Build - Pedal Project: One Knob Fuzz Face

The Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face is one of the most iconic pedals ever made, with the original germanium version being the most sought-after. Many users of original Fuzz Faces and their clones prefer to keep the “Fuzz” knob maxed, and use their guitar’s volume knob to control the fuzz amount instead. With the fuzz knob set to its max position at all times, an obvious Fuzz Face variant is a one knob fuzz with the “Fuzz” control replaced with a set resistor internally so that the pedal operates like a Fuzz Face with its Fuzz control maxed at all times.

There are various pedals in this style (e.g. the Colorsound One Knob Fuzz and the D*A*M Meathead), but they are often silicon variants and often have a few other changes to voice the pedals somewhat differently from the original Fuzz Face. The Colorsound One Knob Fuzz and D*A*M Meathead can both sound great, and both can be built from this layout with a few small tweaks, but this layout uses the original germanium Fuzz Face values for a one-knob take on the iconic pedal.

This is a PNP build and uses battery power only. With no LED indicator, this pedal will last a very long time on battery power. If you would like to build this pedal with a DC jack, please see our PNP "Positive Ground" Pedal Considerations tech article.

Figure 1: Turret board layout of the One Knob Fuzz Face.

Figure 1: Turret board layout of the One Knob Fuzz Face.

See Figure 4 in our Guitar Pedal Footswitch and Jack Wiring article for the recommended footswitch and I/O wiring.

Figure 2: One Knob Fuzz Face Schematic

Figure 2: One Knob Fuzz Face Schematic

Parts List

ValueQtySKUType
Capacitors
10 nF1C-MKT-D01-400Film cap
22 µF1C-BC-22-63Electrolytic
2u21C-BC-2D2-63Electrolytic
Potentiometers
500k Audio1R-VOMSL-470KAVolume Control
Resistors
100 kΩ1R-I100KCarbon Comp Resistor
1 kΩ1R-I1KCarbon Comp Resistor
1 MΩ1R-J1MCarbon Comp Resistor
33 kΩ1R-I33KCarbon Comp Resistor
470R1R-I470Carbon Comp Resistor
8.2 kΩ1R-I8D2KCarbon Comp Resistor
Semiconductors
OC83N2P-QOC83NGermanium transistor
Other Items
2x61P-HTB-2X6Board
Black 3PDT1P-H501-L-BLKFootswitch
Fairchild arrow knob1P-K347-52Knob
Greencell 9V1S-9V-GCELLBattery
Vinyl battery snap1K-P155Battery snap
Low Profile jack2S-H534In/Out jacks
White 1590B1P-H1590BWEnclosure

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