WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

[BetterOffShred]

Yeah man I've been studying the schematic, and I was planning on sizing the sag pot so it cuts out just before full turn, and then use the fine pot as well. 8 pots is legit. I built a Skyripper with 7 and a 4 way selector and 3 toggles recently and it was a wiring nightmare, but I feel ready for the wolf computer. Did you get the boards back in yet? I'll probably snag the suck fuzz too

[eatyourguitar]

3 weeks from today everything will be in stock. I am sure I will post about it. kits are coming back in stock. omiindustriies got scared of the zvex cease and desist. she is now selling only assembled synthesizer modules and does not want to sell my DIY. I can agree because I want to start selling my own stuff again. no third party could ever provide the level of tech support that I provide. I'm not special but I have experience with my own designs.

[BetterOffShred]

Cool dawg. I'm stoked to do some business

[purpleshoes]

thank you for making this circuit available to people again!

I'm happy it works too! was feeling like a massive idiot for jumping into the deep end when it didn't work at first. I just want to ask though, I've never encountered an effect with sag and bias controls so I'm not sure if mine work entirely as intended or if that's just what they're supposed to do. they're both very sensitive and can cut the signal if turned too far - are they supposed to do that? I can def get usable sounds by changing positions of those two in relation to each other but seeing as I've never had a wolf computer before I dunno if it's just "meant" to cut the signal sometimes. punch seems to act as sort of a finer fuzz control, things get more intense when it's up all the way so I think that definitely does what it's supposed to. bass control makes sense in relation to tone - this is actually what drew me to your circuit in the first place cause I like using pedals with my synth for bass sounds. I don't mind that it's wired opposite, I got a Rat which does the same on its tone control - just wanted to note that particular quirk in case it wasn't intended.

pretty interested in an 11 knob fuzz, I bet it would be really great for sound design. will keep an eye out!

I think you have discovered something important here. I am looking at the schematic and I see that the collector of Q2 can reach all the way to +9.5v while the emitter of Q2 is all the way down to 0v. when this happens it is impossible for audio to pass through Q2 gain stage. there must be a 10K or 33K resistor there in series with the bias control. however you really don't need a 10K resistor there if you turn the sag control all the way up to 10K. since the pedal was already traced by two people using real retail samples then I have to think that this flaw is from the original wolf computer. I could fix it but you would lose the option to dial in lots of sag with hot bias. in this case we can keep it accurate to the design without trying to fix it. I mean you could but I would just not call it a wolf computer. IDK probably leave it as is. the sag control can be 5K if you find that it starts muting at 5K anyway. if you like it at 10k but it is hard to dial in, you can add the fine control. I expect it to need a fine control. this is normal. when you reduce power supply current to almost nothing you will have undesirable results at the extreme.

That all makes sense. Now I've had a bit of time to play with it I understand the relationship between sag and bias, it's not as sensitive as I thought at first but depends on where the two sit in relation to one another. So many useful and different sounds in those two controls alone! I should really have added the fine control but it's not detrimental to the sound without it. Just takes some getting used to it sounds fucking awesome, will most definitely build another for myself. maybe with your PCB next time haha

[eatyourguitar]

people asked for a hole so I gave them a hole. get it while supplies last. $5 each. check the guitar section for my other PCB's available. the 11 knob fuzz is tweaked to perfection at this point.

http://www.eatyourguitar.com/wolf.html

[crochambeau]

Do you have build docs I can peep before purchase?

[multi_s]

maybe this is the build guide?
maybe this is the build guide?maybe this is the build guide?
maybe this is the build guide?maybe this is the build guide?
maybe this is the build guide?maybe this is the build guide?
maybe this is the build guide?maybe this is the build guide?
maybe this is the build guide?

[crochambeau]

Hahaha, I totally missed that. Thanks. First text line formatted to not appear as a hyperlink.

I will say though, having perused it now, that the guide is not putting me into a TAKE MY MONEY NOW! state of mind. Perhaps I need too much hand holding when it comes to documentation.

[multi_s]

that is out of my hands
that is out of my hands
that is out of my hands
that is out of my hands

but more seriously, it looks like it is all there? you can see from the schematic symbol which orientation the pots are? i heard you were an expert?

[eatyourguitar]

thank you for the feedback on the site. I will see if I can make the links more obvious in some way. I should probably put an empty border around the images also to move the text down.

the build guide is there for people who can handle off board wiring and read schematics. the tone pot connects to the volume pot directly. the vol pot connects to the output jack. this is all done in a visual way in the schematic. a picture is worth a thousand words. some of the projects are super easy with pcb mounted pots while some of them are much more something that would appeal to a few hardcore enthusiasts. The goal of the wolf computer pcb was to let the end user decide what size enclosure to build and how many knobs to add or leave out. I thought it was best to do something that would also fit in a two knob box. this is how I did it.

[BetterOffShred]

I sent cash!

[crochambeau]

i heard you were an expert?

I'll never self apply that label, so I can say you heard wrong.

thank you for the feedback on the site. I will see if I can make the links more obvious in some way.

I might be at fault for breezing through the site to begin with - been an intense couple days and I'm not in the right mind set for gleaning a new project. I think the wall I hit with the doc - at first pass, was the amount of needing the unit in front of me to discern what's going on. My knee jerk reaction was "why does the labeling on the PCB not sync with the schematic?"

..I see now that it does, but only if I'm visualizing all of the inferred connections. I like tackling other people's stuff to unwind - as my day to day involves running simulations in my brain. To wit: I think an illustration of wired controls would put that build doc up a level, by which I mean with a nice and concise build doc that can guide even exhausted minds would support maybe asking more for the materials.

$5 for a PCB is a screaming deal from my vantage point (this is where you guys can deride me for my choice in PCB manufacturer), and - please forgive me - the build doc reflects that baseline cost. ***I am not complaining*** Just a little critique that could streamline your endeavors. I do recall running into a similar wall with the Really Big Fuzz and having to resort to engineering mode to dig myself out.

I'm a glutton though, so I'll probably order up some PCBs in the next couple days.

[eatyourguitar]

I agree about adding a wiring diagram. I think I can handle that. anything I can do to make the docs better or to make the PCB better I am always interested. the price does reflect the experts only approach. it will eventually be more beginner friendly with better docs and more full kits available. in the short term I am selling PCB's cheap to make up for the lack of kits. I know people can build on strip board so I try to do the things that make sense as a 2 layer fabricated custom PCB. there are no one transistor fuzz kits on my site. that is not sending a good message to take money from the diy crowd for something that probably does not benefit very much from having a custom designed pcb. I only want to produce something that is adding value, saving time and materials. making everything more compact and reliable is worth a $5 pcb in my opinion. if you want to build a fuzz face you can do that with strip board or turret board. I encourage people to try the free stuff as well as the paid stuff.

[BetterOffShred]

Oh I'm absolutely stoked to get a good effect on PCB for $20 or less. I think the price is great. Thanks again for making the builds available and I'm looking forward to cranking them up.

[Ben79]

It's been rumoured that my possessions will be delivered to me in France tomorrow afternoon. I'll believe it when I see it....but if they do materialise I'll be building my WC with all knobs at some point soon.

Rob, have you considered a modified Harmonic Energizer PCB?

Fuzzdog in the UK is already doing a cheap PCB of the original but I think Mark Hammer came up with a couple of mods that add, well, distortion....but it's a bit of a nobrainer considering how simple the mods are - just a 250k gain pot instead of the stock 50k and a couple of clipping diodes on a switch in parallel with the gain pot. It's a pretty powerful effect that can do really nice things either before or after a fuzz, especially one with a broad bias control (I coupled one with a modded Axis Face). With an effects order switch you can use either circuit to overdrive the other with a lot of control over the frequency content thanks to the HE. It needs an expression pedal obviously to be fully taken advantage of.

Add the arse end of the Octavia or a Green Ringer in front and you have octave up in there too - perhaps a real Swiss Army Fuzz.

A PCB that does all/most of that - would that be too niche? Too parts heavy? Too complicated? Too good?