Here's a couple really short demos I did on guitar and bass on one of the clones I built a few years ago (pardon my butchering of a couple Black Keys songs).
Friday, January 30, 2015
Maestro FZ-1S Super Fuzz-Tone
The Maestro Super Fuzz-Tone was introduced in the early 70s. It uses 6 transistors, 2 of which are used as clipping diodes. Original transistors were 2N5133s, but 2N5088s or BC109Cs can be good subs. I've built 2 clones of this pedal in the past (though not with this layout) and used 2N5088s with good results. The original Balance control was a 30k dual gang pot, which you would probably have a very hard time sourcing. In both my clones I used a 50k with no problems, but if you want you can put 82k resistors between lugs 1 and 3 to get the dual gang pot to around 31k, though it will mess with the taper some. Said Balance control acts almost like a clean blend, and the switch offers 2 different tones. If you're tired of Big Muffs, give this one a try. Works great on bass too.
Here's a couple really short demos I did on guitar and bass on one of the clones I built a few years ago (pardon my butchering of a couple Black Keys songs).
Here's a couple really short demos I did on guitar and bass on one of the clones I built a few years ago (pardon my butchering of a couple Black Keys songs).
Verified.
ReplyDeleteThe Balance control works pretty well. The in-between positions sound like two guitar tracks, one fuzzy and one clean, playing simultaneously.
The thin position on the tone switch is louder than the full-range position. Someone on the vero site suggested lowering the 470k resistor off the switch to a 180k to even out the volume levels.
The Sustain pot controls how fast the fuzz side decays, rather than working as a normal gain control as I'd assumed. The decay always sounds a bit glitchy at the end, though.
Anyone have an idea what would cause the balance knob to effect both signals identically instead of inversely?
ReplyDeleteI just built the PCB version of this and the balance knob isn't working. Turned one way (down/to the left) it turns the volume almost all the way down but a tiny bit a fuzz. The other way almost sounds like clean and fuzz together (may be normal at that position, not sure?). Is it the balance A's that are the cleans? I did the basics as far as checking for solder blobs and reheating joints.. Nothing's changed yet. I will come back to it later with fresh eyes. If anyone has ideas for me I would love some advice!
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