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, April 8, 2016

Schaller Fuzz

For Fuzz Friday I give you a fun little circuit built in West Germany in the late 60s and early 70s–the Schaller Fuzz. It's a silicon Fuzz Face variant and sounds rather good. Originals used BC109B and 239B transistors, but modern equivalents would be BC549B or 550B. It's laid out for onboard pots, but if you feel like using hookup wire, you could probably fit it in a 1590a. Schematic can be found here.




For reference, here's a schematic I drew up based on Peter Ginidis' comments below. Seems the one floating around the web isn't clear on the pot lug numbering.

12 comments:

  1. I've build one, but when Intensity pot is below half range, effect is silent. It seems like all the output below half of fuzz pot is joined to ground. Any idea?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Might be the taper of the pot. Try using a C1k (reverse log) pot for that. Or a B2k might help as well.

      Delete
  2. The problem is the schematic this was built from is wrong. Lugs 1 and 1 do not join, vol 1 and intensity 3 go to ground, intensity 1 goes to Q 2 Emitter. Lugs 1&3 are swapped on the Intensity. I know as I copied mine direct from the unit in the video as its my video.
    Here's one I did: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=109791.0
    If you'd correct it that would be great

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thanks for the info Peter! I've updated layout and added a schematic with the corrections.

      Delete
    2. Lug 2 should connect to 22uf - and the 22uf + should connect to the 47k and E of q2


      please check the link to the schem i made from my schaller unit

      Delete
  3. The schematic you drew up is right, but the perf picture has it reversed and connected to ground

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i came across this page after i bought this pedal and wanted to recreate it and sell my original. i spent days trying to find the components straight from the pedal without much luck. now even with this schematic im having difficulty finding each component. anyone have any tips or anything. its my first time wiring a pedal from scratch. im a welder by trade.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I made the posted in the above post reply from a schematic straight from my original. U mean you don't have ROE (Rodenstein) capacitors? Which components are you having trouble finding? I have built around 10 of these and can say that they sound very similar regardless if which brand of components you use. There are Rodenstein caps available on eBay. They do sound a big fatter sounding, but like any pedal with tolerance they are all a bit hit and miss you even if you had all the original caps. Carbon comp resistors are available on eBay too. I have some ROE caps.

    ReplyDelete
  8. there is a list of the components we need ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just made one of these from the perf layout and everything seems to work as it should. Mine got way quieter with the gain dialed down, but the sound never cut out completely. A "C" taper pot does indeed work better for the gain, though even then I would leave the gain at 90-100%. So if this layout was not verified by the guy in the first comment, it is now.

    ReplyDelete