Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clone)

B

Boehmer

New member
Hi.

I'm interested in making my own fuzz pedal, more exact a combined Sola Sound Tonebender MKII pro and Marhall Supa Fuzz pedal. I have found a the schematics for both and the only difference is the value of two capacitors and a resistor (see link).

I wonder if anybody here have some experience with building pedals like this? I'm interested in learning how the pedal works, what the different components do with the sound etc, so please come with tips and links to websites (both for buying parts and learning more) :)

I have a basic understanding of electronics so building the pedal looks easy enough, just make a circuit board, connect the components like in the schematic with soldering (I know of to make a switch between the different components) and make switch which breaks the circuit and sends the signal directly from input to output, if I am correct ;)

Hope somebody can help me a little :D


http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/mkII.php
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

The simpler the circuit, the more important the component type and parameters are. Fuzz pedals are very simple circuits, and as such, transistor selection and biasing is critical. The relationship of the Hfe and gain of the transistors affects the biasing requirements and sound of the pedal. (that's why vintage fuzz pedals of the same design can sound drastically different, and why boutique fuzz pedals are expensive, you're paying for transistor knowledge and sorting, and individual pedal biasing)

The good thing about the circuit is that it's very simple and easy to modify!
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

Good quality transistors are a huge part of the end results.

Also you should know that the schematics found on line for the Marshall Supa Fuzz are wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

There are issues with the schematics on that site, but the bigger issue is, that it is written in a slightly misleading way.

The Supa Fuzz schematic shouldn't have 0.01µF cap between input and ground, because this particular version (with 10µFs instead of 5µFs) never had it.
That cap is an optional part. Most Sola Sound branded MKII Tone Benders didn't have it either. Apparently the circuit works better with a wah if it doesn't have that cap. It will also have more treble.
It's a minor issue, really. The 10µF caps shouldn't make any tonal difference and as these came with and without the cap, it's close enough.

Sola Sound made the MKII under a couple of different brand names (Vox Tone Bender MKII, Marshall Supa Fuzz…). There weren't any different specs for any brands, even if the schematics on fuzzcentral could make you believe that. Circuit variations usually weren't exclusive to one brand, but affected all brands that were in production at the time. (The variation with the 10µF was probably produced by Marshall, after Sola Sound had discontinued the MKII, btw)

The resistors values are exactly the same for Supa Fuzzes, Sola Sound and Vox Tone Benders. But there are two different, distinct setups: Units with OC75 or S3-1T transistors usually had a 10k resistor on Q1's base and a 47k on Q2's collector; units with OC81Ds usually had 100k in those spots.
So the schematic for the Vox MKII on that site is probably wrong. A MKII with 0.015µF caps (worth trying, btw) and the 64µF power filter cap should have had OC75s or S3-1Ts, so it probably had a 10k on Q1's base.

Transistor specs and selection are critical for these. As NOS OC81Ds are hard to come by (and modern reproductions seem to have very different specs) I went with OC75s for my clone. Those have a lot of leakage - and it's a good thing, because the circuit was designed with that in mind. With too little leakage it usually sounds too thin and doesn't break up as nicely - at least with the types I tried. No idea how much leakage the OC81D version needs, though..

I highly recommend socketing the transistors so that you swap out transistors to put together a set that behaves nicely.
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

Don't socket the transistors . . . get a breadboard and prototype the whole circuit properly. Then you can mix and match/plug and play stuff to your heart's desire to get exactly the sounds you want.
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

Might be just me or the cheap breadboard that I bought, but I find them rather annoying. There's always some component that doesn't connect properly and I keep wondering why it won't work. :D
I have better success with sockets. For me, they're easier to use.
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

Electric Warrior said:
Might be just me or the cheap breadboard that I bought, but I find them rather annoying. There's always some component that doesn't connect properly and I keep wondering why it won't work. :D
I have better success with sockets. For me, they're easier to use.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of school...

How did you get it to work? Jiggled the wires.
 
Re: Help with building fuzz-pedal (Sola Sound Tonebender MKII/Marshall Supa Fuzz clon

I just put everything together on vero board and it worked right away. :D
 
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