Fuzz picks up radio signals...any solution?

[pickaguitar]

My Sun Face NKT picks up radio frequencies time to time. I'm wondering is there a mod that can be done to fix that without changing the fuzz's sound?

 

[FreekishBluesFX]

Like my Engineer tells me all the time....get humbuckers. Could be many things Guitar / Fluorescent Lights / The outlet may not be able to handle voltage from amp.... Are you using Single Coils or Humbuckers?

 

[cyclonetone]

Sounds like it's intermittent, so whenever you hear it, try a different guitar quickly (if you can) or pull the pedal out of line....that would help isolate guitar or pedal...when I was on the road, one tech would wrap pedals (or whatever was suspect) in foil to see if the shielding would stop the interference...if the noise subsided, we new it was a shielding issue. I would think pickups since the pedal is in a metal box...

 

[mbargav]

Every FF and FF clone I've ever had does this whether I use single coils or hums.

 

[Purplexi]

Every FF and FF clone I've ever had does this whether I use single coils or hums.

I agree it's a characteristic drawback of FF circuitry, albeit an acceptable one IMO.

 

[sahhas]

i remember when i had my fuzz factory, it did this.
i thought it was kind of cool.
at times i wish i would have kept the fuzz factory....
oh well....
no idea the solution, i think mind got radio noises through my humbucking pu's...

 

[FreekishBluesFX]

Could even be Cell towers.... Damn those magnets!

 

[FreekishBluesFX]

I agree it's a characteristic drawback of FF circuitry, albeit an acceptable one IMO.

I hear you.... keeping it vintage sometimes means keeping it vintage

 

[pickaguitar]

Like my Engineer tells me all the time....get humbuckers. Could be many things Guitar / Fluorescent Lights / The outlet may not be able to handle voltage from amp.... Are you using Single Coils or Humbuckers?

I'm using single coils as of lately. At times I kinda like it depending on the song however for most of them..no

 

[FreekishBluesFX]

Just Crank it Up and Enjoy Love my Strat as well... Hey what guitar makes you enjoy music and a ball game at the same time...

 

[echoes90]

This happens with my Sunface BC108, but only when I turn the guitars volume down to 0.

 

[meterman]

This happens with my Sunface BC108, but only when I turn the guitars volume down to 0.

yeah I've found my fuzzfaces get really noisy with the guitar all the way down, turn it up to 1 and they get fairly quiet. Never had much problem with radio interference though, maybe see if you can upgrade the cable you use from guitar to board to one with better shielding? A poorly shielded cable is almost like an antenna apparently, and the fuzz is amplifying the weak radio signal that is being picked up

 

[jackbart1960]

It's kinda funny this came up. A while ago I built my first FF clone and the first thing out of it was this old time religious show. I thought it sounded awesome but not that good. LOL!!! Peace. J.J.B.

 

[shrp11]

This happens with my Fuzz Factory, but only if my guitar is turned all the way down.

I see it as a bonus since I can record fuzzy sounding radio and incorporate it into my tracks - love it

 

[earthtonesaudio]

The fix is incredibly cheap and does not change the tone in the slightest. It is easiest to implement at the design stage; however, retrofitting is not a big deal if you know your way around a circuit board.

You need to add a resistor in series with the input capacitor, and also add a capacitor between the base and collector of the first transistor. The value of resistor R should be kept low to keep from artificially raising the input impedance of the circuit, and the value of the capacitor C should be chosen to filter out radio interference in your area.

Most likely you're getting AM radio interference, which is in the 3-30MHz range. If you use a 150 ohm resistor and a 470pF capacitor that starts filtering RF at 2.25MHz, which ought to take care of the problem.


Some people mistakenly add only a capacitor. This can make the problem worse (as you who have turned down your guitars know)* because it can actually tune in a particular frequency.
*Turning the guitar's volume down shorts the guitar's end of the cable, which then looks like a capacitor to ground from the Fuzz Face's point of view.

 

[amz-fx]

Find the wire that runs from the footswitch to the input of the pcb and thread it through a ferrite bead. A couple of turns around the bead should be plenty. Re-solder the wire back to the switch.

The ferrite will increase the impedance of the input wire at radio frequencies but will not have any impact on the audio. I did this mod to my YAFF when it was picking up RF.

regards, Jack

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

i used to get this with my Foxrox HSF. unfortunately, the only station the pedal received was Radio Disney.

 

[Don A]

This happens with my Sunface BC108, but only when I turn the guitars volume down to 0.

I had a Fulltone '70 Pedal that did the same thing.

 

[BenFulton]

Earthtones audio and AMZ hit both nails on the head .

 

[jackbart1960]

Earthtones audio and AMZ hit both nails on the head .

+1000000. I'll be trying both on my next FF type build. Thanks guys.
Peace. J.J.B.