Fuzz Face question...

[Berndizzle440]

ok guys i'm sure EVERY discussion about ANYTHING about this pedal has been beat to death but i just have a question. one of the capacitors in the FF calls for a 2.2uF Electrolytic. the one in my wiring diagram says its polarized but i have an Electrolytic 2.2uF but its non polarized. Will this have any effect? i know with BEING polarized it can only work in one direction but will a non polarized one work just as fine since there is no direction preference??? thanks for anyone who can throw some knowledge my way! -Bernie

[Crawfish]

Originally Posted by Berndizzle440

ok guys i'm sure EVERY discussion about ANYTHING about this pedal has been beat to death but i just have a question. one of the capacitors in the FF calls for a 2.2uF Electrolytic. the one in my wiring diagram says its polarized but i have an Electrolytic 2.2uF but its non polarized. Will this have any effect? i know with BEING polarized it can only work in one direction but will a non polarized one work just as fine since there is no direction preference??? thanks for anyone who can throw some knowledge my way! -Bernie

It will be fine. My guess is the originals used an electrolytic because values that high in a non-polarized cap weren't available cheaply.

-Kevin

[Berndizzle440]

Ok sweet! thank you Kevin!!! and just another quick question. are transistor sockets a serious must have? im not going to be pulling them or swapping them out at all but im also not going to be clipping the legs (seeing as they are NOS AC128's)

[tjk3052]

Originally Posted by Berndizzle440

Ok sweet! thank you Kevin!!! and just another quick question. are transistor sockets a serious must have? im not going to be pulling them or swapping them out at all but im also not going to be clipping the legs (seeing as they are NOS AC128's)

No. But you should probably test them before soldering them in.

http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/ffselect.htm

[limbe]

It is a good idea to use alligator clips or something similar on the leads when you are soldering.Germanium transistors are much more sensitive to heat than their silicon counterparts.

[Berndizzle440]

ok should i just take the two transistors and alligator clip them to the circuit first to see which one sounds better as Q1 and Q2? because i only bought two of em but im pretty sure they are a matched pair so that should be ok right?

[mojah63]

Hey Bernie, the ff js one of those circuits that seems so easy to do but in reality can be a pita to get it to sound good on your rig. If your not sure that this collection of parts will sound great I wouldn't solder anything yet. Read the article posted earlier. You may have to reduce that 2.2 uf input cap if you have too much bass. The 22uf cap on the fuzz control sometimes is lowered also 10-15 uf for tighter bass. The 100k feedback resistor is raised to 120k sometimes and that 330 ohm on the top of the schematic is typically raised to get more volume. Speaking of volume 100k, 250k or 500k pots will change the sound of that fuzz. If you don't have a breadboard I would at least socket the input cap the trannies and the 330r. You have a trimmer to bias q2?

[limbe]

I see I wasn´t clear enough.You should use the alligator clips clipped to the transistor leads when you are soldering so the heat won´t reach the transistors and destroy them.

[Berndizzle440]

Ok thank you so much guys!!! Just to be safe I will socket the trannies,330r and the input cap :) if I were to add a bias what resister would I actually replace with it??

[mojah63]

The bias adjustment would on q2's collector. The fixed resistor is usually 8 to 10 k replace that with a trim pot. I believe it's explained in the technology of fuzz face article at geofx. Now adjust the bias anywhere from 3.4 to 6 volts on q2 collector it's a personal thing were you end up you could start at 4.5v

[Berndizzle440]

Sweet! So just replace that resistor with a trim. Should I just throw in like a 10k? I think I have a couple lying around. And when I do add it do I just have to use the wiper and one of the outside legs ?

[csbluesman]

Yes use a 10k pot and wire it up using two wires like a rheostat. I did the math on the one I built and think I figured out that in my circuit to get 4.5 volts the pot should be set at +/- 6.8k. I think it came out very close to that when I put it in. The higher the voltage at the collector it seemed to clean up better when the volume was rolled back. The lower the bias voltage the fuzz seemed to have the dieing battery sound. On my fuzz I wanted it to clean up with the volume knob so I set the voltage around 5 volts. Once you get the perfect sound you can take the pot out of circuit to measure and replace the pot with a resistor of that value. Or just leave.

[Berndizzle440]

Thank you! ok another quick question... i know there are tons of people who have made fuzz faces and added an LED with a 3pdt footswitch but is there a specific way i have to do this since the ground on this is positive since im using PNP's? does any one have a schematic?

[csbluesman]

http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/axisface.php
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/..._tb_gi_bat.pdf

Here is a couple links to helpful fuzz info sites. Fuzz Central has a few great links to other sites that are very helpful.

[limbe]

Berndizzle!The answer to your question is,yes you have to wire your Fuzz Face another way when you´re using PNP transistors instead of NPNs.GGG has a good schematic for PNP pedals where you can use the same adapter you use for "normal" pedals.
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/...pnp_dcj_gi.pdf

[Berndizzle440]

YEESSS thank you all so much! now i can order the last batch of parts i need so now i can get crackin at this bad boy!!!! i don't know where i would be without all of you and your knowledge ;) i promise to post some pics when its done and if i can figure out how maybe some sound clips :D

[Berndizzle440]

Well got me a new meter today and tested my hfe.... ;) lookin like she's gonna sound nice and fuzzy

[Berndizzle440]

Ok so the other day a friend of mine stumbled upon an awesome find of a whole shop full of Vintage still in the box CC resistors and there are all sorts of various ratings. in the fuzz face circuit it calls for a 33 ohm resistor off of the collector of q1. if i replaced that with a 39 what effect would it possibly have? im only asking because i kinda like the mojo aspect of using some NOS parts in this guy ;)

[limbe]

If you use a DMMs transistortester with germanium transistors,you will get a hfe reading that isn´t correct.The transistor tester will only give you the right hfe value with transistors without leakage (like silicon transistors).R.G. Keen has written a good article:The Technology of the Fuzz Face.If you scroll down a bit you will find out how to determine a germanium transistors hfe.
http://www.geofex.com/article_folder...ace/fffram.htm

[limbe]

My apologies! Looking back I see that tjk3052 has given you that link in an early post which makes my post totally unnecessary!
P.S. I assume that value of the resistor from the collector of Q1 is a typo.It should be 33 kiloohm,not 33 ohm.