Re: Fuzz boxes

On 2/23/2025 7:04 PM, john larkin wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 23:30:41 +0000, TTman <kraken.sankey@gmail.com>
wrote:
 

Can anyone explain why the best ones seem to use germanium transtors, (
and 'matched pairs' at that)? Why not a simple op amp with back to back
diodes? Any circuits?

 I designed the signal path for the Ryder amps.
 https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/ryder-amps-cabs-from-the60s.663614/
 They were named for a co-worker, Frank Ryder, who was also a small
plane aerobatic instructor. The only time I ever got close to motion
sick was after an hour flying with him.
 The Ryder amp had a path that used a tracking diode clipper followed
by a diferentiator. They called it "bell tone", not fuzz. It had a
"long sustain", whatever that means.

As a long-time guitarist my impression is that guitarists tend to be a pretty conservative bunch, and often the reason for something being considered "the best" tends to be because that's the way the classic pedals were and those were the products that the great names of history used.
Certain signal paths and devices are sacred, like communion wafers.