Hey Richie,

I just took a quick look at the schematic and, I THINK , I am interpreting correctly...

those numbers are an indicator of which tab on the pot that particular connection should be made to.....

If you hold one of the pots so that the shaft is pointing to your nose ( i.e. you are looking at the pot from the front...)... then look down at the solder tabs.... you are looking at 1,2,3 from left to right.

One thing that helps in thinking about these "pot" connections...... is the application of "zen" to the internals of the pot.

Look at the pot from the front..... since that is the way you will be adjusting it when it is mounted in the box. the two connections at each end are 1 ( left) and 3 (right). NUmber 2 is connected to a piece called the wiper. Thinking of the pot in your hand like this....... grab the shaft..and twist it all the wy COUNTER clockwise. Pin 2 (wiper) is now INTERNALLY touching ( or VERY close to it....) pin 1. Close your eyes....and visualize the inside of the pot and mentally turn the shaft clockwise. As you do ... you are moving 2(wiper) further from pin 1 and closer to pin 3. When you get all the way clockwise....pin2(wiper) is now connected closely to pin 3.

Now......think about a typical volume knob. WHen you grab that knob....and crank it clockwise.......you are bringing the wiper close to pin 3. Therefore... your circuits signal will GENERALLY be fed into pin3..... and will be taken off of the wiper. Pin 1 will generally be connected to ground. This means that....when all the way left.... your wiper will be at ground (no signal) and as you sweep it to the other end.... it gets closer to the full signal fed in to the pot.

Now.....as to ths Axis Face. The fuzz and out knobs are wired that way....but the Smooth pot would SEEM TO BE wired in reverse.....but I dont think that it is...given its intent. What you want here is..... when the pot is all the way CCW...you want the control to give its minimal effect....and then apply smoothing (increase resistance...) as you sweep CW. For that reason... the input jack is fed into pin 1 and pin 2 goes from the wiper to the input circuitry. That way.....at full CCW it will be more like a Fuzz Face in that it will have no resistance from the input jack to the input on the board. As you sweep the pot CW....you will be adding resistance...and adding a "smoothing" effect to the tone.

Thinks about this and see if it doesn't add up and help you get where you are going.

Good luck to you....
Bob

(To be honest.... I havent built mine yet....but I have all the parts....
It is just getting the time........but trust me....
it's coming soon....)

Richie,

One thing I failed to mention ( it didn't occur to me 'till about 3am when I went to bed!!!)....when you hold the pot with the shaft towards you........ hold it so that the solder tabs point down to the floor. THEN the numbering I talked about will work...(the lefts and rights!!!)

-----------------------------------------------------
Did you get the hammond 1590B enclosure?

*** Yep. That is exactly what I intend to use.

I have been meaning to use a Breadboard,(and buy one). Did you ever use one? Do you think I should build the Axis Face on Breadboard first, to see if I get it wired correctly and maybe tweak it? I found out Jameco's are the best, but I have heard mixed reviews about using Breadboards.

***** Well....the nice thing about breadboarding.... is that it helps you understand the circuit a little better.... since your mind had to look at, interpret, and deal with every electrical connection in the circuit. Plus... it is easier to try alternate values......try little mods.... before committing to solder.
And, yes. My background is electronics. I went to school at DeVry in Dallas from '75 - '77 and they taught us to breadboard everything in lab.

Do you think I should socket the input & output caps, transistors, etc...?

****** Well....I can answer this for me... I don't because I tend to be the type that....once I have it the way I like it.... it stays that way. However...if you tend to be a tweaker...and experimenter....there sure are advantages to doing that. SOMETIMES>.......and I say SOMETIMES...... sockets allow the component to fall out.... especially if the pedal is subjected to rough treatment....thrown in trunks/pickups... jumped on hard.....

I don't think the parts list is updated,(i don't see the reverse audio taper pot and such)

***** Nope. To my recollection.....the reverse taper attack pot is a new... like within the last month or so.....thing that Steve Daniels (Smallbear Elec) came up with. From what people have said...it seems to be the "bees knees" in terms of adjustablity....

Two other questions that applies to others too, Should I get like 5 or more Transistors of each Q1 And Q2, to ensure a good pair? I never dealt with Si Transistors before only the crazy Ge's.

***** Let me say this....about that.... I ordered 20 of the Q1 and 10 of the Q2 that Phillip specs. I checked the gains on each and every one...... and ALL of them are well within spec and would be useable. But...it is somewhat wise to buy a couple anyway. One particular one of each TYPE...might just have that "magic Hfe" that you need.....

FIrst off.... I dont know if Phillip sells one here for the Axia Face...if he does... I would recommend it because a) it will be right, and b) it helps to support Phillip in his endeavors. That said........ if that is NOT a path.... I think that General Guitar Gadgets has what they call a Late 60's boutique fuzz. It is not TOO far from the Axis Face circuit....but you would have to examine both circuits carefully and adapt a couple of parts...( the .047uF cap across the resistor, the boutique had a "contour pot" at the top that the AF does not have... there might be some component value differences..... but...with a keen eye and a little imagination it could be adapted and I think they DO sell the board for not too much cash.

Bob

Why do they somtimes mention 1M for pulldown resistors and sometimes 2M2 for pulldown resistors?

***** well.....to my thinking what you are trying to do...is keep a static charge bled off of the input cap. But.....you dont want to load down the circuit feeding the one you are building. So......some choose 1 M and some choose 2.2M. I dont know that I would see a difference.

Did you get your parts from mouser and small bear for axis face, or did you have to get some specialty things elsewhere?

******** Hmmmmm I think I did get the transistors from Mouser....with two of the pots...the case.... but I got some resistors from Smallbear....along with the knobs and the remaining pot.

********* As to the double spacing....I have no idea....mine just come out single....