Pepe Rush - Fuzzy

[royaltoots]

from Carl Gee on the DAM forum http://dam.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1179





looks like a Fuzztone clone, inside + out, but is it a WEM prototype? Anyone seen trannies like those before? American?

[MoreCowbell]

I would doubt that it's American made....it looks like it's using British made components (Mullard, Phillips, etc..).

[Professor SourTone]

Hard to know, but it doesn't seem very WEM to me. "Pep" is an old fashioned slang word not exclusive to WEM. I've been looking for a WEM Pep fuzz for a while.

[royaltoots]

ok, yeah - I didn't realise mustard caps were specifically Philips, but are you saying those are Mullards? I haven't seen them in that case style before.

[DiscoFreq]

I was bidding on that one too

It's probably a Pep Rush fuzz, before they were made by WEM. The "pep" has nothing to do with slang, but with the nickname of the guy who built them: Pepe Rush.

[Professor SourTone]

I was bidding on that one too

It's probably a Pep Rush fuzz, before they were made by WEM. The "pep" has nothing to do with slang, but with the nickname of the guy who built them: Pepe Rush.

Cool factoid - I do remember now, from an article a guy called David Toop wrote on the Pep box. It would still have been a play on words, though, though. Pep as in "pep pill" and "pep you up" - because the user would not have known about Pepe and the label would otherwise have been meaningless.

Wiki -

Pep is energy or high spirits; it may refer to:

* Pep band, an ensemble of instrumentalists
* Pep or pep pills, a slang term for amphetamine
* Pep is the dog in the Putt-Putt (game character) series
* Neilsen's 'Pep'-brand mint-chocolate pattie
* Pep, New Mexico
* Pep, Texas
* Pep, a cereal once produced by the Kellogg Company


I have a WEM wah at home - a weird thing which has no switch so its on all the time.

[DiscoFreq]

It would still have been a play on words, though, though. Pep as in "pep pill" and "pep you up" - because the user would not have known about Pepe and the label would otherwise have been meaningless.

That's true, I just wanted to say where the name comes from originally

I have that article too, he mailed it to me before it was published (he didn't know in when it would be published).

[analogguru]

Okay, here we go for the:

Fuzzy schematic

Interesting that people are ready to pay up to EUR 261,-- for such a Fuzztone-clone on evilbay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0243435745

analogguru

[Professor SourTone]

I'd be one of them, in the case of a WEM era Pep.

[analogguru]

I'd be one of them, in the case of a WEM era Pep.

Yes..... but........
I am missing the WEM connection evidence..... "Pep." written below one control isn´t enough for me.

analogguru

[DiscoFreq]

I'd be one of them, in the case of a WEM era Pep.

I did a few bids, the highest one was 240, I've never bid that much before, but I really wanted it and I was hoping noone else noticed what it could be

[DiscoFreq]

I'd be one of them, in the case of a WEM era Pep.

Yes..... but........
I am missing the WEM connection evidence..... "Pep." written below one control isn´t enough for me.

analogguru

Pep Rush made fuzz pedals before they were made by WEM, so a WEM connection is not necessary. I'll try to contact David Toop (writer of that article) and Pep Rush himself...

[Professor SourTone]

The WEM version is massive and I think has wood in the construction somewhere. Its the usual Charlie Watkins insanity. According to Toop the WEM versions were silicon. I want one.

[alteredsounds]

Looks like that ones on ebay at the mo with a couple more pics: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fuzzy-pedal-Pep-fuzz-60s-vintage-rarity_W0QQitemZ230251805575QQihZ013QQcategoryZ41418QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[royaltoots]

I tried building it from AG's schematic at the weekend - no joy - maybe it needs v high gain trannies?

he bought it for 260 Euros, and trying to sell for $400...

[alteredsounds]

u ran it at 3v and positive ground? I've not tried the schem yet, I'd be suprised if it wanted very high gain transistors, can u check any of the values any better with those ebay pics?

[JHS]

High gain Si-trannies in the '60th have app. 200 hfe but the trnnies on the gut shot they look like European Ge-trannies. You must rebias the trannies if you use other types or trannies with different hfe, no mater if they are Ge or Si.

JHS

[royaltoots]

u ran it at 3v and positive ground? I've not tried the schem yet, I'd be suprised if it wanted very high gain transistors, can u check any of the values any better with those ebay pics?

yeah: 3V pos gnd, but I'm just rubbish so I probably made a mistake - my first thought was to check the values on the new pics, but this was just my quick weekend experiment, I'm not really motivated to put more time in. I've just about reached saturation on the fuzz front (tee hee) but was intrigued by this one as an early variant and i like the crap early fuzz sound. I use 2N1305s, approx 80 hfe. But - again - I'm not very good so I probably messed up.

[analogguru]

Looks like that ones on ebay at the mo with a couple more pics:

Hmmm.... I am missing the "new" pics ....

can u check any of the values any better with those ebay pics?
u ran it at 3v and positive ground? I've not tried the schem yet, I'd be suprised if it wanted very high gain transistors, can u check any of the values any better with those ebay pics?

The pictures where I traced the schematic from are much better than these..... one is even the same....

analogguru

[royaltoots]

all right! AG's schem is confirmed and working nicely (well, horribly, but in a nice way) - I looked again and realised I missed a trace cut on my layout - it sounds quite beefy and Tonebender-ish to my ears - probably because I used a bigger output cap, I didn't have the right value to hand, but I used a socket, so all is well. I haven't done a full test yet or tried many different trannies - just happy to get it buzzin' - Thanks a lot, Gottfried!
I've got 2G381Ts (as used in the Selmer Buzz Tone) in there for now.