DARLING - Bazz Fuss Keychain

• If you're looking at this, you are probably curious and hopefully a little handy. If you want to put together a fully functional 1-knob fuzz pedal - here is your chance. Bazz fuss is a simple, raw sounding fuzz using only one transistor and one diode to do the fuzzing. For a somewhat experienced builder, the card that came with the PCB should be enough to get you going, but if you ara a beginner or need any tips on how to make this awesome, little circuit play, read on. Building this pedal will require acquiring all the electronic parts on the list plus jacks, switch, and some project wire to make connections. You should also have a basic soldering skills and a soldering iron set up.

• The history of this simple but mighty circuit is not exactly clear. It's attributed to the interent hive mind, dating in he late 1990s or 2000s. It has gone through many iterrations, and it can be modified or build upon nearly infinitely. Darling is a simple version guranteed to work well even if you are just a little bit handy. I've added polarity protection and power filtering for a hum-free opeartion.

• All the parts are very common, available today from you favorite electronic parts supplier. Unfortunately, after the fall of Radio Shack, it is not as easy to pop into your local store to pick up a few parts. Many online stores wil provide what you need though. If you would prefer having all the parts sorted and labeled, you can purchase the kit here.

Parts list: 

R1: 39Ω 1/4W metal film resistor (can be a value anywhere between 22-100 Ohms)

R2: 10kΩ 1/4W metal film resistor*

C1: 100uF/25V Electrolytic capacitor (can be a value between 47-220uF)

C2: 100nF MLCC capacitor

C3: 1nF polyester film box capacitor**

C4: 100nF polyester film box capacitor

D1: 1N5817 Schotky diode (can be 1N5819)

D2: 1N914 silicon diode***

Q1: MPSA13 Darlington transitor*

P1: A100k potentiometer (16mm right angle with PCB leads - if mounted on-board)

3PDT foot switch

2.1mm DC switchable jack

9V battery lead 

1/4" stereo switchable jack

1/4" mono jack

24ga stranded copper wire

enclosure of your choice

* You can use a BJT instead (2n3904, 2n5088, etc.) - in this case, increase R2 value to 100k

** Increase the value of the input capacitor to allow more bass to enter the gain stage

*** Experiment with other diode types for a variety of tones from distortion to fuzz. If building is not your thing, you can always pick up a cool pedal in my store.