Wampler - Velvet Fuzz  [traced]

General documentation, gut shot, schematic links, ongoing circuit tracing, deep thoughts ... all about boutique stompboxes.
User avatar
Mbas974
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 280
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 12:13
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Post by Mbas974 »

Tone part could be something like swtc...
Attachments
swtc3.gif
swtc3.gif (1.28 KiB) Viewed 4481 times

User avatar
Ripdivot
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 316
Joined: 19 Jan 2008, 19:15
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 78 times

Post by Ripdivot »

Mbas974 wrote:Tone part could be something like swtc...
I don't think so, based on the PCB photos earlier in the thread. I would sure like to get this figured out though. Are we sure the tone cap value is correct?

User avatar
indyguitarist
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 388
Joined: 11 Jul 2007, 02:25
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 161 times

Post by indyguitarist »

indyguitarist wrote:quick note. At a glance, tone control is wrong. Also, sort through all jfets, 5089's, and 386's to make sure you are using low noise parts, you'll find tolerance can be a bit varied and it's crucial in a circuit such as this unless you don't want consistency.
My mistake actually.... it has been 6 months since I designed the vf and I confused that tone control with one of the bazillion prototypes we do. Verified on on the schem that the tone control is correct. Sorry 'bout that.

User avatar
Ripdivot
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 316
Joined: 19 Jan 2008, 19:15
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 78 times

Post by Ripdivot »

Brian you are a great guy, thanks for all your help on this site. I own a couple of your pedals and will likely buy a velvet as well. :applause:

User avatar
sdlogan9
Information
Posts: 7
Joined: 31 Oct 2013, 19:40

Post by sdlogan9 »

indyguitarist wrote:
My mistake actually.... it has been 6 months since I designed the vf and I confused that tone control with one of the bazillion prototypes we do. Verified on on the schem that the tone control is correct. Sorry 'bout that.
Ya great Pedal!!!

-Shane

User avatar
benobo
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 83
Joined: 12 Sep 2010, 11:06
Has thanked: 35 times
Been thanked: 11 times

Post by benobo »

Evening,

here my take on the VEElvet Fuzz. It is based on Pindildo's schematic WVF V1.0.
a couple of things to add;

1 solder a 220pf cap between lugs 3 & 2 of the Fuzz pot
2 the switch mod doesn'select either 4.7nf or 33nf but add or remove 33nf, it won't make a big difference to your ultrasonic ears anyway...

The vero is a bit crowded and of course... not verified yet. Might have made a few mistakes but who cares..

My pleasure.
Attachments
velvet.jpg

User avatar
jallenshaw
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 57
Joined: 15 Jan 2012, 11:27
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by jallenshaw »

benobo wrote:Evening,



1 solder a 220pf cap between lugs 3 & 2 of the Fuzz pot
Thanks for that tip....the added bright cap (220p onto the already present 100p =320p) brings the bright/tone control into a very useable range, allowing for more brightness on tap for darker natured guitars.

JAS

User avatar
jallenshaw
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 57
Joined: 15 Jan 2012, 11:27
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by jallenshaw »

Well, I have to re-assert just how fantastic this pedal is....simply a great tube-like OD if adjusted just so, and of course the fuzz-into-stack tones are great, too!
If you watch the Brett Kingman demo of the VF on youtube, he just sits there speechless for a while with a big grin on his face.....I find myself doing the same thing quite often.

After living with the VF a while, I have another tip for the adventurous.

I subbed in a 2SK170 GR for the FAT/BIG trannie (slightly higher gain than the 2SK170 BL I already had in there) and biased it slightly cold.
If you build my vero version (verified) then you have a bias trimmer....with the FAT/BIG engaged, turn that trimmer until the guitar signal is loudest, then turn it back CCW ever-so-slightly until you hear just a slight decrease in output.
Adjusted like that (with a 2SK170GR) the FAT/BIG side will do the Dumble thing (into a clean Fenderish channel) VERY good indeed!

Happy building! (And tweakin'). :thumbsup

JAS

User avatar
crw414tele
Information
Posts: 44
Joined: 31 Jul 2013, 00:47
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 15 times

Post by crw414tele »

Here is my finally finished version.I kept the fuzz master volume as well as the tight/fat controls and have wired it so I can use the plexi drive on its own or with the fuzz and the fuzz can also be used on its own to boost other pedals.The fuzz side LED changes colour depending on which side of the fuzz is selected.It was a squeeze to get all that in one box but it's worth it .It sounds great ,crunchy drive , light fuzz to flat out fuzz :horsey:
Attachments
IMAG0298.jpg

User avatar
jallenshaw
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 57
Joined: 15 Jan 2012, 11:27
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by jallenshaw »

Looks great!

JAS

User avatar
PmCimini
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 113
Joined: 29 Apr 2008, 19:10
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by PmCimini »

Still dont get the optocoupler switching... Seems a really bad idea from a production point of view

User avatar
jallenshaw
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 57
Joined: 15 Jan 2012, 11:27
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by jallenshaw »

PmCimini wrote:Still dont get the optocoupler switching... Seems a really bad idea from a production point of view
Neither do I. :scratch:
If it is for quieter switching, I just used the BJF/MP/Bearfoot method (a 5.1v zener in series with the LED CLR) and a standard 3PDT wired in a typical manner and have silent switching......

JAS

User avatar
crw414tele
Information
Posts: 44
Joined: 31 Jul 2013, 00:47
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 15 times

Post by crw414tele »

I've had some interest as to how I wired my switches so I've done a layout for anyone interested. The layout is here for the fuzz section. https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... 00#p230353.
The plexi circuit I used is from tagboard effects http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com.au/ ... drive.html
pretty sure it's right , I didn't open the pedal, it's never coming off my pedal board :thumbsup
Attachments
fuzz-plexi switch.png

User avatar
andregarcia57
Cap Cooler
Information
Posts: 572
Joined: 16 Nov 2008, 15:42
Has thanked: 73 times
Been thanked: 109 times

Post by andregarcia57 »

benobo wrote:Evening,

here my take on the VEElvet Fuzz. It is based on Pindildo's schematic WVF V1.0.
a couple of things to add;

1 solder a 220pf cap between lugs 3 & 2 of the Fuzz pot
2 the switch mod doesn'select either 4.7nf or 33nf but add or remove 33nf, it won't make a big difference to your ultrasonic ears anyway...

The vero is a bit crowded and of course... not verified yet. Might have made a few mistakes but who cares..

My pleasure.
ok!!! for 4.5v transistor

Q1 = R1 = 20K
Q2 = R13 = 12K
Q3 = R15 = 11K2
Q4 = R19 = 12K


thanks!

User avatar
freq67
Solder Soldier
Information
Posts: 211
Joined: 22 Apr 2010, 14:13
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 10 times

Post by freq67 »

Being that Brian is into amp in a box themes.....He could of called this the Guytron. Same concept. Very cool design Mr. Wampler. :D

User avatar
tinkercreek
Information
Posts: 13
Joined: 12 Jun 2010, 16:28
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by tinkercreek »

JAllenShaw

I am building your modified layout from Nocentelli. Finished everything and am doing the final wiring in the enclosure. Just wanted to check on something before I complete the last few connections. I notice that there are connections to Tight Drive 2 both from S1 and from the board. It appears that for Fat Drive 2, there is only a connection from S1. I was just making sure I wasn't missing a connection for Fat Drive 2 from the board - there is none labeled for that from the board.

I'm still working on my schematic to layout interpreting so I apologize if it's a dumb question. Just wanted to make sure before I finish so I don't have to back out and redo.

Thanks for the layout - really been looking forward to getting this done. I do have some 2SK170 GRs so I'll definitely be trying that sub as you mentioned.

Thanks man

User avatar
jallenshaw
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 57
Joined: 15 Jan 2012, 11:27
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by jallenshaw »

Hello tinker,

Yes, the extra tight pot pin 2 connection to the board is for the 100n cap to ground (which the fat pot doesn't have)

Also, MPSA18 sounds really good for the fat trannie, too....try different ones to your taste (re-bias, of course)

JAS

User avatar
tinkercreek
Information
Posts: 13
Joined: 12 Jun 2010, 16:28
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by tinkercreek »

JAS

Thanks for the reply. I must admit though, that I got bored and went ahead and completed it before I got the reply since I was almost finished anyway. Afraid I've botched something in the build. The FAT side works but I get no sound on the tight side. I've set it aside for a couple of days while I finish a couple other builds that I have going.

The sound that I got on the fat side was good, although a good bit woofy and dark ( and I play single coils almost exclusively ). I didn't sub on the transistor yet though and will see what that does to the tone. I'll dig back into this weekend and see what I've done wrong.

Thanks again for the layout and the reply to my question.

User avatar
stagolee
Information
Posts: 3
Joined: 09 Oct 2013, 00:34
Has thanked: 1 time

Post by stagolee »

crw414tele wrote:I've had some interest as to how I wired my switches so I've done a layout for anyone interested. The layout is here for the fuzz section. https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... 00#p230353.
The plexi circuit I used is from tagboard effects http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com.au/ ... drive.html
pretty sure it's right , I didn't open the pedal, it's never coming off my pedal board :thumbsup
So I finished up a 1590bb build for this circuit using the wiring shared above for a 2-in-one arrangement. I really like being able to use the fuzz sections to drive other pedals, finding especially nice tones with my build of the crunch box. One issue though is that the setting seems too high on the fuzz master volume to get a good sound with the plexi side engaged, so that when the plexi side is off the volume spikes. not sure if another resistor or different pot values would be the best approach to balancing this out. Or if there might even be a way to wire it such that the fuzz master volume did not control the plexi side of the circuit.

Can anyone offer any pointers?

User avatar
Nocentelli
Tube Twister
Information
Posts: 2222
Joined: 09 Apr 2009, 07:06
Location: Leeds, UK
Has thanked: 1152 times
Been thanked: 954 times

Post by Nocentelli »

Just to check I understand correctly: You have the input section (BJT or 386 boost selectable with a switch, and a separate output level control for each type of boost) on one bypass switch, and a plexi circuit on another bypass switch, and when you engage the fuzz/boost side into the plexi and set the fuzz/boost output so it sounds good stacked, on it's own (without the plexi) it's too loud?
modman wrote: Let's hope it's not a hit, because soldering up the same pedal everyday, is a sad life. It's that same ole devilish double bind again...

Post Reply