MOSRITE AMPLIFIER ONBOARD FUZZRITE SCHEMATIC

continuing right along with all things FuzzRite, an anonymous donor supplied me with a very rare Mosrite amplifier schematic to post over at FSB.  it contains a schem for the onboard FuzzRite circuit that came stock with the amplifier.  as you can see, it is a bit different than the FuzzRite schematics that we know of, kind of a mix between the Ge and Si versions, as well as having a few different values, a 220pF compensation cap on Q1, and of course the fact that it runs on 33V.  i hope you guys enjoy this rare treat!

CIRCUIT SPLINTERS NO.1

So it's been a while since i've posted here, so i thought i'd actually post something worthwhile!  here is the first episode of Apocalypse Audio's CIRCUIT SPLINTERS.  i hope to post little circuits that can be helpful when designing your own stompboxes- like gain stages, tone controls, filters, clipping arrangements, etc.  i'll try to keep the things i post relatively new, because we all know places like geofex and amz have this kind of shit locked down, and i really don't want to post a bunch of circuits that you can find elsewhere on the more venerable stompbox sites on the net. most of the stages i'm going to present are things that i've culled from the various books and websites that i have found, and occasionally something that i have come up with or modified to my own liking.

the first circuit i am going to present is the high impedance input JFET/BJT buffer circuit below.




this is a rather common cookbook circuit that you can find in books and on the net, yet personally i have yet to see it in stompbox circles, so i thought i would post it. it uses an npn JFET DC coupled with a pnp BJT .  the FET allows a a much higher input impedance than a BJT normally would.  R1 could realistically be anything from 1M to 10M, this will only really affect the low end coupled with C1(which i have left open for you to decide the value).  the BJT is "inverted" so that a pnp transistor can be used with a negative ground circuit, for what i presume is for it's lower noise specs. i haven't measured the output current of this configuration versus a single FET buffer, but that could be something i'll do in the future and report back.  the real reason i am posting this buffer is because it can easily be turned into an amplifier stage, which can subsequently be used for a sweet booster/overdrive. all that and more in the next installment of CIRCUIT SPLINTERS!

bonus question:  anyone want to tell me where to place the resistor in order to turn this buffer into an amplifier?






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here is some info from RG Keen on the circuit-
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=71592.0

GREEN BOMB PICS AND CLIPS

brothers and sisters! you know it's time to...

show you some pics!

my buddy Double A picked up Green Bomb No. 1 and has been putting it through it's paces lately.  he has reported back that the intense fuzz sounds garnered from this machine are indeed up to his high demands, and was kind enough to post a nice clip as well as take some pics of the this sucker for me.  (i really hafta get a camera soon!)  he started up a little myspace page that will be focusing on different pedals, and he chose the GREEN BOMB as entry number one!  check it out, there is a sweet sample of A-Double hashing out some nasty Davie Allen licks!

HERE


he was also kind enough to send me a few pics as well.  here are a couple of the best-

IBODOG'S GREEN BOMB FUZZ SOUND CLIP

click on the title and you will be treated to a great clip of the GREEN BOMB FUZZ made by FSB regular ibodog. many, many thanks to Sir Dog for his excellent contribution.  it shows off many of the middle range tones of the GREEN BOMB.  hopefully, i will soon make some clips of the more extreme end of the palate as well for you all to enjoy.

thanks ibo!  you rock.  i am in your debt.

TOECUTTER V.1 REV.C PCB LAYOUT

recently there was a request for a Toecutter pcb, so i made up this version of V1 because i still think that it is probably the best sounding version. it isn't verified, but it is checked in eagle, so it should be good. i hope you guys enjoy it, and be sure to let me know if you get it built!

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just a little tip- for a wider variation in the gain control use a larger pot- say 500K.  personally, i like to keep it up around the upper end of the gain range, so 100-250K is usually what i like to go with.  also,  a 100K volume pot will brighten up the sound a bit, and changing the 4K7 resistor to 10K will add more gain, but i think it loses some of it's crunchy magic.

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spencerpedals made this great post about The Toecutter over at FSB, i thought i should share it-

"Re: RnFR- The Toecutter

by SpencerPedals » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:42 pm

Finally got around to breadboarding this with some low-leakage pirated germaniums, house numbered so I have no idea exactly what, and it will rattle your fucking skull. I've liked the clip since I heard it, but didn't have a closet full of parts. If anyone's ever heard the stuff from Slow Burn, the tones you get are almost identical. I always test pedals through an old school solid-state Crate and then if nothing explodes, I run them into my Ampeg V4. This thing definitely comes alive in the later (as most do) and with tuning dropped to C, is probably even lethal to small animals. I don't have any pets, so I can't say for sure. Actually I do have a snake and I didn't check, but she may very well have perished. I have V1.1 on the breadboard but with a 500K gain pot from V3 and used Q1 and Q2 in the 80's hFE and Q3 in the 120's. I'll be seasoning to taste over the next few days/weeks and report what I settle with. And if you're not a fan of growly loudness, it actually sounds very sixties fuzz when you turn the gain down and screw with the bias. Not my territory with this one, but versatility is there. More to come."

great stuff! glad to hear he's diggin it!

ANYBODY OUT THERE?

hey you slags! if anybody is actually reading this thing and getting any enjoyment, please let me know! i mean, even if nobody read it, i'd still do it for my own sake, but it sure would be nice to know that someone is getting something worth while out of this. if there is anything you'd like to see more of, bring forth your brainiac-size ideas, and i'll take them into consideration. you can also sign up to become an official follower on the lower right as well.


or maybe i'm the only one left on the planet...... just me and my robot.

AWESOME RUSSIAN GEAR SITE!

my buddy jrod over at FSB turned me on to this killer vintage Russian guitar and effects site.  click on the title, and you get a babelfish translated version of the site.  i've barely gotten into it, but it looks like it's filled with some freaky psychedelic machines and cold war rock and roll ingenuity.  check it out!

he also found on the same site, a different version of the KAZAN BOOSTER that was featured in one of the first posts on APOCALYPSE AUDIO.  the difference with this one is that there are diodes sprinkled around in the signal path, which is a rather odd design technique.  the only other place i've seen something similar is in Joe Gagan's Vulcan distortion.  this can be found in the ANALOG ALCHEMY LINK on the right of the page.  he described it as a sort of limiter to prevent hard saturation of the transistors.  it sounds like a neat little trick- i might have to give it a shot sometime.