Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
I'm a big fan of old fuzzes, Tonebenders, FF's, Rangemasters. Basically anything that has to be the first in your chain. But the problem with those is that they are all pretty similar. You have a fuzz control and a volume control, and usually the circuit sounds best with the fuzz dimed. If you're lucky you get a tone control too. Also the real old ones generally throw a fit if you plug something active in there, but this same flaw is what causes them to clean up so nicely with your volume knob.
But I wanted to do something different. I'll post the circuit once I get it worked out a little bit further, I'm trying to get it to work with cheaper transistors, but I think it's pretty neat. It started out as trying to make a Fuzz Face, but I wanted a control that did something other than fuzz or bias.
It currently has two controls, "color" and level. Unlike most fuzzes, the one knob that isn't your volume control also isn't a gain control. It simply moves the input impedence around and the gain is stuck to maximum. Turn the knob to the left and it gets gritty and percussive. Turn it to the left and it gets smooth and warm. It's almost a little too subtle right now, but the extreme ends of the pot could almost be described as the difference between a Tonebender mark 2 and a germanium Fuzz Face. Or for those who haven't played those pedals, its about the same difference in tone as you would get between a Jazz neck and a 59n.
The cool thing is the volume cleans up completely the same was a Fuzz Face does, but because the circuit is built around dealing with low output impedances, it can somewhat work with active pickups. It will still sound good, but it won't clean up with the volume control as well, and it treats the color control as if it's turned hard left.
Here's a sound clip:
https://on.soundcloud.com/D8ZSP7uPRI63TIGWR2
Signal path is: bridge humbucker direct injection -> fuzz -> IR-2-> Laptop.
Note: I'm in the middle of a move, so all my electric guitars are packed away, so this is actually a reamp of this clip I pulled off SoundCloud. It is not my own work, and if asked to I will take my clip down.
Once I get a chance to record with my own physical gear, I will showcase how well it cleans up as well as how the color knob works.
But I wanted to do something different. I'll post the circuit once I get it worked out a little bit further, I'm trying to get it to work with cheaper transistors, but I think it's pretty neat. It started out as trying to make a Fuzz Face, but I wanted a control that did something other than fuzz or bias.
It currently has two controls, "color" and level. Unlike most fuzzes, the one knob that isn't your volume control also isn't a gain control. It simply moves the input impedence around and the gain is stuck to maximum. Turn the knob to the left and it gets gritty and percussive. Turn it to the left and it gets smooth and warm. It's almost a little too subtle right now, but the extreme ends of the pot could almost be described as the difference between a Tonebender mark 2 and a germanium Fuzz Face. Or for those who haven't played those pedals, its about the same difference in tone as you would get between a Jazz neck and a 59n.
The cool thing is the volume cleans up completely the same was a Fuzz Face does, but because the circuit is built around dealing with low output impedances, it can somewhat work with active pickups. It will still sound good, but it won't clean up with the volume control as well, and it treats the color control as if it's turned hard left.
Here's a sound clip:
https://on.soundcloud.com/D8ZSP7uPRI63TIGWR2
Signal path is: bridge humbucker direct injection -> fuzz -> IR-2-> Laptop.
Note: I'm in the middle of a move, so all my electric guitars are packed away, so this is actually a reamp of this clip I pulled off SoundCloud. It is not my own work, and if asked to I will take my clip down.
Once I get a chance to record with my own physical gear, I will showcase how well it cleans up as well as how the color knob works.