Question for the Fuzz/distortion builders out there

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:59 pm

I built a John Hollis Omnidrive (here and here) a while ago and have been trying to revive this circuit and use it to get rid of my DS-1.

I like the distortion and fuzz that it generates but there seems to be a bit of a decay problem. The decay on the grit is really quick, as soon as I stop picking the fuzz just goes away. Its like there's no harmonic response at all. Is there a way to toy with the decay?

Bill Oakley · Post by **Bill Oakley** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:51 am

What layout did you use? Are you sure there isn't an error in the layout?

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:55 pm

I used the layout at GEO.

Bill Oakley · Post by **Bill Oakley** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:24 pm

Did you etch it yourself? Can you post some pics of the trace and component side? The bigger and clearer the better.

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:29 pm

Yeah I etched it myself. Unfortunately I can take pictures because my wife is away with the kids and she has the camera.

On a side note, this isnt my first pedal build, I've built a few others and I was careful to match up the negative and the etched board to make sure it was etched properly. I did have this circuit working before but I robbed the box it was in for another project and put it in the parts bin. I recently bought a new casing and decided to revive it but now I just dont like the grit decay on it. I was just wondering where I should start to improve the decay response.

Bill Oakley · Post by **Bill Oakley** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:42 pm

Did it have the decayed response when it was working before?

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:44 pm

To be honest I never really paid attention to that. From memory I guess yes it's always been that way.

Bill Oakley · Post by **Bill Oakley** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:54 pm

I've known a few people who have built this and I just never heard anyone comment on a decay issue which leads me to believe there is something wrong with your pedal as opposed to something just needing to be modified.

Bill Oakley · Post by **Bill Oakley** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:11 pm

Here's a sound clip of a pedal that used Hollis' schematic. Does yours sound like this? This is typical of the ones I have heard.
[youtube][/youtube]

Shaguar · Post by **Shaguar** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:12 am

You know what Bill? The decay thing I'm complaining about, I think mostly happens on my little SS practice amp, which is what I've been mostly mucking around with lately and its what I use to test my pedals with.

I just fired up the 50w tube amp and the response is much different. Its really not as bad. Its a little different to what I'm used to, maybe from using that DS-1 too much and it has a overkill harmonic response. I dont know why I never thought of using this thing on my tube amp before. Brain fart.