>>> Sparkle Face Research Project <<<

[zhivago]

FYI.. I have now heard the Sparkle Face

It is all that (!) and more (!) describe it? Well.. words that came at once are character & balance with a rock & roll attitude

You are going to LOVE it

This is excellent news! I cannot wait to try one out.

My "Search For The Holy Fuzz" has been long and I have given up so many times, only to re-start the journey every now and then...I am pretty excited about this one.

The HB and MH4K are virtually nailed onto my board and will never go away...the fuzz spot is vacant, and the footprint of the vacancy is BJFE-sized!!

[1bottlerocket]

I have some of my notes gathered.

The Super Fuzz prototype was very nice. I have not played it in a band setting yet but I am guessing it will cut through nicely. The clean up was a bit lower than I expected but there was one knob (it had what looked like a 'p' hand written) I adjusted and could go from high gain and feedback to regular gritty fuzz. It reminded me of a cross between a triangle Big Muff and Tone Bender MK II. When I adjusted the preamp knob I could control the clean up better.

I had some difficulty understanding the filter knob at the volume I was playing so I just set this at 12 o'clock and pretty much left it there. It has a ton of volume on tap.

Update from this: I have played it in a band setting. With one guitarist, it sounds great and works as great cut through on leads and chunky rhythm tones. The secret for me has been the preamp knob. Depending on the amount of clean up I want I can adjust to suit. Most of the time it is set for a dirty rhythm tone and a twist of the volume knob for leads.

For me a great MK II has a certain vocal quality and grittiness to it. My grey Sola MK II has been my standard bearer for MK II tone, due to an almost subtle cocked wah in the background on certain notes and its ability to go into a controlled feedback. The Super Fuzz from Börn has been my main MK II when I need something light and not so clunky. The pregain knob does a lot to get me where I need.

I love the look of that in the painted enclosure! Mine is in a grey box with handwritten labels on the knobs. I am thinking about putting on those sticky labels for something more permanent but it would be super cool to have it in an enclosure like yours!

[zhivago]

I have some of my notes gathered.

The Super Fuzz prototype was very nice. I have not played it in a band setting yet but I am guessing it will cut through nicely. The clean up was a bit lower than I expected but there was one knob (it had what looked like a 'p' hand written) I adjusted and could go from high gain and feedback to regular gritty fuzz. It reminded me of a cross between a triangle Big Muff and Tone Bender MK II. When I adjusted the preamp knob I could control the clean up better.

I had some difficulty understanding the filter knob at the volume I was playing so I just set this at 12 o'clock and pretty much left it there. It has a ton of volume on tap.

Update from this: I have played it in a band setting. With one guitarist, it sounds great and works as great cut through on leads and chunky rhythm tones. The secret for me has been the preamp knob. Depending on the amount of clean up I want I can adjust to suit. Most of the time it is set for a dirty rhythm tone and a twist of the volume knob for leads.

For me a great MK II has a certain vocal quality and grittiness to it. My grey Sola MK II has been my standard bearer for MK II tone, due to an almost subtle cocked wah in the background on certain notes and its ability to go into a controlled feedback. The Super Fuzz from Börn has been my main MK II when I need something light and not so clunky. The pregain knob does a lot to get me where I need.

I love the look of that in the painted enclosure! Mine is in a grey box with handwritten labels on the knobs. I am thinking about putting on those sticky labels for something more permanent but it would be super cool to have it in an enclosure like yours!

wow that sounds like an awesome fuzz!!!

[atomicbot]

FYI.. I have now heard the Sparkle Face

It is all that (!) and more (!) describe it? Well.. words that came at once are character & balance with a rock & roll attitude

You are going to LOVE it

Nice! One of the things I love about the Bee pedals is they behave just like an amp and have a lot of Character. Play hard and you get a lot of breakup, play softer and it's just a hint of tooth and harmonics.

Can't wait to see how this fuzz turns out.

[melodichaotic]

Super late here...first, thanks Bjorn for all the great info and back
stories...great stuff.
Ok we all love Fuzz, and different Fuzz flavors...TB MK I, MK II, 70's 3-knob
TB with the trio of STC transistors(top hat ones), Buzzaround, Big Muff(s), etc
But like the other ubiquitous, in the top 5 vintage effects list, the TS-808, I never
got on the right with a FF, though I tried...had one or two nice silicon examples that
were tighter and brighter and more stable than a few of the germanium versions I had
including a "custom" made one from a then recommended EE designer, I overall
preferred the warmth and vibe of the germ version, though as mentioned previously,
not without want of a tone control for more clarity/bite, especially with humbuckers(which I predominantly play) at higher Fuzz settings...having said that, because of the crudeness and quirkiness inherent in the circuit, it seemed a more "realized" and focused ideal Fuzz sound with single coils because of the difference in load seen at the front end, and that reduced string area/harmonics being sensed...but then it sounds, Bjorn, that you have already accounted for this with the SF;)
I might offer if not a tone control, maybe the addition of a bright switch for any required treble lift above the cable used/humbucker application? Or possibly a properly voiced mids knob for a little extra focus if needed? I do realize that you don't get something for nothing circuit-wise, and maybe then more so with the FF.
Lastly, I might add in that custom germanium version I had, it had a bias trim pot...might there be any tonal benefit to a top mounted bias pot, in a range of course that keeps the circuit functional?
Just some musings from mental notes I made several years back when I had the
last one...I REALLY wanted to bond with it more, because, also as previously mentioned...
Fuzzes ARE our friends and it's a connection kind of like a sonic military credo, "Leave no fuzz behind"

[BJF]

Hi There,

Well I purposely choose not to add a tonecontrol on the Sparkle Face but instead made a couple of custom filtering things.

It is balance to make the sound not too bright and not too dark.
I think the Sparkle Fuzz as is works well with both humbuckers and single coils aswell as P-90's.

That said feedback is good and yes I'd be interested in what type of tonecontrol would be useful and or wanted?

As noted in an earlier post there are ways of controlling eq in small ways with the existing controls and also output cable...


You know this is a crude circuit and for now I'd like to keep it that way.

That is to say that I might later do a version with tonecontrol or tone controls.


Have fun
BJ

[Crusty]

You know this is a crude circuit and for now I'd like to keep it that way.

Crude is cool.

[ak47]

Fuzz.. Crude.. me like!

Hmm, I have always enjoyed the 'body' controls on your pedals BJ.. kind of working on a different axis to the linear spectrum of bass-treble adjustments. Yeah, a 3D EQ control

Regarding a bias control.. is the audio quality of less than optimized biassing in line with starving a unit of suitable battery voltage? I pull some nice tones from my Model R at about 7.5 volts

[melodichaotic]

Thanks for the reply Bjorn...I hear and understand you on all and yes, I did read about the provisions you implemented to get a balanced sound via filtering and different cable capacitance...just partly musing from past exp.
Yes, I fully trust you considered many parameters for this crude circuit and great to hear you feel it works equally well with single coils, P 90s , and humbuckers.
As for a possible future tone control, The first thing that comes to mind is how the treble control works on the SWF and AWF(both of which I've had)...I know, different circuits than the
SF, but I dug how simply you can add a little extra cut and bite for definition, or slightly soften the top end if desired...nothing radical...they were both full sounding fuzzes EQ-wise as is, as I'm sure the SF is.

[melodichaotic]

Fuzz.. Crude.. me like!

Hmm, I have always enjoyed the 'body' controls on your pedals BJ.. kind of working on a different axis to the linear spectrum of bass-treble adjustments. Yeah, a 3D EQ control

Regarding a bias control.. is the audio quality of less than optimized biassing in line with starving a unit of suitable battery voltage? I pull some nice tones from my Model R at about 7.5 volts

Right, thought for the Fuzz face/SF, a bias control might yield some extra textures, along with
how Bjorn describes how the saturation knob works...or maybe with the filtering and all, it may not be worth it? Not sure
Yes, agreed on the Body control, like on the LGW...and the nature control
on an older PPF, through my rig at least, was my absolute favorite...there were SO
many great EQ spots on that one...wished I'd have kept it now.