DingoTone VFZ Custom Shop Vintage Fuzz User manual

Effect pedals. Reinvented.
This professional effects pedal was hand made
in North America from premium components.
Thank you for your purchase of this
one-off special vintage pedal.

www.DingoTone.com © 2011
V3
Plug it in and play!
Connect your VFZ Custom Shop Vintage Fuzz pedal as shown below.
Ensure the guitar is plugged directly into the VFZ (nothing between guitar and pedal but a high
quality cable).
Set the knobs as shown then turn on the pedal (power switch “up”). Turn on the amplifier.
Play some lead in the middle of the neck… Adjust the controls to taste.
Control functions
The Level control sets the output level of the pedal. Due to the vintage nature of the circuit,
the level control will interact with the amplifier input circuit. Because of this, changing the level
may result in subtle changes in tone. This is normal.
The Drive control sets the amount of fuzz. Many users set this control to maximum (full
clockwise) and control the pedal with picking dynamics and the guitar volume control.
The Trim control allows adjustment of the “woofiness” of the pedal. Set it wherever sounds
best to you. Turned all the way counter-clockwise (left) the trim control is removed from the
circuit and the response is closest to vintage. With the Drive control on full, try setting the
Trim more counter-clockwise (left) for lead, and more clockwise (right) for chording.
We care about Tone!
Your VFZ pedal was designed in North America by fellow musicians. Because we live here,
we understand how a pedal should sound for the music you like to play. Our certified
engineers also know how to make pedals that are tough, reliable, and easy to use.
DingoTone cares about TONE. And our standards are high. All our pedals have great tone,
great feel, and sound fantastic live.
All DingoTone pedals are hand built in our factory in North America using premium parts
sourced extensively from North America and Europe. We use vintage design and
manufacturing techniques wherever possible, and we purchase vintage specification
components where available.

www.DingoTone.com © 2011
V3
Inside the VFZ
This pedal is an evolution of the standard vintage fuzzface circuit.
Every VFZ contains two vintage Germanium transistors that have been painstakingly hand-
selected and auditioned to give pure vintage tone. The transistors used in the VFZ are at least
20 years old, with some made as far back as the 1960’s. We spend a lot of time, effort and
money to procure and select vintage transistors for the VFZ, sometimes sorting through and
discarding hundreds of vintage devices to find the very few that sound “right”.
We have also sourced vintage “greencap” output capacitors for the VFZ. The output capacitor
is critical to the sound, and these capacitors are very sweet. Vintage specification resistors
(the old “carbon composition” type) are also used.
The specific transistors used in each VFZ give each pedal a unique personality with superb
tone and great dynamics.
The pedal has a set-point/bias control inside mounted on the circuit board. This control has
been set in the factory and we do not recommend adjusting it. Hard-copy instructions for
setting this control are provided with the pedal when purchased. Adjustments are, however,
made at your own risk and will void the warranty.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT TEMPERATURE
Germanium transistors have always been sensitive to changes in temperature - it is one of
the reasons why the electronics industry moved from Germanium to Silicon.
What can you expect?
If the pedal is hot (e.g. left in direct sunlight or under stage lights for an extended period)
the tone will change, in extreme cases degenerating into a “broken transistor radio” sound.
This is completely normal for Germanium devices and, as long as the pedal has not been
damaged by excessive heat, it will return to normal once it has cooled down.
Trivia fact: in the 1960’s and 1970’s some studios would keep fuzz pedals in the
refrigerator until needed…
About your pedal
•The VFZ pedal is proper (3PDT) True Bypass. All True Bypass pedals may make a small
noise when switched – this is normal and does not indicate a fault in the pedal. Your
DingoTone pedal has been carefully designed to minimize this.
•Assuming the power switch is “on” (flicked up), inserting a lead into the INPUT jack turns
power on. Turn off the power switch or remove the input lead when not in use (be sure to
turn the amplifier off first!)
•Assuming the pedal is correctly powered and a lead is plugged into the input, the pedal is
in true-bypass when the LED is off. True-bypass will work even if power is lost (the LED
doesn’t work if power is lost).
•The pedal will operate from an internal 9V battery only (please see warning below). For
best results, the battery should be a cheap carbon type. We have found “dollar store”
batteries to be the best.
•The battery can be accessed by removing the base-plate screws. If the pedal is not used
for an extended period, please remove the battery.

www.DingoTone.com © 2011
V3
•When changing the battery please be careful!
Knocking your fingers on the circuit board can damage your fingers or the circuit
board assembly (not covered under warranty).
Excessive force on the battery snap can damage the snap (not covered under
warranty).
WARNING
The VFZ is NOT designed to be used with an external power supply.
The pedal is “positive ground” and daisy chaining power with other pedals or using the
incorrect power supply could damage the VFZ , the power supply, or the other pedals.
The Germanium transistors in your pedal are one-off vintage devices and can not be
replaced by equivalent transistors!
While a pedal with a blown transistor can be repaired, it is expensive, may take a very long
time, and the pedal will not sound the same after the repair.
So please, do not use an external supply.
Just use a battery – the pedal only draws a few milliamps, so a battery lasts a long
time.
Any attempt to use an external supply immediately voids the warranty.
Warranty
This pedal is covered by a 12 months replacement warranty. As long as the pedal is not physically or electrically
damaged but has a fault due to parts or labor within 12 months of the initial purchase date, we will replace the
pedal at no cost to you. Shipping to DingoTone is at the owners cost. Warranty claims must include a Return
Authorization (email us for details).
The warranty is void if any modification or repair is done by anyone other than DingoTone, or if the pedal has
been disassembled. There are no user serviceable parts inside.
Under no circumstances will DingoTone be responsible for consequential loss or damage. At all. Ever. We’ll
replace your pedal if it fails because of a defect. But that’s it.