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ElectroSmash Germanium Fuzz Manual

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How to Build a Germanium Fuzz Guitar Effect.
This document will guide you to build and test your Germanium Fuzz guitar pedal.
With all the materials on hand, it takes around 2-4 hours to build it. Try not to rush
and take your time. Play your favourite background music and enjoy the fine art of
building your own guitar effects.
We have a YouTube video in the ElectroSmash channel that will help you during the
assembly.
We strongly recommend reviewing the entire instructions before starting. It takes 2
minutes and may save you hours of frustration.
This guide aims to build and test the circuit at the same time in a logical order.
Following all the steps will ensure a successful assembly.
STEP 0 – Prepare the Materials.
You would need:
 Soldering iron with a small tip.
 Solder wire.
 Cutting pliers.
 Multimeter.
 Germanium Fuzz Kit.
Keep in short hand the PCB plan and the Bill of Materials.
PCB Plan PDF.
Schematic PDF.
Bill of Materials PDF.
1590B Fuzz Drilling Stencil PDF.

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Summary of Contents for ElectroSmash Germanium Fuzz

  • Page 1 How to Build a Germanium Fuzz Guitar Effect. This document will guide you to build and test your Germanium Fuzz guitar pedal. With all the materials on hand, it takes around 2-4 hours to build it. Try not to rush and take your time.
  • Page 2 STEP 1 – PCB Assembly: Turrets & Small Components Side Bottom Side Placing the Turrets: The turrets are very simple but they could be tricky to do when the PCB is crowded, so let’s place them first to have a neat job. Don’t cover the hollow centre of the turret you can just add a little quantity of solder to keep it...
  • Page 3 STEP 2 – Place the bridge cables. Bottom Side Side Note: These cables will connect the PCBs between them. You can pre -form the cables in a round and smooth “U” shape by bending them with a curved object (pen). Don’t force the cables many times or do hard bents, they may break.
  • Page 4 Solder the input/output jacks (J1, J2), the 3PDT True Bypass footswitch (SW5), and the 9V battery clip. Note: The big components tent to tilt when soldered. Make sure they are straight: A good idea is to solder only one pin and once you are sure that it is perpendicular , solder the rest of the pins.
  • Page 5 STEP 5 – Place the Audio Components: These are the most important components for the sound. You have to place R1, R2, C1, C2, C3, Trimmer1, Trimmer2, RV1 (1K pot), RV2 (500K pot), and the spring. Note: Before placing the Trimmers, you have to pre-set them to a good value. Using a multimeter in resistor mode (Ω) measure between pins 1 and 2, adjusting them to: ...
  • Page 6 Axial electrolytic cap polarity: rubber top metal top STEP 6 – Place the Germanium PNP Transistors. The germanium transistors have a dot that indicate polarity, place them on the PCB following the same dot. Note: The transistors have to be close but not touching each other. If you have transistors with different gains (Hfe), it is better to use the one wi th lower gain as Q1 and the one with higher gain on Q2.
  • Page 7 Bias the Q1 & Q2 Transistors: Although we pre-set the trimmer resistors to a good value in the Step 5. Now it is time to make sure that the Fuzz is biased to the perfect point.  With Timmer1 adjust TP1 to -0.7 ~ -0.5V Multimeter on Voltage setting, Negative probe attached to the...
  • Page 8 STEP 7 – Check the Board: Make sure that your board looks exactly like the one below: Note: The LED is still not soldered, once inside the enclosure you can adjust the perfect length for the leads and solder it. Note: The 100pF Cx Miller capacitors are optional.
  • Page 9 STEP 8 – Boxing Now that the electronics are finished, let’s prepare the enclosure. The Germanium Fuzz uses a standard Hammond 1590B. You can use a pre-drilled box or drill your own using the 1590B Germanium Fuzz Stencil. Use a cutter to separate the stickers and place the black pad on the bottom:...
  • Page 10 After placing the 5mm metal LED holder, you need to box the electronics, take your time and be patient:  Make sure that all the soldered parts have their legs cut as close as possible to the PCB  Don’t force the parts into the holes –be gentle- , they are designed to be tight but not forced.
  • Page 11 This is the final finished project:...