New BYOC Fuzz Pedal

[sunvalleylaw]

Oh, my Little Big Muff Pi works just fine and can certainly get in my face, but if I didn't have one. . .

[marnold***]

I don't know enough and haven't heard enough of the original pedal to judge how good of a clone it is, but it seems to be a pretty versatile heavy-duty fuzz.

[duhvoodooman***]

If you already own a Big Muff or clone thereof, you won't really need one of these. But if you want an over-the-top fuzz in that genre, or if you're a huge Who/Townshend fan, this pedal is a good choice.

One comment on that tone toggle--rarely (in my experience, anyway) does throwing a switch result in such drastically different tone from a pedal. Maybe I should label the two toggle positions "day" and "night"!

I really like the new layout--quicker build and cleaner result. The only tricky part is the tight soldering work required to connect the AC adapter jack to the PCB. Provided comments to Keith on that, so who knows--he may make a change or two. After all, this is a beta kit. I'll post here when the commercial kit becomes available....

[tunghaichuan***]

If memory serves, DVM's clone sounds a lot like the vintage version. I wish I still had my original to say for sure.

One comment on that tone toggle--rarely (in my experience, anyway) does throwing a switch result in such drastically different tone from a pedal. Maybe I should label the two toggle positions "day" and "night"!

I like that! : You should consider using them as labels for your pedal.

I really like the new layout--quicker build and cleaner result. The only tricky part is the tight soldering work required to connect the AC adapter jack to the PCB. Provided comments to Keith on that, so who knows--he may make a change or two. After all, this is a beta kit. I'll post here when the commercial kit becomes available....

If anything, I bet the clone is quieter and laid out better. The originals had pretty cheesy PCBs in them and were kind of noisy.

tung

[duhvoodooman***]

If anything, I bet the clone is quieter and laid out better. The originals had pretty cheesy PCBs in them and were kind of noisy.

Yeah, I saw a "gut shot" of an old Super Fuzz posted on the net, and it was indeed a cheesy looking affair. The BYOC boards are just gorgeous--best I've ever seen.

As far as noise goes, I'm sure that modern component quality helps--metal film resistors, box metallized film capacitors, etc. But it's still a pretty noisy pedal just due to the nature of the circuit. These multi-transistor gain stage distortion and fuzz pedals all seem to be prone to high noise levels, and this one contains six high-gain NPN bipolar trannies (2N5088's). I definitely wouldn't want to run one of these with my S-S-S Strats at positions 1-3-5 without a noise reduction pedal. Didn't seem to have a high amount of intrinsic noise (i.e. fundamental to the pedal itself), but it sure boosted the single coil 60 Hz hum noticeably. Not bad at all with humbuckers or at the hum-cancelling 2 & 4 positions on my Strat.

The other good point is that it doesn't take much on the volume knob to get to overall "unity gain". With the fuzz/gain knob at about 1:30, I only had to run the volume at ~9 o'clock. That's about the lowest I've seen in the pedals I've owned/built. So you're generally down below where any hum gets really objectionable.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, like I said, if I didn't already have a Big Muff that I am happy with, I would put this on the list. The versatility you mention in this pedal, and also the incredible versatility built into my Mouse v.2 (Rabid Rodent) you built for me is really a plus, if you are getting a pedal. Plus the nice parts and great build that you do. I am pretty much clueless about all that, but I can sure recognize the appreciation expressed by folks like Tung, who do know.

If you already own a Big Muff or clone thereof, you won't really need one of these. But if you want an over-the-top fuzz in that genre, or if you're a huge Who/Townshend fan, this pedal is a good choice.

One comment on that tone toggle--rarely (in my experience, anyway) does throwing a switch result in such drastically different tone from a pedal. Maybe I should label the two toggle positions "day" and "night"!

I really like the new layout--quicker build and cleaner result. The only tricky part is the tight soldering work required to connect the AC adapter jack to the PCB. Provided comments to Keith on that, so who knows--he may make a change or two. After all, this is a beta kit. I'll post here when the commercial kit becomes available....

[duhvoodooman***]

Painted & decaled:

[tunghaichuan***]

Stellar work, DVM. :

tung

Painted & decaled:

[Kazz]

Very shagadellic man.