Si FF Build Report

[petemoore]

I got some 2n2369's in yesday, trying them out today !!!
 Hafta say from 'first impression results' that these low gainers [I measured between 32hfe and 44hfe on the ten I ordered] are making a much different Si FF I've built to date.
 Full on and rolled off, the sound is well defined. Fuzz is very Fuzz. The Clean is quite nice...It gets boxed and tried with the big amps today. Probably will need a little high end rolloff.
 Thanks to who it was that repeatedly posted of the quality of a FF using this transistor for Q1 !!! M  Makes a big difference.

[petemoore]

I got some 2n2369's in yesday, trying them out today !!!
 Hafta say from 'first impression results' that these low gainers [I measured between 32hfe and 44hfe on the ten I ordered] are making a much different Si FF I've built to date.
 Full on and rolled off, the sound is well defined. Fuzz is very Fuzz. The Clean is quite nice...It gets boxed and tried with the big amps today. Probably will need a little high end rolloff.
 Thanks to who it was that repeatedly posted of the quality of a FF using this transistor for Q1 !!! M  Makes a big difference.

Q2...I have a 4401 in there Hfe 165 IIRC, this position does well with a pretty wide variety of NPN's...[Jfet's don't].
 ...Trim pot on Q2 collector
 Sockets for Q1, Q2, Capacitor in, Capacitor out, and the Emitter bypass capacitor...that's all the caps. 22uf in the E.B. cap position.

[Fret Wire]

The 2N2369a's are pretty nice aren't they? The last 100 I bought ran from 68-74 hfe. Its' tough if you're trying to stay in the 70-130 hfe range. Most of the si npn's that are specifed from say 40hfe to 150hfe can run in tight batches. You could get a batch that all runs 50 hfe, the next could run 160 hfe. The 2369's seem to be real consistant. Since they only cost about 5 cents apiece, it's no big deal.

Not that we need another tranny choice, but for Q2, I've had good luck with the 2N4400, always running between 100-130hfe.
http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/2N/2N4400.pdf

[petemoore]

FF's are such fun. THousands of permutations on that one 'basic' circuit.
 "This One IS It"...I've don't think I've typed those exact words here yet, and know better than to...so for now I'll just type: Hooo Yeahh !!!
 and add the controls, including the guitar volume are working great !!!
 I like to tune the FF input cap so it's not shrill with guitvol up, and smooth sounding with Guitar vol down a bit, [that's the 'briar-ey' part], this one seems to be getting plenty thick with Guitarvol Up and PDSmooth downvol with nice cleanup sound !!!
 It's now in the box and ready for 'racing'.
 I've got the rolloff cap all at the input cap/Q1 base to ground, .oo33uf.

[petemoore]

The 2N2369a's are pretty nice aren't they? The last 100 I bought ran from 68-74 hfe. Its' tough if you're trying to stay in the 70-130 hfe range. Most of the si npn's that are specifed from say 40hfe to 150hfe can run in tight batches. You could get a batch that all runs 50 hfe, the next could run 160 hfe. The 2369's seem to be real consistant. Since they only cost about 5 cents apiece, it's no big deal.

Not that we need another tranny choice, but for Q2, I've had good luck with the 2N4400, always running between 100-130hfe.
http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/2N/2N4400.pdf

I don't know what I put in Q2, and I don't know that it matters, just that it sounds good.
 Well I tried this throught the 4 x 12''s and the MkII 50W, and can tell [because it's using stable si transistors] that it's a great sounding Fuzz Box !!
 Thick, 'smoothe' Grind, excellent cleanup !!! Excellent Heavy FF tones !!!
  :wink:   :twisted:     :shock:

[bwanasonic]

Thanks for the info Pete! I'm hashing out what I want in an Si FF now, and was planning on using a 2369 for Q1 and *whatever* for Q2. Mixing and matching ideas from sili-face II, Axis Face, etc. Figured I'd try and get my breadboard chops happening, as the thing has been gathering dust pretty much since I bought it.

cheers
Kerry M

[petemoore]

Thanks for the info Pete! I'm hashing out what I want in an Si FF now, and was planning on using a 2369 for Q1 and *whatever* for Q2. Mixing and matching ideas from sili-face II, Axis Face, etc. Figured I'd try and get my breadboard chops happening, as the thing has been gathering dust pretty much since I bought it.

cheers
Kerry M

I keep saying 'Best Fuzz Ever' and then blowing my mind with another that throws the rules out all over again !!!
 I say he was right and you should try and see what you think, 2369 is a great number for a FF Q1.
 Basically all I have is a FF, trimpot for Q2 resistor, with alotta sockets on the board [caps and Q's]. The gain knob says 2k, I didn't look to see if I put a trim resistor on it [I probably did] that pot set on 8 is like Full on. I like to start with 1k and a little more [adding a fixed to the outside of luf 1 or 3] or start with a 2k and leave it alone turned down a little or trim it down with a 1k8 or so fixed resistor paralleled to its connections....depending on how it's sounding.