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Tomorrow I will start with my first DIY pedal! Booyah!

I got this Fuzz Kit from Moody Sounds, everything looks pretty awesome and easy enough for someone as noob as me to build.

What struck me as weird is that all resistors are metal film. Isn't that supposed to sound cold-ish? Should I get carbon film ones instead? I thought about putting the whole thing on a tiny breadboard to check how I like it best (Albin sends two sets of Transistors and other modding stuff), is it worth the while to get other Resistors?
Also, I thought about maybe refitting the whole thing with germanium transistors later on (in the manual there's an explanation of how to do this too). Would be good to socket the transistors then, wouldn't it?

Any tips on how to connect the breadboard to guitar & amp for testing purposes?

Thanks a lot for the help!

i'd just put it together and see what it sounds like.you can always mod/change parts afterward.
if dont have a desoldering pump thingie think about getting one:

ive seen them for 14 euros at bauhaus and 3-5 euros at conrads or online ..for the exact same one!
very useful tool in my honest noob opinion.



and yes germany has "bauhaus" instead of home depot if anyone might be wondering.
sprockets anyone?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZR9SA5pOg[/youtube]

phantasmagorovich wrote:Tomorrow I will start with my first DIY pedal! Booyah!

Also, I thought about maybe refitting the whole thing with germanium transistors later on (in the manual there's an explanation of how to do this too). Would be good to socket the transistors then, wouldn't it?

Any tips on how to connect the breadboard to guitar & amp for testing purposes?

Thanks a lot for the help!

Socketing the transistors would definitely be a good idea and not only for just this first build. Tastes grow and change as your knowledge of building increases and you might want to swap out the trannies just to see what happens. I think that most builders that aren't trying to sell their effects at a retail level socket their transistors. Most of the clones that I've bought from ppl have come that way, at least.

forgot..
i think the power would have to be reversed (pnp) inorder to use germaniums.
if oyu use a power supply for your board then youd have to stick to a battery on the fuzz.
there are some other threads on the subject and someone else im sure will enlighten you
more than i can on what your other options are.
looks like moody has some cool looking kits btw..

phantasmagorovich wrote:Tomorrow I will start with my first DIY pedal! Booyah!

What struck me as weird is that all resistors are metal film. Isn't that supposed to sound cold-ish? Should I get carbon film ones instead? I thought about putting the whole thing on a tiny breadboard to check how I like it best (Albin sends two sets of Transistors and other modding stuff), is it worth the while to get other Resistors?

congrats on your first DIY project! enter the black hole...

metal film resistors have tighter specs and less noise than carbon comps, nothing to do with sounding cold/warm, etc. there may be differences in high voltage applications like tube amps, etc, but for pedals the only difference you'll hear will be that the circuit will be a little quieter. you may not even notice that difference, honestly... don't believe everything you hear/read about mojo sheeeeiiiit! then again, if you like carbon comps for whatever reason, by all means, go for them!

as far as the GE substitute goes, you should just build this pedal up and make another GE fuzz! then you can really appreciate the difference(s) between the two and you'll have another fuzz.

smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:

phantasmagorovich wrote:Tomorrow I will start with my first DIY pedal! Booyah!

What struck me as weird is that all resistors are metal film. Isn't that supposed to sound cold-ish? Should I get carbon film ones instead? I thought about putting the whole thing on a tiny breadboard to check how I like it best (Albin sends two sets of Transistors and other modding stuff), is it worth the while to get other Resistors?

congrats on your first DIY project! enter the black hole...

metal film resistors have tighter specs and less noise than carbon comps, nothing to do with sounding cold/warm, etc. there may be differences in high voltage applications like tube amps, etc, but for pedals the only difference you'll hear will be that the circuit will be a little quieter. you may not even notice that difference, honestly... don't believe everything you hear/read about mojo sheeeeiiiit! then again, if you like carbon comps for whatever reason, by all means, go for them!

as far as the GE substitute goes, you should just build this pedal up and make another GE fuzz! then you can really appreciate the difference(s) between the two and you'll have another fuzz.

I think alot of the issue is, people confuse additional noise, with warmth, hence Carbon Comps are so popular for builds, but really they're just adding hiss to your signal chain.

Socketing is good, but remember, your pedal will not really be giggable as sockets are not very permanent solutions (except in the case of ICs, I don't think i've ever seen one fall out the socket unless the socket had been used too much) but it's good in the first place as it allows changing in pin out if you make a mistake and trying out different transistors and with germanium, removes the problem of possible overheating and damage.

Perhaps a dab of hot glue could seal the transistors in though (Oh and germaniums are noisier too).

And regards the issue of powering

comtrails70 wrote:forgot..
i think the power would have to be reversed (pnp) inorder to use germaniums.
if oyu use a power supply for your board then youd have to stick to a battery on the fuzz.
there are some other threads on the subject and someone else im sure will enlighten you
more than i can on what your other options are.
looks like moody has some cool looking kits btw..

It depends on how the circuit is already set up for positive or negative ground, you'd have to show us a schematic for the pedal.

metal film resistors have tighter specs and less noise than carbon comps, nothing to do with sounding cold/warm, etc. there may be differences in high voltage applications like tube amps, etc, but for pedals the only difference you'll hear will be that the circuit will be a little quieter. you may not even notice that difference, honestly... don't believe everything you hear/read about mojo sheeeeiiiit! then again, if you like carbon comps for whatever reason, by all means, go for them!

I don't have much patience for Mojo, which is why I asked in the first place. Also I've seen a Youtube Demo, where the Fuzz does sound nice like it is. So there is not much need for the hassle of checking out other resistors. If there would've been a world of difference I'd have checked out both or a mix.
Might have been this Vid by the way:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ej4cesK-rs[/youtube]

forgot..
i think the power would have to be reversed (pnp) inorder to use germaniums.
if you use a power supply for your board then youd have to stick to a battery on the fuzz.

As I said there is a manual for mods to the Fuzz. In that he explains that for pnp you'd just have to switch two wires to reverse polarity. Might be something special to his build? Or am I not getting you? Also, aren't there npn germanium transistors?

as far as the GE substitute goes, you should just build this pedal up and make another GE fuzz! then you can really appreciate the difference(s) between the two and you'll have another fuzz.

I found a very cool Schematic that I want to build if this kit project won't turn out a big disappointment. (So many questions that arise with this schematic-based build. I will still hassle the hell out of you guys.) And there are so many cool things to construct. I don't think this will end so soon if I get the beginning right. Unfortunately I'm easy to dicourage.

Socketing is good, ... as it allows changing in pin out if you make a mistake and trying out different transistors and with germanium, removes the problem of possible overheating and damage.

Yep, I also thought about the overheating issue. I'm not very experienced at soldering, so that might be a good way around that problem.

Alright. So I will definitely socket the transistors and I will not bother getting other resistors. If I still have some lying around that fit, then I might toss them in just to see what happens.

Thanks for your help all y' all! I'll keep you updated on the progress I'm making.

P.S.: No tips on how to connect the Breadboard? I thought about either doing two of smlsnd/bigsnd's debugging devices or soldering a small wire to tip & ground of two cheap guitar cables and stick the small wires into the breadboard.

It's alive! I did it! No time for writing much though, so:

It works.
The LED doesn't.
When I tried to build it on a breadboard it was the other way around.
I prefer it this way.