Thursday, 9 February 2017

Fuzzhugger Algal Bloom V2

From the Source 

The Algal Bloom is a harmonically rich, wide-range fuzz! From mellow to gritty overdrivey tones, to beautifully thick fuzz, to crunch, crust, and throaty fuzz roars! V2 adds an all-new Choke toggle that turns the Algal Bloom into a Harmful Algal Bloom, a raunchier mode that goes from dying to crusty, to crunchy, to whiplash! A new 3-way filter toggle lets you smooth clipping and highs for ultimate control.The Algal Bloom is known for its open tone and many chord-friendly settings, with fantastic definition and note-separation, even on high gain settings. The controls are uniquely interactive for incredible range. The pedal has a unique sound and circuit, but also expands on some classic tones that fuzz enthusiasts will love. A workhorse of a classicish, garagey, all-around capital F Fuzz. 


The Controls! 

• Gain: Gain adjustment and clean-up! As you back it off, it cleans up your fuzz, also adding a hint of sputter and fizzle. Hard right is full-on!

• Bloom (Fuzz): Expands and pushes your fuzz tone, adding gain, sustain, and definition. Hard right is maxed out...a unique, throaty, brash-yet-full tone! 12 o'clock is its "home setting," for thick fuzz tone!
 
• Power: Controls the flow of power to the circuit, altering response, heft, and gain (slight scratch is normal, as circuit adjusts to voltage change)

.• Level: Your master volume control.

 
• Choke / HAB Toggle: the V2's new Choke toggle, letting you dial in whiplash, crunch, crud, crust, dying, and dead. 

• Filter (3-way):
1) Middle: the unfiltered Algal Bloom you know.
2) Up: slightly smoothed highs, reducing clipping and fizz activity from the highs.
3) Down: smoothed and dampened.

 


Posted by at 06:43
Tags: , ,

37 comments:

  1. Unknown10 February 2017 at 02:49

    Took a crack at building this tonight. I've got no signal at the base of Q4, however I have signal at Volume 2 and Clean 2, which makes no sense to me. I'll double check it with a fresh pair of eyes tomorrow.

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    1. Zach10 February 2017 at 05:44

      i think i spotted the error. one of the cuts was misplaced. there should be a cut at column j row k, and there shouldn't be a cut at column i row i. so you can make the corrections by making the new cut and put a jumper (small piece of wire) on the copper side to essentially remove the wrong cut.

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    2. Unknown10 February 2017 at 14:02

      Looking at the schematic from Wecallthepolice at FSB, It looks like there should be two 2.2M to the ground of Q1. One to ground, and one to the drain. I'm going to jump the cut at k,f and add a 2.2M to ground from that row. It looks like it will fit at k,k to n,k

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    3. Unknown10 February 2017 at 15:16

      A couple more discrepancies I found compared to the schematic I mentioned above. The 470pf two ground should be on the other side of the 1k resistor, and the 100n capacitor connected to the voice 3 should be 10n. I won't be home to make these changes until later tonight, but I'll report in when I do.

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    4. Zach10 February 2017 at 18:07

      thanks for spotting those. i originally only looked for issues around Q4. i went back over the whole layout and schematic and found a few other issues. i corrected the layout accordingly.

      Delete
  2. Unknown10 February 2017 at 23:22

    Tag it my friend.

    Very clear sounding fuzz, even with the bloom turned up. It gets pretty nutty with the choke and the the power knob. I like it a lot. Thanks for the layout!

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    1. Zach11 February 2017 at 03:09

      great. thanks for working through it to get the layout right, and verifying it so quickly. cheers

      Delete
  3. Focalized9 March 2017 at 07:19

    Should the SPDT be ON-OFF-ON? Never seen ON-ON-ON.

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    1. mirosol10 March 2017 at 05:39

      No. On-On-On. Those are more common in guitar wirings. Although, i do recall Suhr Riot calling for one of these too.
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/170710584909
      +m

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    2. T-Funk15 May 2017 at 21:29

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  4. santravler30 April 2017 at 23:20

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. SammiBoiBuildsPedals20 June 2017 at 01:18

    So for that switch from ebay, would you just use half of the leads, since the layout calls for a spdt, and that switch is a dpdt?

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    1. Zach20 June 2017 at 02:16

      which switch are you talking about because both are used for this pedal. the choke switch IS a DPDT On-On switch, and the Voice switch IS a SPDT On-On-On switch.

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    2. SammiBoiBuildsPedals21 June 2017 at 00:31

      The voice switch. The link on ebay features a on-on-on DPDT switch. It shouldn't matter though, right? I figured that even though its double poled, you'd only have to use half of the leads, since the layout calls for a SPDT on-on-on, and not a DPDT.

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    3. Zach21 June 2017 at 02:12

      Just get the right switch and save yourself headaches and spending extra money. You can get them from tayda cheap.

      Delete
    4. SammiBoiBuildsPedals21 June 2017 at 03:29

      Okay :) I found this link from Tayda. Again, if it isn't too much trouble, how would you go about wiring up this switch? There are six leads for the switch, and three needed for the layout.

      Thanks again, I'm still relatively new at this
      http://www.taydaelectronics.com/mini-toggle-switch-dpdt-on-on-on.html

      Delete
  6. SammiBoiBuildsPedals14 July 2017 at 00:01

    So what exactly is the "clean" pot for? I didn't see it on the pedal itself, and it's not a trimmer, so I was just curious. Can it just be set and kept inside the enclosure, or is it usable as a regular pot and work affixed to the enclosure with the others.

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    1. Zach14 July 2017 at 01:21

      It allows you to add your clean signal into the fuzz. It's part of the V2, I didn't add it to the circuit.

      Delete
    2. SammiBoiBuildsPedals14 July 2017 at 04:59

      Oh okay :) that makes sense. I guess that makes it a matter of preference whether you want it easily accessible or not then. Thanks for the prompt reply, cheers

      Delete
    3. SammiBoiBuildsPedals14 July 2017 at 05:45

      Was this based off of the Algal Bloom v2 and Blend? That one does indeed feature the clean knob

      Delete
  7. SammiBoiBuildsPedals22 July 2017 at 23:40

    Okay, I'm sorry I've been asking so many questions, but this is the very last, how exactly do you wire the dpdt switch in terms of leads? is it intended to be read like this?

    1 4
    2 5
    3 6

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  8. Travis23 July 2017 at 15:59

    Nothing wrong with asking questions SammiBoi

    You've got the numbering correct. Have fun

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  9. SammiBoiBuildsPedals25 July 2017 at 21:09

    K. Got it built, having some technical difficulties now. I may or may not have (it was late last night and I can't remember for sure) tested it using the wrong polarity, because I test wired it backwards. Today, we tested it and we get some signal, but not until stuff is turned considerably up. The only knobs that appear to be doing anything are clean, gain, and maybe a little bloom. Don't know if I accidentally broke one or multiple caps, or ruined transistors, so for troubleshooting, does anyone have any idea where to start?

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    1. SammiBoiBuildsPedals25 July 2017 at 21:36

      Actually minus that, all of the pots do something.

      Delete
  10. Travis25 July 2017 at 21:20

    Most likely victims would be the diode and 100u caps at the top left. Maybe that

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  11. SammiBoiBuildsPedals25 July 2017 at 22:58

    I replaced that cap, haven't tried the diode yet. I think I've replaced all of the transistors but it still isn't 100% yet. What would it sound like if said diode was broken?

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  12. Travis26 July 2017 at 02:01

    I really don't know but if your build is putting out sound I'd guess it isn't the problem.

    I'd rather not try to guess what the problem is though. I'd appreciate it if you check out the debugging section of the forum and post photos of the top and bottom of the board, maybe a pic showing wiring, and post your transistor voltages so we can help you out as effectively as possible

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  13. SammiBoiBuildsPedals26 July 2017 at 02:14

    Alright. If I can't figure it out soon I may resort to that. The diode didn't seem to be the problem. It just seems like the signal is weak

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    1. SammiBoiBuildsPedals26 July 2017 at 02:31

      And sorry I'm such a noob lol, this is only my third pedal, but how do you measure the voltages? Put the black lead to ground and the other to the transistor lead? Thanks for the help

      Delete
    2. Kalimna26 July 2017 at 02:57

      Yes, black lead to ground and the red lead to the transistor (or other component) lead. Obviously this needs to be done with power on - and a check of the supply voltage (especially if from a battery) can be handy too.
      I know this from several queries Ive had over a couple of pedal builds. I'm only up to build number 11 or so, so still quite the newbie.
      Good luck with the build.
      Adam

      Delete
  14. Unknown9 May 2018 at 05:59

    My clean knob doesn't do anything. As far as I can troubleshoot it's wired as per the diagram?
    Also aren't clean blends usually linear pots?

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    1. Unknown11 May 2018 at 03:42

      Well I mean a lot of shit didn't work but I only mentioned the clean since it was first in the signal path...
      The symbols for the 2N transistors are backwards. So I had all mine backwards.

      Delete
  15. pakkee6618 October 2022 at 08:25

    sorry for dumb question, can anyone explain how the single pole double throw toggle switch work at center position? because I can't find any results, thank you.

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    1. IvIark18 October 2022 at 09:41

      In the centre position it makes both the outer contacts. Rather than buy a switch specifically for this, it may be better to use a DPDT, connect the common middle terminals together and then use opposite corners of the outer terminals it will give you the same thing

      Delete
    2. pakkee6618 October 2022 at 16:57

      Got it Mr.Mark, thanks for the tip and so glad to see you sir, how have you been? wishing you good health and have a nice day ^_^

      Delete
  16. Lucy10 May 2023 at 23:10

    Dummy question probably, but:

    Where does Power 1 go?

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  17. Lucy10 May 2023 at 23:10

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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