Fuzzface Problems

[ibanezrocks]

I built a fuzzface the other day and have thoroughly tested it. Sound goes through it, it is distorted, and it is louder than if the pedal wasnt plugged in, but the distortion is very chunky and the clipping is incredibly harsh, theres also way too much bass response, with very little treble going through. I have tried changing some of the resistors and have helped it slightly, but it is still WAY off from a smooth fuzz. Any ideas? (preferably from people who know what they're talking about, and if you tell me to go buy one you should know I'd rather not have one than spend money on it)

 

[Halion]

Although I'm fairly a noob when it comes to eletronics, I've build a couple of guitar pedals. I've found that by far the most impact on frequency response is capacitors in the signal path. A value difference of one added 0 can already change the frequency response so much that I've double, if not triple check every cap and if you can't find anything wrong, do try some other caps (switching from ceramic disk to film for instance). Perhaps that's your problem.

 

[Outlaws]

I built a fuzzface the other day and have thoroughly tested it. Sound goes through it, it is distorted, and it is louder than if the pedal wasnt plugged in, but the distortion is very chunky and the clipping is incredibly harsh, theres also way too much bass response, with very little treble going through. I have tried changing some of the resistors and have helped it slightly, but it is still WAY off from a smooth fuzz. Any ideas? (preferably from people who know what they're talking about, and if you tell me to go buy one you should know I'd rather not have one than spend money on it)

That is a EXTREMELY common problem.

Infact it happened to me also.

First off, the FuzzFace is a very simplistic circuit which leaves a lot to be desired interms of working properly.

Did you build the Silcon or Germanium version? Also, are you using humbuckers? Fuzzface don't like them. They have a lot hotter output and the bass is too beefy for the circuit to work with. That doesn't mean it isn't usable, its jsut the ol' 'different stokes for different folks' thing.

Another thing is that even though there is a lot of schematics online, very few are any good for cookie-cutter Fuzzfaces. They tend to need a lot of love and care and understanding. ie: replace the resister connected to Q2's (the second transistor) Collector with a 20k micro trim pot. If you don't know what any of that is, the resistor is probably around 8k. This will help with any biasing issues and let you fine tune the pedal to your ear as opposed to someone elses internet scetch of what they -think- Jimi used.


There are 101 more problems with building a Fuzzface. Let me know if this isn't you answer.


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Further explanation of using a Micro Trim Pot incase you don't know...

the resistor obviously only has two sides and the Trim pot will have three lugs. This is going to seems like a brain fuck to a noob. So what you do is notice there are 2 lugs on one side and 1 lug on the other. The 2 lugs side is importand because one if them is going to be an IN and out is going to be an OUT. It doesn't matter which you use, it will just alter the biasing from working clockwise or counter-clockwise. Take which ever lug you have connected to Q2's Collector and solder a connection to the single lone lug.

 

[acidrock]

I have a friend who had an original fuzz face and said it was a crappy pedal,but there weren't a hell of a lot of choices at the time.He thinks it's reputation is based on nostalgia rather than quality.

The only reason I'm posting this is that perhaps your expectations were higher than what the pedal had to offer.

 

[ibanezrocks]

Thanks for the replies, I was unaware that fuzzfaces dont work well with humbuckers, I have already increased the resistance on the input, which has helped but still not enough, I am building the silicon one because I already had those transistors so it wouldnt cost me anything at all. I guess I could try cutting the bass more on the pedal, but if it doesnt work I'll just throw it at something and that way I'll still get some enjoyment out of it.