Here is my first circuit. I named it 1983 fuzz because it reminded me of the sounds of Atari/Colecovision from the early 80's. I prototyped it on a breadboard, then wired up a permanent copy and it works great!
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC05227.jpg)
Any sound samples forthcoming?
cool !
+1 on the samples wanted
I'll see if I can get something on Soundcloud tomorrow.
Love how the 80s computer fuzz has a 386 in it :)
That's hilarious - I never though of that. My first CPU had a 486sx in it...sound clip coming very soon!
Here it is!
The last few seconds of the clip really show the old school quality I love about the pedal.
http://soundcloud.com/tim-diederich/1983-fuzz-sample
Oh, if you plan on making one, the 100 ohm resistor from the power supply might not be needed. On a breadboard, it worked fine without it. Once I soldered my circuit, it kept crashing on me about 5-10 seconds in. I added the 100 ohm or so (I think I settled on an 80) resistor, and it worked fine. Weird.
All of a sudden I feel like a 5 year old playing video games again. I'll have to give this one a shot one of these days.
Please do! Let me know how the build turns out - its fun and pretty easy! Also, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
1983...(A Fuzzbox I Should Turn To Be)
one of those sounds was similar to the 2600 game "raiders of the lost ark" , the noise you get when indy dies .
thanks for sharing this , at some point , when i get time this is goin on a breadboard .
That's great stuff Petey. I finally completed a circuit I was proud enough to share, and the sharing/helping nature of this forum is tremendous. You should build the 386 Fuzz. I cannot stop playing mine and now the bass player in my band wants one too - it sounds great with guitar or bass.
thanks for sharing that man .
i actually have a 556 chip or two here , and the 386's as well .
its on the list , i want something like that just for "fun" . circuits like this get extra bonus points from me cause they are exactly the opposite than the typical attitude of " i need a pedal to nail the sound of my dimed marshul" .... "sustain for days ? " you'll be lucky to squeeze an 1/8th note out of this sucker :icon_cool: :icon_lol:
Yeah, when it comes to circuits, I can often be "against the grain" in my search for new and bizarre sounds. That's one of the reasons DIY pedals really got me going in the first place. Because of demand, major pedal manufacturers don't waste thier money making "fun" or "strange" pedals. You can do what you please if you do it yourself though....to an extent.
Holy godder of mom! I'm in love!! ;D
OT , but yesterday i accidentally "figured out" how to mimic the "Pac Man" death rattle , using a sustainiac , high hain distorion and the whammy bar . i lolled .
seriously OT , i read in an adrian belew interview he said when he was a kid he saw Maury Ampsterdam on the tonight show goofing off doing sound effects with a cello . he said he did seagulls and something else . that is so awesome .
awesome!! im gonna build one....or try lol
That sounds rad! I just ordered some dual timers too
Let me know how the build turns out! I had an idea about adding another 556 chip in the design with 2 more pots, but I don't know if the signal will reach that far. I might have to add another 386 too. Any suggestions?
I'll be making/posting a youtube video of the finished in the painted case version hopefully early next week.
What do the pots do? I know one is Volume, what do the other 2 do?
They each shape the sound. When I make the video, I'll demonstrate that. From left to right, each pot seems to go from bass to treble. The change is not extreme, but its a nice touch.
Here's the video...Sorry in advance if you like red led's.
http://youtu.be/gBBBn1rE17s
excellent , thanks for the video .
i commented .
i will sub too , hold on .
subbed .
Thanks Petey! Hey, I checked out your Youtube again - nice stuff - subscribed!
yeah i have to catch up on my video "production" ...
its really time consuming , but ... i really dig the idea of archiving this stuff i do .
thanks for the sub , i am looking forward to seeing more of YOUR work !
keep those oddball chassis comin , the idea of reusing stuff like that , it really stands out , that's class man .
i used to do a lot of garbage pickin before i got hurt , i really miss those nights .
Thanks for the kind words! That box for the 1983 fuzz was a black power supply I gutted and sprayed light blue - It really turned out better looking than I though when it was all assembled... I'm super new to the whole building scene, but I'm constantly working on a breadboard with whacked out stuff like a mad scientist. I'll post what I come up with if its anything good.
Has anyone else tried this build? I'd love to hear feedback and/or suggestions...
I'm going to try it but I don't have a 556 on hands and it might takes two weeks to get the one that I have ordered.
I really like the soundclip!
I'm not getting the schematic ???
I looks like you only using one of the timers in the 556.. then why is there a pot connected to the A discharge? you're not using A's output at all..
Can't you just use a 555 instead?
Could you please elaborate?
I'll have to do some breadboard work to see if one could get by with only a 555. The reason I used a 556 is because I'm using both threshold pins in the design (2 and 12) and didn't know if I could modify it. It might be more streamlined to use a 555 instead of the 556 and possibly remove a pot. The pot coming off discharge A? I have no electronical rational there - I was just screwing around with components on a breadboard.
I have breadboarded this circuit with no success today. The only thing that I have achieved is an acrid smell coming out of the 556. Are you sure that there is no mistakes in the schematic that you have drawn?
I'm pretty sure there are no mistakes. I drew the schematic from my breadboard, then used that schematic to build my final version. I'll take a look if I have some time. Anyone else build this?
suggestion: put a 10uf on 386 pin 1-8... ;)
btw subbed ;)
DA: an electrolytic i assume? which way would + go or does it matter? making a proper schem in eagle right now for this and will post it
yep electro... either way.. breadboard it first!!!... ;)
i actually found it moments ago on another non-pedal related site. its the first google image result when searching "ic386"
timd: is this correct?
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47463&g2_serialNumber=2)
I tried it again today (with the 10uF across pin 1-8) and I still counldn't get it to work :(. There is no sound at all and as soon as I power it up the 556 is getting burning hot. It looks like such a simple circuit, I really don't get what I am doing wrong.
Have you breadboarded it kodiakklub?
Kodiakklub - can you give me the link to this? I tried to type in the same google image search, but couldn't find it - must be a regional thing. Well, its not my circuit...but so close....Was I at least given credit in some way?
Vince - do you have a different 556 ic you can try?
Upon further review, minus the 10 uf cap, it looks like someone jacked my circuit. It's really easy to tell because I used some component sizes that might not be ideal and I was going to change. Distressing.
Plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. Or at least that's what they say.
It's possible someone re-drew it in CAD for personal use.
if you want to keep a circuit secret......erm..... ;)
but at least a diagram/schematic redrawn should give credit where its due...
Quote from: kodiakklub on May 09, 2012, 09:31:27 AM
DA: an electrolytic i assume? which way would + go or does it matter? making a proper schem in eagle right now for this and will post it
i literally said i was drawing it and going to post it.
timd: i reuploaded it with your name on it. i copied exactly from your pencil drawing. if its wrong, then so seems to be your pencil drawing. please let me know what needs changing. i would like to build this.
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47469&g2_serialNumber=1)
Quote from: kodiakklub on May 09, 2012, 10:02:05 AM
i actually found it moments ago on another non-pedal related site. its the first google image result when searching "ic386"
timd: is this correct?
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47463&g2_serialNumber=2)
It seems like everyone thought you found this in a google image search. Regardless, sorry about the confus.
oh. i see how that got way confusing super quickly :) im good at that (confusing people on accident). i would still love to have tim confirm this is correct. its a very interesting pedal. i would want to try this with a bass and an octave pedal like the mini pog. i feel its better suited for effected rhythm sounds. me likey fuzz of all flavors.
and tim: 82 was a much better year ;)
+1 on 1982, especially if you like bordeaux :icon_wink:
+1 83 was horrible .
gonna try this thing when i get time .
Kodiakklub - yes, the schematic is accurate. I would love for someone else besides me to verify this build. Its a really nasty fun one.
Dead Astronaut - What does the 10uF cap do for the circuit. BTW - subbed. My son and I really like what you do with LED's!
Quote from: timd on May 13, 2012, 12:37:49 AMWhat does the 10uF cap do for the circuit.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?;topic=96459.0 (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?;topic=96459.0)
Ah, Yes! Thanks for jogging my memory.
@timd; cool, cheers man!... ;)
This sounds great, I've been looking for a god ol, 555 atari/stomp pedal for a while.
Has anyone made a nice layout for this?
UNVERIFIED!! but feel free to give it a whirl
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47494&g2_serialNumber=1)
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47496&g2_serialNumber=1)
just noticed no pull down resist on the in leg. how necessary is that? dang, dont have the LED resistor on the the 9v+ rail either. ill fix it friday night and repost, but according to timd, theres no reason this shouldnt work as is.
cool share an updated one when you can, I think I actually have all the parts.
will this fit in a 1590A?
the board i think is about 1.75" x 1.25". and i have no idea if it fits in an A box. i dont use them.
Has anyone else done this build? I want to know firsthand what people think of the circuit.
ill hopefully have it done within 2 weeks. i will certainly report back
Great - hopefully it will work as well as it did for me!
I have tried to breadboard it again today and I still cannot make it work. I have no output at all and the 556 gets really hot in a matter of seconds.
I don't know if it can makes a difference but are you using a CMOS 556?
Vince - I don't know if it is or not. They should work the same... Have you tried a different 556 chip? Perhaps there was an issue with the one you tried.
I tried different ones, but they are all from the same source.
Can you give me the voltages on the different pins of the ICs, it might help me to find what I'm doing wrong.
updated with pull down resist and led resist
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47507&g2_serialNumber=1)
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47509&g2_serialNumber=1)
has anyone built this off the diagrams yet ?
i really want to try , but , i am a lil nervous , vince didnt get it going ....
is the hand drawn diagram correct tim ?
Yes, the hand drawn one is correct. Unfortunatley, I haven't heard from anyone else who had success. Petey - try it on a breadboard and let me know. Should be very quick and easy.
i plan to , should be tomorrow , but some days i just cant get motivated (back injury) . 99 percent sure i still have a 556 ...
didnt have a 556 , so my ole lady;s pickin one up for me tomorow .
Hmmm.... that's a great idea - I'll have to have my lady start sourcing IC's for me too!
eat shack is on the way home from her work ...
i got the ic , all the parts together , hopefully i will feel up to some work soon .
Please let me know how it goes!
it didnt go very well , as a matter of fact i had the same results as vince , the 556 chip got hotter than heck !
i kinda figured something was up when i really looked at the drawing so i didnt hook up the v plus connection on the 556 on pins 14 and ten .
when i did , my hunch paid off with a sizzled fingertip !
come on tim , i only have a few of those left to go around !
the front end was passing audio , loud and clear , the lil monkeying i did with the layout on the 556 did not pay off . looking at the circuit , i am scratching my head , cause i rebuilt it 3 times , in different "configs" w/the same results .
:-\
oh now im super curious. gonna have to breadboard it today......
looking at the datasheet and your original handdrawn schem, you have what i assume is 9V going to pins 14 and 10 of the 556. the max Voltage for pin 10 (reset) is 1V. timd: your drawing cant be correct. can you please check your circuit again? thanks a million. i really want to get this thing sussed out
+1 ^ !
hmmm now reading this site: http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm (http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm)
it says that if one is not using the reset function, then it should be connected to VCC, ie. pin 14 and 10 joined as timd drew. totally confused as to why that makes sense electrically.
petey: try disconnecting pin 10 and leave it NC. also try putting a 1k resist in series with the 100k pot going to pins 12/13. pin 12 is supposed to always have at least a 1K in front of it. i wonder if thats burning it up too?
will do , busy now , brb soon ... oh and thanks !
Hey everyone - I feel bad that everyone is having issues with the circuit. I'm not home now, but hopefully in the next day or so, I can work this out.
I would go with kodiaklub's suggestion of leaving pin 10 NC. You DO need power to pin 14.
Could the 556 timers I use have a higher voltage tolerance??? I was under the impression that they were all the same.
the voltage on pin 14 can be as high as i think 16v so we should all be square there. maybe time to investigate the current and/or voltage coming off pin 5 of the 386. ill start looking at that.
timd: can you tell us all the numbers that are on your 556 so we can find out the exact specs of yours? thanks.
Will do - I'll be home tonight. I suspect the issue is with the V+ going to pin 10.
my new hunch and now what i feel is the most likely culprit. tim originally (and assuming still) didnt put a cap between pins 1 and 8 of the 386. without a cap, the gain of the 386 is only 20. if you put a cap in between 1 and 8, the gain jumps over the moon to 200. pumping too much voltage or current into the 556. petey: did you add that cap on your breadboard? if not, then im stumped, but if you did, remove it and see what happens. if tim built exactly what his original schem is, then that cap is the only thing that changed.
The ah-ha moment! I didn't even consider this. My original breadboard - and following build didn't include the cap. Well Petey and Vince...did you use the cap?
Hmmmm....Looking back on this thread, I did notice that Vince had a problem before Dead Astronaut suggested the cap. Petey - it seems like its your turn to give input on the cap issue
Adding or removing the cap didn't make any difference for me so I don't think that this is the problem.
kodiakklub - here is is 556 I'm using:
ST
NE556N
So I got back on the breadboard and found the following:
My hand-drawn "professional" :D schematic shows pin 10 connected to V+.
- If you connect pin 9 to V+ it will heat up faster than Charlie Sheen in a room full of coke and hookers.
****the pin 10 to V+ is actually not needed!!!!!!
Those that wish to get this working - don't put the cap connecting pins 1 + 8 on the 386 chip. Disregard the connection of pin 10 to V+ on the 556. I actually got some cool oscillations of my new build of this circuit. I think I might be working on more 556 and 555 guitar pedal circuits soon!
Vince - I'll get those voltages to you in 5.
The voltages of the 556 chip in the circuit:
Pins:
1. 7.79
2. .03
3. 5.70
4. .31
5. .02
6. .04
7. .01
8. .03
9. .01
10. .31
11. 3.69
12. .02
13. .02
14. 8.55
timd: seems you have the tex inst version of the 556. doesnt seem to be different electrically.
I changed my schematic and layout but i will BB it first before I post them again unless someone wants them.
i did not use the cap on the 386 , i also disconnected voltage to pin 10 , and many other mods .
result is the same , the second chip does not pass audio . or when you connect voltage it gets really hot , really fast .
there are several major issues with the original hand drawn layout .
i am done .
Hey Tim, sorry to tell you that but there is no way that this circuit can works. I've tried unconnecting pin 10 from V+ and it doesn't make any difference.
You should redraw the schematic using your working unit as a reference, there is probably more than one mistakes as it is right now.
I just verified it against the working one, and it matches. I'll post pics of the board soon. I can't be of any more than that....
it seems like you've found a way to burn the right part of your 556 to get a cool effect that still passes audio. the golden combination of circuit and IC. start selling those 'working' 556's timd :p
Here are some pics of the final working build and working breadboard version:
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC05438.jpg)
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC05439.jpg)
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC05437.jpg)
pin 4 off the 386 is shown feeding to ground in the hand drawing , in the pic is it feeding to the + rail of the breadboard or the ground ? very hard to see , actually its a toss up , but i am leaning towards ground because of what the 3rd photo reveals .
no 100r resistor between pin 5 and + rail on 386 , as mentioned .
the wire going from pin 8 to the 10 nf cap off of pin 2 on the 556 ...
in the hand drawing it feeds off the ground side of the cap to pin 8 , in the pic it is going to the chip side of the 10 nf cap .
in the hand drawing pin 9 of the 556 is shown going to ground but also feeding a 10uf cap resistor pot "combo" , in the photo there does not appear to be a ground off the cap , only off the resistor .
i dont see any of the pots in the photos which really puts a damper on further dowsing . also the second chip ID numbers are not visible .
the worst thing my kid does is something like back talk or smart off sometimes , if she ever gets busted for dealing or steals a car , this might be a good punishment . " your choice , grounded for 3 years or debug this circuit . "
Quote from: petey twofinger on May 30, 2012, 01:07:01 PM
pin 4 off the 386 is shown feeding to ground in the hand drawing , in the pic is it feeding to the + rail of the breadboard or the ground ? very hard to see , actually its a toss up , but i am leaning towards ground because of what the 3rd photo reveals .
Ground - its an optical illusion. Look closely and you'll see it.
no 100r resistor between pin 5 and + rail on 386 , as mentioned .
The 100 r is optional
the wire going from pin 8 to the 10 nf cap off of pin 2 on the 556 ...
in the hand drawing it feeds off the ground side of the cap to pin 8 , in the pic it is going to the chip side of the 10 nf cap .
Pin 2 and 8 are connected to ground via the cap
in the hand drawing pin 9 of the 556 is shown going to ground but also feeding a 10uf cap resistor pot "combo" , in the photo there does not appear to be a ground off the cap , only off the resistor .
The resistor connects the 10uF cap to ground. The purple wire on the breadboard pic goes to output (or a A100K pot for volume control)
i dont see any of the pots in the photos which really puts a damper on further dowsing . also the second chip ID numbers are not visible .
ST NE556N
the worst thing my kid does is something like back talk or smart off sometimes , if she ever gets busted for dealing or steals a car , this might be a good punishment . " your choice , grounded for 3 years or debug this circuit . "
Can anyone spot an issue with my schematic? I must need another set of eyes to look at it - It makes perfect sense to me, but people are having issues, which is not my intent. I just wanted to share my fun circuit....
Any luck?
I've been lurking on this a little bit recently. Giving an extra eye tonight.
Hope you don't mind a schem from me... kodiakclub, you can revise yours if you like once things are squared away... never hurts to have 2 good schems floating around :) Screw Google, screw every prog I have that doesn't have a freaking dual timer, and screw 'sudo'... no schem from me, sorry. So far all I can find is noted below... still checking it out.
One thing I spot right away (this is what I think Pete was pointing out) is that pin 8 in the 556 SHOULD be connected to pin 2 in the schems (that's the way it's actually wired in your working unit). That directly couples pin 2 and 8 and they are both AC coupled to ground. This could be the source of overheating.
I'll get back with more... if I get something cleared out of my board later, I'll try it out. I'll definitely give it a try by the end of the weekend. :)
ETA: Pin 9 should not be tied to ground (it isn't in working unit pic). Think there was note somewhere of this.
Yeah, the pin 2 and 8 thing might be the culprit. I'm just looking for someone to get this thing working...its kinda driving me nuts.
Ok... improvise. I just "corrected" kc's schem (labeled as "1983FuzzbyTimd.gif")
(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7601/1983fuzzbytimd.gif)
by all means :) ive been waiting for a bigger fish to swim into this pond, no offense to anyone's valiant efforts. i will update my schem tomorrow night and post it. i will also try and get this breadboarded by the end of the weekend.
Sorry, man... not having any luck, either. It works for a couple notes, then it starts to "decay" and then I can hear it latch and no more sound. Starts to get a tiny warm, but I shut it down immediately after every time it latched.
UPDATE: Of course, I dont give up, I just wait for something to come to me... take the 100k and drop it straight off of pin 9 to ground. Now is the strange part... it depends completely on where I plug what into. It doesn't play well, and I honestly thing you may have found a good combination of things that are on the very edge of what the 556 wants to do. Still playing around with it. I'm trying isolating the supply from chip to chip and some other ideas.
Well - it seems like you got it to work a little bit...did you use the 100 R resistor? Also, did you rotate the pots? On my final build, I can play all day with it never overheating, but when I mess with the knobs and have both pots in an exact position it will kill.
Also, as trivial as it sounds, could the issue stem from the specific manufacturer combo of 386 and 556 chips?
Quote from: timd on June 01, 2012, 12:07:12 AM
Also, as trivial as it sounds, could the issue stem from the specific manufacturer combo of 386 and 556 chips?
Not too sure. I'm using TI NE556N. The 386 section seems to be working just fine... it's in one of the connections or manufacture of the chip, possibly. I didn't get any change out of using a 100R.
The 500k didn't do anything for me, and the 100k, I found, did a little bit. If you turn it to least resistance, it will cut out and stuff. You may consider a limiting resistor in there (so you don't kick the knob while it's off and find when you kick it on that you toasted it).
One thing I'd recommend is procuring a couple more chips (one of each, not batch, lol). Try building a second one on the breadboard and see if you can repeat it. Then compare to my updated schem, as well as your hand drawn one, and see if it all matches up right. This may be one of those "voodoo" circuits, lol... like my Scrynth. I can whip one up in a few minutes on the board and it works great every time, but the couple others that have tried it have had issues. It's one that I've been working on a second version of, a 'super' version of, and another circuit based on it. The 'based on' version isn't going so well because it loses the cool gating, but I'll eventually get something figured out. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time for a good idea to evolve into a realistic working item. ;D
tim are you running this from a battery or psu? if battery, have you measured its voltage?
also:
uglyface (http://www.experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/Fuzz%20and%20Fuzzy%20Noisemakers/Uglyface.gif)
crashsync (http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/crashsync.jpg)
555modifier (http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/ArmageddonProcessor/index.6.jpg)
http://www.beavisaudio.com/library/555/555.htm (http://www.beavisaudio.com/library/555/555.htm)
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm (http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm)
i've slammed a 555 frequency divider (http://www.proficientsyntax.com/555TimerIcCurcuits_FrequencyDivider.htm) with a 386 for lofi 8 bit sounding fuzzy fun too.
*edit* i sometimes wish that there were more convention in specialist ic schematics, timers, decoders, cmos, etc., it would make the compare and contrast so much simpler.
I'm running this from a power supply. I have those voltages on a previous page. I too like slamming stuff with the 386!
Anyone get this thing to work yet?
*Update - I just spent a bunch of time on the breadboard with this again and have the following:
You don't need the 500K pot off pin 1 of the 556 chip. Its contribution was very minor, and the surviving 100k pot can color quite a bit. You can even dial in sweet spot oscillations.
So, its now a 2 knob (1 if no volume) pedal!
Quote from: timd on June 06, 2012, 12:36:07 AM
You don't need the 500K pot off pin 1 of the 556 chip. Its contribution was very minor, and the surviving 100k pot can color quite a bit. You can even dial in sweet spot oscillations.
Yes that makes sense.. that part of the IC is not used at all.. I think you can swap the 556 for a 555 altogether.. makes for a smaller footprint.
I'll breadboard with a 555.
tim: you BB'ed it a second time and got it to work? im still watching to see if this thing is gonna work on a second or third pass at it. still very interested.
Oh! and what about changing the volume pot to be more of a wet/dry mix kind of pot?
Quote from: kodiakklub on June 07, 2012, 07:53:36 PMOh! and what about changing the volume pot to be more of a wet/dry mix kind of pot?
be sure to put an appropriate resistor in series with the 555/556 output to drop the level as it will be close to 9v and overwhelm the dry signal in the mix pot.
*edit* also, if you still have a 556 (or two 555's) laying around why not try doubling it up? output of one 555 to the other. or stereo?! if you're gonna fluff stuff up, fluff it up good.
how about this to mix?
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47556&g2_serialNumber=1)
wouldn't c4 be better placed between pin 2 of vol pot and out for dc blocking?
most likely :) i was just ripping off of the ampeg scrambler schem as that was the first pedal off the top of my head that had a wet/dry mix.
*edit* also, if you still have a 556 (or two 555's) laying around why not try doubling it up? output of one 555 to the other. or stereo?! if you're gonna fluff stuff up, fluff it up good.
[/quote]
So what you mean is to run the circuit output back into pin 3 (the other control pin) and then to output? What do you think this would do for the sound? I'm not at my workbench, so I can only guess...
And yes kodiakklub - its working fine on another breadboard build. If I were you, I'd breadboard it with the "one knob" version. Look at the schematic and the the photos.
I figured it was time for me to stop procrastinating about this circuit and give it another go. I recently was revamping my pedalboard and put the final boxed 386 fuzz (see youtube video link in this thread) after 2 distortion pedals and it cut out after a few seconds each time, but is fine by itself. Many people have had the 556 chip heat up dangerously right after applying power. Does anyone have a suggestion to stop the heat up of the 556 but still retain the proper fuzz sound?
Also, is there any mind greater than my own that can spot the reason that the 556 is being taxed like that from the schematic? The chip can take voltages higher than 9v easily.
Thanks in advance. I want to get this right for myself and everyone else that has had issues with this circuit.
Alright - I came up with this - a simplified version with a 555 chip and one pot. I tested it on a breadboard and it works fine - no heating up of the 555. Let me know what you think.
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC05618.jpg)
i'm wondering if you should try a resistor between pins 6 & 7? maybe a pot. i think it's nearly in astable mode but i don't know how zero ohms between the two pins affects performance/stability or just output frequency. check out the second half of this siren circuit, the fast astable: http://www.doctronics.co.uk/555.htm#control (http://www.doctronics.co.uk/555.htm#control)
you've removed r2 from this equation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC#Astable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC#Astable)
*also*
Quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_timer_IC#AstableThe operation of RESET in this mode is not well defined, some manufacturers' parts will hold the output state to what it was when RESET is taken low, others will send the output either high or low.
reset is pin 4 - may account for some folk not having much luck. maybe try pulling it high or low. (connect to + or -)
So I finally got around to breadboarding this according to your most recent sketch (with the 555). The only change I made was to use a 500k pot because I didn't have a 1M on hand. Here's how it worked. I'd start with the pot turned all the way down with no sound. I'd turn it up just a tiny bit and get a fantastic sound out of it. My wife even got excited about how good it sounded. But after just a few seconds it would start going crazy. These might not be the right terms, but it sounded like it was self oscillating and/or feeding back. It would get really loud and start squeeling. Turning the pot up any higher would make the whole thing happen much faster and more extreme. I wish I knew more about what I was doing so I could help troubleshoot this. It really does sound great for the few seconds it actually works.
Okay, I got it to work! Finally! Which I think makes me the first out of these 7 pages of posts to be able to duplicate it.
In short, I got rid of the pot and the 10nf capacitor and that did the trick. I also changed the output cap to 47uf for more bass, but that's just a matter of taste.
I'll go through what I figured out, but you'll have to forgive me if my ignorance shows. I'm still pretty new at this.
I spent some time at the link posted by artifus and played around with the 555 and an LED until I figured out more or less how to work the thing. I ended up using the example from that link called "minimum component astable," only I removed the resistor and capacitor so the 555 wouldn't generate any signal except what was input into pin 5 (in this case, coming from the 386). Also, I replaced the resistor/LED output for a capacitor/1/4" jack (of course - we want this to make sound, not light up an LED). This gave me a working circuit, but it didn't quite match the sound of the clips posted here. I was getting something less glitchy, more bass, and with just a different character.
From this point, I just did some intermediates between my own circuit and the one posted just a few posts above this to see what would work. Here's what I came up with:
- Using a decoupling capacitor (i.e. 47uF from V+ to ground) gives a more controlled sound and less glitchiness. This was a bad thing as far as achieving the sound we're going for, but might be good if you're looking for something less glitchy/more like a standard fuzz.
- Connecting pin 4 to V+ made no noticable change to the circuit.
- Connecting pin 7 to pins 6 and 2 made the biggest change. This is where the glitching and character came from.
- I tried altering the location of the pot in the original sketch several times and never got anything useful. As it is in the sketch, I just couldn't get anything out of it at all.
- The 10nf capacitor in the sketch is a mystery to me. I have no idea why it's there, and whenever I plugged it in the breadboard I'd just get a clicking and no guitar sound.
- I also had some trouble with the output cap. It seems the 555 puts out such low voltage that you have to just bang on the guitar for as much as a minute to charge the capacitor and get any sound out of it. Smaller caps get rid of this problem, but also get rid of the bass. The best sound I got was with a 47uf cap, which gave more bass than the sound sample posted. In order to get it to work, I charged the cap before installing it by plugging it into V+ and ground and then sticking it in place in the breadboard. I don't know if this would be an issue for a permanent pedal or not. This is a new problem to me. Could be the reason others weren't getting any sound out of it.
- This thing is really loud. Using a pot for volume is a good idea.
I'm afraid this is about as far as I can go with this circuit. Hopefully someone else can throw it on the breadboard and make some improvements. I bet there's somewhere you could put a pot or two that would do good things. Anyways, I hope this helps someone, and I'd be excited to hear if anyone else can get this working or make improvements to it.
Sorry for the triple post (!), but here's a drawing of the circuit as I finally got it to work.
(http://i.imgur.com/GUgwx.jpg?2)
cool, now you have it working, as an experiment try the 10uf across pins 1-8 on the 386, this will boost the gain from 20x to 200x..
might be good, might not, but worth a go.. ;)
Thanks for the tip. I really had fun learning about the 555 and am looking forward to learning about the 386 as well. I'll give it a shot.
Quote from: deadastronaut on January 03, 2013, 05:38:15 AM
cool, now you have it working, as an experiment try the 10uf across pins 1-8 on the 386, this will boost the gain from 20x to 200x..
might be good, might not, but worth a go.. ;)
He's shorted 1 and 8 in his schematic, so it's already boosted.
Might place a 1k pot there as a variable resistor and see if lowering/varying the boost some would help or not.
^ of course.... ;)
try it not shorted then.. ;D
Quote from: nobodysweasel on January 03, 2013, 12:04:25 AM
So I finally got around to breadboarding this according to your most recent sketch (with the 555). The only change I made was to use a 500k pot because I didn't have a 1M on hand. Here's how it worked. I'd start with the pot turned all the way down with no sound. I'd turn it up just a tiny bit and get a fantastic sound out of it. My wife even got excited about how good it sounded. But after just a few seconds it would start going crazy. These might not be the right terms, but it sounded like it was self oscillating and/or feeding back. It would get really loud and start squeeling. Turning the pot up any higher would make the whole thing happen much faster and more extreme. I wish I knew more about what I was doing so I could help troubleshoot this. It really does sound great for the few seconds it actually works.
Whoa....never thought I'd see this thread again! Thanks for reviving it. I think we can get a powerful little circuit out of this mess in some time. With most circuits, you want to use a standard 100K A pot for volume control - this one especially. From memory, I think I used the 1 M pot to get a hybrid of useable tone and a little oscillation at the end of the sweep. For those that know me, I'm a sucker for oscillation. It appears that I'll have to put this on a breadboard and attempt an update. Great suggestions - I always welcome any and all!
I was working on the breadboard with 386 and 555, but nothing came close to the original using the 386 and 556 and the 2 500 K pots. Here's the original - I want that sound in a bug free circuit:
I'll keep working on this. Can any new set of eyes see why the 556 is glitching and heating up? The final finshed pedal in the video works fine by itself, but when in a chain of pedals, causes an issue. I'm thinking component sizes could be an issue?
tim-
1. post a THOROUGH schematic for your latest version of the circuit. the one with the 556 and the 2 @ 500K pots
2. have you been using the same 556 chip throughout the long and winding saga that is this thread?
3. for all of us to compare notes and help each other out, we have to be on the same page, working on the same circuit, or at the very least, be very clear as to what has been altered.
I haven't started on the new version with the 556 yet. This is all very recent as this thread was revived from cryogenic slumber. I was working on the version with the 555 today, but it didn't give me the sound I wanted. Unfortunately, I have long since torn everything off that breadboard - so looking back with those specific components is impossible. I still have different 556 chips around though. My goal is to get a working circuit on a breadboard, then try out different 556 chips and make sure everything works fine. I've learned a lot in the last few months, so I should be able to figure it out.
and so it`s very clear to everyone, there are 2 different versions of the 556 and 555. there is a LOW POWER CMOS version. maybe vince and petey were using those and that's why they burned theirs up. the one you were using before is the NON CMOS version, the NE556N. ill wait til tim rebuilds the 556 version before i spend any time on this one again.
That could be...I knew there was a low power 555, but haven't heard about the low power 556.
my chips never burned up / got hot .
it did not produce any audio .
i have 555 , cmos 555 , 556 , i tried all chips when i had this breadboarded . i tried quite a few different things , i couldnt get anything happenin though .
Mine did burned up, but I can't remember which version of the chip it was. I might retry this circuit, but not before someone comes up with a confirmed working version of it.
we're all waiting for you tim! :D please post a THOROUGH schematic of you latest and greatest version soon and ill be happy to be a guinea pig
I've got/built enough normal fuzz pedals so all I want to work on is this type of stuff!...but if you guys can't figure out a glitch theres no way I'll be the one to pull it off. :icon_razz:
The schematic I posted worked fine for me, and sounded a whole lot like the sound clips/video posted. I used the regular version of the 555 (not cmos). I'd like to see someone else try to confirm it. It should be pretty quick to throw on the breadboard (just 2 chips and cap).
I've been meaning to mess with the 556 version, but I don't have a 556 on hand. I might have to try using 2 555's when I've got some time.
Quote from: nobodysweasel on January 05, 2013, 01:41:10 AM
The schematic I posted worked fine for me, and sounded a whole lot like the sound clips/video posted. I used the regular version of the 555 (not cmos). I'd like to see someone else try to confirm it. It should be pretty quick to throw on the breadboard (just 2 chips and cap).
I've been meaning to mess with the 556 version, but I don't have a 556 on hand. I might have to try using 2 555's when I've got some time.
I won't be around my stuff for another day or so, so I can't try your layout or work on mine. Can you or anyone else who breadboards yours post a soundclip or video? Thanks.
(http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w429/timd33/DSC06059_zps4a823e86.jpg)
Alright - I've spent a bunch of time on this update. 556 chip is really overkill here - you don't need a dual timer. A 555 will work just fine. The cap to ground is upped to a 22nf. That capacitor needs to be in place or else: 1. The pot doesn't work 2. The sound is more of a huge distortion (also good!) but not the old school super slammin' consoletastic thing I'm trying to get right. Connection points also changed for the 555. Let me know what you think. I'm do a sound clip or video if any wants one.
new camera ?
either way it looks good , so close up there too , good job .
it really does clean up with noise towards the end there . the beginning , wow , lotsa hiss .
Yeah - I was doing a lot more videos and treated myself to a new camera. The pot of the 1983 has some range and can get pretty nasty (noise) at one extreme. You're right - it cleans up toward the end of the video when I'm messing around with that pot.
Thanks for following through with this. I guess I sort of had a different idea of how this should sound, based on your latest video. The earlier sound samples were a bit more clean. Anyways, I'm glad it got to a point that you're happy with it, but I think I'll keep tweaking until it hits what I'm shooting for. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey - No problem. Let me know what you come up with! Did you hear it clean up toward the end of the video? It starts out really noisy, but gets alot better when you turn the pot clockwise.
somebody mentioned Using a higher cap to ground for a bassier sound earlier in this thread,
I just wonder if you could two cap of if this would create some sort of problem for the circuit, or if there'd be a crazy volume jump.
also im not such a fan of that hiss but kudos fir thattone at the. those harmonies are fantastic
I haven't tried the bigger cap, but I should soon. Also, I didn't use 100 uf cap power supply filter. That could reduce the hiss. Also, a different size pot/housing the circuit could reduce it as well.
I don't have many parts handy so whatever you findout
what ever variables you ind work please post. I'm interested in building this, it's so simple.
not yet verified
(http://kodiakklub.com/pedalpics/atarifuzz%20-%20etch.png)
(http://kodiakklub.com/pedalpics/atarifuzz%20-%20layout.png)
(http://kodiakklub.com/pedalpics/atarifuzz%20-%20schem.png)
Has anyone made the new version?
up :icon_cool:
this is an odd thread. I started on this page, then went back to pages 1 and 2. did anyone see the whacking big short pin9 to ground on the first version?
I think the output cap is being wired wrong as well. @ nobodysweasel - if you turn the cap w/ positive poining to the 555, and add a largish value resistor, 100k ~ 1M to ground from the minus of the cap, it will then know what it is supposed to be doing, charge-wise. and in the circuit kodiak posted just above, C1 is backwards, as the pot references one end to ground.
Wow...this is a blast from the past. I still have the original pedal I made with the 556 chip, and I was messing with it recently. It is buggy though. On certain knob settings, it cuts out and doesn't play well with other pedals. If any drive is placed before it, its too much for the 1983 to handle, and it cuts out. Any thoughts are welcome, as I might try to redesign a working 1983 fuzz.
can you show us a circuit diagram as you built?