Holy Spirit of the forest, fuzzly bear is here. Kick the Switch to unleash the beast. The sound of this fuzz-pedal is influenced by an old underrated box of the 1970, the classic Jordan Bosstone. The main reason why it did not conquer the world's guitar players like other effects was the massive lack of bass.
We refined the circuit to get an old school sound with a modern Twist. First of all we brought back the low end and added a bias control to explore new capabilities of the forgotten pedal. The essential SKIN/MEAT knob controls the bias of the circuit. You can dial in a sharp skinny fuzzy tone or a thick and meaty wall of furry. The GAIN control delivers a whole range of different fuzz shapes. Back it off to get a dirty chunky overdriven tone, turn it up and your tone becomes thicker and thicker. Set the gain fully clockwise and magic will happen: The smooth decay turns into a starved and gated fuzz sound, perfect for classic tunes. Check out the demo, get bitten.
AND YES IT DOES BASS!!!
Suggested mod I made on my own clone not too long ago is a minimum gain resistor between Gain #1 and ground to prevent sound from cutting off. It's a great sound with plenty of low end.
ReplyDeleteHey, where can I find a schematic for this? Nothing comes on Google.
ReplyDeleteI finally found it in this thread:
Deletehttp://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28120&p=263303&hilit=KMA+Audio+Machines+Fuzzly+Bear#p263303
Verified!
ReplyDeleteI like the vintage fuzziness. Was looking for a Bosstone type of fuzz, and almost went the voodoolab route. The wall of fuzz in the description is a bit of an exaggeration, but can get pretty fuzzy on non single coil guitars.
(I went Q1 and Q2 from left to right. The 68NF in row 3 and 4)
DeleteIf you *really* want to make this for bass then you should really swap the 68nf for a 220nf cap - drops the 'dirty' frequencies to approx. 40Hz instead of 120 odd.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for layout. Question of a beginner: What are the big blue dots for? I assume taht I have to connect C8 to F8, F8 to G8 and G8 toI9? Thx
ReplyDeleteThe blue dots are 'double links' - yes, it means that C8, F8, G8 and I8 are all connected together. The easiest way I've found to do this is to run a piece of bare wire between the 2 furthest points (in this case C8 to I8) and then poke another piece if bare wire through the hole at F8, solder to the track on the copper side of the Vero, then bend flat on the top side of the board and solder it to the existing wire that you first soldered. When I made this on eI bent bare wire into a 'U' shape and but the ends in F8 and G8 respectively, then soldered it to the long bare wire. Check the connections with a meter before soldering any other components though - makes bug fixing much easier and faster later on, should your build not work properly later on.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul for your detailed reply and sorry for my messy writing in the comment above. Your method of connecting the double links seems great for avoiding trouble later in the building process. I'm looking forward to build this fuzz later this week. =)
DeleteBut, f8 and g8 are no conected no?
Deletec8 to f8, and g8 to i8... is that correct?
This is really a great fuzz. I used 2n2222a into it, sounds great.
ReplyDeleteBuilt one of these last week. With my guitar it's... good? Fine?
ReplyDeletePlug in a bass, though, and this thing is a *beast*! My favorite setting is with Skin/Meat centered and Gain at about 75%.
Great circuit, thanks Zach!
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ReplyDeleteI have just built one of these (this was my first Vero-built). It sounds ok but it's very noisy aswell. Can anyone imagine what causes the noise and how to reduce it?(I used a BC109B)
ReplyDeleteProblem solved! Just had some grounding issues.
DeleteI added a diode cut switch which I can really recommend.
I didn't have the correct diodes & transistors laying around, but tried to build it with 2x 2N2222 & 5x 1n914. Can this work? beceause mine doesn't :( no sound at all.
ReplyDeleteYou need a PNP transistor for Q2. 2N2222A is NPN. Try a 2N2907A or other PNP if you have one.
ReplyDeleteUsing this with my OR15 is giving me a Smashing Pumpkins-esque tone. Definitely not a sub for a Muff, but if anyone is using an amp that isn’t Muff friendly, give it a shot.
Thanks for the reply!
DeleteUnfortunately I have no PNP resistors in stock. I will have to order if I want to finish this pedal.
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteBuild mine a while ago. And at first i was not really happy with it. Very loud, noisy and not much gain at all.
So i checked out the Bosstone schematic and figured that Q2 is reversed from this schematic. because of that, i rotated Q2 180 degrees and now it sounds like the demo's :).
So for everyone who has build one already. Q2 top to bottom pinouts: E B C (instead of C B E)
Hi! Just to know, does anybody here tried to look up the Tyler from KMA?
ReplyDeleteIs it true that Q2 is backwards? Also I'm a little confused as to grounding this circuit...in the original schematic it says to ground to the enclosure. Can I just run everything to a common ground point? (Input/Output ground)...I just failed on my first try so I want to make sure I have all info before I give it a go again.
ReplyDeleteJust follow normal offboard wiring. That will also make the enclosure grounded. ie. the input or output sleeve ground will connect ground to the enclosure.
DeleteI'd also advise to flip Q2, sounds ok the way the layout has it but if you want it to sound like the clips then flip Q2, its a very common mod on Bssstone circuits.
DeleteThanks for the layout. Can confirm flipping Q2 makes it sound just like the vids.
ReplyDeleteFYI: ive been on a bosstone bender. So far my favorite layout/pcb is Codtones Codpiece. Has a bunch of mods. Can get crazy octave down synth sounds out of it. Great pedal and well worth a try if you like the bosstone sound.
Would pick that one over any fuzz face!
ReplyDeleteYet I had to put a 2,2nF cap between Output and Ground to tame the high treble. I also read somewhere that there's a slot for an optional capacitor on the original KMA board just for this purpose.
Thanks for this layout, made my day!
I would be interested in doing this where did you put the cap on the board if you don't mind me asking?
Deletehi, this going to be my first project, I like to know if this 2SA15, could be a good replacement for Q1,
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance.
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DeleteI was wrong. The BC109C is an NPN transistor, 2SA15 is PNP. Different polarity.
Deletethanks for the answer, and sorry for the late reply, just waiting to have all the parts, but is there any silicium option to bc109c?
ReplyDeleteTry a BC107B or C Or BC108 you'll have good tone too
DeleteI also confirm that flipping both transistors 180deg make sound like on YT demo vids.
ReplyDeleteDon't really understand why, but the Skin/Meat doesn't do much... taking off the caps in that part also.
ReplyDeleteFor Bass I've replaced Q1 with a BC107 and left Q2 as in layout: more useful tone with active basses
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ReplyDeleteI made this since one year. It work fine but I did not like it on guitar. Sorry. Maybe, i was looking for fuzz face sound.
ReplyDeletethrouth a bass ?
thanks for sharing