FuzzDog Animatron User Manual

Muff-based bass fuzz
with germanium growl
Contents of this document are ©2017 Pedal Parts Ltd. No reproduction permitted without the express written permission of Pedal Parts Ltd. All rights reserved.
Animatron
Schematic + BOM
*The original circuit uses C2240, but you could try other BJT. The circuit is basically a Big Muff Pi. C2240 have a non­standard pin-out so there are extra pads on the PCB to accomodate those and standard CBE cans. See later in this document for more info on that.
**NTE102/3 in the original, but you can try other germaniums. We supply AC128/AC176 which work well. You could replace these with silicon if you prefer.
R1 1M R2 100K R3 100K R4 680K R5 4K7 R6 4K7 R7 470K R8 33K R9 100K R10 470R R11 470K R12 10K R13 10K R14 100K R15 100R R16 470K R17 10K R18 10K R19 100K R20 100R
C1 10n C2 6n8 C3 470p C4 470p C5 100u C6 470p C7 100n C8 100n C9 10n C10 100n C11 470n C12 470n C13 2u2 C14 10u C15 10u C16 10u C17 4n7 C18 1u
D1-4 1N4148
***10K in original but we’ve made it bigger to accommodate a wider range of germaniums.
Yes, C18 is shown as 470n in the cover pic. We were all out of 1u when we built it.
Q1-5 C2240* Q6 NPN Ge** Q7 PNP Ge**
DIST 100KA Dual Gang TONE 100KB VOL 100KB T1 22K trimmer***
SW1 DPDT ON-ON
The power and signal pads on the PCB conform to the FuzzDog Direct Connection format, so can
e paired with the appropriate daughterboard for
b quick and easy offboard wiring. Check the separate daughterboard document for details.
Be very careful when soldering the diodes and transistors. They’re very sensitive to heat. You should use some kind of heat sink (crocodile clip or reverse action tweezers) on each leg as you solder them. Keep exposure to heat to a minimum (under 2 seconds).
Snap the small metal tag off the pots so they can be mounted flush in the box.
Positive (anode) legs of the electrolytic caps go to the square pads. C5 can be bent back over the adjacent resistors to save on height - see the cover image.
Negative (cathode) legs of the diodes go to the square pads.
PCB layout ©2017 Pedal Parts Ltd.
You should solder all other board-mounted components before you solder the pots. Once they’re in place you’ll have no access to much of the board. Make sure your pots all line up nicely. The best way to do that is to solder a single pin of each pot in place then melt and adjust if necessary before soldering in the other two pins. If your pots don’t have protective plastic jackets ensure you leave a decent gap between the pot body and the PCB otherwise you risk shorting out the circuit.
Same goes for the toggle switch. Use your enclosure as a guide for positioning them to ensure they line up properly. Solder one lug, then melt it and adjust to get it straight before soldering any others.
Trimmer T1 is used to bias Q6-7. There’s no ‘right’ setting, just do it by ear until it sounds sweet
SMALL HACK-ETTE
You need to jumper two of the trimmer pads together. The original schematic shows T1 as a voltage divider which is unlikely to work except for a very small selection of Q6-7 pairings. Jumpering pins 1+2 changes the configuration so thta C2 is coming straight from the emitter of Q7 which makes much more sense. Jumper shown in red above and below.
TRANSISTOR ORIENTATION
Standard EBC transistors such as 2N5088 orientate like this:
C2240 are ECB, so should be placed like this:
Test the board!
BATTERY
IN
OUT
Your nice, new circuit board INCLUDING WIRED POTS!!!!
IN 9V GND OUT
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will troubleshooting help be offered if you have skipped this stage. No exceptions.
Once you’ve finished the circuit it makes sense to test is before starting on the switch and LED wiring. It’ll cut down troubleshooting time in the long run. If the circuit works at this stage, but it doesn’t once you wire up the switch - guess what? You’ve probably made a mistake with the switch.
Solder some nice, long lengths of wire to the board connections for 9V, GND, IN and OUT. Connect IN and OUT to the jacks as shown. Connect all the GNDs together (twist them up and add a small amount of solder to tack it). Connect the battery + lead to the 9V wire, same method. Plug in. Go!
If it works, crack on and do your switch wiring. If not... aw man. At least you know the problem is with the circuit. Find out why, get it working, THEN worry about the switch etc.
L E D
BOARD
OUT
BOARD
9V
BOARD GND
BOARD
GND
BOARD GND
BOARD INPUT
BATTERY
+
IN
OUT
L E D
BOARD GND
BOARD 9V
+
Wire it up (if using a daughterboard please refer to the relevant document)
Wiring shown above will disconnect the battery when you remove the jack plug from the input, and also when a DC plug is inserted.
The Board GND connections don’t all have to directly attach to the board. You can run a couple of wires from the DC connector, one to the board, another to the IN jack, then daisy chain that over to the OUT jack.
It doesn’t matter how they all connect, as long as they do. This circuit is standard, Negative GND. Your power supply should be Tip
Negative / Sleeve Positive. That’s the same as your standard pedals (Boss etc), and you can safely daisy-chain your supply to this pedal.
Drilling template
Hammond 1590B
60 x 111 x 31mm
It’s a good idea to drill the pot and toggle switch holes 1mm bigger if you’re board-mounting them. Wiggle room = good!
Recommended drill sizes:
Pots 7mm
Jacks 10mm
Footswitch 12mm
DC Socket 12mm
Toggle switch 6mm
32mm
6mm
1
15mm
This template is a rough guide only. You should ensure correct marking of your enclosure before drilling. You use this template at your own risk. Pedal Parts Ltd can accept no responsibility for incorrect drilling of enclosures.
FuzzDog.co.uk
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