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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: Electra distortion

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6/1/1999 1:41 PM
Michael Fragassi	Re: Electra distortion You might want to try a higher value pot instead of changing the components on the board. Try a 250k or a 500k I found that it works well with some minor circut modifications. Let me know how it turns out!

6/1/1999 10:00 AM

Yes, i have considered it, i already have one bought distortion pedal a Rockson Metal Rocker from 1988 which i am pretty much happy w/ but it doesn't seem to give enough bass, would increasing the value of the i/o put caps remedy this?

For now I would like to build a distortion pedal which i can stomp on and give loud burst of noise and feedback when combined w/ my other pedal.

OR

I would like an EXTREMELY fuzzy pedal or EXTREMELY crunchy pedal to use on their own as a different flavour of distortion.

OR
I would like an overdrive pedal similar to the sound of Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull and the like

ANy suggestions?

6/1/1999 1:31 PM

The RAT is pretty heavy and it's easy to build.

The Univox superfuzz and the Big Muff PI will make a lot of noise.

The Fuzz Face with low gain Germanium for the first transistor and high gain Silicon for the second transistor will sound very "Sabbath" like. You may want to use a smaller input capacitor to have more of a British sound (a la Vox Tone Bender or the http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/2987>Brit Face.

GFR

6/2/1999 6:44 AM
JD Sleep	Terry, I would urge you to check out the fOXX Tone Machine. To my ear this is the best of the heavy duty fuzztones that I have heard. Very heavy duty fuzz, long sustain with no trailing break-up to the sound. Plus the added bonus of octave (or is it spelled octive?!) mode. I've got a lot of fuzztones/distortion pedals...this is still my favorite. JD

6/2/1999 6:59 AM

quote:
"Rockson Metal Rocker ... doesn't seem to give enough bass, would increasing the value of the i/o put caps remedy this?"

quote:
"I would like an EXTREMELY fuzzy pedal"

Nothing makes fuzz like Craig Anderton's "Optimum Fuzz" which was just an opamp rigged as a comparator. Pure square waves, all the time. Buzz deluxe.

I also have to put in a vote for the Foxx Tone Machine. Great fuzz.
You can get a ready-to-solder printed circuit board for a clone of this, the FT Fuzz, at GEO;" target="_blank">http://www.eden.com/~keen">GEO; check the Vintage Schematics section and follow the link.

6/2/1999 8:22 AM

quote:
"Nothing makes fuzz like Craig Anderton's "Optimum Fuzz" which was just an opamp rigged as a comparator. Pure square waves, all the time. Buzz deluxe."

You mean the "Ultra Fuzz"? I've made it several times and my biggest complaint is the noise gating action as the signal dies out. The square wave sounds somewhat "synth-like" and this circuit could benefit from a good tone control after it. Very buzzy - very limited. Not too good for chords.

Justin or someone did a schematic to it and I recently added the link to my Schematics page, if anyone is interested.

6/2/1999 8:37 AM

quote:
"You mean the "Ultra Fuzz""

No, I meant Craig's "Optimum Fuzz Adapter" from his article in ... Poptronics, I think. The Ultra Fuzz was an adaptation he did later for EPFM.

The sudden drop off is objectionable to me as well, and it does NOT do chords well in the normal sense, but the guy did say he wanted lots of noise and deeply saturated fuzz, and that is what the Optimum and Ultra variant does. Not my taste, but then there can be no disagreement about matters of taste.

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