Fuzz Face

Probably the most famous fuzz of all time, the Dallas Fuzz Face has been
around since the dawn of stompbox effects and has spawned a huge
a b c d e f g h i j
number of clones and variants. It is simple to build and is very tweakable, + - + -
1 1
which makes it a great DIY project. Presented here is the silicon version of
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the fuzz face, along with a bunch of interesting mods.
3 3
R3 C2 4 4
9 volts + 330Ω .01uf

2.2uf
5 5

+
VR2
6 6
R2 R4
33KΩ 8.2KΩ A500KΩ 7 7
(Vol)
8 8
Q1 Q2
C1 C3 Output 9 9
BC109 C BC109 C
Input 2.2uf 22uf
in 10 10
B B
R1 E E VR1 sw 11 E 11

22uf
+
100KΩ B1KΩ 12 B BC109 12
(Fuzz)
sw out 13 C 13

100KΩ
33KΩ
14 14
15 15
16 16
17 17
Mods!
18 E 18
The first thing to read is The Technology of the Fuzz Face, R.G. Keen’s seminal
19 B BC109 19 B1K
paper on the Dallas Fuzz Face: http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/fuzzface/
20 C 20 Fuzz
fffram.htm
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Try different NPN transistors to see how more or less gain affects the sound. You
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8.2KΩ
can even try different values in Q1 and Q2. Be sure to check the pinouts!
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Replace the R4 fixed resistor with a 10K linear pot (B10K). This allows you to
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tweak the bias of the second transistor for some great splatty/starved sounds.
330Ω
25 10nf 25
Use the voltage sag knob on the i/o breakout box: you can sag the voltage to the
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entire circuit for some great sounds.
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Super compressed bass mod: put a film capacitor between the base and collector
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of Q2. Try values from 10nf to 100nf. 29 29
You can subtly change the output by using a 100K log pot (A100K) instead of the 30 30
standard A500K volume pot. + - a b c d e f g h i j + -
A100K
Experiment with different values for R1. Try values from 1K up to 470K. Volume

revision: 1.1 ● 13 november 2008 ● © 2008 beavis audio research

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