Here's a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard guitar and bass effect layouts that we have put together covering many classic and popular effects in growing numbers. Many of these have been posted on freestompboxes.org, so check that site out for great discussions on building your own effect pedals. Enjoy the builds and please also visit us on Facebook and Twitter
Volume works in reverse Stab on full sounds normal but when reducing it brings in a type of feedback that increases in bass as you lower the knob... (not musical)
How have you wired the volume pot? End of effect to 3, 2 to output, 1 to ground is the standard volume pot convention I use in every effect. Did you do it like this:
The stab control starves the supply from the rest of the circuit as you turn it down and so you can get strange results. Non musical is what the Fuzz Factory is all about isn't it! :o)
It's ok mate, you're doing me a favour by verifying it. It's very possible that some of the lugs are wrong because if they aren't numbered in the schematic I always do the layout based on the usual convention of lug 3 being 90 degrees anti clockwise from the wiper, but unfortunately a lot of time the person doing the schematic just uses the pot symbol in whatever orientation best fits his layout which sometimes makes the pot numbering in layouts a crap shoot.
Let me check a verified PCB layout that I've got and I'll see what the pot layout is on that.
You'll see it's actually the Drive pot which is the wrong way round in this vero layout, not Comp and Gate. That layout is definitely verified too, I know a few who have built it.
Are you sure you've wired them as per the pic I posted? If you look at that tagboard layout with the pots shown, that's looking at the back of the pots. And so looking at the back of a pot with the lugs pointing downwards, the numbering should be 3, 2 and then 1 from left to right.
Hmmm judging by the tag layout, I've wired the pots the opposite. If you imagine my pots being the same position as the tag board, I've wired them 1 2 3 (not 3 2 1)
But my gain is functioning ok? stab is hard to judge as it's an odd control anyway...
So I should rewire all the pots (except gain as mine works) to the tag layout?
It means the same point needs linking to more than one pot. If you look at the pot layout in my tagboard version it should make the pot wiring more straightforward. Remember that looking at the pots in that layout is like looking at the pots from the rear (i.e. when installed in a box ready for soldering)
Thanks for verifying Vince and I'm sure I'll be building it. Hopefully I'll clear the rest of my garage this weekend and then my workshop will be all up and running again! :o)
I've been building this one for a week now. With no success. Made two different circuits and triple checked everything. Both of them work exactly the same way - I can get one decent sound with Gate and Comp in that one known position. Otherwise it's just zero sustain. Drive does nothing and if i turn Comp all the way up, the signal stays clean. To be honest, i don't know what to try next. Like i said, both of my circuits act exactly the same way. Any ideas? +m
Second circuit is 1:1 except the 100nF is plastic box. I've tripple checked all the wirings to pots too. Other circuit has lots more wire, since i didn't want to daisy chain anything on that one - wondered if the problem was with those..
I may be blind from whacking my head to the wall for a few days... +m
The 100u is just for power supply filtering. You could use a 47u or whatever instead, or even omit it entirely. If you get a chance post upa front and back pics so I can try to get to the bottom of it.
Yes but I sold it lol.. plus I wanted to cram on in a 1590b. I did from your old layout with the 100uf. Didn't notice this updated one so I'll download this for future.
can I power this with a typical boss power supply? I would think not because of the AC128's are pnp but I see where the zvex version has a boss adapter.
Hey IvIark, for the Gate 1 & 2 and Volume 1 that goes to ground, can I just wire those to the bottom row of the vero where the ground wire connects to?
Also- I just finished and plugged this in. It definitely has some great usable tones. Thanks for the layout. However, I seem to have a similar issue as Mirosol above. If the Gate is not fully dial-ed up, it's just a sputtering mess. Any thoughts? Or is that just the natural operation for this one?
From the Zackie's description: "Although the five knobs are named for the parameters over which they seem to have the most control, please don't hold me to it. They are controls for various operating levels and biases, and basically shape you a personalized fuzz."
I wouldn't exactly call it an issue, as it may be a feature found on the original too. I ended up acrapping these boards way back, so i don't know about this layout. I recetly built the compact layout without an issue though.. +m
Basically no. What hFEs you have on yours? Fuzz factory reportedly/allegedly sound the best with basic Fuzz Face duo with hFEs around 90 for Q2 and 110 for Q3. +m
Thanks for this layout, I've built it exactly to the layout specified, and all seems to be functioning well, crazy oscillations etc.
However the pedal is extremely quiet, requiring over 50% volume on my 30 watt Marshall amp to even achieve practice volumes, and from what i have heard this pedal is usually loud. when i soldered the volume 2 lug to the board, i noticed it killed all oscillations and reduced to a quiet fuzz no matter how the potentiometer is set.
Does anyone know what could be causing this? any help would be greatl appreciated
Thanks for the layout, getting some awesome sounds out of it and the design seems to work perfectly!
However the pedal seems extremely quiet, and even with my Marshall 30W amp at full volume the sound is only suitable for practicing with. from what i have heard this is an extremely loud pedal most of the time.
When i connect the volume Pot to the board, all oscillations are killed regardless of the position of the potentiometer?
Just finished this build Pedal is operational. However I have a few questions and clarifications I use a set of Mullards matched germaniums Hfe 105 and 165 Is this too high a ratio for this circuit, Signal sounds like a blanket is over the amp Almost no high end The drive pot seems only to be effective on the last 25% of the rotation Would a lower Hfe with a closer ration clean any of this up
The circuit offers a lot of trippy tones However I have not been able to find a good fuzz tone
Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated EK
Nope, AC128 is a PNP Ge transistor, while 2N3904 is a NPN Si transistor. You could try substituting AC128 with 2N3906 which is a PNP Si transistor, but the biasing might need to be changed and the sound will be pretty different due to the differences between Si and Ge. You could however try any PNP Ge in place of AC128, one more available substitute (at least where I live) is AC125.
Question. If two lugs of a pot needs to go to the sam wire on the circuit, can i jump both lygs together and then attach to circuit? Or must both lugs on the pot have seperate leads to the circuit? Thanks
I'd start by trying PNP germanium for Q2 and Q3. If you don't have a transistor tester, any fuzz face set should work fine. My fuzz factory seems to use 2N404, I can't be sure though because they're rebranded as "ZVEX"
Either way 2N404 would work well here and you can get them relatively cheap
HI, I tried the other vero for this effect before but without succes. This vero layout seems more promising. But I still have a strange problem which is kind of hard to describe. But I'll try:
I get sound out of the pedal. Quite how it supposed to be I guess. The problem is that it fades out/dies after a few seconds. When I turn the pots I sometimes get some sound again, but it seems like the voltage is gone or something. Second problem: i hear a constant frequency (8bit racing car sounds) which goes up when connecting the 9V supply. A sort of hum. During this I can hear my guitar. But when the frequency is high it fades out to no sound at all.
Fixed it! I followed the shape of the design on the vero layout picture of the tranistors. In stead of reading the C B E order. I had to flip Q3 now its working like crap as it should be! love it! :)
Thanks for this layout. Just done it and it sounds great.
I have a question though: -I can't hear no squeals at all like I heard in some videos. No feedback too. Every knobs are ok though. They all modify pedal sounding.
Do I have to play more louder to hear the effect squeals ? Thank you
I recently wired this along with a SHO in the same enclosure and it works! Of course I don't have the real deal to compare against with, but I'm OK with that since I would never play with that crazy thing outside of my bedroom.
One minor issue I have is that sometimes it just doesn't work... My signal is not passing thru so I need to knock the enclosure 1 or a few times in order to get my wet signal back. No problem when is bypassed and no problem with the SHO either.
Any suggestions?
None of the components inside are touching the enclosure or pots, but when I move any of the cables for that circuit it makes a noise, like when something is not being properly grounded, but I already checked everything and I couldn't find anything out of place. And like I said, it works when I hit the enclosure... f'weird.
Built this the other night and yes or works! I could not get AC128 transistors but found some ASY37's which are a suitable replacement and holy does this thing sound amazing!! It's a noisey and unpredictable pedal so one can not expect the dials to be typical of a normal pedal, you can spend hours just twisting them and getting crazy soinds!! It's awesome!
Built it with AC128s but added the input capacitor switch from the Fat Fuzz Factory (220 nF and 1 uF in parallel with the 100 nF on the board) and a high cut pot right before the output (50kB pot and 18 nF cap) for some tweakability. With top mounted jacks in a 1590BB it's also more practical and looks georgeous
Otherwise it works and sounds just like the original, a beautiful mess.
Thank you for another great layout! Seems like I'm developing a slight fuzz adiction :-D
Plan to attack this one.... just noticed I have no 100r's :( would I get away with a 150R?
ReplyDeleteYes, or even lower like a 47R would be fine.
DeleteSweet, I have 47R's.... I'll report back when (touch wood) finished to verify :)
ReplyDeleteThe cut just to the left of the 100u doesn't match the cut/link diagram below.... I have a feeling I'll have to start again l0l
ReplyDeleteNo that's ok, just move the 100u one space to the right. I'll correct the layout
DeletePhew! right, I'm planning to daisy chain the pots...i.e board to stab 1 -wire to comp3 - wire to drive 3
ReplyDeleteSound ok?
It's all together...
ReplyDeleteVolume works in reverse
Stab on full sounds normal but when reducing it brings in a type of feedback that increases in bass as you lower the knob... (not musical)
How have you wired the volume pot? End of effect to 3, 2 to output, 1 to ground is the standard volume pot convention I use in every effect. Did you do it like this:
Deletehttp://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j6/IvIark_2006/DIY/Pot20numbering.jpg
The stab control starves the supply from the rest of the circuit as you turn it down and so you can get strange results. Non musical is what the Fuzz Factory is all about isn't it! :o)
I've wired it the way the diagram suggests;
ReplyDeleteVol 1 and gate 1&2 to ground
Vol 2 & 3 come from the board...
What would I need to flip to bring the vol to normal?
Yes you're right about the stab control, just seen the demo :)
Also... Comp, gate are in reverse too?
ReplyDeletePlease feel free to tell me to F@*k off.... I feel like a pain in the arse...
And I've checked wiring multiple times....
DeleteIt's ok mate, you're doing me a favour by verifying it. It's very possible that some of the lugs are wrong because if they aren't numbered in the schematic I always do the layout based on the usual convention of lug 3 being 90 degrees anti clockwise from the wiper, but unfortunately a lot of time the person doing the schematic just uses the pot symbol in whatever orientation best fits his layout which sometimes makes the pot numbering in layouts a crap shoot.
DeleteLet me check a verified PCB layout that I've got and I'll see what the pot layout is on that.
Something is wrong somewhere mate. If you look at the pot layout for my tagboard layout here:
Deletehttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y7gcfRKQFgA/TTs-myf7VsI/AAAAAAAAAUE/dE0iUvib9uc/s1600/ZVex+Fuzz+Factory+Turret+Rev+3+-+IvIark.png
You'll see it's actually the Drive pot which is the wrong way round in this vero layout, not Comp and Gate. That layout is definitely verified too, I know a few who have built it.
Are you sure you've wired them as per the pic I posted? If you look at that tagboard layout with the pots shown, that's looking at the back of the pots. And so looking at the back of a pot with the lugs pointing downwards, the numbering should be 3, 2 and then 1 from left to right.
Hmmm judging by the tag layout, I've wired the pots the opposite.
DeleteIf you imagine my pots being the same position as the tag board, I've wired them 1 2 3 (not 3 2 1)
But my gain is functioning ok? stab is hard to judge as it's an odd control anyway...
So I should rewire all the pots (except gain as mine works) to the tag layout?
Oh CRAP! the pennies just dropped! I've buggered the pots and wired them all backwards!!
ReplyDeleteI'll go away and sort that later...
just when you get cocky, the kick in the arse comes!
Ha ha, at least the Drive one is ok! :o)
DeleteHello, on your schematic
ReplyDeletewhen you say: comp 1 & 2 drive 1
which is going on the plate band? Comp 1 or a drive?
Thank you
It means the same point needs linking to more than one pot. If you look at the pot layout in my tagboard version it should make the pot wiring more straightforward. Remember that looking at the pots in that layout is like looking at the pots from the rear (i.e. when installed in a box ready for soldering)
Deletehttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y7gcfRKQFgA/TTs-myf7VsI/AAAAAAAAAUE/dE0iUvib9uc/s1600/ZVex+Fuzz+Factory+Turret+Rev+3+-+IvIark.png
Verified!! and Effing fantastic!! (so it's just the gain that is the wrong way around in the layout)
ReplyDeleteI'd urge you to build this Mark, A lot of weird and wonderful sounds but when you hit that sweet spot it just sings for days!
No Ebay for this baby!
Thanks for the help ;)
Thanks for verifying Vince and I'm sure I'll be building it. Hopefully I'll clear the rest of my garage this weekend and then my workshop will be all up and running again! :o)
DeleteThe finished ''Factory Of Fuzz''
ReplyDeletehttp://s1170.photobucket.com/albums/r534/vince371/?action=view¤t=1332580283441.jpg
Nice one Vince
ReplyDeleteI've been building this one for a week now. With no success. Made two different circuits and triple checked everything. Both of them work exactly the same way - I can get one decent sound with Gate and Comp in that one known position. Otherwise it's just zero sustain. Drive does nothing and if i turn Comp all the way up, the signal stays clean. To be honest, i don't know what to try next. Like i said, both of my circuits act exactly the same way. Any ideas?
ReplyDelete+m
Post a pic, or as many pics as possible to show all the detail and post the links here. I'll have a look to see if I can spot anything
Deletehttp://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/IMG_0040.JPG
ReplyDeleteSecond circuit is 1:1 except the 100nF is plastic box. I've tripple checked all the wirings to pots too. Other circuit has lots more wire, since i didn't want to daisy chain anything on that one - wondered if the problem was with those..
I may be blind from whacking my head to the wall for a few days...
+m
Gave up. Built this from some another layout, that doesn't utilize 100uF cap. Still have the circuits though. May give them another try later.
ReplyDeleteThe 100u is just for power supply filtering. You could use a 47u or whatever instead, or even omit it entirely. If you get a chance post upa front and back pics so I can try to get to the bottom of it.
DeleteDithed the amp eleven and made this instead ;0).. A little messy but got it all in there.
ReplyDeletehttp://img864.imageshack.us/img864/5821/71475823.jpg
Nice mate, thanks for the pic. Didn't you make a Fuzz Factory before?
DeleteYes but I sold it lol.. plus I wanted to cram on in a 1590b. I did from your old layout with the 100uf. Didn't notice this updated one so I'll download this for future.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteJust a question. Why this vero has a 100R between 9v and STAB and this resistor is not present on your tagboard?
I did previously the tagboard one, and just finished half an hour ago with this vero version for a friend. Both rock like hell!
Thank you very much.
Guys, is the Vero layout verified?
ReplyDeleteYes
Deletecan I power this with a typical boss power supply? I would think not because of the AC128's are pnp but I see where the zvex version has a boss adapter.
ReplyDeleteYes, It's standard power, that's how mine is
DeleteHey IvIark, for the Gate 1 & 2 and Volume 1 that goes to ground, can I just wire those to the bottom row of the vero where the ground wire connects to?
ReplyDeleteYup. That's the way i always do it :)
Delete+m
Thanks!
DeleteAlso- I just finished and plugged this in. It definitely has some great usable tones. Thanks for the layout. However, I seem to have a similar issue as Mirosol above. If the Gate is not fully dial-ed up, it's just a sputtering mess. Any thoughts? Or is that just the natural operation for this one?
ReplyDeleteFrom the Zackie's description:
Delete"Although the five knobs are named for the parameters over which they seem to have the most control, please don't hold me to it. They are controls for various operating levels and biases, and basically shape you a personalized fuzz."
I wouldn't exactly call it an issue, as it may be a feature found on the original too. I ended up acrapping these boards way back, so i don't know about this layout. I recetly built the compact layout without an issue though..
+m
Okay, I will give the other layout a shot. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteNever built anything with germanium transistors. I've got the ones I need. Do I have to do anything differently?
ReplyDeleteBasically no. What hFEs you have on yours? Fuzz factory reportedly/allegedly sound the best with basic Fuzz Face duo with hFEs around 90 for Q2 and 110 for Q3.
Delete+m
So hFEs are the thing what you need to take in to account...
Delete+m
Every Fuzz factory I've made, I've thrown anything in it... It's noise. Doesn't matter in my opinion. ;)
DeleteThanks for this layout!!!
ReplyDeleteI've build it recently with the following transistors:
Q1: 2N3904
Q2: AC128 Hfe 60-70
Q3: AC122 Hfe 120-130
I've also placed a 220pf over input-Ground to get rid of some unwanted radio reception.
Stil need some time to get fully familiar with the knobs though.
Opening the Stab, it oscillates like crazy!
Probably going to build the RockBox boiling point after this one
Thanks for this layout,
ReplyDeleteI've built it exactly to the layout specified, and all seems to be functioning well, crazy oscillations etc.
However the pedal is extremely quiet, requiring over 50% volume on my 30 watt Marshall amp to even achieve practice volumes, and from what i have heard this pedal is usually loud. when i soldered the volume 2 lug to the board, i noticed it killed all oscillations and reduced to a quiet fuzz no matter how the potentiometer is set.
Does anyone know what could be causing this? any help would be greatl appreciated
Thanks for the layout, getting some awesome sounds out of it and the design seems to work perfectly!
ReplyDeleteHowever the pedal seems extremely quiet, and even with my Marshall 30W amp at full volume the sound is only suitable for practicing with. from what i have heard this is an extremely loud pedal most of the time.
When i connect the volume Pot to the board, all oscillations are killed regardless of the position of the potentiometer?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Just finished this build
ReplyDeletePedal is operational. However I have a few questions and clarifications
I use a set of Mullards matched germaniums Hfe 105 and 165
Is this too high a ratio for this circuit,
Signal sounds like a blanket is over the amp
Almost no high end
The drive pot seems only to be effective on the last 25% of the rotation
Would a lower Hfe with a closer ration clean any of this up
The circuit offers a lot of trippy tones
However I have not been able to find a good fuzz tone
Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated
EK
can i use a 2n5088 with my ac128's
ReplyDeletecan i use a 2n5088 with my ac128's
ReplyDeleteThat'll work just fine. Although - i'd recommend building the compact layout.. :)
Delete+m
can I use 2n3904 for all transistor ? please help me ...
ReplyDeleteNope, AC128 is a PNP Ge transistor, while 2N3904 is a NPN Si transistor. You could try substituting AC128 with 2N3906 which is a PNP Si transistor, but the biasing might need to be changed and the sound will be pretty different due to the differences between Si and Ge. You could however try any PNP Ge in place of AC128, one more available substitute (at least where I live) is AC125.
DeleteQuestion. If two lugs of a pot needs to go to the sam wire on the circuit, can i jump both lygs together and then attach to circuit? Or must both lugs on the pot have seperate leads to the circuit? Thanks
ReplyDeleteNo a jumper is fine
DeleteI'd start by trying PNP germanium for Q2 and Q3. If you don't have a transistor tester, any fuzz face set should work fine. My fuzz factory seems to use 2N404, I can't be sure though because they're rebranded as "ZVEX"
ReplyDeleteEither way 2N404 would work well here and you can get them relatively cheap
HI, I tried the other vero for this effect before but without succes. This vero layout seems more promising. But I still have a strange problem which is kind of hard to describe. But I'll try:
ReplyDeleteI get sound out of the pedal. Quite how it supposed to be I guess. The problem is that it fades out/dies after a few seconds. When I turn the pots I sometimes get some sound again, but it seems like the voltage is gone or something.
Second problem: i hear a constant frequency (8bit racing car sounds) which goes up when connecting the 9V supply. A sort of hum. During this I can hear my guitar. But when the frequency is high it fades out to no sound at all.
Any tips?
Info on the transistors:
DeleteQ1 (:
C 7.3V
B 0.55V
E 0V
Q2:
C 8.73v
B 9.18v
E 9.3v
Q3:
C 7v
B 8.7v
E 8.79v
Fixed it! I followed the shape of the design on the vero layout picture of the tranistors. In stead of reading the C B E order. I had to flip Q3 now its working like crap as it should be! love it! :)
DeleteBtw, I trashed the compact layout and started with this one. Which is much easier I think!
DeleteThanks for this layout. Just done it and it sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI have a question though:
-I can't hear no squeals at all like I heard in some videos. No feedback too.
Every knobs are ok though. They all modify pedal sounding.
Do I have to play more louder to hear the effect squeals ?
Thank you
positive or negative ground schematic?
ReplyDeleteusually PNP transistors = positive ground.
ReplyDeleteNeeded a Negative Voltage Inverter
The transistors are PNP but the connections are reversed so it's a negative ground
Deletehi
ReplyDeleteJust a question. Why this vero has a 100R between 9v and STAB?
A current limiting resistor can help minimise unwanted noise
DeleteI recently wired this along with a SHO in the same enclosure and it works! Of course I don't have the real deal to compare against with, but I'm OK with that since I would never play with that crazy thing outside of my bedroom.
ReplyDeleteOne minor issue I have is that sometimes it just doesn't work... My signal is not passing thru so I need to knock the enclosure 1 or a few times in order to get my wet signal back. No problem when is bypassed and no problem with the SHO either.
Any suggestions?
None of the components inside are touching the enclosure or pots, but when I move any of the cables for that circuit it makes a noise, like when something is not being properly grounded, but I already checked everything and I couldn't find anything out of place. And like I said, it works when I hit the enclosure... f'weird.
Thanks.
Any chance of getting a vero of the 7knob fuzz factory?
ReplyDeleteBuilt this the other night and yes or works! I could not get AC128 transistors but found some ASY37's which are a suitable replacement and holy does this thing sound amazing!! It's a noisey and unpredictable pedal so one can not expect the dials to be typical of a normal pedal, you can spend hours just twisting them and getting crazy soinds!! It's awesome!
ReplyDeleteBuilt it with AC128s but added the input capacitor switch from the Fat Fuzz Factory (220 nF and 1 uF in parallel with the 100 nF on the board) and a high cut pot right before the output (50kB pot and 18 nF cap) for some tweakability. With top mounted jacks in a 1590BB it's also more practical and looks georgeous
ReplyDeleteOtherwise it works and sounds just like the original, a beautiful mess.
Thank you for another great layout! Seems like I'm developing a slight fuzz adiction :-D