Buzzrite Companion- nasty psych fuzz hybrid

[anders]

Hi there!
I'm not sure which section this post belongs but...here we go....
I've been tinkering a lot with simple psych fuzz cicruits latelt. I saw the schem of the FY-2 Companion fuzz and thought " That looks like a Fuzzrite if you omit the scooped tone stage". Said and done, I built a Fuzzrite with values of a Companion Fuzz. I wanted to go germanium on this one but it just sounded like a misbiased blown out mess. Thought about the Conrad Buzztone which has a Ge diode between Q2's base and ground. Threw in a russian D311 diode and- Viola!- It sounds great now. I went with a 2N2222 for Q1 and MP38 in Q2. Added an optional ground lift pot "Psych" because this thing is evil when it starts to oscillate.  This has probably been done before but I just wanted to share my experiences of this circuit.

[boratto]

Excelent, i love the sounds of these Lil' Devils

[Beaker]

Great work Anders!

[tabbycat]

thanks anders, looks sweet. will try and report back asap.

[Beaker]

Hi Anders, I built this up and it sounded like poo, until I realised the diode needs turning around. Now it sounds filthy!

I did the Psych mod - the pot has almost no range, so dropped it to a 1K - now it has a much better sweep.

However, as it is, the psych mod is in my opinion virtually useless , unless you want it to oscillate permanently. I think a much better idea would be to put a momentary footswitch in the circuit. That way you can set the oscillator frequency via the psych pot, then just hit the footswitch for added madness.

Thanks again for another killer layout!

[anders]

Cheers! Glad you like it! And thank you for suggestions for improvements! I'll update the layout, I'm not sure how to wire up the momentary switch and connect it to the Psych pot, though.  

[SeaWitch]

Beaker wrote

I think a much better idea would be to put a momentary footswitch in the circuit. That way you can set the oscillator frequency via the psych pot, then just hit the footswitch for added madness.

Hey Beaker!

Can you share your preferred way to add a momentary footswitch to the psych pot?  I can't seem to figure it out...

Thanks!!

[SeaWitch]

Hey Anders,

I dug this thing up over the weekend to mess with it some more.  I put a SPST toggle on it to switch between "normal" and "psych" mode (switching between a connected ground and a ground lift), but I'm getting the dreaded switch pop.  Is the popping just something unavoidable because of the type of application here?

Also, the "intensity" pot is not very functional - it only intensifies around the last 1/4 of the range.  I'm gonna mess with it, but what do you think...change to a linear pot?  maybe lower the value?

Thanks!

[Fuzz Prince Of Bel Air]

 Anyone care to post an audio sample, without or without the Psych (but preferably with)?