This is a library of perfboard and single-sided PCB effect layouts for guitar and bass. I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, just a DIY'er who likes drawing layouts. It is meant for the hobbyist (so commercial use of any of these layout is not allowed without permission) and as a way to give back to the online DIY community.

Friday, August 9, 2019

Third Man Bumble Buzz

The Bumble Buzz is sold by Third Man Records, Jack White's record store and was designed and built for him by Union Tube & Transistor. It's a modified Kay Fuzz Tone F-1 with 4 silicon diodes in parallel instead of 2 germaniums like the original and the tone control fixed (so there aren't any controls at all). Easy fit for a 1590B and you might even be able to squeeze it into a 1590A.





There's also a fabricated version of this on the store if you prefer. It mounts directly to a 3PDT footswitch so your board isn't just floating in the enclosure and/or you don't have to mess with standoffs or double-sided tape. There's also 3 other new PCBs on the store as well, so go check 'em out!

39 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. I can verified it. I made it and the sound awesome. Thank you for the layout.

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  4. I made this a few days ok. Works well. Fuzz is killer. The gate is too tight though. Won’t even pick up the high E string. So I made another one last night. Identical. Is there a resister value I could play with to relax the gating just a bit?

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    1. Not sure off the top of my head, but you might want to chime in on this thread over on DIYSB: https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=120019.msg1123461

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    2. I didn't find any info on adjusting the gate. I built an SHO and put it in front off Buzz circuit. That works, but I'll have to add a volume knob.

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    3. Hello! I did it a while ago and it sounds great! but I realized that it sounds good with a guitar with active EMG microphones, instead with passive microphones what Iceman mentions happens.

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    4. I ended up replacing the 10k resistor that feeds the transistors with a 10k pot, and a SHO feeding into the circuit. Between the SHO pregain, and the added pot, I can dial in some crazy thick over the top fuzz. I'm still going to experiment on other tweeks.

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    5. Hey Iceman, I've built a bunch of these in the past. If you are using the silicone 2n2222a Transistors be sure that they are NOT P2n2222A. The pin out for those are different. I had the same issue and and discovered this a couple years back. Just something to check. Hope you get it going.

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  5. Hi, in which folder can I find the transfer image?

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  6. Hey, I've spent almost 20h troubleshooting that pedal, because I thought that I've made mistake as always, but there is a mistake in layout. You forgot about 10k resistor from Q3 base to ground. That made the "tight gate" as somebody previously mentioned. After fixing that everything sounds perfectly fine! Please, fix that as it might confuse many other pedal builders.

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    1. Thanks for catching that! Layout's been fixed.

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    2. Transferred to veroboard and I get a repetitive percussive sound after engaging the pedal. If I bypass and unplug DC power it goes away.
      Could that be related to the missing 10k resistor? Also used 1N5818 instead of 5817 which may not be ideal.

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    3. sooo I put the 10k resistor and the noise is gone, in my case the gate was tight on 10k so I´ll play around with higher values (I'm not the original poster who found the fix)

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  7. Transferred to veroboard and I get a repetitive percussive sound after engaging the pedal. If I bypass and unplug DC power it goes away.
    Could that be related to the missing 10k resistor? Also used 1N5818 instead of 5817 which may not be ideal.

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    1. (the fuzz works with that added noise on top)

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  8. I see that Iceman had an idea for adding a pot mod. Anyone have any other ideas for adding a pot or two to this? Very intrigued with how to vary the sound. Thanks.

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    1. If you want pots to fiddle with, just build the Kay Fuzz Tone or the Univox Super Fuzz and add the extra diodes. Pretty much the same circuit

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  9. Thanks for the idea. I'll take a look at the alternatives. Cheers.

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  10. just finished putting this together, i get a nice clean bypassed signal, i definitely get an effect, but i'm not getting that over the top compressed/gated fuzz. just sounds more like a fuzz face.

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    1. UPDATE; works perfectly. 47K resistor had not been soldered to ground correctly, and apparently thats all it takes, let that be a lesson I suppose.

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  11. Hi there, I just finished building this, triple check it and it won't work. There's one thing in the layout I can't figure what's for : the hole above the +9v, what I'm supposed to solder in it ? Sorry for my eventually bad English and if my question is silly, I'm a French beginer !

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  12. Total noob here but Will trying different diodes result in different sounds on this one?

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    1. Absolutely. The circuit this is based on only used 2 germanium diodes, so auditioning different diodes should result in different tones.

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  13. 1k8 2x
    10k 6x
    22k
    42k
    47k
    100k 4x
    330k
    1M
    -------
    1n4007 5x
    -------
    1n
    2n2
    22n
    100n
    1uF 2x
    10uf 4x
    47uf
    -------
    2n2222 4x

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  14. made according to this scheme, everything is cool. only very loudly in relation to clean sound. how can you make it a little quieter?

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    1. You could just throw on a volume pot at the output. Out pad to lug 3, lug 1 to ground and the 2nd lug is the new output. I'd try a 100k pot first.

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    2. This is amazing! Everything is cool. Dude, you made my day)

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    3. Hi wired this with the switch integrated board and just added a volume knob after the out but it is affecting the chain while the pedal is off. I figure I need to put it right before the switch but because the switch is integrated I can't figure out where to wire it. Thanks!

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  15. I don't know why it doesn't work. I can only get a clean boost. Everything was checked a few times, parts has been changed and still nothing. I even changed a breadboard. It is possible that the problem is in LOW ESR el. caps or 1N4007GS diodes? I would gave up but i really want to make this pedal for my friend's birthday. He is a Jack White huge fan.

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  16. Can someone who verified say if they used the layout from here?

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  17. i get a clean bypassed signal, but when the pedal is engaged i get a good clean sound with a buzzing noise in the background.

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  18. Hey, I'm new to electronics so forgive me if this is a dumb question. I bought the PCB from the store and I've been amassing the resistors and other parts, but I can't for the life of me find 42K ohm resistors. I can find 39k, 43k, and 47k, but no 42k. Will a 43k work for R16? Thanks in advance!

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    1. 43k should be ok. You can also put resistors in series or parallel to get values you don't have on hand. https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Book%3A_University_Physics_II_-_Thermodynamics_Electricity_and_Magnetism_(OpenStax)/10%3A_Direct-Current_Circuits/10.03%3A_Resistors_in_Series_and_Parallel

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    3. I found a 42.2k resistor and used that. I initially soldered the 3PDT switch on wrong (90 degrees to standard) because the arrow on the board threw me off and I don't know what I'm doing. Nevertheless, I got it working and it really sounds great!

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  19. Hey, can someone recommend me any mods to give it more mids? I like the gain structure and overall sound but it is very mid scooped.

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