freestompboxes.org

Great sound! Fuzz

In deed it sounds nice.
To me it is as good as good germanium fuzz.
Cleans up beautifully with guitar volume knob.

Transistors are NTW123AP. I found mixed info in various datasheets on internet. Some state gain hfe in 40+ range some 300+.
Other components are almost "textbook" fuzz face. Electrolytic capacitors are rated to 50V.

I realize this is a zombie thread and a long shot but here it is.
People say this fuzz cleans up nicely, what are the mods to the basic circuit that accomplish those "glassy" cleans? Or is it just judicious use of gain in the circuit (not too much)?
I can get similar tones with my Dunlop JHF1 with the volume knob all the way up, it really adds treble (and hiss).

Hi andare,

welcome to the forum, from long time lurker.
I am not sure what here is consider zombie thread, but i would post away.

Regarding "glassy" cleans, for this particular one, i believe the magic is in the low-gain Si transistors. I didn't check all resistors and capacitors, but from the sheer number of components, Pawn Fuzz looks like very traditional design.
There is an old video from James Santiago where he demonstrates cleanup from Ge and Si fuzzes.



Lowering the gain on Si fuzz helps a lot. One advice i was given was to set Strat volume on ~7ish than lower the fuzz on the fuzz-face until it cleans up like you'd like it to clean up. This also helps getting Si fuzzes to be a bit darker.
I hope that someone with more knowledge on these circuits can chip in.

Edit: today's "common knowledge" is that cranked Marshall amp can be nicely approximated by various low-gain overdrives and Marshall-in-a-box pedals. I got good results by pluging Fuzz into Tube Screamer as well as Fuzz into Joyo British Sound (Tech 21, British derivative).

Thanks for replying.

I'm familiar with that video, i have that Si Fuzz Face and that's how inset it up.

I thought the Pedal Pawn had some different component values to increase the brightness on cleanup.

Instead of modifying the pedal, you could modify your guitar:
I think that a treble bleed circuit on the guitar volume, can help a lot in keeping brightness on cleanup

andare wrote: ↑03 Aug 2021, 18:59 Thanks for replying.

I'm familiar with that video, i have that Si Fuzz Face and that's how inset it up.

I thought the Pedal Pawn had some different component values to increase the brightness on cleanup.

I would love to help, but i do not have pedal at hand. Should be able to come back to you and give you more info/pics in few weeks, if that helps.
On personal note, my impression was that Pawn was plenty bright with volume knob rolled down, with single coil-guitar. This of course changes a bit when fuzz control is decreased. Out of two strats that i tried with it, one with alnico pickups cleans up a bit better than one which has ceramics pickups. Better in this case is Hendrixy sparkly clean- very low gain breakup.

Intripped wrote: ↑03 Aug 2021, 22:37 Instead of modifying the pedal, you could modify your guitar:
I think that a treble bleed circuit on the guitar volume, can help a lot in keeping brightness on cleanup

My experience with treble bleed was not the nicest one. For reference, that guitar, is telecaster-like with alnico pickups and a factory installed treble bleed.
Of course, your results may be very much different, as treble bleeds can be rolled in many different ways and with different components...

There are some different TB circuits indeed, and i did the mod on my strato some years ago, so I don't remember well. I used the (parallel) res+cap circuit, but i can't remember the values, I'm sorry.
I should change the strings though, when I do that I give a look

There are a few different types of treble bleed circuits. The Kinman one is really nice (I use a 1nF cap with a 150k resistor), and from what I've read it's the same as in the expensive Fender Tone Saver unit:

I use the kinman too, with a 1nf cap and 68k resistor.

I believe the pedal pawn fuzz to be a 1 for 1 clone of a Diaz Square Face, which it's self is simply a silicon Fuzz Face with not much changed.

Someone has traced the schematic of Pedal Pawn Fuzz? Thank's in advance.

Pedal Pawn himself says it’s the Diaz Texas square face.

From what I’ve seen from just a quick image search you’ll want a hFE of around 230-260 with the NPN NTE 123 Silicon / NPN NTE 103 Germanium. That’s what Diaz was using.

Hi !
I can't find the layout of the pedal pawn fuzz... I'm a newbie and I can't read schematics. Only copy on a stripboard... If someone can help, thanks !

bumblebee wrote: ↑14 Feb 2022, 11:03 Pedal Pawn himself says it’s the Diaz Texas square face.

From what I’ve seen from just a quick image search you’ll want a hFE of around 230-260 with the NPN NTE 123 Silicon / NPN NTE 103 Germanium. That’s what Diaz was using.

If that is true this is the Diaz Texas stripboard layout http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/201 ... -fuzz.html.
As you see the transistor on the Pawn Fuzz are NTE123.