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
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Friday, 24 July 2020
Frantone Lo-Tone Classic Fuzz
From the source:
At
last... a classic fuzztone for bass! This transistorized beauty uses
germanium diodes for soft knee clipping and actually boosts the bottom
to give you awesome sustain with rich creamy fuzztone. Wonderful
overtones and plenty of thump to boot.
Built the circuit and got no sound. Just did some comparing to the schematic and the 10k resistor connected to Fuzz 1 is down one row too far, it should be connected to ground on row G. Also the 1uF cap at the bottom of column 9 should be a 1nF cap. Thanks for the post, always look forward to trying some bass pedals. Will update when I get a chance to make the changes to my build.
Built to the layout above. Everything works. What I have learned is the it doesn't like an active bass. If I had the fuzz cranked all the way with an active bass it would gate/cut out. If you turn the bass level down on the bass it helps. Also very sensitive to volume control whether it be passive or active bass. It's also a very bass heavy pedal. The tone control does a little but not a lot. I should add that I didn't have any 10k resistors so I used 11k in place. Not sure if this has a lot to do with it , I am very new to building pedals. I tested on the bench with headphones through a tascam GB10. All that said it seems to work well with a passive bass. Thanks for another great layout for us bass players. Back to my rabbit hole.
I watched Fran Blanche repair one of these on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy8LSYtHXdg At 19:30 she whips out the schematic and it has two more cap than your layout. She has a 1nF from B to C on Q2 and a 1uF cap in series with the 10K that goes to Fuzz 2. Thanks for operating such a cool and informative website.
I built this to the original layout and it didn’t really sound that good. I made the changes above without making a new board just to test it out. It sounds so much better now. It’s been moved from the scrap pile to the box it pile, lol. Thanks for updating and for everyone that continues to contribute to the excellent site.
Built on today - tried it with MPSA18s and it was too much - replaced them with BC108Cs instead (Hfe of 400 - roughly half of the MPSA18s) and it's great. It's got a TON of bass though, so might shave some off.
Built the circuit and got no sound. Just did some comparing to the schematic and the 10k resistor connected to Fuzz 1 is down one row too far, it should be connected to ground on row G. Also the 1uF cap at the bottom of column 9 should be a 1nF cap. Thanks for the post, always look forward to trying some bass pedals. Will update when I get a chance to make the changes to my build.
ReplyDeletegood catches. changes made and updated layout
Delete10k is still in row C to F instead of C to G? Should be C to G like Servant07 said (?)
ReplyDeleteshows up correctly when I look at the layout on the site.
DeleteWould a 12v zener work in place of the 11v that’s called for?
ReplyDeleteIt's just over voltage protection - 12V would be fine but you can just omit it too
DeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteBuilt to the layout above. Everything works. What I have learned is the it doesn't like an active bass. If I had the fuzz cranked all the way with an active bass it would gate/cut out. If you turn the bass level down on the bass it helps. Also very sensitive to volume control whether it be passive or active bass.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a very bass heavy pedal. The tone control does a little but not a lot. I should add that I didn't have any 10k resistors so I used 11k in place. Not sure if this has a lot to do with it , I am very new to building pedals. I tested on the bench with headphones through a tascam GB10.
All that said it seems to work well with a passive bass. Thanks for another great layout for us bass players. Back to my rabbit hole.
tone to to volume 3..
ReplyDeletei suppose you mean tone two ;)
I watched Fran Blanche repair one of these on YouTube.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy8LSYtHXdg
At 19:30 she whips out the schematic and it has two more cap than your layout. She has a 1nF from B to C on Q2 and a 1uF cap in series with the 10K that goes to Fuzz 2.
Thanks for operating such a cool and informative website.
cheers man. the schematic i had didn't have those. made the corrections and updated the layout.
DeleteYour previous layout already had the 1nf on B and C of Q2. Now your layout has two of them where there should be only one.
DeleteI built this to the original layout and it didn’t really sound that good. I made the changes above without making a new board just to test it out. It sounds so much better now. It’s been moved from the scrap pile to the box it pile, lol. Thanks for updating and for everyone that continues to contribute to the excellent site.
ReplyDeleteBuilt this updated layout, works great!
ReplyDeleteHello, I would like to know where I connect the wires of the Switch?
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell me where on Veroboard I put it?
The switch is wired like this:
ReplyDeletehttps://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html
The input wire is shown on the Classic Fuzz board layout, and the output wire goes to Volume 2 lug as per the notes at the bottom of the layout.
Built on today - tried it with MPSA18s and it was too much - replaced them with BC108Cs instead (Hfe of 400 - roughly half of the MPSA18s) and it's great.
ReplyDeleteIt's got a TON of bass though, so might shave some off.