aion Flare User manual

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 1
PROJECT NAME
FLARE
BASED ON
EFFECT TYPE
PROJECT SUMMARY
DOCUMENT VERSION
ZVEX Fuzz Factory
A glitchy silicon/germanium hybrid fuzz known for its dizzying array of controls and untamed sounds.
Fuzz 1.0.0 (2021-03-19)
BUILD DIFFICULTY
Easy
Actual size is 2.3” x 2.42” (main board) and 1.78” x 0.86” (bypass board).

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1Project Overview 7Drill Template
2Introduction & Usage 8Enclosure Layout
3-4 Parts List 9Wiring Diagram
5Build Notes 10 Licensing
6Schematic 10 Document Revisions
INTRODUCTION
The Flare Fuzz Machine is a clone of the ZVEX Fuzz Factory, a really interesting little box first released
in 1995. It’s essentially a classic Fuzz Face with a LPB-1 booster in front of it, but with the twist that
half of the components are replaced with knobs, allowing fine-grain control over the transistor bias
and letting you create everything from a really thick-yet-musical fuzz, to gated velcro-ripping, to some
pretty crazy pitch-oscillation.
This is not a user-friendly pedal by any means. The knobs are very interactive, and there are a lot of
setting combinations that straight-up don’t work. But if you start with some default knob settings, you
can get a good feel for what it’s capable of. See page 5 for suggested starting points.
The Fuzz Factory is notable for being custom-built directly into the guitars of Matthew Bellamy of Muse.
He uses it for his main drive tone as well as for feedback & oscillation purposes, controlling the effect via
the Stability and Compression knobs which are mounted to the front of the guitar.
The Flare is a close adaptation of the Fuzz Factory, but with 8 knobs while the original only has 5. The
added knobs are Softness (gain reduction of the input boost stage), Body (bass blend before the fuzz)
and Tone (treble cut after the fuzz).
USAGE
• Drive controls the amount of fuzz, equivalent to an overdrive’s gain control. This also turns into
something of a feedback pitch control when the Stability is reduced.
• Level is the output level of the effect.
• Comp (compression) changes the attack. It is heavily affected by the Stability control.
• Stability reduces the +9V supply to change the bias of the whole circuit, changing the overall
character of all of the knobs and eventually throwing it into oscillation.
• Gate turns off the transistor when the signal is below the threshold. Useful for creating glitchy
velcro-ripping sounds.
• Soft reduces the gain of the first boost stage, which rounds out the fuzz a bit and gives it more of an
overdrive character.
• Body is an input capacitor blend that fades between a 100n and 10uF capacitor. This increases the
bass and thickens up the effect.
• Tone is a classic SWTC (Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control) appended to the end of the circuit to
allow the treble content to be tamed a bit.

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 3
PARTS LIST
This parts list is also available in a spreadsheet format which can be imported directly into Mouser for
easy parts ordering. Mouser doesn’t carry all the parts (most notably potentiometers) so the second tab
lists all the non-Mouser parts as well as sources for each.
View parts list spreadsheet →
PART VALUE TYPE NOTES
R1 120k Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R2 10k Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R3 47k Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R4 470R Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R5 5k1 Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R6 220k Metal film resistor, 1/4W
R7 100R Metal film resistor, 1/4W Power supply filter resistor.
RPD 2M2 Metal film resistor, 1/4W Input pulldown resistor.
LEDR 4k7 Metal film resistor, 1/4W LED current-limiting resistor. Adjust value to change LED brightness.
C1 10uF Electrolytic capacitor, 5mm
C2 10n Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm
C3 10uF Electrolytic capacitor, 5mm
C4 10uF Electrolytic capacitor, 5mm
C5 10uF Electrolytic capacitor, 5mm
C6 18n Film capacitor, 7.2 x 2.5mm
C7 100uF Electrolytic capacitor, 6.3mm Power supply filter capacitor.
C8 100uF Electrolytic capacitor, 6.3mm Power supply filter capacitor.
C9 100n MLCC capacitor, X7R Power supply filter capacitor.
D1 1N5817 Schottky diode, DO-41
Q1 2N3904 BJT transistor, NPN, TO-92
Q2 Germanium Germanium transistor, PNP Recommended to buy a selected Fuzz Face set (Small Bear Electronics or
eBay). See build notes for more info.
Q3 Germanium Germanium transistor, PNP
DRIVE 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
GATE 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
VOL. 5kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
BODY 100kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
COMP 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
STAB 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
SOFT 100kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot
TONE 10kB 16mm right-angle PCB mount pot

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 4
PARTS LIST, CONT.
PART VALUE TYPE NOTES
LED 5mm LED, 5mm, red diffused
IN 1/4" mono 1/4" phone jack, closed frame Switchcraft 112BX or equivalent.
OUT 1/4" mono 1/4" phone jack, closed frame Switchcraft 111X or equivalent.
DC 2.1mm DC jack, 2.1mm panel mount Mouser 163-4302-E or equivalent.
FSW 3PDT Stomp switch, 3PDT
ENC 125B Enclosure, die-cast aluminum Can also use a Hammond 1590N1.

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 5
BUILD NOTES
Starting control settings
The Fuzz Factory is a very fun but very glitchy beast. If you fire it up for the first time with the knobs in
random positions, you may be very disappointed in what you hear. Use these positions as a starting point
and then adjust it from there to get the sounds you’re after.
• Drive: 12:00 (center)
• Volume: 9:00
• Comp: 8:00
• Stability: 5:00 (full)
• Gate: 7:00 (off)
• Soft: 7:00 (off)
• Tone: 10 (full)
• Body: 8:00
Transistor selection
The original Fuzz Factory uses old-stock AC128 germanium transistors for Q2 and Q3, but any set
that is suitable for a Fuzz Face will work here. It’s recommended to buy a matched set of Fuzz Face
transistors from Small Bear Electronics to ensure they’re good quality.
You can also use silicon transistors (e.g. 2N3906) for Q2 and Q3. This gives a very different character
than germaniums and there are plenty of people who prefer this version. It’s also much easier to source
the parts. Just make sure the pins lines up with the E-B-C pads for Q2 and Q3.

SCHEMATIC
FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 6
IN
OUT
1N5817
100uF
100kB
10kB
10kB
100kB
10kB
10kB
+9V
100n
GND
10uF
100R
2M2
120k
GND
VA
VA
2N3904
GND
10k
10n
10uF
VA
47k
470R
GND
10uF
VA VA
5k1
5kB
GND
10uF
220k
10kB
GND
18n
GND
100uF
GND
D1
C7
SOFT
1
2
3
GATE
1
2
3
STAB
1
2
3
BODY
1
2
3
COMP
1
2
3
DRIVE
1
2
3
C9
C1
R7
RPD
R1
Q1
R2
C2
C3
Q2
R3
R4
Q3
C4
R5
VOLUME
1
2
3
C5
R6
TONE
1
2
3
C6
C8
GND

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 7
DRILL TEMPLATE
Cut out this drill template, fold the edges and tape it to the enclosure. Before drilling, it’s recommended
to first use a center punch for each of the holes to help guide the drill bit.
Ensure that this template is printed at 100% or “Actual Size”. You can double-check this by measuring
the scale on the printed page.
Top jack layout assumes the use of closed-frame jacks like the Switchcraft 111X. Open-frame jacks will
not fit in layouts with 5 or more knobs due to the placement of the DC jack.
LED hole drill size assumes the use of a 5mm LED bezel, available from several parts suppliers. Adjust
size accordingly if using something different, such as a 3mm bezel, a plastic bezel, or just a plain LED.
0 1 2
CM
0 1
INCH
ø3/8” ø1/2”
0.385”
0.625” 0.625”
ø3/8”
125B
OUT DC IN
x: 0, y: -1.775
ø15/32”
x: -0.775, y: -1.775
ø5/16”
FOOTSWITCHLED
x: -0.775, y: +1.735 x: +0.775, y: +1.735
ø9/32” ø9/32”
x: -0.775, y: +0.635
ø9/32”
x: 0, y: +0.635
ø9/32”
x: -0.65, y: +1.735
ø9/32”
x: -0.388, y: -0.465
ø9/32”
x: +0.388, y: -0.465
ø9/32”
x: +0.775, y: +0.635
ø9/32”
CENTER (0,0)

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 8
ENCLOSURE LAYOUT
Enclosure is shown without jacks. See next page for jack layout and wiring.
125B

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 9
WIRING DIAGRAM
125B
IN +VGND NC NC OUT
PCB
IN
GND +V +V JACK GND JACK
OUTIN
GND GND PCB
OUT
Shown with optional 9V battery. If battery is omitted, both jacks can be mono rather than one being stereo.
Leave the far-right lug of the DC jack unconnected.

FLARE FUZZ MACHINE 10
LICENSE & USAGE
No direct support is offered for these projects beyond the provided documentation. It’s assumed
that you have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and
refunds cannot be offered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error.
All of these circuits have been tested in good faith in their base configurations. However, not all the
modifications or variations have necessarily been tested. These are offered only as suggestions based
on the experience and opinions of others.
Projects may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specifically noted. No
attribution is necessary, though a link back is always greatly appreciated. The only usage restrictions
are that (1) you cannot resell the PCB as part of a kit without prior arrangement, and (2) you cannot
“goop” the circuit, scratch off the screenprint, or otherwise obfuscate the circuit to disguise its source.
(In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use these PCBs, but
please don’t go out of your way to hide it. The guitar effects industry needs more transparency, not less!)
DOCUMENT REVISIONS
1.0.0 (2021-03-19)
Initial release.