

[duhvoodooman]

Is that pedal affected by inpedance buffers like a Fuzz Face?

Did I say that right?
Yes, you did--impedance, if spelling counts, but you have the idea.

Answer: Haven't tried that (been running it at the head of my pedal chain), but I would fully expect it to. It's basically just a simplified Fuzz Face circuit, which is simple to begin with! It certainly cleans up just like the FF when you roll down your guitar's volume knob.

Hmmm, maybe I should record a comparison clip between the FF and the RS Fuzz.... ;) :D

[Tone2TheBone]

....

Hmmm, maybe I should record a comparison clip between the FF and the RS Fuzz.... ;) :D

You know what my answer is to that... :beer:

[duhvoodooman]

You know what my answer is to that... :beer:
Guess I threw that one right by you.... :poke: