Fuzz Face Ge NPN

This is an NPN Germanium Fuzz Face. I designed the PCB in Eagle, and had the PCBs made at OSHPark.com.

The original Fuzz Face used germanium PNP transistors. The germanium transistors is supposed to have some special mojo. PNP types are more common but require either a battery charge pump to create a reversed power supply. NPN transistors allow for a regular power supply. I got a bag of NPN transistors years ago. I made a couple pedals but still have about a dozen left over. I thought I’d use these up.

This a schematic is original Fuzz Face with NPN transistors, and two added trim pots to get the bias right. The trim pots are POT3 and POT2. These are shown as 100k, a 20k pot is a better choice, and what I used on the first build.

I made three PCBs at OSHPark and soldered the first board, and it worked! So the board is good.

When I built the last Super fuzz, miss drilled the enclosure. I didn’t want to waste the enclosure so I used it for this build. The LED and bezel is where the extra knob for the Super Fuzz would have been. There is still a 3mm hole, between the bezel and the foot switch, that would have been the LED of the Super Fuzz. Maybe I’ll bolt something to the enclosure with it?

Conclusion

This sounds pretty good and uses up some left over transistors. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find NPN germanium transistors its probably not worth the effort and expense when you can make great, maybe better sounding, Fuzz Face with silicon transistors.