Fuzz Face Nano Face

HEAD · Post by **HEAD** » 03 Jun 2010, 23:53

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:Let's end the decades of senseless euphanism and just call it the "Tight Vagina".

Didn't know that Jon Lojoie is an active member here.

gena_p1 · Post by **gena_p1** » 09 Jun 2010, 17:35

if u need good sound, then u need film caps, like wima or epcos, and they are pinned.
so, your economy mostly on drilling (for resistors and opamps)

but you'll need smd further, for microcontrollers, etc

johnnyg · Post by **johnnyg** » 11 Jun 2010, 07:00

gena_p1 wrote:if u need good sound, then u need film caps, like wima or epcos, and they are pinned.
so, your economy mostly on drilling (for resistors and opamps)

but you'll need smd further, for microcontrollers, etc

Originally when I asked, out of curiosity, whether anyone had tried building a fuzz face with smd parts it was largely because I've come to think all types of capacitors work well in a fuzz pedal (other types of fx pedals I don't know - not enough experience). So why not smd? Maybe even they offer something new - maybe people will say there is a subtle nuance in sound soon with smd... they probably already do on TGP or somewhere like that

. But I don't want to take this thread into the question of the sound of capacitors! That's a can of worms discussed elsewhere.

I believe smd caps are mainly ceramic - some tantulum and electros available. Plenty of old fuzz pedals were built with big oversized ceramic disc caps - like the Big Muff, Boss Tone, Fender Blender etc. The manufacturers probably used whatever was cheap or they had in stock. Some people say that ceramic can work better with fuzz than film. And, of course, remember the fuzz face only had one film cap - the output cap. The input cap is electrolytic - which are supposed to stink in the signal path. Just that for large values they are much cheaper and smaller than film.

marshmellow · Post by **marshmellow** » 11 Jun 2010, 07:40

You can get film caps in SMT as well, for example these. And with two 2% tolerance! I just refrain from using SMT electrolytics in the signal path. There are way more leaded ones to be found that suit that purpose better.

jeepe · Post by **jeepe** » 24 May 2021, 00:07

hi,
the layout looks super cool.... like a QR code, just to verbalize the obvious,
but I don't see why it should be made small? even tiny?

rationally, we are building pedals...
that's the limit, as well as the allowance.... as to space and square inches...

if you need a small circuit, there must be a reason why it should be small...
corporations have their reason: small = could be used in small devices as part of them... huge, complex schematics are miniaturized into small enclosures... using also SMD...

anyway, the reason why I'm bringing this up is because FuzzFace is exactly the circuit which made me realize that I
like spacious boards... and big resistors.... and big caps, if I can choose...

why not?
you don't want to move other circuits into that enclosure...
so... why not?

spaciousness is elegance... tiny size means being cramped, doesn't it?

Jarno · Post by **Jarno** » 25 May 2021, 09:27

Imagine, a pedal board, now, imagine big effectspedals, you can fit only a few on them.... But suppose, you want more pedals on there, then you need smaller pedals......Yes?
Suppose the circuits work just fine if you shrink them......
Then, spaciousness is waste and tiny size means elegance, right?

There is no reason for bigger components unless you are talking about power electronics, and really, if you are making your own pcb's SMT is just fine, because it eliminates the tedium of having to drill a bunch of holes. Whenever possible I use SMT, because it really isn't that bad to solder it and it really isn't any more "cramped" than through hole, for the very simple circuits we use at least.