Understanding the Superfuzz

[Mark Hammer]

Remember how there was a time when both the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird were in production, and everybody sort of knew that they were really the same car underneath, even though they were pitched as different?

In view of how many Superfuzz-related threads there have been in recent months and years, I thought maybe it was time for us to put our collective heads together and construct a sort of meta-view of the basic Superfuzz circuit, and the various different units that have been sold under different names, that were maybe a little different on their input or output stages, but were all Superfuzzes underneath.  Different people will swear by one or another, but we never really treat them all as essentially the same family with the same features, this sibling having hair that's a little curlier and darker than that one.

Submitted for your consideration as variants in the phylum are:
- The Royal Fuzz: http://www.lynx.bc.ca/~jc/pedalsRoyal.html
- The Acetone Fuzzmaster: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=90369.0
- The Kay Fuzz: http://ustomp.com/?p=5
- the Aria Diamond / Ibanez Standard fuzz: http://212.242.106.33/~etcetera/public/instruments/IbanezStandardFuzz/ibanezstandardfuzz.htm
- the ZVex Octane

I'm certain there are more, if one wanted to do the geneology research on the effectsdatabase, but I note these just to get us started.  A quick glance at all the the schematics and you'll note that the circuit built around the middle three transistors is identical.  Where they differ is what happens after the clipping diodes, and before the phase-splitter.  And that's where I'd like us to focus our attention and come up with some ideas about what aspects of the input and/or output stage yield audible and reliable sonic differences.  The desired end result is that folks will be able to tweak the basic circuit in the direction of their preferences, and maybe even come up with some new sounds or improved versions of the older ones.

Start your engines.

[Electron Tornado]

Just a few ideas:

1. Change clipping diodes is an obvious one
2. Fiddle with the notch filter after the clipping diodes. Make it adjustable.
3. Put clipping diodes on one side of the phase splitter output.
4. On the Royal Fuzz, what happens if you take the pair of 22k resistors in the rectifier circuit and replace them with a 50k pot?

[slacker]

For something completely different, yet still very much a Super Fuzz descendant, the Boss FZ2 does the front end with a discrete opamp and all manner of interesting stuff afterwards.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8mWACFOAuO0/T0EVb23BJcI/AAAAAAAAA9c/W8yyAJbJf-o/s1600/BOSS+FZ-2.jpg

It's a good question Mark, especially interesting to know if there's any significant difference in the variations with simpler front ends.

[Mark Hammer]

If you want to talk simple, take a look at the "Fuzz" portion of the Boss ROD-10 unit, which has 5 different distortion circuits.  That subcircuit strips things down to the bare minimum: phase-splitter, mirror pair, clipping diodes.  On the other hand, it share a 3-band EQ with the rest of the distortions.

[digi2t]

I thank you Mark for starting this thread. It will be interesting to see where it goes. My first physical contact with a Superfuzz type circuit was with the Honey Special Fuzz, which according to some, dates circa `67 or`68. The schematic is available in a thread here on the forum, http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=96591.0

I think a bit of history on the Superfuzz was touched on as well in the thread.


P.S. Main difference between the first generation production Camaro`s and Firebird`s; Camaro power plant topped out with the 396 BB, while the Firebird offered a 400 SB. Everything else rusted equally.

[digi2t]

I wanted to add this the other day, but I was at work and didn't have the link handy; http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Billl/ . This is a pedal collection of some gent in Japan, he calls himself "Billl" You can use the Bing translator to translate the page, and use that search function to go through some of the fantastic pictures in his collection. Typing in "super fuzz" yields a number of stunners, complete with gut shots of both sides of the boards of many. Some of the boards sport the "HF" logo on the trace side, which I believe stands for "Honey Fresh sounds", the Honey company logo. According to this site (and general historical lore), the Honey company was born in 1967, and died in 1969. Although a short life, looking at pictures of other models of Superfuzz pedals from Billl's site, we sometimes see the "HF" on the trace side. I believe a Guyatone Superfuzz carries this branding.

One thing that has always intrigued me though, is the label plate on my Special Fuzz unit. It lacks the "Honey Co. Ltd." logo that I've always seen on other units (pics on the net). Here's what I mean;

Units from the net;




My unit;



This has always left me thinking that there are three possible answers here; A) Very early production, and the name of the company hadn't been decided on yet (unlikely), B) Mid-production supplier screw up (possible), or C) Company has gone under, order some more plates sans-logo, and let's dump the rest of the stock (most likely).

Whenever I get into this era/area of pedals, it always leaves me hankering for a time machine. Must have been exciting times for pedals and such back then. I have seen pictures on the net of a "pedal flea market" of sorts, somewhere in Japan. Figures I can't find them now, but I would love to figure out where it is. We have a Japanese friend, she's very sweet. My dream would be to tag along with her the next time she goes back to visit family, and get her to take me there.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.... back to the Superfuzz....

[Mark Hammer]

No problem.  Linking to those pics of the Royal, I realized that I had repaired one of those for a buddy in town, but never thought to take any detailed info about it.  Although I suppose if I asked him, he'd loan it out again.

Not at all fuzz related, but what I find so fascinating about those fuzz-wahs is that they use a cam to rotate the wah pot, rather than a rack-and-pinion system.  I have an early issue Visual Volume that also uses a cam, but it uses it to move a dual slider pot.  Rotating a pot with a cam is pretty rare.

[digi2t]

Rotating a pot with a cam is pretty rare.

Colorsound is the only other one that I can think of, off the top of my head.

[digi2t]

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Billl/searchdiary?word=guyatone

Use Bing to translate.

Some nice pics of Superfuzz circuits. Different transistors used, and even some with a 1nF or 2.2nF cap added to the trace side. I believe this is the cap that is parallel to the 47K resistor that feeds Q1C / Q2B. I guess a bit of evolution evident here, placing the cap on the trace side to compensate, and then incorporating it into the design on the component side. It seems that my Special Fuzz hadn't benefited from this upgrade, since it's not incorporated on my unit.

BTW, I believe my third guess is most probably confirmed insofar as my Special Fuzz missing company logo is concerned. I lifted this from the translated page (rough translation);

Last time I think is a personal guess FS-3Guyatone , fuzz above unknown brand was in there made of pure Honey.
FS-3 other Honey and too different from others,Guyatone was found in Honey post-bankruptcy 1970 catalogue parts are used.
Not think other companies purchase surplus Honey after bankruptcy Foundation, had even オリジナルファズ sales from their brands with it either.

So my Honey, might be a Guyatone after all. Pardon the pun.