Saturday, 6 February 2016

ZVEX Fuzzolo

   This cool sounding fuzz was traced by our very own Ciaran Haslett in the forum. Check the forum for Ciaran's schematic, info, and layout (which is one column smaller than mine). I noticed Ciaran requested that this be redrawn for the main site, here you go :)






Posted by at 18:52
Tags: , , ,

65 comments:

  1. mirosol6 February 2016 at 20:15

    Dude. Fix the layout.
    +m

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  2. Travis6 February 2016 at 20:35

    ahh. mosfet pinout and an extra cut snuck under that cap. see anything else?

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    1. mirosol6 February 2016 at 21:47

      Nope :) But the tweaked pinout is not correct for BS170. As it is - it'll need the gate/source pins twisted. With cut removed and twisted MOSFET pins this is verified. Altough, these FETs are quite delicate devices and thus, i wouldn't recommend twisting the pins.
      +m

      Delete
  3. Travis6 February 2016 at 22:11

    All I changed was:

    Flipping gate and source labels - surrounding components didn't move

    Removing the extra link

    I'm not sure what you mean about twisting the legs on the BS170 though, unless yours have a different pinout then mine

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    1. BurgerCrisis7 February 2016 at 08:29

      Looks right here x.x

      https://www.fairchildsemi.com/datasheets/BS/BS170.pdf

      Delete
    2. BurgerCrisis7 February 2016 at 08:31

      Maybe one of you has a 2N7000?

      Delete
    3. BurgerCrisis7 February 2016 at 09:00

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. mirosol7 February 2016 at 09:11

      My bad about the pinout. Strike that.

      But. There is one more error that made me question myself and the pinout. Once that is fixed, then it's verified.
      +m

      Delete
    5. mirosol7 February 2016 at 15:51

      Yup. Now that the 3k9 is where it's supposed to be - you can tag it.
      +m

      Delete
    6. Travis7 February 2016 at 17:01

      Looks like drawing layouts first thing in the morning ain't working out too well for me :O

      Delete
    7. mirosol7 February 2016 at 19:45

      Nah :) Don't worry about it. I've had my share of erroneous layouts.
      +m

      Delete
    8. mirosol7 February 2016 at 19:51

      Also, check your mail :)
      +m

      Delete
  4. Travis6 February 2016 at 22:14

    I mean removing extra cut, not link

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  5. brotherleech7 February 2016 at 08:40

    I made this from Ciarans layout a few weeks ago. It sounds great and is really loud. I much prefer it to my woolly mammoth.

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  6. brotherleech7 February 2016 at 08:42

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Ciaran Haslett7 February 2016 at 12:34

    Haha...excellent Travis. Cheers for the mention. Top job as always! ....and gone is the number 19!!!

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  8. Werewolf8 February 2016 at 08:32

    I can verify Ciarans layout. I also used a 2n7000 instead of a bs170 and it sounded fine to me. Just make sure you flip it 180 (different pin out)

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  9. BB18 February 2016 at 21:12

    Works fine, really good fuzz!

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  10. Squirrels20 February 2016 at 04:28

    I built this a few weeks ago with the previous layout and had osscilation a through most of the PW sweep. Doesn't this layout have any issues?

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  11. Μιχάλης23 February 2016 at 12:49

    What's with the switch? Does it exist in the original?

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    1. ξεναγός νεκρόπολης23 February 2016 at 15:45

      it's a mod ciaran did for active or passive pickups

      Delete
    2. Μιχάλης23 February 2016 at 17:26

      Thanks. Which one is for passive?

      Delete
    3. Ciaran Haslett23 February 2016 at 20:32

      The original has an internal jumper to switch between the 39K (labelled Active) and 750Ω (labelled Passive). The switch here is just a handy way for us DIYers to select between the two.

      If you want passive only...

      Remove the switch and wires
      Connect your Input wire to where is says SW3
      You can also remove the 39K and the cut beside it

      Delete
    4. mirosol23 February 2016 at 21:12

      There is very little difference with 39K/750R when using passive pickups. Tried the stock values on a switch first, but dropped it for fixed 680R. Again - very little impact in the tone.

      This is definitely the wrong place for the following comment/discussion - but who in the world would ever want to use active pickups? It's 1:1 with having a sucky booster circuit in front of your pedalboard at all times. It may work for metalheads who have one tone - EMG 81 to Peavey 6505+ with gain maxed (as you can't even think about using the "clean" channel as it's clipping in way that just yells "broken!"). If i want a booster circuit before the rest of my board, i'd want to see a few options.. But then again. It's just me.
      +m

      Delete
  12. Travis24 February 2016 at 00:55

    LOL we pretty much share the same opinion on active pickups. Personally I was planning on just running my input directly to the 750Ω bypassing the switch altogether

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  13. Unknown2 May 2016 at 11:28

    Is the volume pot log or linear? And what should I do with PW1? Thanks for making this layout!

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    1. Alex2 May 2016 at 12:12

      Audio is Log.
      Pw1 is not connected (or you could connect it to Pw2).

      Delete
  14. Anonymous18 May 2016 at 08:11

    Silly question... what is "SW" on this layout?? Thanks!

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  15. Anonymous8 June 2016 at 19:02

    out of 2n3904s, but i do have :

    2n2222
    2n4401
    2n5088

    mpsa13, lol jk

    and i got 3 bc108bs, they all tested from 320-350 hfe. If i remember correctly last 3904s i tested seemed like right in same range. They are tin can versions...

    2n2222 and 4401 were like in 200s, 5088s in 500 range. Or the 5k hfe mpsa13 that just turns my multimeter off lol. I dont hae any sockets and got a week before can place a new order. Thanks for any replies

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  16. Anonymous8 June 2016 at 19:04

    out of 2n3904s, but i do have :

    2n2222
    2n4401
    2n5088

    mpsa13, lol jk

    and i got 3 bc108bs, they all tested from 320-350 hfe. If i remember correctly last 3904s i tested seemed like right in same range. They are tin can versions...

    2n2222 and 4401 were like in 200s, 5088s in 500 range. Or the 5k hfe mpsa13 that just turns my multimeter off lol. I dont hae any sockets and got a week before can place a new order. Thanks for any replies

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    Replies
    1. mirosol8 June 2016 at 20:14

      3904s are usually in range of 250-350 hFE, so you are golden with any of those. Go with BC108Cs and mind the pinout.

      I'd also recommend leaving the input switch out. Just take the input to SW3. The switch does very little to the tone of this circuit.
      +m

      Delete
  17. Travis8 June 2016 at 19:20

    Breadboard it or wait until you're ready to build it

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  18. underwood7 August 2016 at 13:47

    The last gain stage arround the BS170 is a SHO. Is the 51k resistor right? The SHO has a 5k1 on this position.

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  19. Werewolf19 September 2016 at 11:42

    If it helps others... I changed input cap to 0.1 for a tighter bass response (I'm just using it for guitar) I also put a 1k trimmer between the positive of the top 100uF cap and where it's socketed. This works as a traditional fuzz pot, if you're wanting to tame the fuzz a little.

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    1. underwood19 September 2016 at 11:50

      I'll try this. Mine still doesn't sound as in the demo and I can't find any errors in my build.

      Delete
    2. Werewolf19 September 2016 at 12:21

      Alas this shouldn't fix anything if it doesn't slund like the demo already. I used the layout posted in the forum. I also built it twice and i have no idea what i did wrong the first time. Have you checked all the usual things like solder joining two strips together?

      Delete
  20. Raja Naz Aiman29 January 2017 at 07:18

    Hi there.. I'm new to building DIY pedals and have built everything as shown except for the volume pot, I used a B100k linear pot and attached a 10k resistor across lug 1 and 2. There is fuzz coming out of the pedal, but the volume is wayyyy to low and I have to crank my amp to full volume to get the fuzz to be audible. Any idea what the problem is and do you think my make-shift audio pot is the problem? :/ Thanks!

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    1. Raja Naz Aiman29 January 2017 at 08:52

      oh and I forgot to mention that I built it without the spdt switch so my input is where SW3 is and I removed the 39k resistor.

      Delete
    2. Werewolf29 January 2017 at 12:17

      That's also what I did and wont be the cause of your problem. Sorry. If it helps I couldn't get my first build to work after checking all the usual things decided it'd be quicker to start from scratch again. 2nd built worked first time. If been doing this stuff on and off for about 10 years.

      Delete
    3. Casey Pittman3 April 2017 at 07:44

      Same problem, fuzz works just very low volume. 3 things that are different, 1) skipped the input switch and went strait to the 750r. 2) added a 1M pull down resistor. 3) used a 1N4007 in place of the 9v1 zener.

      Did you find a solution to your low output?

      Delete
    4. Casey Pittman4 April 2017 at 06:37

      Figured it out. I was one row off on the 100n going to the BS170. Once I fixed that my volume sky rocketed. Lots of noise and hum and some near Nyquist oscillation. I guess I'll see what happens when it's cased up.

      Delete
  21. Σταύρος25 May 2017 at 21:49

    Well no sound for me! Is the drain voltage of the bs importand here??

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    1. mirosol26 May 2017 at 10:28

      Nope. MOSFETs work "out of the box". Triple check your build. I built one of these myself and the layout is good.
      +m

      Delete
    2. Σταύρος26 May 2017 at 11:51

      Well I have a day off from work today so I started early in the morning with this one..
      The audio probe showed that there was no output from Q1 so I replaced it and it worked..it is strange though because I tested the dad one later and I measured it right. Anyway..
      Before I tried that, I replaced the 51k of the BS with a trimer just in case..only to find out that this affects the volume, so, this might be usefull for someone with lower output problem.
      Thanks for the reply mirosol.
      Good day

      Delete
    3. mirosol26 May 2017 at 13:34

      Good to hear you got it running. MOSFETs are quite delicate to static surges, more delicate than any other FET type. I've killed a few by just touching the leads all together.

      I don't think anyone will suffer from low output on this one :) After all, it's a fuzz face with SHO after it..

      However! There is an error in the layout! As Jurgen above noted the 51K should definitely be 5K1. http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24986&p=263538&hilit=fuzzolo&&sid=e64932bd3f8096f4c586386fa33b32a1#p263538

      Must have used 5K1 on mine...
      +m

      Delete
    4. akplm16 May 2018 at 15:51

      both 51K resistors have to be switch with 5k1?

      Delete
    5. AlexS4 September 2021 at 08:24

      I also changed the 51k next to Q3 to a 5k1. It's still very fuzzy but there's less noise. I can hear the active/passive switch making a difference.

      Delete
  22. Unknown16 August 2017 at 05:13

    Please could someone explain me how to add a fuzz and a tone knob to this pedal?

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    Replies
    1. mirosol16 August 2017 at 05:35

      Replace the 2k2 resistor with a B2K pot. And http://www.muzique.com/lab/swtc.htm
      +m

      Delete
    2. Werewolf16 August 2017 at 07:53

      I added a fuzz knob by putting a 2k pot in between the 100uf negative pin and the earth. The 100uf where the positive is connected to pw2. This is the same as the fuzz control on the wooly mammoth on which this is based.

      Delete
    3. mirosol16 August 2017 at 09:38

      Yes. These are all fuzz faces.
      +m

      Delete
    4. Unknown19 August 2017 at 17:22

      Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! I will try today!!!

      Delete
  23. Unknown16 September 2017 at 10:07

    I'm building this as my 2nd pedal, so I have not much experience. Where is the input and the output of the schematic? So I know how to wire my 3PDT switch.
    And also i guess the LED is wired somewhere in he 9V row? Thanks :)

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    1. Werewolf16 September 2017 at 14:16

      At the bottom of the picture it says switch 2 (middle pole) connects to input and volume 2 (middle lug) to output. :-D

      Delete
  24. Unknown27 September 2017 at 02:24

    hello, what is the position of the 100uF capacitor? what is the meaning of pink and grey color?

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  25. Unknown27 September 2017 at 03:22

    Those are electrolitic capacitors. The grey side means negative

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  26. Skippy10 September 2018 at 19:27

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. Unknown22 October 2018 at 21:41

    Hey guys I’m just getting the low volume problem. Tried changing the mosfet out for a new one, also tried changing the 51k resistors to 5k1 resistors which made it even quieter so I changed them back to 51k. Any ideas? I’m very new to this

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    1. mirosol23 October 2018 at 16:44

      Change only the upper one....
      +m

      Delete
    2. Unknown23 October 2018 at 20:45

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Unknown23 October 2018 at 20:48


      Just tried this, again it made it even quieter, thank you though! By upper you mean the one towards the upper right on the picture next to q3 correct?

      Delete
  28. Phonetap18 August 2019 at 01:32

    Yeah, I built this, and I get very quiet output as several others describe. I checked everything against the layout, cant find any error I made. Anybody know the cause of the low volume?

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    Replies
    1. underwood18 August 2019 at 07:06

      Maby the layout is wrong or the pedal itself is bad? I got it running and it only has one useful setting in which it is very noisy. I've a Catalinbread Manx Loaghtan fuzz and a Magnetic Effects Solar Bender. Both have less noise, more sound options and an overall better sound. I've stopped wasting time on this pedal. I've had and cloned many zvex pedals and I found only the SHO useful and it is the only one I still have. This was the last try on zvex because I got bedazzeld by the videos.

      Delete

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