Please note: This includes the PCB only. Please see the bill of materials on the Synthrotek website for a complete list of parts needed.

The Arbiter Fuzz Face Clone is a vintage guitar effect-a-phile's dream, modeled after the Dallas Arbiter fuzz. Get that late-60's early 70's fuzz tone made famous by Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend and other guitar gods!

What is the difference between Synthrotek's two fuzz pedals: Face the Fuzz and the Arbiter Fuzz Face Clone? The Arbiter Fuzz Face Clone uses the classic circuit that is known and loved by many, and everybody loves a classic. We designed the Face the Fuzz with a few key changes to make it more useful to the modern musician: a wider frequency response, the ability to daisy-chain the power with a 1 Spot, and the option to use temperature-stable Silicon transistors.

The Arbiter Fuzz Face Clone and the Face the Fuzz circuits work fantastically with our hand-tested and selected premium AC128 NOS PNP transistors. We test all of our AC128’s for optimum gain and leakage current so that they are guaranteed to bias properly and sound great! We choose lower gain transistors for Q1 and higher for Q2 according to our strict standards. Be assured that you will be playing a premium product that takes the guess work out of Germanium transistor testing. They are sold separately HERE.

Features:

• 2 controls – Fuzz & Level – to tweak your tone
• Fuzz: send your tone from subtle to razor blades
• Level: adjusts your output or boost level
• On-board bias trim pot (accessed by unscrewing the back panel) lets you adjust transistor bias level for a variety of new Fuzz tones!
• True bypass
• Drilled unpainted aluminum case (no graphic included)
• Dual power supplies (9V Battery and +9VDC =>200mA Center Positive DC Adapter Power Supplies) allow you to have the battery as backup or as the main power
• PCB silkscreen, through-hole components with careful on-board placement, and wire-tension relief holes were designed with the DIYer in mind!
• PCB Dimensions: 2.0" x 1.5"

Biasing guide:

Power on the pedal and insert a cable into the input jack. For the circuit to be optimally biased, the collector of Q2 needs to be at 4.5 volts. (When connecting the Arbiter Fuzz Face Clone circuit to your multimeter as shown in the photos below, your meter will read -4.5V.) The 20K trim pot is used to dial in this value. All you need to do is connect your leads to a ground on the PCB and the collector of Q2 to get this reading.