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
You can tag this one as verified. Built mine with a 2N5457 and a BC549C. Great sounding dirty, velcroy fuzz, been meaning to build one for ages and now I know just why..!
Only problem I'm having is it's giving me a lot of hiss and oscillation, might try to replace the 47uF for a 100uF, though I would have expected it to be enough?
This is absolute filth, I need to build this right away! Are there any acceptable alternatives to the listed transistors? I've had a bit of a parts buying mission recently and would like to avoid buying more stuff if I can help it. My parts drawer (at the moment) has 5457s, 5458s, 2222s, BC109s, and 5088s. Would any of those suit the job? Cheers
Finally got round to building this and it's a dirty little filthmonger. Had to make some substitutions in Q1 (used a 5088) and some of the resistors - namely soldering different values together to create some of the odd values like 3.9K 270K and 2M that I either couldn't find or didn't have.
However as Alex says, I'm getting a lot of hiss and oscillation when I'm not playing. Did anyone figure out if a filter cap was the answer or if the 47u needs upping to 100? Cheers
Hi!, Thank you for this vero ! I don't know how to place diode because its ge and the black ring is shorter than the white (transparent). How do I place them?
The diode image is sort of inverted, making it look like the 1N4001. The black ring is indicating which side is the cathode. That's white in diodes that have black body.
In this case, as the diodes are paired for clipping, it doesn't matter which is in left and which is in right - just that they are "back to back".
Anyway - D1 is black ring up, D2 is black ring down. +m
Hi all, I've been fiddling with this some more and added a 3rd pot to control the distortion with lug 1 between the Signal leg of Q2 and the +ve terminal of the 33uF cap, lug 2 to lug 3, and lug 3 to ground.
I added it at the suggestion of someone on the diystompbox forum when asking how I could get rid of the excessive noise produced by the 2 knob version. It sounds pretty good until the resistance drops below about 2K, then that nasty high pitched oscillation appears again.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get rid of this oscillation, asides from setting the resistance to just over 2K ;-)? I really like how the pedal sounds with the distortion maxed out but that high pitched squeal/howl that comes in if I stop playing even for a very short time kills my ears. Thanks
ok so I finally got round to finishing this one today. I added an extra 5k lin pot between Q2/33uF and gnd to control the distortion and boxed it all up. Sounds great on it's own and devastating when chained after my sovtek big muff pi! Thanks Mark+Miro!!
Build two of these boards with BC549C and 2N5457 today. Very nice mushroom coud-style fuzz! Meaner than most tonebenders!
Although i did experience the same massive hiss as couple of other builders above. I simply cured it with 100p cap between BC549C base and collector (there's a nice place for that cap above the input wire). That cured the oscillation hiss on both of my boards. The output level is sufficient, but not too great. I might try 100K or even 250K lin pot for level at some point before boxing these up.
Did you notice any adverse effects from adding the B-C cap, Miro?
My Fuzz Stainer build sounds super cool but I'd love to minimize the hiss.. I'm thinking a B-C cap might do the job and also maybe roll off a bit of harsh highs too
Tested the theory with 1n cap, which muffled all the highs. 100 was just spot on, killing the oscillation but keeping the desired highs in tact. You could try 47p, 100p, 220p and other values to see which gives you the best results. +m
You should give the fuzz stainer a try. It's a cool fuzz that can go from a sweet overdrive to a weird gated mess. It's not going to replace my number one but its lots of fun
OK so this is a 10 year old thread but I've got some suggestions. Firstly this fuzz was uncommonly much better with humbuckers than single coils which were a little too weedy to send it over the edge.
Secondly the horrific squealing was tamed with a 100pf cap as suggested BUT there is an almost imperceptible change in tone with a cap here and frankly that horrific oscillating with the guitar volume alteration on squeal pitch seemed too beautifully obnoxious to simply tame away. I therefore put 39pf and 100pf caps as options on a on/on DPDT toggle and fed that via a second stomp switch to where the 100pf cap previously went from the suggestion above.
Now I have a Noise stomp switch that goes from almost no squeal (the stomp to 100pf on the toggle), some acceptable squeal (stomp to 39pf on the toggle) and fuzz factory style Armageddon squealing that you can ride it with your volume knob when the stomp is 'off', ie not bringing the caps into play. It's almost enough fun for me to have the noise stomp as momentary.
You can tag this one as verified. Built mine with a 2N5457 and a BC549C. Great sounding dirty, velcroy fuzz, been meaning to build one for ages and now I know just why..!
ReplyDeleteOnly problem I'm having is it's giving me a lot of hiss and oscillation, might try to replace the 47uF for a 100uF, though I would have expected it to be enough?
Cool, thanks Alex! I'll tag it right away.
DeleteOriginal has 4µ7 for a filter cap, so you could try that..
+m
maybe shielding both in and out would do the trick ?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis is absolute filth, I need to build this right away! Are there any acceptable alternatives to the listed transistors? I've had a bit of a parts buying mission recently and would like to avoid buying more stuff if I can help it. My parts drawer (at the moment) has 5457s, 5458s, 2222s, BC109s, and 5088s. Would any of those suit the job? Cheers
ReplyDelete2N5088 should be fine. Just note the pinout, as the transistor image is for BC550.
Delete+m
Excellent, thanks Miro!
DeleteOoooh! NASSSSSTY!
ReplyDeleteDon't think I ever heard of this filthy little gem. Thanks, and I think I've got all the parts around here somewhere...
http://youtu.be/ERLLUoZn0mM - I, Treguard, give you the Pedal of Fuzz...
DeleteFinally got round to building this and it's a dirty little filthmonger. Had to make some substitutions in Q1 (used a 5088) and some of the resistors - namely soldering different values together to create some of the odd values like 3.9K 270K and 2M that I either couldn't find or didn't have.
ReplyDeleteHowever as Alex says, I'm getting a lot of hiss and oscillation when I'm not playing. Did anyone figure out if a filter cap was the answer or if the 47u needs upping to 100? Cheers
sorry but the farts after eating the bean soup sounds better
ReplyDeletesorry but the farts after eating the bean soup sounds better
ReplyDeleteWhy do people build circuits they don't like and then complain?
Delete+m
Hi!,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this vero !
I don't know how to place diode because its ge and the black ring is shorter than the white (transparent). How do I place them?
The diode image is sort of inverted, making it look like the 1N4001. The black ring is indicating which side is the cathode. That's white in diodes that have black body.
DeleteIn this case, as the diodes are paired for clipping, it doesn't matter which is in left and which is in right - just that they are "back to back".
Anyway - D1 is black ring up, D2 is black ring down.
+m
Hi all, I've been fiddling with this some more and added a 3rd pot to control the distortion with lug 1 between the Signal leg of Q2 and the +ve terminal of the 33uF cap, lug 2 to lug 3, and lug 3 to ground.
ReplyDeleteI added it at the suggestion of someone on the diystompbox forum when asking how I could get rid of the excessive noise produced by the 2 knob version. It sounds pretty good until the resistance drops below about 2K, then that nasty high pitched oscillation appears again.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get rid of this oscillation, asides from setting the resistance to just over 2K ;-)?
I really like how the pedal sounds with the distortion maxed out but that high pitched squeal/howl that comes in if I stop playing even for a very short time kills my ears. Thanks
ok so I finally got round to finishing this one today. I added an extra 5k lin pot between Q2/33uF and gnd to control the distortion and boxed it all up. Sounds great on it's own and devastating when chained after my sovtek big muff pi! Thanks Mark+Miro!!
ReplyDeleteBuild two of these boards with BC549C and 2N5457 today. Very nice mushroom coud-style fuzz! Meaner than most tonebenders!
ReplyDeleteAlthough i did experience the same massive hiss as couple of other builders above. I simply cured it with 100p cap between BC549C base and collector (there's a nice place for that cap above the input wire). That cured the oscillation hiss on both of my boards. The output level is sufficient, but not too great. I might try 100K or even 250K lin pot for level at some point before boxing these up.
Mean little circuit!
+m
Did you notice any adverse effects from adding the B-C cap, Miro?
DeleteMy Fuzz Stainer build sounds super cool but I'd love to minimize the hiss.. I'm thinking a B-C cap might do the job and also maybe roll off a bit of harsh highs too
Tested the theory with 1n cap, which muffled all the highs. 100 was just spot on, killing the oscillation but keeping the desired highs in tact. You could try 47p, 100p, 220p and other values to see which gives you the best results.
Delete+m
Cool, I'll give it a try, and there are two perfect spots for a B-C cap for Q1 on that Fuzz Stainer layout!
ReplyDeleteA 100pf on Q1 didn't do much of anything. Do you think it would be more effective on Q2?
ReplyDeleteIt didn't mess anything up though so that's nice
I really wouldn't know about the Fuzz Stainer as i haven't built one myself...
Delete100p works for square wave.
+m
Right on thanks dude.
ReplyDeleteYou should give the fuzz stainer a try. It's a cool fuzz that can go from a sweet overdrive to a weird gated mess. It's not going to replace my number one but its lots of fun
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOK so this is a 10 year old thread but I've got some suggestions. Firstly this fuzz was uncommonly much better with humbuckers than single coils which were a little too weedy to send it over the edge.
ReplyDeleteSecondly the horrific squealing was tamed with a 100pf cap as suggested BUT there is an almost imperceptible change in tone with a cap here and frankly that horrific oscillating with the guitar volume alteration on squeal pitch seemed too beautifully obnoxious to simply tame away. I therefore put
39pf and 100pf caps as options on a on/on DPDT toggle and fed that via a second stomp switch to where the 100pf cap previously went from the suggestion above.
Now I have a Noise stomp switch that goes from almost no squeal (the stomp to 100pf on the toggle), some acceptable squeal (stomp to 39pf on the toggle) and fuzz factory style Armageddon squealing that you can ride it with your volume knob when the stomp is 'off', ie not bringing the caps into play. It's almost enough fun for me to have the noise stomp as momentary.
Thank you for your work on this a decade ago!