The FuzzBox Thread

[WhiteWarlock]

[WhiteWarlock]

ordering some OC44s & AC128s for Fuzz pedals
found bunch of Russian & Japanese germanium transistors in bulk on ebay...
yet suspect they have low Hfe
may grab them anyways for some substitution experiments

[WhiteWarlock]

For a treble booster, unfortunately, there are no cheap Dallas Rangemaster clones on the market. Really, the only cheap treble booster I could find currently on the market is an Electro Harmonix Screaming Bird, but it's not exactly meant to be the rangemaster. The most known mod is to add the 1M resistors to eliminate pedal pop. I don't think there was much to modify on the early Rangemaster's. From what I understand Iommi's RM is built into his amp circuit these days.

You should:

- use a 10k (or 5k) bias trimmer in series with a 1k resistor (instead of the 3.9k) - use the search function for biasing... Or read RG Keens article about the Rangemaster.

- add a 1-pole on/off/on switch to chose between 3 input cap settings:
. - middle position: the stock 5nF or 4.7nF....
. - One side: adding another 5nF (or 6.8 or so...) in parallel = 10nF (or11.8nF) - for more bass.
. - Other side: adding a 220nF or even 470nF - now you've got a full boost.

- maybe try different transistors, it needn't be a mojo OC44. Many old russian or japanese trannies sound really good as well. They often have a lower leakage than many OC44's. Any pnp-germanium with a hfe between 60..90 will work

I use a russian MP21D, a 15nF input cap and a 2.4k bias resistor - a bit away from the original, but perfect for me.
So: Don't copy Iommi's Rangemaster, instead copy his way of finding his sound - that means: trimming the circuit until it fits your needs.

Let's try OC71 & the ever classy AC128 on RangeMaster Fuzz!

[WhiteWarlock]

AC128 Germanium Transistors for making some quality Dallas Arbiter FuzzFace clones

[WhiteWarlock]

Practical Electronics Magazine
Transistor Guide
May 1966
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK ... -guide.pdf

[Indeterminacy]

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[WhiteWarlock]

[Indeterminacy]

Nice generic all purpose circuit.

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[Indeterminacy]

These boosters are nice sludge enhancers. Especially when tuned down to C# and playing through a 2-15" cabinet.

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[timdrage]

No schematic (might do it if I develop it into an actual pedal) but while breadboarding a larger project I made a nice extremely gated fuzz by just running a 386 amp into 1 gate of a 40106