Fuzz pedal working great with pre-buffers?

[Sascha Franck]

The Benson Germanium Fuzz has an impedance control.

It doesn't care what's in front of it.

Heard good things about it already. Too expensive, though.

 

[Sascha Franck]

There is a transformer based circuit that makes any fuzz buffer friendly. The basics are described here:

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

A demo video of that very circuit can be watched here:



It's a very simple diy project but I'm not aware of a ready to buy product in Germany or Europe.

Oh, that's interesting! Looks like a circuit even I could manage to slap together somehow. Thanks!

 

[laxu]

You can change that behavior by swapping the caps and resistors in the flip flop circuit.

Not so easy when the FZ-1W is one of the Waza Craft surface mount component pedals.

 

[HomespunEffects]

Not so easy when the FZ-1W is one of the Waza Craft surface mount component pedals.

True, true.

Certain pedals need to be on at startup (noise gates and such) the rest of them should be built to be off at startup from the factory. A switch to choose would be ideal. It can even be an internal dip-switch (something I normally hate). Just give the ability to switch the sides of the flip flop. A DPDT at the flip flop output maybe. I'll have to dig into the schematic.

 

[Chocol8]

You can build a small "pickup simulator" pedal to put in front of any fuzz. Basically it is just a small transformer to bring the impedance back up, but you can add volume and tone pots if you want. Super cheap, super easy, and then you can use any fuzz.

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

 

[SillyOctpuss]

You can build a small "pickup simulator" pedal to put in front of any fuzz. Basically it is just a small transformer to bring the impedance back up, but you can add volume and tone pots if you want. Super cheap, super easy, and then you can use any fuzz.

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

That was posted on the last page.

 

[Chocol8]

That was posted on the last page.

I am blind.

 

[dronerstone]

You can build a small "pickup simulator" pedal to put in front of any fuzz. Basically it is just a small transformer to bring the impedance back up, but you can add volume and tone pots if you want. Super cheap, super easy, and then you can use any fuzz.

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

Wouldn't that make sense if it was a loop switcher?

Anyhow, I believe most Si fuzz pedals should be fine after a buffer. If you "need" Ge, check if they have something to counter the issue, e.g. like the Ramble FX Twin Bender's impedance knob.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Wouldn't that make sense if it was a loop switcher?

Anyhow, I believe most Si fuzz pedals should be fine after a buffer. If you "need" Ge, check if they have something to counter the issue, e.g. like the Ramble FX Twin Bender's impedance knob.

Silicon fuzz face pedals don't like buffers either. It's an impedance problem and nothing to do with silicon vs germanium. The transformer mentioned by @Chocol8 fixes that impedance problem to a degree and let's the circuit see the impedance it needs to work properly so in theory you can place it anywhere in your signal chain. It's not a perfect solution and it's still better to have your fuzz at the front of your chain if possible.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

There is a transformer based circuit that makes any fuzz buffer friendly. The basics are described here:

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

A demo video of that very circuit can be watched here:



It's a very simple diy project but I'm not aware of a ready to buy product in Germany or Europe.

For anyone interested in this I've been running a fuzz face with an input transformer like the one linked above for a few weeks now. Like everything there's good and bad. I built a Thorpyfx Tacit Blue clone and it uses a 42tl019 transformer at the strat of the circuit.

For the good points it sounds great and just like a vintage style fuzz face, when it's dialed up to sound like one. You can definitely run it after a buffer and it works really well with single coils and humbuckers.

For the other side of the coin while it does clean up it's a lot more gradual than a vintage style fuzz face. That might be a plus for some people but it never really gets as clean as a JHF1 for instance. I have to run it all the way down to 1 or 2 on my strat volume control for real cleanish tone. With a JHF1, however, it gets pretty clean at 7 and Crystal clean (which the tacit blue won't do) at about 4.

While it does work after buffers so far I've found that if it's right after the buffer that then also affects the cleanup. It'll get cleaner but not a lot.

Finally it still won't work after a wah which sucks. I was hoping it would fix that issue for me but you still get that weird siren sound.

Im planning on building another one but I'm going to omit the transformer completely to see how an identical circuit reacts vs one with a transformer in it. I was comparing two slightly different FF circuits today which isn't as fair a comparison.

I'll update this after I build the other one and compared them.

 

[DrewJD82]

For anyone interested in this I've been running a fuzz face with an input transformer like the one linked above for a few weeks now. Like everything there's good and bad. I built a Thorpyfx Tacit Blue clone and it uses a 42tl019 transformer at the strat of the circuit.

For the good points it sounds great and just like a vintage style fuzz face, when it's dialed up to sound like one. You can definitely run it after a buffer and it works really well with single coils and humbuckers.

For the other side of the coin while it does clean up it's a lot more gradual than a vintage style fuzz face. That might be a plus for some people but it never really gets as clean as a JHF1 for instance. I have to run it all the way down to 1 or 2 on my strat volume control for real cleanish tone. With a JHF1, however, it gets pretty clean at 7 and Crystal clean (which the tacit blue won't do) at about 4.

While it does work after buffers so far I've found that if it's right after the buffer that then also affects the cleanup. It'll get cleaner but not a lot.

Finally it still won't work after a wah which sucks. I was hoping it would fix that issue for me but you still get that weird siren sound.

Im planning on building another one but I'm going to omit the transformer completely to see how an identical circuit reacts vs one with a transformer in it. I was comparing two slightly different FF circuits today which isn't as fair a comparison.

I'll update this after I build the other one and compared them.

Is that something like the Unbuffer?

UNZ1™ Fuzz Un-Buffer | AXSGTR®

Germanium fuzz un buffer pedal interface for wireless systems, active pickup guitars, midi loop switcher.

axesselectronics.com

 

[Sascha Franck]

Is that something like the Unbuffer?

Very very likely (came up in another thread recently as well). Quite expensive, if you ask me.

 

[tomikem]

Fulltone Catalyst (fuzz face style) plays nice with everything before and after, even Wahs and Boss dirt pedals. I stack any dirt pedal first into it in Low gain mode to add a little hair/fuzz. imo, you need to almost max the two eq dials for best results.

 

[tomikem]

Fulltone Catalyst (fuzz face style) plays nice with everything before and after, even Wahs and Boss dirt pedals. I stack any dirt pedal first into it in Low gain mode to add a little hair/fuzz. imo, you need to almost max the two eq dials for best results.

 

[dronerstone]

PSA for EU folks: Thomann is currently throwing out the Source Audio LA Lady and Kingmaker for a mere 77€.

If I didn't already have one, this would be the perfect opportunity.

EDIT: just ordered one for our bass player