# Executive Fuzz Mods - also applicable to Teddy Rupture



## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 10, 2019)

The Executive Fuzz and Teddy Rupture are both based on the Jordan Boss Tone.  These are all fine pedals, but there is always something we can do to make them a little bit better.

Three mods:
1) More bass
2) More volume, less compression
3) Tone control

These mods can be used individually or in any combination.  Ref designators apply to both pedals. 

Full disclosure: I built a Teddy on a Vero board because it's a simple circuit and I knew I was going to try various mods.  These mods can be implemented on the Executive or Teddy Rupture boards.

The first mod is about extending the low frequency response.  I've read comments on other forums about the lack of bass response on the Jordan Boss Tone and it's certainly true.  If you're running humbuckers, then the bass response of the Executive & Teddy might be fine as-is.  But if you have single coil pickups, want to play bass thru this pedal, or just have more bottom-end grunt, then you will like this mod. The mod involves changing a capacitor and adding a resistor.  Increasing C2 from 22nF to 100nF extends the bass response from 400Hz down to 60Hz.  That by itself works fine unless you set the ATTACK (GAIN) control to 0 or 10.  At the 2 extreme settings, this mod makes a big gain bump at 45Hz.  To tame that, you have to insert a 33K resistor in series with C1.  It's easily done by clipping pin 2 on the ATTACK (GAIN) pot, then soldering a 33K resistor between the clipped pin and the pad on the circuit board.  On mine, I installed a switch that puts a 100nF cap in parallel with the original 22nF C2 so I can turn the mod on and off.  I also installed an optional 3.3Meg anti-pop resistor across the switch.

The second mod replaces the clipping diodes with yellow LEDs.  Simple as that.  For a little more variety, use a DPDT ON-OFF-ON toggle switch to select between Si diodes, LEDs or no diodes.  The LEDs and diodes can be mounted on the switch. 

The third mod adds a treble-cut TONE control.  Clip pin 3 of the VOLUME pot, insert a 47K resistor between the pot and the pad on the circuitboard.  Connect pin 1 of the TONE pot to pin 3 of the VOLUME pot.  Solder a 6.8nF capacitor from pin 2 of the TONE pot to the case of the pot.  When the TONE pot is mounted in the box, it will ground to the chassis.  If you don't trust that method of grounding, run a wire from the TONE pot body to the ground lug on the OUTPUT connector.  With a 6.8nF capacitor, the treble cut is fairly mild.  You can make the cap bigger, say 10nF or 22nF if you want a darker tone.  Pin 3 of the TONE pot is left open.  This mod reduces the maximum volume available by 3dB, more if the next pedal in the chain has an input impedance less than 100K.  Mod 2 more than makes up for the volume loss.

One last thing, 2N2222A transistors can be noisy.  You can replace Q1 in the Executive with any low-noise Si NPN and the only tonal difference will be less noise.  Teddy uses a BC109C, which is low-noise.  I used 2N5210 because I have a pile of them.

I built mine in a pre-drilled box from Tayda.  I added the holes for the violet LED and BASS toggle switch.  The toggle and two of the pots mount directly to, and support, the board.  The big knob is the FUZZ control.


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## zgrav (Sep 10, 2019)

I like the combination of using vero board with a pre-drilled enclosure for Tayda.


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## Yeezusgramor (Apr 5, 2021)

I built a Jordan BossTone from PCB and it had a little feedback between 3 and 4 o'clock on my testboard. When I put it in the enclosure, the feedback was unbearable. Other forums said to put a 1M resistor to bias Q1 but maybe it was the 2n2222.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Apr 5, 2021)

I had no trouble with mine. The overall circuit gain is not very high, so feedback should not be a problem if it's built correctly, including the grounding.  Q1 already has the correct biasing.  Q1 needs to be medium to high gain.  It's possible the 2N2222 you used does not have enough gain.


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## Yeezusgramor (Apr 16, 2021)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I had no trouble with mine. The overall circuit gain is not very high, so feedback should not be a problem if it's built correctly, including the grounding.  Q1 already has the correct biasing.  Q1 needs to be medium to high gain.  It's possible the 2N2222 you used does not have enough gain.


I built it as directed, grounded the board where it said to, including board grounds to jacks. It worked with minor feedback on the auditorium board, then screamed feedback in it's housing at practice, now it quit on me. I think I'm going to order a couple more boards and a testing tool and try again.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Apr 17, 2021)

Can we see some pix?


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## Yeezusgramor (Apr 19, 2021)

I have 2 more of these boards on the way, along with 2 squidward boards. I used a 2n2222A and a 1/2W 4k7. I do regret shoving it into the 1590 housing but I'm going to get a 125B for the next one. The 2n2222A is measuring 288 Hfe, and the 2n3906 is 177Hfe.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Apr 20, 2021)

The IN & OUT jacks so close together and those long wires are suspects.


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## GizzWizzKing (Dec 7, 2021)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> Clip pin 3 of the VOLUME pot, insert a 47K resistor between the pot and the pad on the circuitboard.


i just sat down to do this mod and wanted a bit of clarification here. did you mean that here that you should insert the 47K resistor between the clipped pin and the pad or between the body of the pot and the pad? also... thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and being very patient with us all.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Dec 7, 2021)

The 47K resistor goes between the clipped pin and the pad.  What we're doing is installing a 47K resistor in series with pin 3 of the VOLUME control.


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