Zvex - Fuzz Factory

aleos · Post by **aleos** » 21 Nov 2009, 22:25

sorry if this has been answered in the 37 pages before, I just couldn't read them all, made it to like 15. I'm building a FF with with madbean's zombii board and the parts list says GE PNP. I can't really find the "GE" part at any of my usual part stores. Is there another name for it. What am I missing? Thanks.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 21 Nov 2009, 22:33

Germanium PNP transistor like AC128, NKT275 or any other that you fancy trying.

neurion · Post by **neurion** » 08 Dec 2009, 20:33

okay guys im kinda confused with this build. I dont fancy just putting the AC128's in and hoping they are right to start with, nor do i fancy re-soldering them over and over to find the right place.
Any advice on which way around to place them, or how to check once they are in?

cheers

Scruffie · Post by **Scruffie** » 08 Dec 2009, 20:42

If you follow the schematic you should be able to see what way they go in.

Other than that, i'd suggest you used transistor sockets, if you can't get transistor sockets cut a 6-Pin Dip IC Socket in half to make 2 transistor sockets, you should do this anyway as Germanium transistors are particulary succebtable to heat and could die with soldering,

neurion · Post by **neurion** » 08 Dec 2009, 21:31

Scruffie wrote:If you follow the schematic you should be able to see what way they go in.

i am following the veroboard layout, i have no idea how to read from a schematic its my third build, and my second on vero.
i am going to try and get some sockets but i would rather buy a standard tranny socket instead of make one.

Still, any ideas on which way around for the french layout?

Scruffie · Post by **Scruffie** » 08 Dec 2009, 21:36

Which french layout is it? Can you link me to the page it's on.

neurion · Post by **neurion** » 08 Dec 2009, 21:42

Scruffie wrote:Which french layout is it? Can you link me to the page it's on.

https://media.photobucket.com/image/fuz ... uzz333.png

it displays the AC128's as 2N type but obviously they arent

Scruffie · Post by **Scruffie** » 08 Dec 2009, 21:49

The Bottom of Q1 & Q2 are both the Collectors (you see the little blue C on the bottom of Q1) the collector on your AC128 should be the Red Dot and the Top of Q3 is the Collector of the 2N3904

Does that make sense? if so good luck

neurion · Post by **neurion** » 08 Dec 2009, 21:52

Scruffie wrote:The Bottom of Q1 & Q2 are both the Collectors (you see the little blue C on the bottom of Q1) the collector on your AC128 should be the Red Dot and the Top of Q3 is the Collector of the 2N3904

Does that make sense? if so good luck

for the fastest reply and most helpful person on here, i salute you XD

aye that should do me fine, i think il still get some decent sockets anyways but it should prevent unneccessary faffing around.
thanks again

bumblebee · Post by **bumblebee** » 09 Dec 2009, 00:44

jimbob_400 wrote:Just built this using 2 bc55ab's and a mpsa18 instead of the ones in the schematic - it seems to work well. Very high gainy fuzzy sound, maybe slightly too much treble for my liking though...

Swap the in/out caps to 47uF and add a 1nF-3nF (experiment) cap across collector and base of the last ge trannie (Q3) to get rid of a lot of the ear bleeding treble.

Just swapping the in/out caps to 47uF or even 100uF will get rid a lot of it. Well it doesn't actually remove the treble,it increases the bass hence your ears perceive a reduction in treble. The nF mod does actually reduce the highs though.

carrejans · Post by **carrejans** » 17 Dec 2009, 15:53

Hi guys, never built this thing. Time for change.
But isn't there any better transfer, in stead of the crappy French one?

Post by **jmwreck** » 21 Dec 2009, 15:18

can i use a silicon PNP like a 2n3906?

Scruffie · Post by **Scruffie** » 21 Dec 2009, 16:10

jmwreck wrote:can i use a silicon PNP like a 2n3906?

Yup, should work fine.

mrkaploca · Post by **mrkaploca** » 21 Dec 2009, 19:03

carrejans wrote:Hi guys, never built this thing. Time for change.
But isn't there any better transfer, in stead of the crappy French one?

yes there is:
https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=7313

nihoneiga · Post by **nihoneiga** » 27 Dec 2009, 08:02

Just built one using the french instruction posted on page one here:

http://www.membres.lycos.fr/davpseudo/ffactorx.htm

Built it on perf board, no problems except that the orientation of the AC128s were the opposite for the ones I had (AC128K), just turned them around and it was fuzz central. I haven't had time to dial this thing in yet but it's pretty wild. Also, I added and LED and had the board IN and OUT reversed. My problem.

LightsOut · Post by **LightsOut** » 12 Jan 2010, 00:44

Hi, I just built one with the Factory de Fuzz Vero layout and am having some problems. I get my led to light up but when engaged my FF just makes this noise: http://www.mediafire.com/file/fmuxhhj2m ... actory.mov

Turning the volume, drive and stab knobs changes the sound a little bit but not much. No guitar signal goes through when engaged but when I bypass the effect the sound goes through. I also tried turning the germanium transistors around but that had no effect whatsoever. This leads me to think that maybe the circuit isn't getting my guitar's signal or something like that and it's just outputting its own noise. Could I be on to something, and what should I check out and try to do?

Snorri

r4vi4n · Post by **r4vi4n** » 17 Jan 2010, 19:16

Hey,

I'm not sure if anyone has asked, or tried it before, but I couldn't find anything about it, so I ask it anyway

If you check YouTube, you can see that The Machine by zvex has the best result when using in serie with a Fuzz Factory.
So I want to combine those two pedals in one pedal, with two switches of course.

Is this only a matter of connecting the output signal of the Fuzz Factory to the input of the Machine?
(There will be 2 separate PCB's in the pedal, since you want to activate them seperately)

I new to this stuff, so I'm a little unsure to figure this out myself.

Thanks!

bootle · Post by **bootle** » 18 Jan 2010, 02:11

hi r4vi4n,
this might help:
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main. ... ewsIndex=1

I'm having a few probs with a fuzz factory I built using a PCB from musikding.de.
The only sound can get is this nasally, spluttering sound, not very fuzz-like. I know this pedal can be unpredictable, but I've tried all the straight up fuzz settings with no luck.
I've tried a few different ac128s and changed the N3904 and I've switched out the input/output caps with 22uf and 47uf caps.

I'm thinking it may be a bias issue, but how do I modify the bias on this thing?
I've seen mention of an external bias mod but no idea how to try it?
Any help would be much appreciated!

pandadandan · Post by **pandadandan** » 18 Jan 2010, 08:44

r4vi4n wrote:Hey,

I'm not sure if anyone has asked, or tried it before, but I couldn't find anything about it, so I ask it anyway

If you check YouTube, you can see that The Machine by zvex has the best result when using in serie with a Fuzz Factory.
So I want to combine those two pedals in one pedal, with two switches of course.

Is this only a matter of connecting the output signal of the Fuzz Factory to the input of the Machine?
(There will be 2 separate PCB's in the pedal, since you want to activate them seperately)

I new to this stuff, so I'm a little unsure to figure this out myself.

Thanks!

Reverse the order - Machine first, then FF. The Machine is intended to be used before fuzz pedals.

BushMuncher · Post by **BushMuncher** » 19 Jan 2010, 17:13

I know this is probably a really dumb question(Newbie at electronics) but could I use a on-on toggle switch with 6 pins, with the French website fuzz factory ?

Zvex - Fuzz Factory [traced]