I just made my first working pedal -a muff fuzz from GGG (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/v2/diagrams/muffpl.gif)- and installed some switches to choose between silicon & germanium diodes, and a switch to change R2 from a 10K resistor to a 47k resistor...
...now here's the thing;
it sounds great with the Germaniums and 10k, it sounds interesting (and loud) with the Silicons and 10k -but when the 47k was switched on, the tone was basically a sputtering crackle. I replaced the 47k with a 22k and although it sounds normal when I hit chords hard, the sustain seems to roll off really quickly when the decay drops below a certain level. Single notes just sputter and fade away.
I'm hesitant to drop the 22k for lower value because the tone is still quite interesting and would suit playing chords non-stop through a song -it's just that the tone would breakdown as soon as you stop playing.
So folks, is there a way to remedy this without changing anything but that R2 resistor? JD reccommends using anything between a 22k-50k resistor for R2, but the 47k sounded terrible.
from what i see most of tem don't use much more than a 10k or maybe a 10k trim with a 1k usually all of them are showing less than or equal to ten k
ok, thanks! I might just keep screwin' around with different values to see if I can find one that sounds better. After all, I've gotta use the switch for something now that I've drilled a hole in the enclosure :oops:
This is turning out to be one bizzaro pedal, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be this way or if it's broken. For starters, the radio comes through intimitantly when the R2 switch is on the 10k resistor, but goes totally noise free when switched to the 22k. Bad solder joint maybe? Also, turning the volume pot through the last 10 degrees or so sounds like a radio being tuned in -but without any radio interferance- a sort of weird modulating sound. :?