The Many Faces of Fuzz

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The Many Faces of Fuzz The classic Fuzz Face is the basis of many a home brew fuzz box, and the DIY sector has spawned a nearly infinite supply of variations. Here's my contribution. Though all variations share the same component values, subtle variations can be heard by plugging different transistors in each position. Circuit A is based on Jack Orman's MosFace. Swap the transistors and you get something suggested by Joe Gagan (Circuit B). Circuit C goes the next step...two MOSFETs.

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Fuzz Face instructions

Transcript of The Many Faces of Fuzz

Page 1: The Many Faces of Fuzz

The Many Faces of Fuzz

The classic Fuzz Face is the basis of many a home brew fuzz box, and the DIY sector has spawned a nearly infinite supply of variations. Here's my contribution.

Though all variations share the same component values, subtle variations can be heard by plugging different transistors in each position. Circuit A is based on Jack Orman's MosFace. Swap the transistors and you get something suggested by Joe Gagan (Circuit B). Circuit C goes the next step...two MOSFETs. Circuits D and E use JFETs in Q2 position. For some reason, a JFET in Q1 position doesn't seem to work very well. And when the JFET is used in Q2 position (circuits D and E), the biasing adjustment of the 10k source trimpot is very touchy and sensitive to battery voltage. But still sounds good once the sweet spot is dialed in.

Page 2: The Many Faces of Fuzz

Diode protection for MOSFETS might be a good idea. An interesting variation is to substitute a 1Meg pot in place of the 100k resistor connecting the base/gate of Q1 to the source/emitter of Q2.