FuzzHugger Algal Bloom

[salty]

I actually own a V1 and iggy is spot on with bloom and gain going to ground. On the actual pedal, turning either of those knobs all the way down does result in the pedal not outputting signal.

Great work iggy!!! Sounds just like my original! The gain lugs were reversed, other than that works perfectly.

[iggy]

Hey Salty.

Thanks for confirming that up. It's a bit odd it was built that way. But glad it's working properly.
I Updated the Vero Layout to correct the Gain pot. I'm going to consider it complete. Thanks all for the verification work.

And I also found it to be noisy with the grounds removed from the pots. Much less so when all grounds were connected.

I have to say I am learning so much by tracing out circuits and doing schematics and vero layouts. Really helps to understand how a circuit works. And I seem to learn best with hands on work. Now on to the next project.

Hope everyone enjoys this pedal.

[rocket88]

You could take a low value resistor, say a 1k, and place it betwen the gain lug that's going to ground and ground. This would allow you to have a low gain, without complete loss of sign when the pot is full CCW.

[squirrels]

I didn't notice any noise with mine being ungrounded. I also haven't had much time playing it either. I'll have to check it out and compare. So the gain pot is supposed to be in reverse?

[Beaker]

I've just looked a the layout again to see if I can help. I can't find a schematic anywhere so it's a bit tricky.

You might want to look at R4 and R5 , and C3 and C4 values. Changing those might reduce the splatiness.

The gain pot might well work in reverse - that's the way it operates in the Green Giant.

[Beaker]

Built this up - didn't really like it. Bummer.

However, I don't like to give up on a circuit without having a mess around with it, so ended up with a really cool sounding pedal, with only minor changes.

#1. Swapped transistors for ME4003 (tried everything I've got here, these sounded best).

#2. Reduced 1k resistor to 470 Ohms

#3. Cut the ground link from the "bloom" pot - seems to work much better without it.

#4. Tried a whole load of diodes - Si and Ge. Ended up using an anti-parallel pair of 2D503b silicons (Russian 1N1417 equivalents). There is plenty of room to add the second diode, or you could put it on a switch.

#5. Got rid of the gain pot altogether - This only really sounds good turned up full anyway.

#6. I've ditched the starve pot too, as it's a bit of a gimmick on this circuit, and does not sound anywhere near as good as starving some other pedals.

I've ended up with something close, but more in the spirit of the original Electra design.

It sounds thin and trebley, but at the same time oddly full sounding, with loads of dynamics and pick attack. It makes a really great Punk Rock pedal.

This will get boxed up!

[squirrels]

Nice. The starve pot doesn't really do all to much and I use the gain full on as well. If I had to redo it I think I would ditch them too. I still need to try out different transistors and diodes. I like it as is though, I prefer it to my Civil War Muff and Ritual but not over my LSTR. What did lowering the 1k do?

[Beaker]

1k is the correct value for 2N5089 (I did try other values), but with the ME4003, they biased better with a 470R (probably because they are lower gain) - made it sound fuller and tighter.

As usual with these Electra variants, it's a great basis for experimentation and fine tuning.

Definately try it with two diodes.

I'm one of those "less is more" guys though, the less knobs the better as far as I'm concerned.

It's not Muff-like anymore  - a bit more in  Fuzzrite / Shin Ei territory.

[Kinski]

Just built this. Have not had a ton of time with it, but so far I think it sounds fantastic. A whole variety of usually gain ranges. From almost clean, to full on fuzz.

And I find all controls very useful. The starve control has a pretty big effect on my build.

It such an easy build, I think Ill put two of them in a box. As I have a feeling stacking two would allow for some great sounds.

Thanks again for the layout!

[squirrels]

I was looking at the layout again and noticed it was updated saying it may contain an error. What was the error?