tone stacks for fuzzes, which are your favourites?

[tabbycat]

am just getting into the science of tone stacks.
basically want to put a few different options in a build test box that is rotary switchable so i can use it to quickly work out which tone stack goes best with which fuzz. then just tack it onto the end of that build before boxing up.

have any of you builders out there with experience of tone stacks got any suggestions and/or layouts you recommend i put in my multi-stack test box?

have spent some time playing with the duncan tone stack calculator, am still really finding my way around it but get the general idea i think.
have also been reading about baxandall/james and tmb stacks as well as the orman variations of the hammer swtc.

i've got vero layouts for a baxandall active stack and the bmp stack with a lpb1 boost, the swtc 1,2,3 look straightforward to put onto vero, nothing yet for a basic tone mid-bass-stack.

any ideas? thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[rustywire]

Bassman, JTM45, Treble N Bass

[SquareWaveFuzz]

Try the tonestack before the fuzz as well as after, you'll get different results from EQ-Fuzz than you would Fuzz-EQ

[KaosCill8r]

I was doing to cast a vote for the Baxendall but you are already planning it. If you are going to put in a BMP tone stack you could also put a switchable AMZ presence control in there too. They are good for flattening out the mids scoop

[tabbycat]

many thanks for the tips rustywire, squarewavefuzz and kaoscill8r.

@rustywire bassman/jtm45 fender/marshall tonestack is definitely in the box. looks like the foundation option, lots of room to tweak values. wish i really 'got' the duncan tsc. am badly thick at abstract theory so trying to translate a graph into what that might sound like in real life is a stretch for me, not being used to seeing sound on a scope.

@kaocill8r have heard about the amz presence control but on your recommendation will put some effort into working out how to implement it properly. as i understand it, it basically restores the mids lost in the inherent scoop, which is why i'm interested in the baxandall. i like my mids.

@squarewavefuzz, strange you should mention that now, just built my second vox repeater tonight and am toying with whether to put a tonestack on the in or out. will see what happens when i fire it up for pre-boxing experiments tomorrow.

[rustywire]

Foundation, yes...no doubt. Well put. Here's a resource you should add to your reference materials:
http://www.tubebooks.org/tubedata/tt4.pdf RCA Transmitting Tubes Technical Manual #4

[Barracuda]

Baxandall is great. I like the one-knob dual-ganged tone control from the Orange Tiny Terror as well. It looks a lot like a bax stack, so it goes from mid-boost, through flat, to scooped on one knob. I haven't tried it on a fuzz (that's one of my upcoming builds), but it sounds good on that amp.

Edit: The amz presence control has a 'version 2' schematic for a two-knob control that goes from scoop to mid boost. I like my mids too, can't stand the standard BMP tonestack.
http://www.muzique.com/lab/tone3.htm

[oldangelmidnight]

I don't know if there's a name for it but I really like the mid and focus combo on the Blackout Musket.

[rustywire]

That reminds me...Dr Scientist - The Elements. Also I need another one

[mictester]

Consider the "James" circuit - it's a sort of passive version of the Baxendall, with treble and bass controls. You'll have plenty of signal from most fuzz circuits, so the "lossy" nature of this circuit won't matter. I've usually followed it by an FET source-follower circuit to buffer the tone controls from the outside world. The FET provides a high input impedance which allows the tone circuit to work well, and provides a nice low output impedance to allow the fuzz to play nicely with any other pedal or drive long cables.

[KaosCill8r]

Consider the "James" circuit - it's a sort of passive version of the Baxendall, with treble and bass controls. You'll have plenty of signal from most fuzz circuits, so the "lossy" nature of this circuit won't matter. I've usually followed it by an FET source-follower circuit to buffer the tone controls from the outside world. The FET provides a high input impedance which allows the tone circuit to work well, and provides a nice low output impedance to allow the fuzz to play nicely with any other pedal or drive long cables.

Are you mictester of the silicon Tone Bender circuit? Been thinking of building one.

[culturejam]

I really haven't had good luck with the James stack. If you want a set of controls that sounds normal maxed out and then massively cuts treble and bass as you turn down, the James is perfect. I've never run across a circuit that needs this kind of super-cut.

[Nocentelli]

If you want a set of controls that sounds normal maxed out and then massively cuts treble and bass as you turn down, the James is perfect. I've never run across a circuit that needs this kind of super-cut.

Works great with the Uglyface, which has a huge output and tonnes of ear splitting treble: The bass control lets you dial in just the right amount of sub-octave nastiness.

I tend to stick the filter from a Rat (wired "backwards") on the end of most other bright fuzz circuits.

[culturejam]

I tend to stick the filter from a Rat (wired "backwards") on the end of most other bright fuzz circuits.

Yeah, this is a good one for a lot of the brighter dirt circuits.

[tabbycat]

I tend to stick the filter from a Rat (wired "backwards") on the end of most other bright fuzz circuits.

Yeah, this is a good one for a lot of the brighter dirt circuits.

thanks a lot for the recommendations mictester, nocentelli and culturejam. lots to work with. have never got on with the rat as a fuzz but had never considered the potential of the tonestack wired in reverse.
that's what i like about diy. it's all up for grabs. like lego with sound-manipulating potential. the permutations, adaptations and reworkings are endless. and you learn something every time you engage with it.

re the rat stack, are you refering to this one:



amazing rat page at electrosmash. works through every ciuit block section in great depth with some classy diagrams and graphs re the tone control. will definitely try it out on your recommendation.

http://www.electrosmash.com/proco-rat