Tuesday 6 March 2012

Way Huge Piercing Moose Octifuzz

I think a few people will like this one:

Guitar Player Magazine (Sept. '96): "The Moose does an impressive imitation of the Foxx Tone Machine, a perennial favorite...The octave effect is extraordinary, one of the clearest and most consistent we've heard...The non-octave fuzz tone is huge and grunting with a lively resonant hum..." We use the same transistors as the original Tone Machine, but as a bonus we did a few modifications that make the Piercing Moose even better than its illustrious forefather. For example, we eradicated the pesky AM radio frequencies that the original would pick up and we added a foot switch to allow for greater control over the units two types of fuzz. Units have octave foot switch, level, tone and fuzz controls. (Thanks to DiscoFreq's effectsdatabase for the information).




47 comments:

  1. I'm going to build this one, and order all the parts from Das Musikding (www.musikding.de). The only problem: they don't have 1N60 diodes. The only Ge diodes they have are OA1154 and OA1182. Can one of these replace the 1N60? Or something else? I'd really like to avoid ordering all over the place...

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    1. They'll have a similar forward voltage so yes why not. They may not have the exact same character but I've never used those so wouldn't known how they compare. Sometimes with these things you just have to try a few different ones and see what you like best.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Ok, thanks. I just found an electronics shop nearby that has the 1N60's in stock, so I'm getting them over there.
      What I couldn't find however, is a 3nF capacitor, but I'm hoping 3.3nF will do just fine as well...

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  2. Built it, it works. Great pedal, love the sound. Thanks for the layout!!

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    1. Hey!
      sag mal, wo hast du den die 4 transistoren 2N3565 bekommen. bei conrad, musikding und uk electronics bekomme ich sie nicht. gibt es alternativen zu den transistoren?

      danke!

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    2. Seems to me like 2N3565 in fact very similar to 2N2222(A), so you could use those instead.
      http://alltransistors.com/pdfview.php?doc=2n105_2n206_2n247_2n269_2n301_2n301a_2n331_2n356_2n357_2n358.pdf&dire=_rca
      VS.
      http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/15067/PHILIPS/2N2222.html

      Both have minimum of 70 hFE and the pinout is the same..
      +m

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    3. ok- nice! thank you.
      btw: i wrote in german because i thought jblack is from german too.
      because of the link: musikding.


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    4. No, I'm from Belgium, but I did understand you more or less :p

      I used 2N5088 transistors, because I couldn't find the 2N3565. Got them from das musikding.

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  3. sorry guys, but, what about the wiring with 2 stomps? i´m not sure how i should conect the cables between the these two. can anyone explain it to me it or send a jpg/ graphic.

    thanks!

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    1. The main bypass stomp would be wired as per the offboard wiring guide here. The octave switch only needs a SPST switch if you don't want LED indications, and in which case the Sw1a and Sw1b wires would just go to the two lugs of the switch. If you can't get a SPST stomp and want to use a SPDT then the lugs would be like this:

      1
      2
      3

      and the Sw1* wires would go to lugs 1 & 2.

      If you want LED indication for the Octave, you'd need to use a DPDT stomp like this:

      1---4
      2---5
      3---6

      The Sw1* wires would go to lugs 1 & 2. The LED cathode would connect to lug 4 and lug 5 would go to ground.

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  4. The original foxx uses 1n34a diods, would these work in this as well?

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  5. Built this one and wired it up, works great!
    used 2N2222A trannies and 1N34A diods. Sound is superb really!
    My only issue is that the unity gain is quite low when the circuit is on.
    When the fuzz knob is turned back it lowers the volume even more.
    Even tho the volume pot is at max the volume is still well under the unity gain, any ideas what i could try?

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  6. So heres the pics for your collections mark!
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2828668/reaperpedals/metabolic/pics/metabolic_board.jpg
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2828668/reaperpedals/metabolic/pics/metabolic_board_inside.jpg
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2828668/reaperpedals/metabolic/pics/metabolic_boxed.jpg

    im really happy with the design this time, so clean! white led's are used of course to match the rest of it!

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    1. Mark, did you miss my boxing? :(

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    2. Sorry mate yes I did. If I miss half a day it seems I never catch up with some posts! Excellent looking job and thanks for sharing the pics mate

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  7. Hiya!

    I'm having a bit of trouble getting it finished and sounding right. The sound comes through very weak with the circuit enabled and I wonder if it's even fuzzed/octaved. I was wondering about the offboard wiring of Vol 2. I'm thinking this lead goes to pin2 on the volume pot with a parallel to the output, am I right?

    PS. Thanks for all the great layouts! Keep it up :)

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    1. Yes you're right about the Vol 2 connection, that just adds a pulldown resistor to the output, which isn't really necessary as the volume pot is performing the same function. If that resistor value isn't right it could account for your problem, otherwise, it's likely to be an unwanted bridge somewhere or maybe a bad joint. A bit of investigation required, but if you post the voltages you're getting at the transistor pins that may point to a problem area.

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    2. Ok... So just a lead from the volumepot pin2 to the output would be a good check?

      I've checked for bridges and resoldered every joint. Fairly certain all is ok there. I'll post the voltages tonight when I get home.

      I'm using 2N2222a and 1N34A diodes. I was under the assumption these would also work without changing any values.

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    3. Audioprobed it... turned out to be a faulty diode!

      Sounds great! Thanks

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  8. Ok, so I'm still having problems with my build...

    I replaced the faulty diode with a 1N914 and after that the fuzz, tone and volume all worked fine and sound great! It just not adding the octave effect.

    Since it's giving a signal through the entire board I'm having trouble to pinpoint the octave effect. When I probe sw1a it sounds slightly different than sw1b. But Fuzz 3 sounds the same, regardless if they're connected or not.

    The transistor pin values:
    Q1
    C = without 8.05 / with 2.2
    B = without 0 / with 0.72
    E = without 0 / with 0.13

    Q2
    C = without 8.39 / with 6.72
    B = without 8.05 / with 2.2
    E = without 0 / with 1.59

    Q3
    C = without 8.34 / with 6.76
    B = without 0.76 / with 0.74
    E = without 0 / with 0.15

    Q4
    C = without 8.34 / with 7.3
    B = without 0.73 / with 0.71
    E = without 0 / with 0.15

    Any help or tips locating the octave signal would be great.

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  9. im currently building another one and have the same disfunction, everything works except for the octave switch, worked on my first build, no idea why it dosn't right now :/

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  10. I've got the board all built up except for the 330uf filter cap which I don't have - can I use a different value here? I have 100uf and 470uf's on hand, otherwise I'll have to wait a week for the part to arrive by mail. Thanks!

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    1. That's just a power supply filter. Either will work fine.

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  11. Woohoo, it works! My third project and hardest and sounds great. My only problem/question is that when I have only the Fuzz selected the LED is nice and bright. When I hit the Octave switch it's light is really dull. If I hit it first (without the fuzz) the LED is bright too. Obviously the effect doesn't work with just the Octave switch selected, but it leads me to think that I may have an incorrect resistor or something since they both are bright on their own, but only the Fuzz is real bright when they are both on. Both LEDs have 2.2k resistors and are ran parallel to the DC jack lug.

    Thanks for the awesome site, what a great winter hobby!

    Jon

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    1. Have you used different colour leds or the same?

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  12. One yellow and one green, both 5mm. Both light up the same when lit alone.

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    1. That could be your problem, different colour LEDs consume different power consumption and so what can happen is that 1 led effectively hogs the power meaning the other is dimmer. You can try two of the same colour LEDs, or try a higher resistor value with the brighter led. Hope that helps!
      Cheers Dave

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  13. Cool, I'll mess around and see what happens. Not the end of the world since it technically still works.

    Thanks Dave!

    Jon

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    1. No problem, I've had that problem before and just solved it by using two of the same colour leds. Another idea I've just had, you could use a b5k pot or perhaps better a trimmer, have the 9v going to the middle lug (2), then use each of the outer lugs to supply one of the leds with power. This way, you should be able to effectively bias each led's power supply till they are equally bright. Anyone see anything wrong with this?
      Cheers
      Dave

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  14. I've been thinking about how I've actually wired it and I don't think I have it parallel. I have both positive leads connecting after their resistors and only one wire going to the jack which seems that one is going to cannibalize the other. I'll run both directly so they each have their own power source.

    Jon

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  15. Hi! I'm having troubles with this pedal. But I can't seem to figure out what it is. I audioprobed it but can't exactly pinpoint the problem.
    The transistor values are:
    Q1:
    C 4.3
    B 1.6
    E 1.0

    Q2
    C 5.4
    B 4.3
    E 3.7

    Q3
    C 6.9
    B 0.8
    E 0.2

    Q4
    C 9.2
    B 0.09
    E 0

    Does anyone have a schematic (or edited verolayout) where I can see how to trace the signal exactly?
    I do have signal coming out and the octave switch, tone control and fuzz work. But I loose the signal before volume 3. And the values of the transistor don't seem very okay.

    Hope you can help me out!

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    1. The schematic is here:

      http://s76.photobucket.com/user/IvIark_2006/media/Layouts/Schematics/WayHugePiercingMoose.png.html

      In order you need to probe

      4K7
      100n
      Q1 base
      Q1 collector
      Q2 base

      Q2 collector
      10u
      1N60
      =====
      Q2 emitter
      10u
      1N60

      10u
      Fuzz 3
      Fuzz 2
      10u
      Q3 base
      Q3 collector

      3nF
      Tone 3
      =====
      22K
      4K7
      Tone 1

      Tone 2
      10u
      Q4 base
      Q4 collector
      10u
      Volume 3
      Volume 2
      Output

      Where you see =====, that is where the signal splits off in two directions for the octave section and tone control, so check both routes to see that the signal is passing as required.

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    2. Thanks Mark, for this great information. I will probe and test again (tonight)!

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    3. Hey! I tested the signal with your info and this is what I found (but my solutions didnt work):
      Q3:C is good.
      3nf gives a volume drop (I changed it with a brandnew one, same thing remains)
      22K is also very low on volume
      ton 2: (etc.) gives low volume through
      Q4:B is low on volume
      Q4:C no sound (it shortcuts?? but with a 2n3906 it gives the low volume signal through)
      So either the signal stops here, or with a 2n3906 or reversed tranistor it gives the low volume sound through.

      Any ideas?

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    4. The big muff tone stack will attenuate the signal by around 7dB I think, so is it that sort of reduction or more extreme than that?

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    5. I uploaded a short video to Youtube:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqszmP75S6o&list=UUY9mwH_GQpHmS2-9LEuT3Iw

      I hope this is helpfull. Can you let me know if this is normal or if I can improve it. To me it feels like the volume drop is too much. The volume is lower than the clean guitar input.

      Cheers!

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    6. Hey! Did you had some time to take a look at the video? I hope you can give me some advice!

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    7. Would love to finish the pedal in a working way, so any suggestions out there that I might try?

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  16. Hey! I tested the signal with your info and this is what I found (but my solutions didnt work):
    Q3:C is good.
    3nf gives a volume drop (I changed it with a brandnew one, same thing remains)
    22K is also very low on volume
    ton 2: (etc.) gives low volume through
    Q4:B is low on volume
    Q4:C no sound (it shortcuts?? but with a 2n3906 it gives the low volume signal through)
    So either the signal stops here, or with a 2n3906 or reversed tranistor it gives the low volume sound through.

    Any ideas?

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  17. Just finished using PN3565's (Tayda has them for $0.10 each) This thing sounds amazing.

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  18. Just finished using PN3565's (Tayda has them for $0.10 each) This thing sounds amazing.

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  19. Just built this and it sounds great. One of my favorite fuzzes hands down. Its thick but not muddy. I used d9e diodes and pn3565's from Tayda that randomly had the exact same hfe (169).

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  21. hi everyone. I built a pair of these over the weekend and while they work, I think something may be amiss with the layout, though I cant see at to what really. I have access to an original piercing moose for reference and the original has much more output and gain on tap and is all around fuller sounding than my builds. I went about troubleshooting and after exhausting every possible solution and replacing just about everything, I am still left at square one with a couple builds that compare to about 70% of the original. No crossed connections, accidental bridges, polarity issues, etc. One thing i did notice that differs is that the original uses B100K pots instead of the 50K listed on the layout. could using 100K pots in my build rectify things to sound exactly like an original? Ill go about posting measurements for the transistors soon as thats the one thing I have yet to do.

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