https://www.dropbox.com/s/f3eixl6pgxin6ax/EMG%20Fuzz%20Circuit%20Ver2.jpg

I created this mod and use it with James Hetfield pickups into a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Harmony H400. It is fuzzy, but not supersaturated. It's like a mix between The Stone's 'Satisfaction' and Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Distortion depends on picking dynamics and will allow one to switch between a distorted and clean sound by picking alone. When mixed with some amp distortion, it supplements the character of your amp, but needs less "gain" to have a distorted sound and (again) allows for switching between sounds based on picking dynamics. When I turn up the "gain" a bit more on my Raw or Modern modes of the Mesa, I get a Fuzz Face-ish and Big Muff-ish tones, respectively.

I left my neck pickup stock and now have a variety of tonal options without having to plug into a pedal. It's also cool to have the ability to mix distorted and clean tones when both pickups are on.

My shoulder is messed up, so I can't make a video at the moment, but for two dollars or less, you can do this mod and check it out. If you don't like it, pull out the diodes and wire it back the way you had it. Simple and cheap. I taped the diodes to insulate and hold them in. Different diodes can be used, too. I tried a mixture of LEDs and silicon diodes and found that an asymmetric pair (2+1) of silicon gave me the response I wanted. Germanium would be a little softer and fuzz up earlier. One germanium and one silicon would probably sound really nice. LEDs required me to slam really freaking hard to get a decent distortion. In this case, a lower clipping threshold is better for getting a good sound.

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Http://warpedmusician.wordpress.com/

I set up a blog for this mod, other mods, schematics, and various other things that are related to music, electronics, and musicianship.