Fuzz Machine: Unbranded Ibanez Standard Fuzz

The Fuzz Machine is clearly an unbranded Ibanez No 59 Standard Fuzz.

I occasionally buy a few parts from a retired guy with a shed full of vintage electronics and components, mostly valves and radio gear.  A while back, he mentioned that there were a couple of pedals buried somewhere in the shed.  

I was picking up some transistors from him today, and he'd managed to track the pedals down.  He was kind enough to let me have a look at it, to test before he sells - he wanted to make sure it worked first and wasn't happy with a bench test. 

FUZZ MACHINE  (AKA IBANEZ STANDARD FUZZ)

I took the opportunity to open it up and record voltages and scope results for future use, as I have been meaning to make the Ibanez Standard Fuzz for a while but have not got around to it yet.  

Apart from a few small cobwebs, it's spotless inside, the battery compartment is in good shape, and the faders feel fine for their age. 

And it sounds pretty much as expected...   it does what it says on the box.   Reassuringly, it sounds a lot like the Super Fuzzes that I've made.  Always good to get a side-by-side comparison - I only wish mine looked half as cool as this.  

WHAT DOES THE FUZZ MACHINE LOOK LIKE ON THE SCOPE ?

Signal:  Sine wave, 440hz, approx 130mv

Fuzz & volume on 100%

Battery 8.95v

Notch filter on

Notch filter off

First Stage, SK30 JFET

Drain        6.0v

Source     0.88v

Second Stage, C828 splitter, collector and emitter

Collector    5.0v

Base          4.0v

Emitter       3.5v

Third stage, C828, long tail pair collectors

Collector    4.0v

Base          1.1v

Emitter       0.5v

Last stage, C828

Collector    6.4v

Base          0.88v

Emitter       0.28v

Diodes

1N60 Germanium

Forward voltage 0.37v

IBANEZ: Overdrive OD-850

The Ibanez Overdrive OD-850 is an early Japanese Big Muff variation, almost a straight clone if it wasn't for the usual tone stack.  It's also known as the Maxon D&S OD-801 - either way, both classic guitar effects from Japan.

The tone stack fixes the bass response to some degree, providing a more even sweep across the range.  

Note that it asks for a C828 transistor, but I have used the pinout for a standard CBE transistor.  828s are usually BCE.  

IBANEZ OVERDRIVE OD-850 - VERO LAYOUT

IBANEZ: No59 Standard Fuzz

So it's a Super Fuzz...  well, almost.   The Ibanez No59 Standard Fuzz has a JFET booster, as opposed to the more complicated 2 x transistor arrangement in the Univox Super Fuzz, and a very slight change in the tone filter section; apart from that, same same.

It's more Super Fuzz than the Ibanez Standard Wau Fuzz, which has the same tone section as a Super Fuzz.  The Standard Wau has a slightly different arrangement.

IBANEZ STANDARD FUZZ - VERO LAYOUT

The notch filter is quite a prominent part of the sound, it's a bridged-t notch filter, and you can find out more about them here.   It's very similar to the Univox Super Fuzz filter but with a cane in capacitor value, lowering the notch frequency slightly.   While the circuit looks like a Big Muff tone stack, it has been tuned to recreate a notch filter - this is also conveniently explained via the previous link.

IBANEZ: Standard Wau Fuzz

The Ibanez Standard Wau Fuzz is a variation on the Univox Super Fuzz (like so many others).  It's slightly more compact as it uses a JFET instead of 2 x transistors to boost the signal.

IBANEZ STANDARD WAU FUZZ - VERO LAYOUT