Univox - Superfuzz

dcountry13 · Post by **dcountry13** » 29 Sep 2011, 14:00

Not sure which board or layout you are using, but the Tone Switch only requires a SPDT switch which has three Lugs.

The two outer Lugs of the SPDT (Lugs 1 and Lugs 3) would be connected to the two Outputs of the tone section and Lug 2 of the SPDT would be connected to Lug 3 on the Balance control.

If you only have a DPDT like you posted (make sure it is a ON-ON, not ON-ON-ON or ON-OFF-ON) laid out like you showed........

1 2

3 4

5 6

....you can use it. Just connect the Outputs of the Tone section to Lug 1 and Lugs 5, then Lug 3 goes to the Balance Lug 3. Use will not need the other row of Lugs (2,4,6).

roseblood11 · Post by **roseblood11** » 29 Sep 2011, 16:12

Which layout do you use? How could we answer the question, if we don't know that?

Most people number the pins like this

1 4
2 5
3 6

Spam99 · Post by **Spam99** » 29 Sep 2011, 17:56

Sorry guys,told you im a total noob though.

I used Mike Livesley's layout and im trying to incorparate the two LED's into it. I assumed to do this I would need the DPDT.

Thanks for the help so far though.

dcountry13 · Post by **dcountry13** » 29 Sep 2011, 18:31

Using rosebloods layout of the DPDT........

1 4

2 5

3 6

........you wiring up the Tone Switch like I mentioned above with Lugs 1, 2 and 3. Then tie a ground point wire to LUG 5. Your Anode (positive) side of the LED would go to +9v. Then the Cathode (negative) side of the "Tone Switch Indicator LED" would go to either Lug 4 or Lug 6. So when if you connect the LED to Lug 4 when you select the Tone Selection of Lug 1, the LED would light up.

A cool option would be to get a Bi-Color LED (say Green/Red) and tie one Cathode to Lug 4 and the other Cathode to Lug 6, so one when one Tone "mode" is on, the LED is Green and when you flip the toggle to the other Tone "Mode" the LED would be Red.

Spam99 · Post by **Spam99** » 29 Sep 2011, 18:34

Thanks again.

That does sound like a plan, although ill try get it to just work for now haha.

Thanks for the help and ill let you know how it goes

Ripdivot · Post by **Ripdivot** » 03 Oct 2011, 01:58

Ripdivot wrote:Today I took out the tone switch and installed a 50KB pot in its place and it worked really well. I was still able to get the 2 stock tone sounds and all points in between. There was a little volume loss the more I went to the center rotation of the pot but nothing major. I'll probably try a 25KB pot tomorrow and see how that works.

Ok so the 50K works best for me. I tried 25K but there was not enough isolation from one side to the other. Also I change the 47K/10K resistors that feed the one side of the switch (now pot) to 39K/22K respectively. This balances the level from one side of the pot to the other much better. I think this mod is well worth it. The two tones blend very well.

Ripdivot · Post by **Ripdivot** » 03 Oct 2011, 02:35

Here are a couple clips with the tone control toward the midrange side (my favorite). The first one is without octave using the bridge pickup full on. The second clip is with the octave engaged using the neck pickup with the volume rolled back a bit. The guitar is a les paul type with TV Jones pickups into a 65 DRRI set clean.

Ripdivot · Post by **Ripdivot** » 03 Oct 2011, 02:39

Oh ya I forgot to mention that in the above clips the expander control is only up about 1/4 of the way if that. There is a ton of gain on tap if you want it.

bigmufffuzzwizz · Post by **bigmufffuzzwizz** » 06 Oct 2011, 15:31

Nice job Ripdivot! I've been watching your post, super stoked to see this idea worked well for someone. It's hard for me to compare the sound to your clips cause I almost always use this effect balls out everything dimed! I can tell how you have a much more even sound than the two extremes normally choose-able via the toggle switch.
How do you "engaged" the octave? Are you referring to just switching pick-ups and the neck PU having a ton of octaves that shines through?

Ripdivot · Post by **Ripdivot** » 07 Oct 2011, 05:35

Bigmufffuzzwizz I switch the octave on/off with a foot switch as I explained on the previous page. It makes the pedal very versatile. It has a really chewy tone when you crank the expander up with the octave off.

bigmufffuzzwizz · Post by **bigmufffuzzwizz** » 07 Oct 2011, 21:15

Ripdivot wrote: The way I remove the upper octave is a little simpler. I just break the feed between the (-) side of the 10uf cap coming from the emitter of the phase splitter and the 470K resistor feeding the next stage.

I totally missed that the first time round. I've been studying this, got a few questions.
From what I got the phase splitter is Q3 which would mean that resistor is a 470R not a 470K right? Unless the phase splitter is actually Q2 which has a 470k/10uf connected to the emitter? Q3 resembles more-so the examples of phase splitters I found online..
I still got a lot to learn

Ripdivot · Post by **Ripdivot** » 08 Oct 2011, 18:12

bigmufffuzzwizz wrote:
Ripdivot wrote: The way I remove the upper octave is a little simpler. I just break the feed between the (-) side of the 10uf cap coming from the emitter of the phase splitter and the 470K resistor feeding the next stage.
I totally missed that the first time round. I've been studying this, got a few questions.
From what I got the phase splitter is Q3 which would mean that resistor is a 470R not a 470K right? Unless the phase splitter is actually Q2 which has a 470k/10uf connected to the emitter? Q3 resembles more-so the examples of phase splitters I found online..
I still got a lot to learn

Sorry about that, you are correct. I meant to write 470 not 470K. Yes Q3 is the phase splitter.

ringworm · Post by **ringworm** » 20 Oct 2011, 09:00

I know this thread has turned into a bit of a diy/modding thing now, but I had a question about the original schematic.
Both this schematic: http://members.fortunecity.com/uzzfay/s ... 1/usf.html
and this schematic: http://www.univox.org/pics/schematics/superfuzz.gif
have a 5V rated 10uf electrolytic at the 9V in. Does this provide some kind of power filtering or effect the voltage for the circuit in some way? Seems unusual for a circuit that takes 9v.

jwhtn · Post by **jwhtn** » 26 Oct 2011, 19:34

Hi, guys. I've been having a blast with my Superfuzz, since building it a little over a year ago, based on Mike's stripboard layout. It's time to build another one! I'd like to make this one with nicer components, make it a little neater inside, and customize it a bit more to my tastes. The first two things I can do on my own with money and patience. For the last part, I'd like to consult all of you!

The first thing I'd like to do is remove the tone switch entirely. I find that I never use the higher/narrower sound, and instead stick with the "bassy roar" setting. Any ideas on how to mod the layout to be rid of the unused circuit? I'm not good enough with circuits to know exactly what is affected by the tone switch, nor which "half" of the tone section to remove. I'd like to remove the switch itself and any extraneous components.

Second thing is I'd like to do is to increase the output a little. I find that at max output, the pedal is just shy of the bypassed level, and I'd like to have the option of "turning it up to 11." I'm guessing there's a simple, transparent booster circuit somewhere on the web that can be used to get a little more oomph. Any suggestions on what to use? And can I just tack that circuit onto the end of the Superfuzz, between the output of the circuit and the actual jack? Or is it more complicated than that?

TL;DR: Love my Superfuzz. Building another one. How to remove the tone switch and commit to one setting? How to increase the output volume?

Thanks, everyone. I'm impressed with how much I've learned from browsing this forum.

greenskull · Post by **greenskull** » 29 Oct 2011, 09:00

To increase output on the Superfuzz, try putting a 10uf in parallel with emitter resistor on the last stage transistor...... going by memory for what I did with my build a few years ago. negative leg goes to ground.

bhill · Post by **bhill** » 29 Oct 2011, 15:10

If you have less than unity gain, there is something amiss about the build. The one I did has unity gain at 9:00, and then gets stupidly loud. Trannies used were 2n5089's, it is dead quiet, and A/B'd with an original it sounds even (to my prejudiced ears) better. Less noise and every bit as nasty. Tone switch is a second stomp with leds, bias pot is with the other two pots so it can be tweaked when necessary. Now I'm building another with the tone switch replaced by a 50k pot.

bhill · Post by **bhill** » 29 Oct 2011, 15:21

BTW, I used Steven Rittmeyer's toner transfer and layout at uStomp.com to etch the pcb. Easy build and fired right up.

Gila_Crisis · Post by **Gila_Crisis** » 02 Dec 2011, 13:56

Ripdivot wrote:
bigmufffuzzwizz wrote:
Ripdivot wrote: The way I remove the upper octave is a little simpler. I just break the feed between the (-) side of the 10uf cap coming from the emitter of the phase splitter and the 470K resistor feeding the next stage.
I totally missed that the first time round. I've been studying this, got a few questions.
From what I got the phase splitter is Q3 which would mean that resistor is a 470R not a 470K right? Unless the phase splitter is actually Q2 which has a 470k/10uf connected to the emitter? Q3 resembles more-so the examples of phase splitters I found online..
I still got a lot to learn
Sorry about that, you are correct. I meant to write 470 not 470K. Yes Q3 is the phase splitter.

Which side of Q4/Q5 do you suggest to "take out"? the one going to Q4 or the other to Q5, or is ti just the same?

Gila_Crisis · Post by **Gila_Crisis** » 02 Dec 2011, 22:35

Gila_Crisis wrote:
Ripdivot wrote:
bigmufffuzzwizz wrote:
Ripdivot wrote: The way I remove the upper octave is a little simpler. I just break the feed between the (-) side of the 10uf cap coming from the emitter of the phase splitter and the 470K resistor feeding the next stage.
I totally missed that the first time round. I've been studying this, got a few questions.
From what I got the phase splitter is Q3 which would mean that resistor is a 470R not a 470K right? Unless the phase splitter is actually Q2 which has a 470k/10uf connected to the emitter? Q3 resembles more-so the examples of phase splitters I found online..
I still got a lot to learn
Sorry about that, you are correct. I meant to write 470 not 470K. Yes Q3 is the phase splitter.
Which side of Q4/Q5 do you suggest to "take out"? the one going to Q4 or the other to Q5, or is ti just the same?

So I just found the good answer by my self: you have to break the feed to the first transistor (Q4) to cancel the octave effect! and one another good mod is to wire instead of the 1k8 resistor and the 10uF cap from emitters of Q4 and Q5 to ground a 2k pot with a 10uF cap like the fuzz face gain control!

Gila_Crisis · Post by **Gila_Crisis** » 08 Dec 2011, 20:48

finaly I finished this monster superfuzz:

controls are: 2 band EQ (High & Low, borrowed from the Boss FZ2), Mid scoop control, Diodes switch Ge (4 to compensate the volume drop) or Si with a Clipping control pot, drive-gain pot (control the gain of Q4-Q5) and the standard volume and fuzz pots. The second footswitch on the right turns on and off the octave effect.

I was playing this doomy-box after finishing it and wow! maybe maybe I'll build one for myself too

Univox - Superfuzz [schematic]