freestompboxes.org

Where do you guys get the AC128s? Whats the ideal Hfe measurement for this application? Also, how are the germanium transistors at small bear? Do they even compare to the 128s?

After some debugging I got mine working again however when the comp pot is off no signal passes through, when the comp is turned to about 9 it opens up again, below 9 the fuzz gets sputtery, above 9'o clock you can hear the compression taking place.

I also have some noise can comes in here and there, like little crackles and pops, I got it to go away - thought it was a bad pot...replaced the volume pot but it's occurring again. Could this be from the trannies. I used AC128s from Banzai electronics. When the drive is set to max I start to get a high squeal, is this because the trannies may have too much gain? At just before max gain the sound goes away but it I try and max the gain it's there.

i'm using the silicon ones scruffie reccommended. BC558B's i think they are. They work great.

Beedoola wrote:After some debugging I got mine working again however when the comp pot is off no signal passes through, when the comp is turned to about 9 it opens up again, below 9 the fuzz gets sputtery, above 9'o clock you can hear the compression taking place.

I also have some noise can comes in here and there, like little crackles and pops, I got it to go away - thought it was a bad pot...replaced the volume pot but it's occurring again. Could this be from the trannies. I used AC128s from Banzai electronics. When the drive is set to max I start to get a high squeal, is this because the trannies may have too much gain? At just before max gain the sound goes away but it I try and max the gain it's there.

I would say from my knowledge that's a sign of leaky transistors, germaniums are a pain in the arse really, it is just easier to use silicon these days, most of the time they end up sounding pretty nice, if you want to use Ge you really need to buy loads so you can find a good matched pair, or buy from a site such as small bear that matches them for you in advance.

trad3mark wrote:i'm using the silicon ones scruffie reccommended. BC558B's i think they are. They work great.

That they do, built 2 factorys with these and also always use them to test pedals that should use Ge Tranis such as rangemasters etc and with a shootout to the real thing, they are very good, but you could use several other Silicon replacements if you wished aslong as they were PNP.

Nellis wrote:Where do you guys get the AC128s? Whats the ideal Hfe measurement for this application? Also, how are the germanium transistors at small bear? Do they even compare to the 128s?

A few places you can get AC128's are old electronics shops if your lucky they might have some old stock, Ebay is always a good source although i'm led to beleive fakes can be made? Harvesting from old 60's equipment is a good source, junk radios and the like (see the vintage component harvesting/removal thread I started, some stuff can be a gold mine and always good to recycle) 1 or 2 sites online stock them, depends what country your in, i'l link you to some american or english sites which ever you'd prefer and finally, small bear do stock Ge Transistors and they are pre matched so they are probably the easiest option to go for and smallbear has no doubt chosen them because they sound good, zvex doesn't use AC128's either, even if he perhaps did in the early models (they were the cheap transistors when they were first introduced and this is why alot of them haven't held out)

As for hFe measurement, use the same hFe's as you would in a fuzz face, see R.G's (Geofex) Technology of the fuzz face.

gonna head over to get my eyes fixed, then when i get back, i'm going to have a proper go at fixing mine scruffie.

Awesome, have fun with your eyes. Good luck with the fix, I just can't see why it doesn't work from what you've said.

Scruffie wrote:

Beedoola wrote:After some debugging I got mine working again however when the comp pot is off no signal passes through, when the comp is turned to about 9 it opens up again, below 9 the fuzz gets sputtery, above 9'o clock you can hear the compression taking place.

I also have some noise can comes in here and there, like little crackles and pops, I got it to go away - thought it was a bad pot...replaced the volume pot but it's occurring again. Could this be from the trannies. I used AC128s from Banzai electronics. When the drive is set to max I start to get a high squeal, is this because the trannies may have too much gain? At just before max gain the sound goes away but it I try and max the gain it's there.

I would say from my knowledge that's a sign of leaky transistors, germaniums are a pain in the arse really, it is just easier to use silicon these days, most of the time they end up sounding pretty nice, if you want to use Ge you really need to buy loads so you can find a good matched pair, or buy from a site such as small bear that matches them for you in advance.

trad3mark wrote:i'm using the silicon ones scruffie reccommended. BC558B's i think they are. They work great.

What about the issue I'm experiencing involving the comp pot? - the dead spot when off?

Can you list the Silicon trannies to get? And how do I put the trannies in since they are Si and not PNP?

Is there any possibility you a) wired the comp knob backwards b) wired the gate knob as the comp knob somehow, sounds like it's something to do with your pot wiring to me.

As for good silicon transistors BC558's are the best in my opinion, you could use 2N3906, BC560C would probably be alright if you can't get the BC558's any low to medium gainish PNP transistor will be fine most likely.

If your in the U.K you can get the BC558B's or 2N3906's Here http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/transistors.html

In the U.S you can get 2N3906's here http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories ... 9&total=40

or

BC558B's Here http://gb.mouser.com/Search/ProductDeta ... REIF75k%3d

which layout is right in terms or pot wiring?

Igloo wrote:
And so the Factory de Fuzz is updated and confirmed. Yes, yes you have to flip the Stab wires if you built it earlier blame shitty French schems. Actually you don't have to who cares which way it turns.



Igloo.

This one is correct I beleive although on the original layout the jumper on the Comp knob went between looking at the pots 3,2,1 (as they are on the layout) 2 and 1 rather than 3 and 2 on this layout, try both seeing as it's only 1 simple jumper so not too hard, but other than that, it is correct (not that the jumper is neccesarily wrong)

ffs. i've checked EVERYTHING. and still, nothing...

ok, i'm eliminating variables. A few questions:

1. If the transistors are burnt out, i won't get any fuzz. HOWEVER, should i still get an LED indicator?
2. If the capacitors are burnt out, i won't get any fuzz. HOWEVER, should i still get an LED indicator?
3. If the pots are burnt out, i won't get any fuzz. HOWEVER, should i still get an LED indicator?
4. yup, you guessed it, If the switch burnt out, i won't get any fuzz. HOWEVER, should i still get an LED indicator?

I'm going to wait till i've money, then buy a bunch of parts in bulk. And some transistor sockets...

FML.

Scruffie wrote:

Igloo wrote:
And so the Factory de Fuzz is updated and confirmed. Yes, yes you have to flip the Stab wires if you built it earlier blame shitty French schems. Actually you don't have to who cares which way it turns.



Igloo.

This one is correct I beleive although on the original layout the jumper on the Comp knob went between looking at the pots 3,2,1 (as they are on the layout) 2 and 1 rather than 3 and 2 on this layout, try both seeing as it's only 1 simple jumper so not too hard, but other than that, it is correct (not that the jumper is neccesarily wrong)

Are you sure the Stab is right, I think I changed it to Lug 3 being to the 9v cause when I tried it the current way the pot was backwards - the normal 5 0'clock oscillation elimination was not at 5 but at around 7' oclock. I think the comp is wired the this diagram, maybe I'll reverse the jumper as you mentioned.

Ah you are right that's still backwards, thought Igloo had sorted it, Drive 3 should go to stab 1 then to Row A25 on the board and Stab 2 & 1 should be connected and go to 9V.

after the disasterous disaster that was the last few days, i've noticed something, that this just doesn't cover:

no no, this requires a far bigger face palm. Far bigger than the star trek guy one that people always post. In otherwords... This:



why do i deserve such a face palm? cos, with the two jacks, i forgot to bridge one side to the other. Why was i getting truebypass on one circuit and not the other? cos one is soldered on the left, and the other, on the right. So after that titanic fuck up, i know have true bypass to the max. no hum or nothing. HOWEVER, i still have no fuzz, but, at least now i know the signal's going through. I'm using a DPDT switch at the moment, so i shall now try for the mystical fabled LED indicator.

What a disaster.

I know I said to solder both sides but I did mention that technically you only have to solder one side, just good practice to do both, if you put a jack in you'll notice that some of the tabs lift up, the ones on the side this happens is the side that actualyyy connects (I think on those jacks it's the flat ones across the tops side) so probably best to always solder to this side, but still keep both connected incase you make a mistake (as you did here)

But good you have a proper signal, now it's just tracking down the circuit error, if you give in the offer still stands for me to sort it for free if you post it (or if you can get some very good pictures up for me to look that way, kinda helping you blind)

I do appreciate the offer, but i really want to get it going myself. The whole "baptism by fire" thing seems to apply here. It's a pretty advanced circuit for an electronics novice, AND, i've so many solder burns at the moment, i'd probably be less bad off if i stuck my hands into a fire. lol!

Fair enough, well without some imagery I don't know how much I can help so you'll have to get some photos otherwise you'll just have to scan through the thread alot till you find an answer, which i'm sure you will.

Lol, people are probably wondering what you've been doing to your hands by the sound of it, sounds like me with shakey hands and a hangover soldering.

Keep at it.

well it's been things like when i've been soldering something where 2 wires are connected, and when the solder melts, a wire flicks some hot solder onto my hand. bad times.

Quick question about my earlier jack disaster, particularly with the input jack. Because the -ve of the battery is connected to that jack, it not being soldered correctly means i wouldn't get an LED indicator, right?

trad3mark wrote:well it's been things like when i've been soldering something where 2 wires are connected, and when the solder melts, a wire flicks some hot solder onto my hand. bad times.

Quick question about my earlier jack disaster, particularly with the input jack. Because the -ve of the battery is connected to that jack, it not being soldered correctly means i wouldn't get an LED indicator, right?

It not being soldered correctly means you will get no power to any of the pedal, including the LED. Electricity needs a complete circuit to flow.

It sounds like you need a "helping hand" clamp and some soldering practise. The key is to take your time and walk away when you get frustrating.
Soldering is surprisingly simple once you have the knack. Maybe build up from some simpler projects like boozers and single transistor fuzzes to the Fuzz Factory. The FF is not a complex design, but there are a lot of pots involved and without good planning of offboard connections it can become a mess.

Plan. Take Your Time. And don't be afraid to start again.

It's also probably time you started a thread in the Workbench and moved questions and posts there for the continued debug of your Fuzz Factory. This thread should really just be about the design itself, schematics and layouts of it.