Info from the makers:
Need to melt peoples brains with supersonic chaos?
Want a different sound than everyone else?
For an endless amount of full, insane, buzz sawing, jaw dropping sounds the supersonic fuzz gun can do it all.
The supersonic fuzz gun is a completely unique and huge sounding fuzz pedal. The goal of the pedal was to make a fuzz with the capability of having an immense range of great and usable fuzz sounds. The controls are completely interactive with each other to give the wielder an infinite number of great tones. There are extremely (and i mean exremely) harsh sounds available and extremely (yes i mean it again) warm sounds available. It does it all.
Controls:
Bias - changes the overall sound of the fuzzing
Density - affects the frequency range going into the pedal
Fuzz - increases the distortion of the signal
Filter - filters out the high frequencies of the output and smooths out the insanity
Level - controls the master output volume of the pedal
Gate/oscilation - switches between a gated fuzz tone and an oscillation fuzz sound
Want a different sound than everyone else?
For an endless amount of full, insane, buzz sawing, jaw dropping sounds the supersonic fuzz gun can do it all.
The supersonic fuzz gun is a completely unique and huge sounding fuzz pedal. The goal of the pedal was to make a fuzz with the capability of having an immense range of great and usable fuzz sounds. The controls are completely interactive with each other to give the wielder an infinite number of great tones. There are extremely (and i mean exremely) harsh sounds available and extremely (yes i mean it again) warm sounds available. It does it all.
Controls:
Bias - changes the overall sound of the fuzzing
Density - affects the frequency range going into the pedal
Fuzz - increases the distortion of the signal
Filter - filters out the high frequencies of the output and smooths out the insanity
Level - controls the master output volume of the pedal
Gate/oscilation - switches between a gated fuzz tone and an oscillation fuzz sound
Hey! Did you found the Harmonic Transformer?
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't seen a schematic for it
DeleteAwesome! deffo doing this one!
ReplyDeleteWow! thanks a lot, I'm going to try this in the next weeks and I'll let you know!
ReplyDeletegreat Job!
ago
I built this last night and I have access to an original one to compare - they sound nearly identical; however, mine has less sustain (pedal cuts out much earlier unless I stay on the strings) and the oscillation mode isn't right, it's too motorboat-like regardless of knob settings. The only thing I didn't do was add the LED from the 2.2K resistor - is this component part of the overall circuit or just there as a convenience when boxing up?
ReplyDeleteYes the 2K2 just means that you don't have to put the resistor in series offboard for the LED, so just to make things easier. If you can find any differences between this and your original, I'll update the layout. Cheers
DeleteI've builded the pedal and it sounds great, but there is a problem: the sound stops almost directly after you stop playing your guitar. Could that have something to do with the fact that i used other transistors, or have i just something wired in the wrong way?
ReplyDeleteWhat transistors did you use? Someone else has posted similar but thinks it is something to do with the gain of the Q3 transistor he used, someone else built it and thought it sounded just like the original but he had a quite high gain 2N5306. Someone on FSB was going to measure the originals and post the info so we're waiting to hear back about it.
DeleteQ1 and 2 are bc549c and Q3 is bc517.
ReplyDeleteWell it's a possibility that it's not enough gain. The 2N5306 can go up to 70,000 hFE, whereas the BC517 could be half that. Just hold off for a while till we get a bit more info about the original measurements and it could answer the question.
DeleteStill waiting for my DCA55 to come in the mail. I'll post updates when I can.
DeleteThat's great, thanks
DeleteI desoldered my buddies original and measured the trannies (don't say anything):
ReplyDeleteFairchild BH40 2n2089 - HFE measured 620ish. Vbe 0.8V, Ib 4.60mA.
Fairchild BJ19 2n5309 - HFE - wait for it - 21,369. Vbe 1.45V, Ib 3.89mA.
I measured my Smallbear 5306's and they are in the HFE 10,000-16,000 range. My Tayda 5306's measure in the HFE 60,000 range.
Excellent, great info and your secret is safe with me! :o)
DeleteSo how do the Tayda 5306's sound in there, too much?
Of course I mean 5089
DeleteAnd 5306, good grief was I drunk when I typed this?
DeleteThe Tayda's are what I had in there originally - oscillation is different and the fuzz gates very early (less sustain). I'm going to try the Smallbear ones and see how that goes, making sure I have matched 5089's in the correct range.
Deleteyall ever get this sorted? thanks!
Deletedont mpsa18's usually run around 20,000 hfe? maybe that would be a good choice for q3? has anyone made this and had it sound like the original?
DeleteIf anyone has an original of this pedal I would be happy to trace it and get down to the bottom of this thing!
The problems above are exactly my problem when I built the pedal at Christmas time. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteDBA know what they're doing! This pedal is killed wicked crazy bananas, and a real bitch to clone. :)
Sustain runs out as soon as you stop playing really hard. And the OSC mode doesn't sound right. None of it really sounds right. Very unsatisfying. Would love to get it finished.
HI !
ReplyDeleteIs it a good idea to try this fuzz with AC128?
If yes, does it change the vero?
No. The AC128 is PNP, this needs NPN transistors. Even using an NPN transistor wouldn't be recommended because this needs a lot more gain than you'd get from it.
DeleteDid anyone try this with 2N5088s for Q1 and Q2?
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if that would ease the gating..
+m
Does nothing connect to fuzz 1?
ReplyDeleteNo it's just used as a rheostat. You could link 1 and 2 but you don't have to.
DeleteThanks, built this with 2n5088s and like what I got!
ReplyDeleteIf I swapped the 10k resistor with a 10K pot would I be able to control the gate, maybe dial in a bit more sustain?
ReplyDeleteIf you swapped that resistor for a pot you would be able to variably control the shift between Gate and Oscillation modes. You may get some cool usable tones in between but it wouldn't give you anything additionally other than that. The extremes of the pot rotation would be the same as each position of the toggle switch.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask for help. I have built this pedal and it works , but i have little problem.
If I`m in bypass mode and i have pedal is switched to oscilation mode , i can hear oscilation mode
in bypass signal. It`s apparent espescialy with fuzz button set to maximum. It`s only in oscilation
mode. If somebody has same problem please let me know. It should be caused by bad grounding.
If you haven't already, you could try wiring the switch like this, it grounds the pedal in bypass. Other than that Mark is away for a week to answer anything,
ReplyDeletehttp://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html
Thanks a lot. I will try this.
DeleteI have to rebuild circuit, i have problem with working. It was my first vero built.
DeleteThis wiring of truebypass doesn`t help.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHas everybody pots bias and fuzz with crackle and sound from oscilation mode in bypass ?
ReplyDeleteBuild it today,by followed exactly the vero and works great !!
ReplyDeleteI have exactly the same sound as the video.
Very expressive fuzz,i'm really suprised and i love it.
Thank you IvIark !!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo anyone find a good place to get 2n5306's that are averaging around 20,000? It seems like the different suppliers have different ranges... I actually cannot measure for sure because my DMM apparently does not like to measure transistors with high hfe's!
ReplyDeleteI built one this evening after a dissapointing afternoon with the IC big muff. Whilst it worked ok with 2n5089's, it worked sooooo much better with 2n5088's, sounds much more like the demos, no sustain issues for me. I'll box it and put it through its paces alongside my fuzz factory and parallel universe builds, shits gonna get loud ya'll!
ReplyDeleteDave
Ok so i tried this pedal with some 2n5089's and tried several different pairs and it was just awful, i even tried mixing 2n5089 with 2n5088's, still awful. 2n5088's sound by far the best, im not convinced its exactly like the original but pretty close.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Dave
When i woke up this morning i had an idea about this pedal. So i've established that 2n5088's fix the fuzz sound, but the osccilation doesnt sound right, its low and motorboat like, rather than being higher pitched like the vids. Am i right in saying that osscilation mode occurs when Q1 and Q2 are grounded via that 10k resistor? If this is the case, then i've a hunch that simply fiddling with that resistor should mean that i can tweak the osscilation to sound right. Does this sound reasonable or am i barking up the wrong tree?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Dave
Ok so i removed the 10k resistor and replaced it with a 5k linear pot. Already this is an improvement and the osccillation sounds better, i'm going to try and determine which value of resistance i need to replace the pot with as i dont want a 6 knob pedal.
DeleteThanks
Dave
I added a 10K resistor between E and C on Q1 and I really like the results from the oscillator.
DeleteI was attempting to follow in your foot steps,Dave, and thought I was adding it in parallel to the existing 10K, but I screwed it up.
Oh well :D
Hey guys, can anyone post voltages from their working clone or original?
ReplyDeleteI've been mucking around with my SSFG build all arvo trying different things, mainly to do with the transistors. ATM I'm using 5088's and a J201 for Q3. I tried 5089's and a 5306(which arrived yesterday) but didn't think it sounded as good. Compared to the original, I'd say mine sounds around 75% of the way there. Gating is still a bit strong and the oscillation still isn't quite right. I checked voltages and found that ALL of the pins weren't even cracking the 1v mark(closest was .85v). Surely they can't be right, right? lol 8-)
Hey, well after realising the Bias pot was all the way off(dumb arse...lol) I checked voltages again and this is what I got. Bias pot fully clockwise. Battery: 9.04v
DeleteQ1
E 0.04v
B 0.56v
C 0.00v
Q2
E 0.85v
B 0.55v
C 0.00v
Q3
B 1.43v
C 8.88v
E 2.19v
Cheers, Jason.
Ok, I was just going over my board and the colour bands on the first 910k resistor seemed to jump out at me. For the 910k's I joined a 220k and a 690k. That first 690k(for whatever dopey reason)turned out to be a 470k. So I fixed that and retested the sound. Really great fuzz tone. Although, still not as wild as the original, it seems. All the controls work properly, especially the Density pot. It was weird before, now it works nicely through it's full range. Oscillation mode is nothing like it should be, though. Just crappy motorboating!! I even put the original spec. transistors back in. That just made it sound worse...lol! Q1 & Q2 basically have the same voltages E 0.44v B 0.56v C 0.00v. Still wouldn't mind knowing the actual voltages of a properly working unit.
DeleteCheers, Thommo.
Another update!! Noticing the couple of posts above mine I replaced the 10K with a 3.3k. Oscillation mode is 100% improved but still doesn't react with the guitars volume, like the original. Time to put this one to bed, I think. Unless of course, someone comes up with a sure-fire way to get this thing to sound as intended!
DeleteCheers, Thommo.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to use a footswitch for the osc/gate mode. Is there somekind of way to wire up a led for that switch aswell? I have 3pdt switches available.
Thanks.
DeleteYou'd wire it just as you would normally wire a led here:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k5Sh68yVU18/TzGRFKbiALI/AAAAAAAAAlk/CbfaaduUjYQ/s1600/%21Offboard+wiring.png
Use one pole for your spdt osc/gate switch and use one/both of the two available to wire up one/two leds (dc to led to ground).
Not sure if this post is dead, but did anyone figure out the magic solution to some of the problems?
ReplyDeleteI also had a question about the schematic found here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-znDD59ulovI/TxdhUN-MnnI/AAAAAAAAAng/uoII_zb2Tik/s1600/supersonicfuzzgun.png
My question is: On this schematic, Q3 is seemingly correctly listed as BCE, but collector is connected to R8 (910k) and base is connected to R9 (750ohms). Is this just my mistake in looking at it? Is it just that the schematic is listing 3 as emitter, 1 as base, and 2 as collector?
It also appears that Fuzz 3 is open, 2 goes to Q3 emitter and 1 goes to ground? What am I missing there?
OR is it that this schematic is just jacked up? Thanks!
has anyone tried those 2n5306's from smallbear on these death by audio projects? They're like a $1 a piece, but they are obviously a lot nicer transistors than anywhere elses 2n5306's. They have the larger case with the round bottoms and are marked "HT2n5306". THey definitely made an improvement in an ampeg scrambler I built a while back. Smallbear's 2n5089's were also a marked improvement in my blackarts pharoah clone. I wonder if crappy transistors from tayda and the likes are cause for these pedals not functioning like the stock units?
ReplyDeleteI actually have the official DBA Fuzz Gun PCB board & transistors with me (I emailed them and asked if I could buy the board, they sent me one for free instead), and they currently use two MPSA06G's and one BC517 as transistors as of 2014, not 2N5089's or 2N5306's. If anyone is planning to build one of these, you might want to try the new transistor types in addition to the old ones and see which one you prefer.
ReplyDeleteGreat info by the way. The results with these trannies are really different from the ones offered by 2N5089 & 2N5306.
DeleteWith the MPSA and BC517, sustain is dramatically improved. Is still a very bassy fuzz for my taste, but now it's a really usable and worth a try.
It makes me wonder if Oliver uses defective or out of spec components, as it's now clear that this circuit needs way lower hfe trannies, including the darlington, that what was used on the original SFG. And being a known and cheap components, if now he has changed......
Thank you very much for the info, really valuable.
Is the 'G' of the MPSA06G important? cause the only 'G' ones I found on ebay where the G was specified were very very expensive. And on mouser the shipping is also to much to order it
DeleteI doubt anyone would ever be able to tell the difference and they were probably only used because he has a lot of them from a bulk lot or something. The intricacies of the transistors will be lost on a pedal like this, and as he has used 2N5088's in there I'd just use those. Personally I'd use some crap I'd taken out of a broken PC power supply, and think it will sound exactly the same :o)
DeleteToday I've been revisiting some of my older builds, this one, was my 3rd one. My offboard wiring was pure crap, holy shit, I still don't know how it could work :P.
ReplyDeleteI swapped some months ago the original trannies (2N5089-5088, I used both and 2N5306) for the ones that rbtclol recommended (BC517 and MPSA06G), and could see that the result was greatly improved.
Today I've been playin' an hour with this effect, as a bassist friend that owned one original SFG came at home, and have to say that the results are not just greatly improved, but are really amazing.
My friend has told me that it sounds very very close to his original as he could remember on "normal" setting, and a bit different in oscillating mode, bbut he has been able to get many of the sounds he could get with the original, but he cooment too that the tapers feel / behave a bit different than in the original.
But dam, this pedal works really good. If I have to choose now between this effect and the Fuzz factory, I choose the Fuzz Gun without any doubt. Yeah, is a bit difficult to use, and you have to work too in the amp settings, but sounds really amazing.
I'm sure that Oliver purchased a million of defective out of spec 2N5089 transistors with extremely low hfe for a hundred bucks, and that's why no one can make his pedals work using the "original" trannies. Johnk has been successful too using too los hfe 2N3904 trannies in some DBA builds.
Give it a try to this circuit with MPSA06G and BC517 and you won't regret!
J.
Just build this with the trannies in the layout. Was afraid to give it a go cause of the problems I heard with DBA clones. Decided I would take a chance for a friend's birthday and kind of want to keep it for myself now. I didn't have a 10k for the fuzz, so had to use a 50k till it arrives, so have only had it open fully, but it sounds awesome. First I tried it on a hybrid amp, it didn't seem to have a lot of volume. Tried it again on a twin and damn it is nasty (plus loads of volume). The oscillation mode works great as well, totally usable. Thanks for the tip on changing the transistors, but for now I'm keeping it like this.
ReplyDeleteThe demos on youtube don't really do it justice. I'm on to the next DBA ;)
Is the 470p (upper left of layout between 180k and 910k resistors) a cap?
ReplyDeleteyeah, that is a cap.
DeleteI recently revisited this build and swapped in the MPSA06G and BC517 trannies. Wow, what a difference!
ReplyDeleteWord Of Caution: If you don't check the pin-out of the BC517 and just do a straight swap with the 2N5306, you will be sad and confused.
Excellent heads up! Are you using the MPSA06G to replace the two 2N5089's? and BC517 in place of 2N5306? Also, thanks for clarifying above. I am still only a few builds in using vero layouts, so I prefer to ask questions before I make assumptions. Thanks again!
DeleteExactly, the two MPSA06G's replace the 2N5089's exactly as diagrammed. If you are replacing the 2N5306 in a preexisting build, you will need to bend the pins on the BC517 so that they go in 2, 1, 3 instead of 1, 2 ,3. Again, check the labeling in the diagram against your pin-out and make sure the Base Collector and Emitter pins are going the right places.
DeleteThese diagrams general show all resistors as the light-blue peanut shape. The capacitors are shown in different styles to indicate which types of capacitors should be used. This most important when the drawing shows a purple circle with grey on one side such at the 100u and 4u7 above. These are polar electrolytic capacitors and can only be wired in one direction.
Keep the questions coming :)
Right on! Thanks! I will post a follow up with how my build turns out.
DeleteWOw
DeleteNot sure how I missed this one... on my NEXT TO DO list now! LOL
Could somebody tell me where the input wire coming off the Veroboard, connects to? Fuzz 1?
ReplyDeleteThe green wire at the bottom row? To your bypass switch...
Delete+m
That's what I was thinking, but I just did a layout where the input ran into a volume pot so I just wanted to make sure. You guys are great! Rarely have I encountered a forum or group where people look out and actually answer the newbies. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAfter building it, rebuilding it, (first was a messy failure, I have more experience now) and then finally ordering MPSA06G and BC517 transistors, it works perfectly! It sounds very similar to the demo. I recommend anyone use these transistors and not the ones in the layout, as the gate isn't too strong, and the oscillator now constantly oscillates as it should. This pedal will be in use quite a lot now!
ReplyDeleteChanged my name on here from AK MASSACRE 122 (my old gamertag from many years ago) to The Great Gaze.
DeleteSame guy!
hi friends!
ReplyDeleteIn this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kfViHeevM I've noticed that the density control doesn't "close" the tone very much.... how could I solve this? How could I increase the mids and highs cut?
Anyone?
ReplyDeleteI just reached what I believe to be a point of completion with this circuit. I built it with the transistors in the layout. For transistor three I put it in (top to bottom) CBE. The only other change I made was to remove the 10K and replace it with a B5K pot as mentioned above. I then removed the switch an wired it into the Osc. "On" position. The oscillation is now controlled by the Density pot and the newly added B5K. The B 5K (when turned fully) can now turn the oscillation completely off.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a photo of the off board wiring for this build? Im new at this and struggling! Especially with what goes to ground.
ReplyDeleteThis one has a lot of offboard wiring. Just remember that ground goes to ground. It doesn't matter where in particular for this, you could even wire Level 1 to Fuzz 3 then take Fuzz 3 to the spot just before the 330n capacitor - then the black ground wire there will go to your ground point. With the wire that says 'Level 2/Filter 2 & 3', just wire from that point, to Level 2, then take another wire to Filter 2 and then across to 3. They just need to be connected, they don't need their own wires or anything.
DeleteThanks alot! This might sound stupid but in regards to the dc power jack the ones i bought have two pins- a long one and a short one. Which should i make positive if im using a normal boss 9v power supply?
ReplyDeleteBoss power supplies are always centre negative, so make sure that the sleeve is positive. Most effects are wired like this. Check this out - http://www.synthrotek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/power_supplies.jpg
DeleteIf you're unsure, check with your multimeter.
Thanks alot mate! Got this one done and it sounds great! Now to figure out my next project!!
DeleteWell done, glad it all worked out! :)
DeleteHey i made my first build with the Supersonic Fuzz Gun by Death by Audio and i'm happy with it. It sound well but the only thing I need to fix is the low Volume output.
ReplyDeletehttp://tagboardeffects.blogspot.de/2012/04/death-by-audio-supersonic-fuzz-gun.html
If i play it live i always have to switch my boostpedal on at the same time. Its ok but not a way i wanna do my whole life.
So the task to you:
Is there any easy way to fix that or i have to put a little booster-build into the pedal too.
Im new in this but much interested and focused.
+++ Cheers. JB.Berger +++ (Berlin,Germany)
I'm happy for each Tip! :)
Check for poor solder joints. I've had some low volume problems and usually find a cold solder or a cut I didn't get all the way. Mine is loud as balls
DeleteHere we are over a year later, and I just thought I'd let everyone who's thinking about this build that it's def. worth it. I love this pedal and I use it a ton still. For jamming with a delay pedal and a tube amp, it just can't be beat. You can coax so many unique sounds out of this thing. Make sure you read all the documentation above and give it a rip. You will not regret it!
ReplyDelete-Brett
I have some MPSA06 on the way but in the meantime my best results were:
ReplyDeleteQ1: 2N5088
Q2: 2N5088
Q3: BC108
I tried a bunch of different NPN and PNP trannies in Q3 and I had the best results with BC108 in gated mode.
Oscillation Mode... I have low hum..a little less if I turn density all the way down. I did the 3k3 resistor swap and found that it just gave me a higher pitch hum so I switched back to 10k.
Great build, thanks for posting this!
What other transistors would be ok for the 2n5306/BC517 space? Struggling to find reputable supplies of either one.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone else ever asking my question, I sorted it by making a Darlington out of two 2N3904s. Pedals seems to work as I'd expect.
Delete