>>> Sparkle Face Research Project <<<

[atomicbot]

That was a great read (still need to read the linked articles). I'm super excited to try building this myself when the time comes.

[cajone5]

Looking forward to it.

A DIY MKI would also be killer. That is my favorite fuzz circuit but it is an unruly beast.

[zhivago]

As a spin off inspired by what has been posted in this thread I am also doing Tone Bender Mark 1 in just a few and also that will be presented as DIY and I'll do a couple of other fuzzes that are related as just a few units but all can be made DIY and possible modifications and also why I have choosen to do certain things will be explained on component level for those interested.

This is excellent news...a Tone Bender MK1 should sound great with my Les Paul and Matchless Lightning!!!

sign me up for that as well!

I have to say this thread has really re-ignited my lust for fuzz, and this is a great, great thing!!

[mrpicard]

A great video (made by a friend) of original Tone Bender MK I pedals. At least you get to see the originals including a wooden one: 3 x Tone Bender MK I Pedals

[mrpicard]

I think that Graham Green has the greatest collection of original 60s/70s fuzz pedals that I have seen of any human: 3 Maestro Fuzz-Tones FZ-1 & FZ-1A with Tone Bender MK I

[zhivago]

A great video (made by a friend) of original Tone Bender MK I pedals. At least you get to see the originals including a wooden one: 3 x Tone Bender MK I Pedals

Many thanks for the link!!

[melodichaotic]

I think that Graham Green has the greatest collection of original 60s/70s fuzz pedals that I have seen of any human: 3 Maestro Fuzz-Tones FZ-1 & FZ-1A with Tone Bender MK I

Bjorn,
Fantastic post! Must have been a most excellent conversation with Mr. Picard;)
Speaking of whom...yes, I completely concur… Graham has quite an amazing collection, and went to great lengths to establish it... I haven't corresponded with him in quite some time, but I remember him telling me of having the distinct honor of interviewing Gary Hurst a while back now, regarding a book he was putting together on all things Fuzz and the history thereof.
He bought a few rare gems from me a while ago including a perf board Big Muff(truly 1st issue with no on/off switch)... that was a unique and great sounding one… A rare version of a Vox
labeled germanium Mk III from the late 60's in excellent condition, and a true Silver/grey Sola
Sound Mk IV Tone Bender, also in excellent condition...so I was glad to help him "complete" his collection at the time....He also bought a mint super rare Chrome Colorsound Fuzz Phazer from
me that he told me when he got it that it sounded as good or better than a Uni-Vibe...that one is my favorite of all the CS phasers.

[ak47]

Gypsies, Snoddy, Nuggets & more...

So.. I was at BJ's workshop the other night (yes I was) and we played guitars.. we talked tone.. we tried many fuzzes and even some 'top secret' designs.. did I mention benders, an old FZ1B (!) and big octagon superfuzzoctave boxes? We discussed circuits in depth and BJ dissected his new schematics for me in comparison to the mythical schematics of old.. we looked at sound. Yes, we looked (!) I say this because to understand the circuits is not about trade secrets and mystery unobtanium NOS parts.. it is about the sound and acheiving just that so we guitar players can 'play' the sounds with our fingers. Look at schematics, values and the pathway of the tone and you are looking at the sound.. that is it imo and I think BJ would most certainly agree.

Now, this is an important point of praxis. To design a great fuzz is about a communication between the artist (guitarist) and the artist (technican). The joy for us is that Björn has one foot in each corner and that is why his designs are so very consistant and incredibly 'credible'.. preaching to the choir, I know.. haha.. Anyway, to point.. we discussed this issue of communication at length as it is fundamental to the history of fuzz and the development of characteristics such as sustain & gating and also with reference as to how these designs were developed during that era; as BJ has pointed out... for example; biasing so that the circuits only open on peaks.. etc..

Words! Yes, feelings, descriptions, experiences and the linguistic symbolism of such. To me, this project is most exciting because we have the opportunity to unite a 'language' with the concrete technical aspects in a way that is new for me and perhaps many others, while under the guidance of people with an extraordinary technical knowledge base. Think of it as connecting the artist guitarist with the technician artist.. Just looking through the clips and links that are posted previously is very rewarding for perspective and let's face it, perspective is a great word to ground things on!! I would like to also add the kitrae link to our knowledge base here for some more perspective:

http://www.kitrae.net/music/Fuzz_Big_Muff_Timeline.html

We also ate cake the other night. BJ's daughter makes killer cake! This is quite pertinent to what I am thinking about also.. Hmm.. I guess to make cake you follow a recipe right? This can of course be tweaked to taste but you need to know what flavour and consistency to strive for to get the result you are after.. for both cook and consumer. Her cake was hot from the oven and it was a great success!! For me to be in BJ's workshop and quite literally have this concept served to me on a plate was a staggering 'a-ha' moment! Allegory comes in extraordinary places.. I think I will now refer to BJ's workshop as a tone kitchen... ok.. What I can see us doing with this fuzz research project is to find ways of joining the cook and consumer together to explore the recepies and further the quest for some tasty good tone!

Again, a good place to start is vocabulary.. because it is obviously a good place to start as that is how we communicate with each other.. We are familiar with many terms; crunchy, spluttery, fizzy, velcroish, ripping, hornlike, blapping, ka-changy, trumpeting, rich, dying, thin, sustained, gated, trashy etc etc.. the list goes on.. what does this mean and why is it that putting a germ fuzz together and getting it to work is so hard to get right? There are tech reasons for these sounds and descriptions and there are interesting concepts to grasp in how the parts work that will not always be apparent on the schematic.. Leakage. This is a very important, keyword so remember it.. Leakage!

So yes, I have tried the Sparkle Face and I have even made a clip so it can be heard (but not seen.. lets look with our ears first instead).. but that comes later on today when I have rendered the video.. so we can talk some more and you can read through my ramblings first without distraction of going straight to the sound clip..

For the clip I used my old swirly telecaster because it was the right thing to do. Normally I use the same old Gibson with a burstbucker III and P90 to keep a conceptual continuity in my clips but look at this guitar and imagine how things can sound in our fuzzy context.. you may be suprized at the result!



Lets look at an album cover.. garage nuggets from the psych era.. yes, you get where I am heading in describing the sound visually. The thing is that there is another aspect at play here. I have described fairly universal impressions of what fuzz is. Just look at the album cover and guitar for the visuals.. The point I am making is that the Sparkle Fuzz does all that easily... and can also take it to another level altogether. What would you say if I found that the fuzzes BJ is working on could do all this and even make your distortion pedals feel almost obsolete? My experience is of a fuzz face that cleans up to a sparkling chime with a lush shimmer yet is a thick monster of a beast capable of riff warfare too.. yes, that is with a telecaster.. the string separation is retained yet the 'in the hands' nature of fuzz is also present.. you play it and it plays you.. quite remarkable actually.. then I tried BJ's take on a MKI bender but that is another story..



Anyway, a long post to just getting the ball rolling.. we had a blast and tried some new One Control designs too.. Björn, you are a great guitarist with some cool gypsy licks and it was a real pleasure to see how much you enjoyed the tones you were pulling from your own designs!!

Clips to come and yep, the cake was totally awesome!

[zhivago]

Awesome post!

I am totally drooling over here!

Cannot wait for the clip!

[ak47]

Here we go!

So.. Fender Telecaster - BJFe Sparkle Face - Hiwatt DR103 - Marshall 4x12

Important point (!) the knobs on the pedal did not move AT ALL! Just the controls on the guitar at work here (and the hands too of course )

I found excellent distortions, shimmering cleans and thick fuzz tones all on just one setting.. a jaw dropping pedal!! Think psych, punk & platform shoes

Please discuss!