Learn how to build a simple fuzz effect for your guitar in less then 10...actually, 7 mins :) Buy a 7 min fuzz pcb or kit! www.diyguitarpe... Complete 7 min fuzz kit: www.ebay.com.au...
Dont forget to check out my 7 min fuzz kit, thanks for supporting my channel and store! www.diyguitarpedals.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=31
Quick question: From just a cursory glance, the diode does the clipping, but otherwise it's just a ridiculously loud clean boost, right? Like, if I omitted the diode, it'd just clean boost the signal?
Funny, I was fired when I watched this video. Wife took the kids, government took my home. I’ve lost everything, but at least I know how to make a guitar pedal
Been building my own pedals for a few years now. One of the first ones I made completely from scratch was a Bazz Fuss clone and its still one of my favourites, such a ridiculously simple circuit but an epic sound! Just goes to show sometimes less really is more. I built mine into a 1590A enclosure on a custom-designed PCB with a few modifications. Here are my recommendations for component choices: Change the transistor to a BC108C Change the diode to a 1N4001 Change the resisor to 100k Change the input cap to 100nF film Change the output cap to 10uF electrolytic Add a volume control at the output using a 100k log pot Add a 1M pulldown resistor at the input to stop it popping when the bypass switch is operated
@@MrSake1000 I actually have clue about this comment two months ago, and here I am after five pedals, it feels good to see yourself make a progress when learn a new things. :)
Awesome! Those capacitors are dc blocking and also filtering capacitors. The lower the value, the less bass into the effect. If you want to increase bass, increase the value, its that simple! I will be uploading a new 10 min video in the next few weeks for a super simple dirt pedal. Stay tuned for that one and thanks for supporting my channel!
You are tottaly responsible for my addiction in trying to make pedals! My wife is going to kill you.... :). If some day I'll be lucky enough to go to Australia, I will search you, and force you to teach me in person!!! And then I WILL force you to drink beer untill we pass out :D (lololololol) If you ever need something from Portugal don't be afraid to ask. I think I owe you that. Thank you very much for giving me another great pleasure. Keep the good job.
IF YOUR PEDAL DOESNT WORK... ok i see a lot of people (my self included) using substitute transistors and there pedals not working properly, the MPSA13 is a darlington transistor.. most of the transistors i see people using ARE NOT DARLINGTON! in order to get it working you will need to use 2 transistors and make a darlington by: connecting (1)collector to (2)collector and (1) emmitter to (2) base the base of (1) will be base, the combined collectors will be collector and the (2)emitter will be emitter..
I made a Szaklai. Using a 1k in between the input bias and the 2n3904 driving a 2n3906. I have a white LED as the feedback clipper and a hard clipper on the output to ground with a red LED. My 9v has a 4.7k Resister and a 100k pot in series. The White LED stays on and flashes with clipping.. The Red flashes hard. NPN and PNP can be mixed with Szaklai so you can run Germanium transistor mixed with the Silicon. It's loud. But I can dial in a crazy gated fuzz and then run another clipping stage after and the sustain and stuff normalized again.
Best pedal builder in AUS (still got your 7min fuzz on my live board) and best public service vids ever... Your demos and instruction have really ignited my passion for DIY... You're a champion.
I've found that this pedal sounds a lot less muddy if you use a .047 uF ceramic capacitor for the input, instead of the electrolytic. It filters out a lot of the bass, making it much more suitable for the guitar, plus it not polarized, so there's one less thing to worry abut.. If you're making for a bass, I'd probably tick with the 2.2uF, though.
There was a thread about this recently. Apparently no polarised cap belongs in the signal path (even though designers still do it). A 1uf film cap can replace that electro if you have one. If you use the electro you need to connected the negative to the 'most negative' side of the circuit. I had to guess and pick the guitar input. Or use a film cap :D
Simple circuit, right? Pretty straight forward. My first pedal build. I figured that since I just successfully built a pocket oscilloscope, a 5 component fuzz pedal would be a piece of cake on a breadboard. Yeah, it would have been if I had not been such a blind knuckle-dragging fool. Had the diode reversed. 2 hours of pounding my fists and howling at the moon. Well, I figured out my blunder and the circuit works perfectly. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and I apologize for sharing my stupidity.
I built this pedal on a perfboard in about 2 hours total, which, for my first electronics project, I think is pretty decent. The pinout on my transistor wasn't labeled anywhere, so I went and bought one that was. Also, upped the capacitor so it sounded better with my bass, which was the intended purpose. So, for ~$25, I built a disto/fuzz pedal. Thanks for saving me hundreds and giving me a piece of your expansive knowledge.
Its been suggested that direct 9v into the front of your amp "shouldnt" hurt it. You should definitely leave your amp volume down very low when you test any pedal electronics as risk of ear damage if something disconnects etc. I've been building them for 5 years sitting infront of a 100w fender twin and it only happen once (a delay with run away repeats that went bizerk).
Not sure about the noise could be a number of reasons. The circuit isnt shielded (inside an enclosure), that said as you can from the intro my circuit isnt noisey at all. Maybe try it with an mpsa13?
You could use a spdtA SPDT on the 9v+ input to turn the pedal on/off. Or you use a DPDT and wire it true bypass (without an indicator LED). Check out offboard wiring on tonepad for some schematic or offboard wiring.
Just built this with a 2N4401 transistor and a 1N4148 diode. Sounds super cool and has a frequency response that is decent for every note on the guitar; even the high notes!
So I have got it working and it sounds great, thanks! Also I have bought several plastic enclosures which I was going to house this fuzz effect in but I want to add a DPDT footswitch and a 100k Potentiometer. Where do these have to be connected to in this effect as I haven't managed to find any clear info on it :) Thanks
I just finished my Bazz Fuss Breadboard prototype. It sounds RAD! I sourced all parts from Jaycar by swapping the2n5088 transistor with a 2n7000. Jaycar also have PN100's which are a more generic tranny that works too but the 2n7000 gives a heavier fuzz that sounds killer. I built a Beavis Board with Jaycar components to experiment with components and schematics without the pain of soldering mistakes and learning through error. It's my 1st of many projects to come. STOKED!! Thanx for the tips.
Hi, awesome tutorial...I'm thinking of building this circuit - onboard my guitar with active 9v blackouts, I'm assuming this shouldn't be a problem with the exception of some switching etc. ? thanks again.
@@geegod9461 Lol....smh. You cant patient other peoples designs, this was already patented before you were born. And nobody would buy a really really crappy transistor/diode based fuzz loaded guitar anyways. Its been done. Guitar pedals arent patented anymore cause they are pretty much always just recreations of existing circuits so you pay for the licencing ( CREATIVE COMMONS SHARE-ALIKE/ATTRIBUTION/NON-COMMERCIAL LICENSE ) if you want to sell your own version of a pedal on a large scale commercially ( with a few insignificant changes to the original of course ). Small scale operations dont need to worry about licencing cause the pedal community isnt filled with douch bags who build things just so they can patient them. LOLOLOL im sorry for ridiculing you but its hilarious you "thought" of a guitar with on board effects and thought youd patent it even thought its the most simple circuit ever and someone else had to teach you how to build it. Not to mention guitars with on board effects had been thought of, built, marketed and failed before you were even born. Please spare me the comment about how that was two years ago and your much smarter now. Instead of being excited about being able to be creative with a new effect and possibly new skill ( if you were able to comprehend this incredibly simple build ), you thought "oh ill patent someone elses idea". Stick to fast food, we have enough people ruining music by trying to make a buck off everything they can. But dont get me wrong, just from your comment i didnt think for a second youd actually be able to figure out how to apply for a patent. This isnt a worthwhile effect to anyone except a first time pedal builder who wants to get their feet wet.
Had you not said "Bazz Fuss" aloud, I would have been totally convinced that the caption was supposed to say "Bass Fuzz", and your fingers had a moment of dyslexia. hahah
put a resistor in series with the output. How much resistance? You have to test it with a pot :) Or you could use a 9mm pot or trim pot which are both quite small.
Can you tell me how to a control for the fuzz (gain), how do I connect the potentiometer to it? I'm talking about the fuzziness, not the volume control.
Edit: Tried it with a 100 K linear pot (that's what I had lying around), fried the transistor immediately because I was a moron and turned it down all the way. I then set in a 6.8k resistor in parallel to the pot, but now the effect of the pot is minimal. However, I noticed that if I turn the volume dial on my guitar almost all the way down, it sounds almost clean, so by regulating the input-voltage, you regulate the fuzz. Basically it's an amplifier that takes the input voltage and tries to amplify it more than the battery allows, resulting in the top of the output voltage (sound-wave) being flat, which is what gives the fuzz. You can either turn down the input voltage (by turning the dial on your guitar), so that the amplification doesn't amplify "too much", not giving the fuzz, or you can adjust the amplification by inserting a potentiometer (wiring the middle pin to battery, and one of the side pins to the transistor's collector), and turn on it. If you choose the second option, and the resistance becomes too low, though, then the current through the transistor becomes very high, and the thing starts smoking and breaks, and your circuit won't work, so if you want to try this out, I suggest you insert a resistor between the battery and the pot - and I don't know what value the resistor needs to have. In general: The higher the resistor, the bigger the gain (more fuzz up to a point) and the smaller the current, and small resistor = less gain (less fuzz), more current (higher likelihood of frying something).
That's an awesome response man, thanks. Is this not possible to figure out with some math? Like, knowing the max current the transistor can take, we could then figure out the minimum resistance that needs to be applied to the input, and choose the right resistor and/or potentiometer to regulate the voltage? I know dickall about this, I'm just trying to learn here so I might have said dumb things
Well, on the "absolute maximum" ratings on the datasheet, it says, under collector current 1.2 A, which is absolutely ridiculously high current. This, for a 9 V battery, as we have the +9 V side connected to the collector, gives (ignoring everything but the transistor) 9 V = R*1.2 A => R=(9/1.2) Ohm ~ 7.5 Ohm. Of course, this is "ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM" values for the current, so this is the absolute minimum value for the resistor. Therefore, I'd say something like 100 Ohm. Haven't tried it yet, though, I plan to order components and build it next month.
Did you try replacing the 10k resistor with a pot? I haven't tried this myself but heard it can act as a 'bias' control which is...kinda like a fuzz control.
I am so grateful you exist my concept is not working but it is releasing output almost there I am currently trying without the inputs he output jacks I can here static within my amp I feel so happy just no sound I just hope to get there
Np Marco. Not sure what changes youd need to make but start by ditching the darlington, use something like a 2n5088. Also lose the diode. I would breadboard the circuit and tweak it until you get something that works. You'll probably learn alot about electronics in the process as well! Good luck.
Awesome! Hey do a search on youtube for this: "Quick Tip - Adding A Volume Control To A Guitar Pedal ". Its my video on adding a volume control to a circuit. Really easy to do! :D
I have no idea! I keep hearing you can do it with other transistors, but then also keep hearing, nothing except the mpsa13 works! might have to rebias? (Change value of the resistor or use a pot).
I've used the same resistor/diode/capacitors. The only thing I changed is the transistor :3 I've just got a question. What kind of pots should I use to regulate volume and distorsion? And how do I wire everything? Do you have a schematic? (As you can see, I'm a supa-doopah noob, and a little help would be really appreciated ^_^). Thanks in advance ;)
Hi, I've got a little baby guitar amp I bought at the bootfair for a couple of pounds a while back which as an amp sucks. I was wondering if I were to place this fuzz circuit between the input on the amp and the input to the amps pcb board, would that work? It has vol & tone and an on/off/drive switch. It also has a headphone 1/4 jack out, so I figure I could just disconnect the output to the speaker and I've got a pedal ready to put into a box. Waddya reckon ? Cheers Gary
SONGSTICKS Ah k, no problem. Yeah well its probably not much loss if you kill it either? :) You could just put it behind the input of the amp sure I don't see why not? You should replace the whole board with one of my punch amp projects. 9v, 1watt, sounds really nice. Although actually its probably more the speaker that's the problem then the amp hah..
@@DeddycationMusic for bypass you will need a specific switch that switches 2 points in parellell, its a bit hard to explain but basically the switch would be simultaneously hooked up to the battery and the rest of the circuit in one position and on the other part of the switch you wanna hook up the output to the switch and the jack to where the battery would be, effectively making the circuit go through the switch twice. then you want to hook up a wire from the other position to the one in paralel. this is called true bypass. google images will probably explain way better. but to answer your question no the circuit will not let your guitar go through without a 9v source
Troller700 I don't know if you already managed to do that, but I can help you if you need. I can send you an email with a drawing. Te puedo enviar un dibujo sobre cómo conectar los jacks de input e output se quieres.
Thanks DIY Guitar Pedals I did it and it worked fine, sounds great! Also it was easy to add volume control, a LED and a switch. Now it's time to learn some (much) more, but thanks for introducing me to this hobby!
No that would work more as a bias control and effect the sound of the fuzz. I have a video on "how a tone control works" in my upload queue so make sure you subscribe to that! (will work with the 7 min fuzz). Cheers
Your getting interference probably due to not insulating anything. If you really care to have it sound clean you'll have to insulate. Like speaker wire for instance, without adequate insulation it would do the same thing.
Hi Luis, you can get the schematic on my webstore page, scroll down to "downloads" and "schematic". Heres the link, cheers: www.diyguitarpedals.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=31
You make me believe I can do this. Ordered a breadboard to practice with. Trying to figure out obtaining parts, I’d like to have a modest supply of common components.
Nice vid just built it using 2n4401,1uF electrolytic, 104 ceramic cap, 100k resistor and a glassy looking diode of unknown value, all parts laying around. It is very fuzzy and very loud, Thank you for your video!
Unfortunately you cant. You would need to transistors in a darlington arrangement (with reasonable leakage) to get some in the right gain range. You can do that though, people have done it before, a sort of 'germanium bazz fuss'. 1 single ac128 wont work though because its not high enough gain and its PNP and not NPN.
See my 'how to add a volume control to a guitar pedal' video. If your not sure what your doing, add sockets and experiment with the values. If your using one of my pcb's or kits, you can pot mount the board inside the enclosure. Otherwise, doublesided tape or hot glue (or whatever else you can think of). My 'experiements kit' comes with all this stuff. Volume control (9mm pot), different component values for experimenting, pcb, etc. Good luck!
I built the Bazz Fuss, 3 versions with different transistors but settled on the a13, the Buffer, 2 versions and the boost. I built the buffer using half of a TLO82 dual bifet op amp, and with the 741. I liked he TLO82 better, but watch out, the pin out is different. On the booster I used an MPF102 jfet transistor and a 1 microF cap instead of a 1.5. It's very dirty and gritty sounding, more like an overdrive. Yours sounds much cleaner, but that's OK. Thanks for these fun & practical projects!
Search youtube for my 2 videos, you will find your answers: 1) Quick Tip - Adding A Volume Control To A Guitar Pedal 2) DIY Guitar Pedal Tutorial 8: Offboard Wiring & Completing Cheers.
It would help so mucchhhhhh if you also explained how to hook up the input/output jacks and what you need! I've been looking all over your site and i cant see anything! And hardly any people explain how to do it!
i got the right the transistors. wow what an interesting fuzz. so saturated and vilion like. and when the volume is backed off. great overdrive. thanks so much.
This is so cool to be able to buy and build this pedal all in one easy step by step process. Thanks for the great new hobby I will start . This, with your help and supplies might lead to a much better route than spending hard earned money else where...
If you want a status LED, 3pdt, if you dont want the LED you can use a dpdt. The true bypass guitar pedal wiring "standard" is to identify input, output, plus and ground. You then wire these up, like they are in the tonepad wiring diagram. I have pcb's on my webstore that have all these connections clearly labeled, if that makes it easier for you.
I have made several bazz fess pedals now thanks to your videos. They sound amazing. I have found changing the 100uf film capacitor for a 47 or 17uf capacitor gives a fantastic mid focused tone. I also put a fuzz control on the Emitter, volume on the Output. Next is Tone ? Does it go to the Input? Thanks again for your videos as it started my pedal building obsession.
You can build the circuit on vero board. Just follow the schematic and solder in the components as you go. For the volume control, that can be added offboard, its quite easy to do. Search youtube for "add volume control pedal" and you will see my video on the instructions on how to do it.
Hey, translation is a bit difficult to understand but here goes. For the volume pot, search youtube for "how the volume control on a guitar pedal works". Wire it up the same as that. For a fuzz control, replace the resistor with a potentiometer. I haven't done this myself but I hear it works. All the best.
And about the circuit. Simple way is to have a diode bridge that does full wave rectification, but it requires signal to go over the threshold voltage of to diodes, so it "eats" away the signal around the zero causing additional distortion. I've made a octaver by putting the signal first through a reversed 230 V to 5 V transformer to get the signal much larger and then rectifying it with diodes, so the threshold voltage takes away much smaller portion of the signal.
The 10 min build videos are popular and if i run across any more circuits that would make a good candidate i will definitely add a video for it! Cheers!
Hello, thanks for sharing your amazing work. I am from Venezuela and I like to build guitar effects. I made the fuzz but the transistor I used was the BC547 and take a guess!, it works only without +9v. Could you explain me why?.
That sounds pretty decent. It'd be cool to just build one of these into a guitar with a toggle switch as a bypass and maybe a USB port or something to recharge it. How much current does it draw? Would it be happy running from 5V?
The function of feedback resistors / diodes still alludes me. I know some people use them in silicon fuzz pedals to 'simulate' germanium transistor leakage. That's all I know though, sorry!
It was originally designed for bass (bass fuzz -> bazz fuss). You might want to experiment with the input and output caps. Increase their size. 1uf perhaps.
Not sure about fuzz control, but a volume control is super simple. Look up a few schematics for the bazz fuss and you will see the potentiometer to ground ont he output of the circuit.
get the mpsa13 from tayda, 10cents approx. It has the most consistant results. Use another transistors, but you may have to adjust the 10k resistor. 2n5088 with bat41 will give you a gated fuzz. Good luck.
Interesting video. I could drop it into LTSpice and analyze it, but would be great to see a demo and go through the circuit operation. Thanks for the video.
I've ordered a few things from you on a couple different occasions. Thanks for the quality work your doing. I present to you, my very first pedal build, the "More Cowbell Fuzz" - More Cowbell Fuzz Demo (7 Min Fuzz PCB) - I hope I have given you proper credit, if not, please let me know as I'm not shy about giving credit where credit is due. Notice the huge enclosure I put that tiny PCB in...LOL.
I think you are quite correct! Apologies for the error, i will note the video thank you. Strange that mine actually worked...i'll have to check it tonight.
I have kits one my web store which are pretty cheap. It wont help you with the pot (you'll still have to get one). There's always tayda as well. Some options if you get stuck.
Hey Daniel! I haven't tried zeners in clipping before, ever! You'd have to give it a go, I don't see why it wouldn't work though. I think you might be able to change that 10k resistor for a pot and use it for a fuzz control but you should test that before you try it (as always). I haven't tried it myself.
