Thursday 30 September 2010

Fuzz Face PNP - Tagboard

It's been a while since I've done a tagboard layout and this was a startling omission that someone requested.

41 comments:

  1. hi!
    i'm a beginner in electronics and i'm currently trying to build an AC128 fuzzface clone on stripeboard. i used this schematics http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fftech1.gif which i believe is called "positive ground"
    i drew the layout, double-checked it and the pedal still doesn't make any sound while the bypassed signal is ok. there must be a major mistake somewhere but i can't find it.
    i replaced the battery by a power supply plug.
    i think there must be something wrong with the grounding of the jack-plugs but i can't find what i didn't do well and it's driving me crazy.
    according to your layout, jack grounds reach the +ve ground of the board, which is the positive tip of the power supply. on my board, the current goes through the transistors so i think i wired that well, but still no sound comes out of it. would you have any idea of what went wrong?
    best regards
    frances

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  2. Can you give me a link to the layout?

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  3. Do you know of any info on working with tagboards? It's looks cool, but I have no experience with it (other than seeing them in amps) Are they like a vero where there are connections built into the board? Can I use a PPH board and do the same thing? Thanks. Great site. Can't wait to try some of the circuits

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  4. You could use anything that is physically similar and it'll work great, I've seen people make up tagboard builds with a piece of wood with nails through it. The conductivity of the tags isn't important if you make sure all the component leads and/or the solder is directly connecting everything.

    This shows some of the options that people use with off the shelf products:

    http://www.ampmaker.com/turret-and-tag-board-parts-1259-0.html

    But I've recently bought a load of thin strips of walnut off eBay which is intended for cabinet makers. I've also bought some eyelets and a setting tool to do eyelet builds instead of tags. I think this will be a great option because it'll be easy to size the layout depending on what components I want to use. Another option would be perf board and vero pins to make up your own custom size layouts with easily available parts.

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  5. Thanks for the info and the layouts. I already ordered some of the parts. Take care

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  6. hi,
    I followed the second layout, but no sound from the pedal ... I will have something wrong? I followed perfectly the proposed layout.

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  7. Well the layout is definitely correct, there's not a lot that you could do wrong with a Fuzz Face. Are you sure of the transistor pinouts and do they match the layout? Which transistors have you used and are you sure they are working ok? Caps all measuring ok and the correct orientation? Are you sure all your resistor values were correct, you haven't used a 470K instead of a 470R for instance have you? And you have wired it up as a positive ground with the negative battery terminal connected to the -9V lug and the positive to the ground connections? Lastly you're not daisy chaining it with negative ground effects with a non-isolated supply are you?

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  8. I double checked everything several times. values ​​and orientation are correct and also the pinouts of the transistors. will check again the ground as suggested. there is a way to tell if the transistors are working?
    there is anything else I can be wrong?

    anyway thanks for the quick response and availability

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  9. I checked everything, I redid the ground connections. the pedal works as before. emits no distortion, the volume is wide-open feel of the guitar signal, but nothing else.
    where can you go wrong?
    would be possible to have a complete layout?

    thank you so much

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  10. Perhaps the problem may be that I used two electrolytic (Panasonic) from 100V to instead of the axial 63v?

    thanks

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    Replies
    1. You can use any caps, they don't have to be axial and any voltage rating above 16V would be fine so it's not going to be that. Can you post a high resolution pic of your build to see if anything stands out? The layout is definitely right, so assuming all the resistor and cap values are correct and caps inserted to the correct polarity, the transistors are PNP and not duds, and the board is wired for positive rather than negative ground, then there must be something physically wrong with the build such as a cold solder joint or similar.

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  11. Hi!
    to create a silicon NPN version can i invert the polarity of capacitors and use two 2n2222A using the same scheme, in this case the ground became negative and the supply positive?
    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Yes reverse the caps, swap over the power connections and you're good to go

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    2. Nooooo. Don't reverse power connections, just reverse electrolytic caps. Been there. Reversing ground and 9V don't work :) Always, ground is a ground is a ground. Ground is 0V, and it does not know, or even mind wether current is going left or right. Thus, making -9V to +9V works. Don't touch the ground connection.
      +m

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    3. Of course you reverse the power connections, otherwise you have positive going to ground and negative to the supply connection. The colours of the wires may stay the same in a negative ground version of the pedal but the descriptions would not.

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    4. But I see what you mean, the ground will remain the ground, and supply will remain supply. The wires are reversed from DC adapter or battery to board.

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    5. The colour of the wires is the most baffling part... But that's what i meant. :)
      +m

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    6. I've modified the scheme:
      https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24439507/Fuzz%20Face%20NPN%20silicon.jpg
      Is it ok?
      Do you think there is something to change like R or C value? Some Silicon fuzz have a Trimmer for bias control, is necessary?

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    7. Traditionally the 470R resistor is a 330R with a silicon Fuzz Face but it's not going to make that much difference. A Bias control is useful and makes the pedal a lot more versatile, giving you a much greater range of fuzz tones. If you want to include one, just remove the 8K2 resistor and put a 10K or 20K pot between the two lugs wired as a simple variable resistor, lug 1 to collector, lug 2 to 470R/10n junction.

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  13. I want to build one pedal for both NPN and PNP. Can I just use non-polarized caps and simply socket the transistors and power connection? If this is not possible could I just socket the caps too? Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Yes you can use non polar caps and do that no problem

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  14. Awesome!! Thanks. There are no other foreseeable issues with wiring a "multi-fuzz"?

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    1. As long as you remember to change the supply polarity as you change transistors then no there's no problem. Just remember that when it's in PNP mode, you can't daisy chain it with any negative ground effects and vice versa.

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  15. What could I expect to change if the 22uf was changed to 20uf? Is this acceptable? Thanks!!

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  16. I'm planning on building this one. (btw, this website is epic !!! )

    Is it possible to run this pedal with a 9v adaptor?

    If so, do I just wire -9V where I normally would wire the ground
    and wire te +ground where I normally would wire my 9V?


    Grtz

    Ruben

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    Replies
    1. Yes you can run it off a 9V adapter, and you're right with the connections you need to make. Bear in mind though that this pedal having a positive ground can't be daisy chained with other effects with the more usual negative ground. So it will need it's own adapter or to be daisy chained with other positive ground effects only.

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    2. Alright, Thnx for the heads up.
      And do I have to isolate the jacks from the casing, so they don't get in touch with the +ground?

      (I don't want to blow up my other pedals :-D )

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  17. Just built and tested this one! Verified!!!
    I have tested all my almost NOS "Junk" transistors
    and they work fine.. some of them can clean up better
    than the rest but on a medium gain only like the
    Blue and Orange OC45. you just need to tweak
    the resistors value, too low and too high values will
    "Fart out". :)

    You can use any PNP Germanium Transistor in a fuzz face... IMO.
    Yes they will sound differenty. But you can get a "ballpark" tone of the Fuzz face.
    My ears tells me the best i've heard is AC188, SB77, A329.
    OC45 best in clean up. Sometimes Hfe is not important, your ears will tell you this.

    [Collector] [Leakage] [Gain]

    A103 1440 640 88.89
    A103 1320 550 85.56
    A201 950 92 95.33
    A201 827 92 81.67
    A202D 640 64 64.00
    A202D 457 68 43.22
    A329 1050 460 65.56
    A329 921 335 65.11
    AC188 219 92 14.11
    AC188 360 255 11.67
    OC45 718 63 72.78
    OC45 550 55 55.00
    OC45 439 45 43.78
    OC45 282 29 28.11
    OC75 135 72 7.00
    OC75 141 96 5.00
    SB77 no reading yet but tested.

    Hope this helps. Thanks for posting! Great Site!

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  18. Hello, I wanted to build this effect with the tagboard approach and I have never used this system before so I don't know which would be the differences or the right one between these two. Could I have some hints please?

    http://www.musikding.de/Terminal-Strip-2x10-38mm

    and

    http://www.musikding.de/Terminal-board-2x10-50mm

    They look basically the same to me, except for one having the terminals folded, and the size. So I don't get the difference in price and I don't know which one is more appropriate. Or maybe there are better alternatives in some other website that I don't know?

    thanks

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    1. I've build on both of those too, but the best tagboard so far has been this:
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/36-way-solder-tag-strip-boards-pack-of-three-/290955849502
      +m

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  19. Sorry I didn't see your reply before. Thanks for the info, I will probably buy them. But now I am about to make an order to musikding and since I am already ordering a lot of parts I could include some of their tagboards. I cannotr understand the difference between the one called terminal strip and the one called terminal board, or if both would be equally appropriate.
    thanks

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    Replies
    1. You could use either one. The one with resting terminals is just huge though.
      +m

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  20. Yes, i got one and is too big for a B enclosure

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  21. Hello, if I wanted to add a bias pot would I go from collector of Q1 to lug 1 and 2 and lug 3 to resistor 470r after power supply? Thnx!

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  23. It works here but I get very low volume and just a mild overdrive. Swapped the 10n to 15n and the 8k2 with 10k.
    Could this be the problem with the volume?

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