Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frank Miller on April 4, 2011 at 6:40am

I don't see why not. I've put in a home-built preamp, and I don't see there being that much difference. Couple of things I hit that you need to think about, though. You want to be careful where and how you mount the battery. You don't want to have it start buzzing and you need access to it. Also, you probably want some kind of switch to turn the effect on and off.

-Frank

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on April 4, 2011 at 6:43am

You bet, Frank, those two have been on my mind; most of the diagrams I've seen include switches instead of push-buttons. They also include LED indicator lights, which would be helpful.

 

The biggest question on my mind is figuring out how to connect the pedal circuit into the pickup wiring...

Permalink Reply by David L. on April 4, 2011 at 8:51am

Hi Scotty,

An easy way is to use double pole double throw switches DP/DT with on/on  - either a toggle type like this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-Toggle-Switch-DPDT-on-on-/140367178963?p...

or as a push pull pot so the switch remains hidden until you pull the volume or tone knob up

http://www.axesrus.com/axeElectronicsPots.htm

you then can wire it like this

if the effect runs off a 9v battery the cheapest I have found for a battery box you can fit to the box is from a US seller

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DUNLOP-BATTERY-DOOR-CRY-BABY-VOLUME-WAHS-ECB2... 

For the switches if you do an ebay search you will find the best price for the USA (search "DP DT on/on switch" - I have tried a few different sellers in the uk and all seem to be of a similar quality so now tend to go for the cheapest.)

 

David

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on April 4, 2011 at 8:57am

Wow! Thanks for your post, David!

Permalink Reply by David L. on April 4, 2011 at 9:15am

My pleasure Scotty,

If you want to add a LED it is really easy - again I do not know of a USA supplier but I list this for reference

http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/optos.html

You just wire the LED between the 9v supply to the effect circuit and the earth like this

 

 

You need to add the resistor or the LED will burn out and different size and colours may need a different resistor value that you can work out from here

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz and the specs given from the LED data - the last time I did one the lowest value I had was 1000 (instead of 390) and it works just fine.  To mount the LED you can get clever little mounts as shown on the link or I found they fit well in a humbucker surround where the height adjustment screws would normally go.

Regards,

David

Permalink Reply by Servaas (Der Groovemeister) on April 4, 2011 at 10:58am

Remember that a led will draw MUCH more power from your battery than a fuzz circuit will! I wouldn't bother with a led for that reason. You will certainly hear when it's on or off! ;-)

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on April 4, 2011 at 3:13pm

So let's say I'm installing this on-board. Instead of wiring the pickup circuit to an output jack, does that just get wired to where the input jack would go on the fuzz circuit? And if so, would the pickup circuit work at all if the 9v battery goes dead?

Permalink Reply by David L. on April 4, 2011 at 10:07pm

You need some sort of switch so you can have the pickup circuit go to either the fuzz effect (and then the jack socket output) or to bypass the fuzz and go direct to the output socket as per normal.  If you don't you will always have the fuzz effect on.  Also unless you have the bypass option when the 9v battery dies you lose the output - with bypass you will still have the normal pickup sounds to play with.

The Double pole double throw type switch as shown above will do this (and also sort out the on/off for the power supply).

 

What fuzz circuit are you thinking of Scotty?

 

Permalink Reply by Servaas (Der Groovemeister) on April 4, 2011 at 11:00pm

It's better to 'true bypass' the fuzz circuit, for that alone you need a double pole double throw (dpdt or 2pdt), if you also want to switch the power with the same switch you need a 3pdt.

A Fuzz Face circuit is one of the simplest, but probably has so much gain and low end it will feedback like hell. Maybe a one transistor Bazz Fuzz is a better option or an Electra distortion/Trotsky drive/Lovepedal COT or COT50 (they are more or less the same). Come to think of it: a Fuzzrite is also a good option, because it has very little bass.

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on April 5, 2011 at 12:39am

I was going to start with FBW's simple build, then maybe go to their Mosrite clone:

http://www.fuzzboxworld.bigcartel.com/product/beginner-fuzz-pedal-b...

David Lloyd said:

What fuzz circuit are you thinking of Scotty?

 

Permalink Reply by David L. on April 5, 2011 at 1:19am

The last thing I wired up was a delay effect off this guy http://shop.ebay.co.uk/diyeffector/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562 - you get the PCB and instructions then buy the components yourself - he has a couple of PCBs for a fuzz pedal (I haven't tried one but the delay pcb was good).  At the end of the day I am sure I could have picked up a second hand pedal off ebay for less money - still not as much fun :O)

If you want a ready made multiple effects small sized unit check out the Korg Pandora PX3 - I bought one off ebay for £32 last year and they come up for sale on ebay quite frequently http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUE-KORG-TONE-WORKS-PANDORA-PX3-MULTI-EFFECT-P...  (they are excellent and cheap as they are now on the version 5) and they are small enough to fit inside a box if you wanted

  Dimensions

 (W x D x H): 4.7” x 3.0” x 1.1” (119.5 mm x 75.7 mm x 26.9 mm)

that was my original plan but like it too much to use it in only one guitar.  There is no way you could build anything this good for the price.

 

David

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on April 5, 2011 at 2:53am

All good stuff, David -- many, many thanks. I guess the only thing really standing in my way is that 1) I've never soldered to a circuit board, and 2) I still can't read electrical schematics. Whatever I build, the instructions are going to have to be SUPER simple.

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