Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz

Stompboxes circuits published in magazines, books or on DIY electronics websites.
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tabbycat
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Post by tabbycat »

Nocentelli wrote:If you remove the nut, there is a slip-ring with a tab that can be rotated and dropped into one of a series of indentations around the shaft. Set it so the rotary is limited to four positions (i.e. three clicks) and use your multimeter continuity tester to identify the connections: Use one pole e.g. A as the common (sw zero on the vero) - it will connect to each of four of the outer pins (probably 1-4) with each click.

thanks nocentelli.
fortunately it was already set to four positions (bought from dr tweek as a 3 pole 4 position). very cunning to hide all the important stuff under a washer. sneaky almost.
had got the general idea of each pole connecting with 4 outside pins. on your advice will take the multimeter to it to verify connections before soldering anything.
interesting things though. have been reading up about uses for them in tone stack switching. might try and set one up as a multi-option diode switch. germanium, silicon, symetrical, asymetrical, leds. a clipping one-stop-shop.
ideas, ideas...

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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

On some of those plastic rotary switches, you may need to join a few of the other pole-pins together to enable the four throws to work, on the one that I used for my build I had to join two pole pins together just by bending them towards each other and soldering them together, note that you need to make sure that the rotary switch is an adjustable one and that you adjust it to give four selectable positions, ie: three clicks...... :thumbsup


I'd post a pic of my build but unfortunately I'm running a Linux Operating System and there's currently no Linux driver for my digital camera, I'll have to wait till I get my PC up and running again....... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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tabbycat
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Post by tabbycat »

messed up post but can't find the delete button. just pretend this isn't here.

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tabbycat
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Post by tabbycat »

a ting...
raygun youth fuzz vero small jpg.JPG
and a tin.
fuzzgun box small jpg.jpg
now the gruesome boxing up.

btw this is the switch i used. was already set to 3 pole 4 way. maybe steve at dr tweek does it before posting. always good.

http://www.doctortweek.co.uk/shop/artic ... 4-Way.html

i tested the connections on the switch using a hi-tech verification-facilitation device called a 'super-deluxe-test-o-scope'.
its inner-technical-complexities are far too complicated for the average person to begin to comprehend but primary components include a 9v battery, a bit of wire, an led and a 1k resistor.

in the interests of novelty i intend to wire the pots on this one so they actually work the right way round. finesse, etc...

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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

tabbycat wrote:a ting...
raygun youth fuzz vero small jpg.JPG
and a tin.
fuzzgun box small jpg.jpg
now the gruesome boxing up.

btw this is the switch i used. was already set to 3 pole 4 way. maybe steve at dr tweek does it before posting. always good.

http://www.doctortweek.co.uk/shop/artic ... 4-Way.html

i tested the connections on the switch using a hi-tech verification-facilitation device called a 'super-deluxe-test-o-scope'.
its inner-technical-complexities are far too complicated for the average person to begin to comprehend but primary components include a 9v battery, a bit of wire, an led and a 1k resistor.

in the interests of novelty i intend to wire the pots on this one so they actually work the right way round. finesse, etc...


Looking cool so far, make sure you do all the copper track cuts, I missed a few when I was working on my build and wondered why some of the 4-way switch positions didn't make a sound, it turned out to be an easy fix though...... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by tabbycat »

hey the freestomp few, decided to write a feedback review for freppo’s freaky raygun fuzz that i finally got boxed up this week (see pics above, i just added an on-off red led under the first pot, so little point in reposting pics). the reason being that while all the pedals i have built to date have been clones (so lots of info and reviews out there about the particular sound qualities of the originals) this is a freppo original, so thought it worth making the effort to write something to start that ball rolling.

the demo freppo added in his initial post is pretty comprehensive re tone and functionality, so trust your ears first if you are considering this build. all opinions are subjective and partial, mine as much (if not more) than any, and so worthy of your consideration only with that partiality in mind.

as for my impressions in a single sentence, i would say that it works great for what it is, and what it is intended to be. very noisy, very ‘chaos’-y (clue is in the name) very atari, but for my particular needs (early ‘feedback’ mary chain, shoegaze and spacerock, indie and arty end of retro-rock) i found it too synthy and gatey to be able to fit it into anything i do without it sounding conspicuously ill-fitting. nothing at all wrong with the tool, just the wrong tool for what i need to do.

in real life (not so apparent in a yt demo) the raygun has got a radically compressed atari-esque 8-bit vibe to it. if low-fi digitalised electrofuzz sounds are your thing, this is a must-have and would be the perfect companion to a fuzz factory, which (i think) belongs in the same universe (synthy, splatty, velcro-y, atari-noise). use the raygun for expansive noise (chords and atmosphere) and the fuzz factory for single-note lead lines. if muse and some of the more experimental things radiohead have tried are your thing, welcome to your new toy.

i'm more old-school fuzz. warm and expansive. i get wet for the univox superfuzz every time i hear it. i want an explosion followed by a blistering growl (with octave please) followed by a long organic decay that sounds like someone with a chainsaw walking away from me into a tunnel. i thought this might be a version of that with some wild retro-synth psychosis thrown into the mix, but ultimately it’s a different idea altogether.

there is a ‘compressed explosion’, not the contradiction in terms it sounds but a furious wasp in an 8-bit coke can through a marshall stack. it’s chaos contained and compressed by the restrictions of the low-fi comperssion. the growl that follows is a very low-fi buzz-saw pulsing wave, very moogy. and finally the decay doesn’t so much ‘decay’ (gradually and organically) as fracture and shatter. putters out. like puking pineapple chunks. will leave you with that image.

to sum up then, it’s good if it’s what you want and it’s not so good if it isn’t (i’m not paid for this, if you want someone to tell you what to like try tgp). i’ve just tried to describe what it is and my personal (i.e. partial and subjective) experience of playing with it for a while. for all that’s worth.

re building, it isn’t hard. parts easy to find (steve at dr tweek had everything in stock and delivered next day), nothing to tune in or match or bias, no fiddly connections. you do have to take a moment to think about spacing components (as board is densely populated around the smaller ic).
it was the first time i had used an ic chip and a 3 pole 4 position switch. neither presented problems in action, and i’m not that far off newbie (three pedal builds to my name and no prior electrical knowledge).
if i said it was foolproof i'm sure someone (more than one) would rise to the challenge, but it’s not a difficult build if you think twice and do once. more concentration than perspiration.

so a big thanks to freppo for designing and posting this. and best of luck to you if you have a crack at it.

tabbycat.

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Freppo
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Post by Freppo »

Wow. Thanks for the lenghty review/build report! :thumbsup
I agree that it's not for everyone, definitly an aquired taste.

cheers
/ Freppo
Check out my building blog at http://www.parasitstudio.se

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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

I've had a lot of fun building one of these, and thought I would add my two cents worth after reading Tabbycat's build report...... :thumbsup


If you're after an insane sounding Fuzz pedal, and think that most of the noisemaker pedals you've tried sound like they could do with a bit extra, then try building one of these, my build sounds a lot like the demo video clip in this thread so it should be enough to give you an idea what it sounds like, I found that this thing has a huge amount of output, you might be able to add a resistor to tame the output level a bit, one mod to the circuit I can suggest is to add a 100uF/25V cap from the cathode of the 1N4001 diode to ground since with out it the circuit has a tendency to develop an oscillation on the +9V supply when the battery starts to go flat, I just found this out after doing some troubleshooting to figure out why my build was not sounding like it was supposed to..... :thumbsup


You don't necessarily have to stick with using one of these with a guitar, try using it with a bass guitar, or maybe a keyboard, or try running audio samples, like drum loops, etc, through it....be creative..... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by tra »

Just a heads up....looks like the diode is shorted on the P'n'P PCB transfer in the PDF file. Cut the trace or the diode doesn't do anything. I'm about to redraw to mill a couple of boards if anyone is interested.

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Post by DrNomis »

I'm going to bring my Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz with me to uni tomorrow and see what kind of reaction I get from my fellow music students, I'm enrolled in a VET (Vocational Educational Training) course in Music at Charles Darwin University here in Darwin NT Australia, been learning the chord progressions for some cool songs including Barbados by the Models, we've been getting some songs together for our set list, been pretty full-on but it's been great so far, after I demo the Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz pedal I'm pretty sure my fellow students are going to think of all other Fuzz pedals as passé...... :lol: :twisted:


If you're suffering from songwriting block and you need something to re-ignite your creative juices, then definitely build one of these things...... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by Freppo »

Dual layer PCB's are now avaliable at:
http://www.parasitstudio.se
Free shipping at the moment! :)
DrNomis wrote:I'm going to bring my Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz with me to uni tomorrow and see what kind of reaction I get from my fellow music students, I'm enrolled in a VET (Vocational Educational Training) course in Music at Charles Darwin University here in Darwin NT Australia, been learning the chord progressions for some cool songs including Barbados by the Models, we've been getting some songs together for our set list, been pretty full-on but it's been great so far, after I demo the Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz pedal I'm pretty sure my fellow students are going to think of all other Fuzz pedals as passé...... :lol: :twisted:
I totally missed your last post. I hope your students liked it, or hated it :D
Check out my building blog at http://www.parasitstudio.se

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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

Freppo wrote:Dual layer PCB's are now avaliable at:
http://www.parasitstudio.se
Free shipping at the moment! :)
DrNomis wrote:I'm going to bring my Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz with me to uni tomorrow and see what kind of reaction I get from my fellow music students, I'm enrolled in a VET (Vocational Educational Training) course in Music at Charles Darwin University here in Darwin NT Australia, been learning the chord progressions for some cool songs including Barbados by the Models, we've been getting some songs together for our set list, been pretty full-on but it's been great so far, after I demo the Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz pedal I'm pretty sure my fellow students are going to think of all other Fuzz pedals as passé...... :lol: :twisted:
I totally missed your last post. I hope your students liked it, or hated it :D


I think they did like it.... :thumbsup


That Arcadiator pedal looks cool, I'm interested in hearing what it sounds like.... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by tabbycat »

DrNomis wrote:That Arcadiator pedal looks cool, I'm interested in hearing what it sounds like.... :thumbsup
hey dr nomis, definitely worth checking in with freppo's site.

demos, schemos, veros and pcbs for the arcadiator here: http://www.parasitstudio.se/building-bl ... arcadiator


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DrNomis
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Post by DrNomis »

How's this, one of my uni classmates got me to demo my Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz for them and they asked me to build one for them.... :thumbsup
Genius is not all about 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration - sometimes the solution is staring you right in the face.-Frequencycentral.

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Post by Freppo »

DrNomis wrote:How's this, one of my uni classmates got me to demo my Raygun Youth Chaos Fuzz for them and they asked me to build one for them.... :thumbsup
Awesome :)
Check out my building blog at http://www.parasitstudio.se

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