Build your own Fuzz Face (Part 2) - THE SECRET TO ULTIMATE FUZZ TONE!

In the 2nd and concluding part of our ‘Build Your Own Fuzz Face’ series we demonstrate how to test and select suitable transistors for this classic pedal. We also demonstrate how to bias the transistors by ear to make them sound as good as possible. And at the end, we finally get to hear how it sounds with a variety of guitars.
The transistor tester - and indeed much of the inspiration for this project - came from RG Keen’s classic web page ‘The Technology Of The Fuzz Face’. This page may look like something out of the internet’s dark ages, but you won’t find anything better online.
www.geofex.com/article_folders...
And don’t forget you can find more information plus all the diagrams you need in Huw’s original article on Guitar.com
guitar.com/guides/diy-worksho...
Key Timings
0:00 Intro
0:55 Transistor Testing
5:47 Transistor Installation
13:12 Biasing Transistors
18:00 Explaining The Controls
21:09 Demo Jam
23:03 Conclusions
Hope you enjoyed this mini series, please let us know if you build your own fuzz face, we'd love to see and hear them!
See you soon for further adventures in the Tone Twins universe.
Hwyl!
Huw and Ed

[@marpymellow3805]

Excellent, very well explained and so relaxing - you’re the Bob Ross of pedal building!

[@petercornell2002]

Thanks Huw, very interesting to se how the biasing releases the roaring beast! Excellent idea to have the 2 types switchable. Peter

[@theolang3566]

Hey, first time viewer here. Very helpful video. I haven't build a fuzz face type pedal yet, but this helped me decide on different things.

[@walkinginharmony]

Well done guys it looks and sounds great. I'm amazed how much the biasing makes, a few twists and it suddenly became musical. Keep up the great work guys it's a great channel.

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Thanks Brian, hope you're keeping well.

[@pinetopthomas4100]

Awesome 2 part series. Thanks Twins.

[@richclayton5785]

Very nice follow up to the first part! And I really enjoyed the jam too

[@IronheadStakebreaker]

Albsolutely love the video. Thank you for all the good work.

[@chrishuss2903]

Awesome video. Diode selection capability is brilliant.

[@mikemartin6554]

Such enjoyable videos! I love the inner workings of guitar gear and this really fits the bill for me! Just great content! I subscribed al.ost as soon as I started with part 1. Thanks!

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Thanks Mike.

[@parabot2]

Very cool , more of these pedal builds would be nice. Added switch option etc are nice.

[@littlebritain64]

I appreciated the video a lot and I love this sound quality. Thanks!

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Thanks

[@mattfisher401]

I built it from Huw's article! It sounds great and Huw was helpful on a couple of questions.

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Hey Matt, that was fun bringing that one to completion. Really glad it worked out. Which germanium transistors did you use?

[@mattfisher401]

@@tonetwinstv2863 I got a pair of both AC130 and 2N1304 and made two fuzzes each of them had one of each. One I gave to my brother which had the two lower output Ge transistors. The difference between the two pedals wasn't remarkably different after I got them dialed in. On mine though, one of the Si and Ge pairings isn't my favorite (a bit too 'splatty') but not bad. Trying to adjust it for improvement goofed up all the other settings too much. I am happy with a fuzz with three unique sounds though! I must admit I really like the Si/Si best followed by the better Ge/Si setting.

[@charlesshaw9090]

Great video! So what were the resistance and voltages at the best bias points?

[@Kevin-the-Just]

That sounds great. I'd be chuffed to bits if I could build that. Nice one Huw. 👍🏻🤟🏻

[@tonetwinstv2863]

You can Kevin, you can ;)

[@whiggy]

Awesome video! The FF sounds great! Loved the jam too!

[@richclayton5785]

Just found your channel quite by accident. Job well done! I have now watched em all I think. So, my wife and I hope to be in the UK the month of June! Won’t be getting to Wales, sorry. But if you have some favorite guitar and amp haunts in England and Scotland I sure would like a short list.

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Hey Rich. We'd suggest Vintage N' Rare in Bath, ATB Guitars in Gloucester, World Guitars in Gloucestershire, Charlie Chandler's in West London and Denmark Street in London, which has a bunch of shops.

[@rezamohamad65]

Thank s

[@tgorycki6825]

Awesome video! I was confused at 13:12 when the transistors had been changed out from what were just soldered in.

[@objectiveobserver2792]

putting the mystery back into the equation, no explanation

[@chickenlickin3820]

Ta bo and thanks : )

[@tonetwinstv2863]

May we correct your Welsh CL? Hope you don't mind. It's actually 'da bo'. But we absolutely love the fact that you're giving it a go. Many thanks.

[@johnrogers2826]

Sounds really, REALLY good! Very impressive. Ta!

[@timjx3675]

Awesome project really enjoyed watching. How do you bias the transistors for the classic glassy clean up of fuzz faces. I understand its related to the input impedance vs the pickup impedance, any one got any pointers. Cheers 🎸

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Not really Tim, your ears will tell you. You can try tweaking the transistor bias with your guitar volume rolled back and listen for low grittiness and a smooth and long note decay. The Fuller mod helps with the cleanup and makes the guitar volume a little less on/off.

[@klemennnn]

Hey Huw and Ed! I want to build a fuzz pedal that sounds something like the intro fuzz part on "Spirit in the Sky". Do you have any idea how to achieve the tone or where to begin? Thanks!

[@chickenlickin3820]

Nice build Hew, i was remembering when you made that martin acoustic guitar kit you documented from the guitar mag. how is it standing up? what year was this??

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Which one? I wrote a one off feature some time around 2001 and that guitar now belongs to a good friend of mine. I wrote a series of articles on a second kit that I built about 5 years ago. That one is still with me and hasn't fallen apart yet... H

[@chickenlickin3820]

@@tonetwinstv2863 yes it was 2001 : )

[@TheYjmfan]

Some time ago I put an update kit into a wah pedal, this had a trim pot inc to fit to the circuit board but to be honest never new what it was for can you tell me what this would adjust, thanks.

[@RicketyKrickett]

I built this to your instruction, the germanium’s sound great. But when I switch to the bc108’s I have very little output. I tried switching the pin out as well. And it didn’t sound any different. Any help?

[@shader26]

Can I ask what is the lower temp setting you use when soldering the transistors into the switches?

[@N0thingIsTrue]

Hey Huw! Really like the design, was just wondering if it would be possible to add a tone control to it? Would it make sense on a fuzz pedal like this? Excuse my ignorance I'm only a beginner.

[@the-np4mr]

There are fuzz faces with a tone control out there, the tone bender had one added to it at some point so it's possible. I assume if it's built on perfboard you can borrow a tone circuit from another schematic and add it in

[@N0thingIsTrue]

@@the-np4mr Hi! Thanks, I'll have a look at some. Incidentally, do you happen to know whether this fuzz face is negative ground or not?

[@satanbane]

Looks like you're using 3pdt switches for the transistor selectors. Couldn't you just use dpdt?

[@andyingham7144]

What size enclosure are you using?

[@mileswatkinson8135]

How do I tame the background noise in a fuzz pedal? I use primarily single coil guitars, and greatly prefer them for their articulation and open tone vs the thickness of humbuckers, but even with a noise suppressor and isolated power, the hiss when indime out my germanium fuzz face clone is annoying. The suppressor manages to keep it down with my overdrive and distortion pedals, but that glorious fuzz tone is always at the cost of a background hiss.

[@generalleigh7387]

What about MPS 18s in an NPN fuzz face, any such thing yet?

[@Contentpunk]

what temp. are you normally using for soldering the parts?

[@djb6496]

Why did you switch the transistors? You made no mention of it? Did they end up sounding bad and switched them out?

[@waynegram8907]

The transistor tester is measuring the gain of the transistors how so? measuring the base voltage to the collector voltage

[@the-np4mr]

If by dark ages of the Internet you mean the golden ages I agree lol

[@TheCleaner6969]

Can't you just use the Harbor Freight DMM & use the hfe?

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Would you translate to UK English please? ;)

[@mathieusan]

so.. how to make a simple circuit complicated?

[@tonetwinstv2863]

No, how to make a simple circuit more versatile. Simply put, if you prefer the stock version, then simply build one of those.

[@augustusbetucius2931]

I complained on part 1, but two things: One, you said you lowered the iron's temperature - to what temperature? Two, the links to the info has become 404'd. It's gone. A search on the site comes to naught. Bother!

[@formulawalsh]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW BUT YOU DON"T AND YOU NEVER WILL

[@tonetwinstv2863]

OK GOOD TO KNOW. WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?