Function f(x) Clusterfuzz  [traced]

General documentation, gut shot, schematic links, ongoing circuit tracing, deep thoughts ... all about boutique stompboxes.
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TV-Set
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Post by TV-Set »

Hello!
Anybody had a chance to get a hold of one of those? Or at least any ideas at what the circuit might resemble?
This fuzz box sounds massive!

Here's a PGS demo:

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Nocentelli
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Post by Nocentelli »

It does sound good: Hopefully someone will get hold of one soon, and culturejam has stayed true to his principles:
culturejam wrote:Another thing I've frequently said I would do if I started a pedal business is ship a schematic with each pedal. :thumbsup

Lovepedal or the next guy to copy and under-cut is going to work out the circuit anyway. And it's nice to have a schematic on hand for repair or just general information. There's nothing that needs to be hidden. And there's nothing that can be hidden, so I see no reason not to include a schematic in the box.
https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... =Schematic
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...

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tabbycat
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Post by tabbycat »

thread at tgp http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... x.1595793/
https://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a5 ... g~original
clusterfuzz.jpeg
they've also got one at stompboxclub if you are us based and want to borrow one for the weekend:

http://www.stomp.club/function-f-x--clusterfuzz.html

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Post by EBRAddict »

Any idea what those black connectors are on the 1/4" jacks, DC and footswitch wiring?

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TV-Set
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Post by TV-Set »

EBRAddict wrote:Any idea what those black connectors are on the 1/4" jacks, DC and footswitch wiring?
molex pcb connectors

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electrosonic
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Post by electrosonic »

Is that mictester's relay switching scheme in the lower left corner?

I see a spst, relay, 2 transistors, a small ignal diode, an electro cap and a couple of resistors.

Ie https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... 13&t=13295


Andrew.

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Post by Dc10 »

TV-Set wrote:Hello!
Anybody had a chance to get a hold of one of those? Or at least any ideas at what the circuit might resemble?
This fuzz box sounds massive!

Here's a PGS demo:
Premier Guitar does a fairly detailed review. I think it's 2 we'll known circuits cascaded. But that's just a wild guess.

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skywise
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Post by skywise »

Dc10 wrote:Premier Guitar does a fairly detailed review. I think it's 2 we'll known circuits cascaded. But that's just a wild guess.
I heard it was a Klon. :horsey: :mrgreen:

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Post by skywise »

electrosonic wrote:Is that mictester's relay switching scheme in the lower left corner?

I see a spst, relay, 2 transistors, a small ignal diode, an electro cap and a couple of resistors.
There is also a micro-controller. :secret:

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Post by Dc10 »

skywise wrote:
Dc10 wrote:Premier Guitar does a fairly detailed review. I think it's 2 we'll known circuits cascaded. But that's just a wild guess.
I heard it was a Klon. :horsey: :mrgreen:
Looks more like an EHX Soul Food to me

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skywise
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Post by skywise »

Looks like an early prototype. Soldering on top is a bit messy but nothing really bad. :hmmm:

Still pretty sure it's a Klon clone. :horsey:
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clusterfuz3.jpg

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Nocentelli
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Post by Nocentelli »

Image
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...

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Post by Nocentelli »

clusterfuzz schem.bmp
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...

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Post by Nocentelli »

I ordered this pedal late last saturday afternoon, and it had arrived when i got back from work on monday. I played through it for 20 minutes or so, then popped the back off to have a go at tracing it. The molex connectors for in/out, power/ground and footswitch connections made it super easy to completely remove the pcb with zero risk of damage, and i then spent a couple of hours turning it over and over in my hands, peering at the traces and components through a magnifying glass to sketch out a schematic. Most traces are clearly visible, although they are tightly bunched at the top edge of the pcb by the pots, and some pass between the lugs of the filter switch.

All box caps values are clearly visible, but the electro's and ceramics are not all clear due to their positions. However, i found a photo on facebook of the parts stash used to build the pcbs, which made cross checking the parts values a little easier. For example, the big electro in the power line is likely to be 220u, and the ground cap at the input may be the 100p or 680p. The other parts that don't appear in my schematic are from the relay-based true bypass switching, which i didn't bother tracing. I tried to take some shots of the pcb, but artificial light and a crappy camera phone means they're not great and also too big to host here. Next time we get a decent bright day here in the UK (maybe April?), I'll try and convince my wife to take some decent pics with her fancy camera.

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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...

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Post by Nocentelli »

clusterfuzz schem_confirmed.jpg
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...

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culturejam
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Post by culturejam »

That looks correct, but I don't have the production schematic in front of me.

Nice work! :thumbsup Although it's constructed in a way that makes assembly/disassembly quite easy, and as I recall, all the traces are on one side, both of which make tracing a lot easier than, say, something from Death By Audio. ;)

Nothing hidden, no goop or that sort of tomfoolery. :horsey:

Hope you guys enjoy it. Brian, Dave, and I had a lot of fun designing it. :hug:


Note: there are a few

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Post by culturejam »

So what did you think of the sound? I know that tone is far less important here than resistors, but I thought I'd ask. :mrgreen:

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Post by johnk »

i just finished building one today and i dig it.

here's the PCB layout that i drew up for it:
Clusterfuzz Layout.png
and here's the PCBs in a pdf file:

http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.co ... z_PCBs.pdf

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Post by aishabag23 »

johnk wrote:i just finished building one today and i dig it.

here's the PCB layout that i drew up for it:
Clusterfuzz Layout.png
and here's the PCBs in a pdf file:

http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.co ... z_PCBs.pdf
Awesome, John! I like your PCB layouts. They etch beautifully. I'll have to give this one a go.
Loe Sounds

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Post by johnk »

DONE!
ClustFzz-01.jpg

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