Akashic Guitar effects circuit lookup

1590BB

Amplified Parts

Burns Buzzaround (Eyelet Board)

Based on the Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround· 13 other boards clone it

Category
Fuzz

From the post

The Burns Buzzaround is a classic fuzz pedal most notable for its use by Robert Fripp, guitarist of King Crimson. It is a 3-transistor germanium fuzz with a circuit topology that is similar (but not identical) to the Tonebender Mk3/4 with Q1 and Q2 set up as a darlington pair, though the Buzzaround came before the Mk3/4. The Buzzaround is thought to have been introduced in 1966 and discontinued in 1968. The Buzzaround has Balance, Sustain, and Timbre controls. The controls are roughly analogous to Volume/Fuzz/Tone, but the "Balance" control on the Buzzaround is not a typical volume control. Volume does decrease down to silence as the Balance control is turned counter-clockwise, but the Balance control also has an effect on the bias of Q3. It can be quite a subtle difference, so the Balance control can be plenty effective as a volume control, but a somewhat common Buzzaround tweak is to add a "Master Volume" control at the output. Original Buzzaround units fetch extremely high prices, but it is a fairly simple circuit. The original Buzzaround used a 2x12 turret board very similar to our P-HTBU-2X12-D, though the actual layout could have fit on a 2x9 board (three columns are unused). A 2x8 Buzzaround layout and a 2x10 Buzzaround layout can be found below. These are inspired by the original layouts, but with some minor tweaks to make the layout more condensed and neater. If you would prefer to use the original layout, we have a drawing for that on our P-HTBU-2X12-D listing. This is a PNP germanium build. It should either be run on battery power only or considerations need to be made for how to provide -9V. For more information, see our PNP "Positive Ground" Pedal Considerations tech article. See Figure 4 in our Guitar Pedal Footswitch and Jack Wiring article for the recommended footswitch and I/O wiring.

Schematic

This is a board layout, a drawing of where each part goes, and the post may link the schematic it was drawn from. Open the layout at Amplified Parts. No KiCad fragment has been drawn for this circuit yet.

Parts list 14 rows

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RefValueNormalizedTypeNotes
Resistors 6
×13.3k3.3kCarbon composition resistor(R-I3D3K)
×310k10kCarbon composition resistor(R-I10K)
×115k15kCarbon composition resistor(R-I15K)
×127k27kCarbon composition resistor(R-I27K)
×1100k100kCarbon composition resistor(R-I100K)
×1470k470kCarbon composition resistor(R-I470K)
Capacitors 4
×11nF1nFilm capacitor(C-UD001-630)
×2100nF100nFilm capacitor(C-MKT-D1-400)
×25uF5uElectrolytic capacitor(C-SA5-50)
×150uF50uElectrolytic capacitor(C-SA50-50)
Diodes 1
×1Germanium diodeGERMANIUM DIODEThe germanium diode of your choice can be used here. P-Q972 is a good option.(P-Q972)
Transistors 1
×3PNP germaniumPNP GERMANIUMThe PNP germanium transistor of your choice can be used here. P-Q2N404 is a good option.(P-Q2N404)
Potentiometers 2
×2B100KB100kPotentiometer(R-VAM100KL-SS)
×1B10KB10kPotentiometer(R-VAM10KL-SS)

Other boards based on the Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround