Best Fuzz Pedal Ever - an absolutist, empirical question.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:18 pm

euan wrote:Big Cheese is the fuzz I want the most.

I'm still debating on making the FF clone- I can get all the nasty oscilating sounds I want out of my feedback loop, but I still really love that gated fuzz sound..

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:23 pm

The gated shit is just strangling the power supply to the transistors. My fuzz face copy does it when the batteries die die die.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:58 pm

I've ordered the parts for the Fuzz Factory clone now. Came to a total of $46 delivered to the UK.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:23 pm

euan wrote:The gated shit is just strangling the power supply to the transistors. My fuzz face copy does it when the batteries die die die.

I was talking to Tweez about making a stand-alone box for a FF-style Stab control, to go inline between your mains supply and a dirt pedal for that kinda sound. Is this safe and/or would it work?

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:28 pm

I'm not pretty keen on the idea myself.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:33 pm

Because of the placement?

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:35 pm

Yeah a bit. It would be kinda weird like.

Will · Post by **Will** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:47 pm

Stab control should be plenty safe, you can't mess up a pedal with too little voltage - as long as you don't mess up the polarity or anything. I think the FF just uses a 10k pot in series with the power input.

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:51 pm

Do he is talking about doing this is a power supply before it goes to the box. Thats why I'm a bit iffy about it. Though if Mike wasn't stuck in the mud somewhere in southern England he would probably tell me to stop being a bitch.

aen · Post by **aen** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:55 pm

DuoSonicBoy wrote:Stab control should be plenty safe, you can't mess up a pedal with too little voltage - as long as you don't mess up the polarity or anything. I think the FF just uses a 10k pot in series with the power input.

Probably less, the starve resistor in the Prallel Universe is a 2k2. a 10k the "sweet spot" owuld probably be a real pain to nail down.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:11 am

The Fuzz Factory actually has a 5k pot as the 'Stab' control, which would be easier to dial in.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:05 am

Oh SNAP - I just got owned for fuzz knowledge.
It is a 5k in the FF - some guy on the DIY forum used 10k on a simpler fuzz so he could dial it down to zero volts - but yr all right about the sweet spot thing.

inscho · Post by **inscho** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:49 am

Doog wrote:AEN: MAKE A BIG CHEESE FUZZ CLONE I WULD BUY ONE

you can buy a kit from www.olcircuits.com

Post by **Doog** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:29 am

Yeah, that's a possibility too, but not as cheap like..

aen · Post by **aen** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:40 pm

inscho wrote:
Doog wrote:AEN: MAKE A BIG CHEESE FUZZ CLONE I WULD BUY ONE
you can buy a kit from www.olcircuits.com

I don't get a good feeling from cloning for profit.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:35 pm

I don't get a good feeling from spending $150+ on a pedal with only $25 in parts.

aen · Post by **aen** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:53 pm

I have a lot of respect for folks like Zvex, Devi Ever.

If you build, you know how much work it is. Yeah, it's not a lot on parts, but imagine if they paid themselves a decent hourly wage (especially devi) what you'd have to pay for a pedal.

My Squaresnkaes are probably more work than a "simple" fuzz, but it's a good 8-10 hours of work. If i were to make a "living wage" off of these, that's at least 90 bucks in labor. A squaresnakes, for example, is about 40-45 bucks in raw parts. Let alone all the hours of R&D, cost of consumable materials, tools, etc.

I used to think $200 was alot for an awesome pedal, now I know differently.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:04 pm

I can understand the premium price for really special, artistic stuff. All the complexity that goes into an OOOOhhh Wah, Seek Trem, Fuzz Probe, RingTone - those pedals aren't overpriced at all.
But something like the SHO, which only has about 12 parts, and all the YAFFs out there - well, they'd have to be really artistic for me to even consider it. For that stuff, I'd just rather make it myself.

euan · Post by **euan** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:06 pm

SHO isn't even a totally original design.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:40 pm

euan wrote:SHO isn't even a totally original design.

Neither is the Wooly Mammoth, he actually admits to that though. I think a lot of circuits are very similar that there is bound to be repetition at some point.