Maestro FZ-1a sounds compressed

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aka180
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Post by aka180 »

Hey there all,

I recently picked up a FZ-1A. It didnt sound that great from the start. I replaced the 1uf caps and that made a huge improvement. Now i find it sounds like there's a cranked up compressor is in front of it. There's absolutely no attack but it sort of blooms after a second. Also there is very little volume increase when both knobs are cranked. Is this normal for this pedal?

Thanks all!

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TWSpedals
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Post by TWSpedals »

You want roughly 0.3VDC on the base of Q2 and Q3 for it to operate properly. The base of Q1's DC voltage just needs to be above 0.3VDC as it's an emitter follower.

The 1A uses a single AA 1.5V battery so it's headroom isn't great and it's max output isn't as loud as other Fuzzes from the period.
Have a nice day!

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