Ashton Audio Fuzzsilla

matta · 2009-04-06T15:11:25+00:00

Thanks CDee, I will post some comments there, but think the Beavis is great for prototyping and playing with circuits, though with a bit of ingenuity you can build your own protoboard and he even provides pin out for his to DIY one. Alan, thanks for the list, ALL of those are ones I had in mind, just hard, esp. in SA to keep stock of ALL of them, so deciding which to start off with. RE socketing, I think ALL opamps should be socketed, period! I mean even a more expensive tulip DIL8 socket is only around R4,00 at WORST, so there is no excuse not to, and as you shared it allows for experimentation as the different opamps do indeed... well... sound different! Right now I'm in the throws of finishing off my take on Fuzz Face pedal that will be sold as Fuzzsilla, and available as kit or finished unit (the commercial units will be power coated and silkscreened, but the PCB is identical between DIY and commercial). Fuzzsilla is pretty much a classic styled Fuzz Face but with few additions and enchantments.It is based around a pair of silicon transistors rather than germaniums, but unlike the later silicon reissues of the 70's uses modern silicon transistors that match the current gain of the old germs, giving a more pleasing fuzz tone. Silicons have advantages as they don't suffer the instability, heat and leakage problems germs do. I've also added power filtering as well as diode protection (incase someone accidentally plugs in the battery or power with the polarity reversed) and the 2nd transistor stage has a trimmer to set the BIAS so you can taylor the sound to taste, correctly Biased at 4.5V-5V, but can be under or over biased to your spec. There will also be an internally jumped 'tone' cap that will allow you to roll off some of the tops for a smoother fuzz sound, or jumper it out for a harder ice pick/wasp like quality. One addition I've not seen on Fuzz/Distortion Pedals (outside of the Zvex and one of the EH pedals) is a SAG or (IN)STABILTY control. SRV used to love playing his Fuzzes with old batteries, about 7V NOT 9VDC, it gave the Fuzzes a more compressed tonal quality and so I've added an series varistor into the power line so you can decrease the voltage to the pedal to achieve similar results, go too far and it with oscillate and splutter like a crazy... but sounds oh so good! Thanks again for all your feedback, looking forward to putting these projects into your hands! Cheers Matt

makepeace

man.. i really would love one of those. whats your feeling on hire purchase? ? hehe just joking. top notch!

nick

matta wrote First one left out the door, serial #2, bought by none other than blues master Dan Patlansky.

Dan kicked around the proto a bit and fell in love with it and was an early adopter. He has gone through countless fuzzes costing 5 times what Fuzzsilla does and called last night to say, 'You nailed it!'. He said it is finest 'Fuzz Face' type pedal he has owned and gives him the tone he as been looking for, straight up fuzz that goes from subtle to rip roaring and all the shades in between. A large part of this was the custom pots I had made with the correct rev log tape with an nice even fuzz sound over the throw of the pot.

I, as I'm sure many others do, have much admiration for Dan and his tone/playing, so count myself blessed to be a part of that.

Incidentally the first 10 units are built, 9 have already been sold, one left in this batch, the last 3 will follow in a week.

Cheers

Matt

Just watched Dan, ambled up to his pedalboard during his break and noticed the Fuzzilla, congratulations Matt 8)

petercornell

The prototype is for sale here:

#268692

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