Spaghetti Western Fuzz

[Johnny Isaacs]

I really like the looks and sound of this pedal! I can see one of these finding its way to my board!

Johnny Isaacs

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by P-Zilla

I LOVE the music on your soundclick. Mr. Wilsey would be proud!

Why thank you, kind sir!

[vanguard]

Originally Posted by ibobunot

Why.. nobody is being forced to buy it..

pretty sure i explained it in my post

[P-Zilla]

To me it sounds really close to an exact copy of shin-ei. Maybe some tweaked caps.


On the DRH tracks what is the watery "poik" noise from? Vibrato?

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by P-Zilla

To me it sounds really close to an exact copy of shin-ei. Maybe some tweaked caps.


On the DRH tracks what is the watery "poik" noise from? Vibrato?

I'm assuming you're describing the "drip" of spring reverb. The only vibrato there comes from my Bigsby.

[P-Zilla]

Originally Posted by Uma Floresta

I'm assuming you're describing the "drip" of spring reverb. The only vibrato there comes from my Bigsby.

you can tell I am a tweed guy!

I LOVE the tunes. Anyway you could do a clip of you adjusting the guitar volume to control the fuzz?

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by P-Zilla

you can tell I am a tweed guy!

I LOVE the tunes. Anyway you could do a clip of you adjusting the guitar volume to control the fuzz?

:D Thanks very much, glad you like 'em.

I'll try to record another clip of the SWF rolling off the volume in a day or two.

[ibodog]

Originally Posted by Uma Floresta

I've been listening to clips of the Shin-ei Companion Fuzz and the Fuzzrite, as well as the Maestro FZ1. None of them seem to get this sound. The Shin-ei is too saturated, the Fuzzrite is too brash and the Maestro is too thick. I'm sure under all that goop it's a very simple circuit with a few transistors like most old fuzz designs, but it doesn't seem to be based on any of those, at least from the sound. I'm afraid to try to degoop this thing in case there really isn't a circuit board under there - the goop could be holding everything together!

I suspect you're right about the goop holding the circuit together. I've seen photos of some fuzz circuits that are just a ball of wires and components.

This may seem like a silly question, but could you describe how the Fuzz knob effects the sound? Does it sound like maybe it's mixing between two different fuzzed signals rather than just increasing gain/sustain? Almost like a nearly clean signal to the left and a maxed fuzz to the right? The answer might help me narrow down the list of possibly similar circuits that I could experiment with to get a similar sound.

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by ibodog

I suspect you're right about the goop holding the circuit together. I've seen photos of some fuzz circuits that are just a ball of wires and components.

This may seem like a silly question, but could you describe how the Fuzz knob effects the sound? Does it sound like maybe it's mixing between two different fuzzed signals rather than just increasing gain/sustain? Almost like a nearly clean signal to the left and a maxed fuzz to the right? The answer might help me narrow down the list of possibly similar circuits that I could experiment with to get a similar sound.

As far as I could tell it was just increasing gain, but honestly I wasn't listening for a mix of two signals and I went in with the assumption that it was a standard gain control.

I could try to post a clip of me gradually increasing the gain if that would help.

[ibodog]

Originally Posted by Uma Floresta

As far as I could tell it was just increasing gain, but honestly I wasn't listening for a mix of two signals and I went in with the assumption that it was a standard gain control.

I could try to post a clip of me gradually increasing the gain if that would help.

You don't have to create a new clip, but thanks for the offer. Just next time you're playing the pedal mess around with that fuzz knob and see how the sound/feel is. Thanks!

[ibodog]

Originally Posted by Uma Floresta

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8727194

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8727193

Hey, Uma, how bright was your base amp sound for these clips? I was working on a circuit this weekend and got it to sound almost like your clips as long as I maxed out the treble on the amp.

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by ibodog

Hey, Uma, how bright was your base amp sound for these clips? I was working on a circuit this weekend and got it to sound almost like your clips as long as I maxed out the treble on the amp.

I used a fairly brightish Deluxe Reverb simulated amp.

[ibodog]

Thanks for that info. Just FYI here's the DIY circuit I'm working with. I think if I can tweak the input and output caps a little bit to accentuate the treble above the stock circuit it will be squarely in the Spaghetti Western Fuzz's territory.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/gusRitefuzz.gif
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/ma...d+1_0.gif.html

[scantron81]

new GAS!

[scantron81]

Here is a short youtube clip of the SWF up next to a Maestro Fuzz tone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywrU2dDzOo

[missfortune]

That's my SWF and 2Guest's Maestro. Sounds pretty close to me.

[Uma Floresta]

Originally Posted by missfortune

That's my SWF and 2Guest's Maestro. Sounds pretty close to me.

They sounded close to me, too. Other Maestro Fuzz-Tone clips I've heard sounded beefier. Was the gain maxed on the Maestro?

[Uma Floresta]

It turns out my SWF actually uses a PCB or perf board. It has two transistors and a handful of caps and resistors. It looks like it could be a variant of the Fuzzrite.

[ibodog]

Thanks for the extra gut shots! It looks like those transistors are socketed out of the goop. Can you make out the markings on them at all?

I revisited my DIY version and went back to the Fuzzrite circuit, but haven't gone back to compare directly to your clips again. I used 2N2222A transistors. Classic circuit has 5 resistors, 4 caps and 2 knobs not counting any extra caps or diodes used on the power supply.

[Uma Floresta]

The transistors have red paint covering the markings