Aion Electronics RIFT Manuel utilisateur

1RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Rift

Based on the Univox Superfuzz

Rift Project LinkOverview

The Rift is a modied version of the Univox Superfuzz, a

classic octave fuzz. It was originally developed by the Shin-

Ei company in Japan and called the FY-6, but they also

rebadged the circuit for over a dozen other brands such as

Apollo, Electra and Hohner. However, the Univox Superfuzz

was the most well-known of the brands and is considered

the denitive version of the circuit.

The Rift includes two modications that lend more exibility

to this circuit. While the original unit only had a tone switch

to go between two presets, here you have the option of

using a pot instead to blend between them. There is also a

clipping switch to allow you to choose between two di󰀨erent

sets of diodes, or lift them altogether for a di󰀨erent (and

much louder) sound.

Controls & Usage

The controls for the Superfuzz are pretty standard:

• Expander controls the fuzz level of the e󰀨ect. (This acts as a volume control after a xed-level input

boost stage, very similar to the Sustain knob on a Big Mu󰀨.)

• Volume controls the overall output level.

• Tone allows you to switch between two xed tone sections, one with a mid-scoop and another with a

atter and less aggressive sound. This can be wired as a pot instead of a switch, allowing you to fade

between the two settings.

• Clip allows you to select a di󰀨erent set of diodes or lift the diodes altogether.

Modications & Experimentation

If you want to use a tone pot instead of the switch, you’ll nd it convenient that the pot ts in the exact same

pads and you just need to drill the enclosure di󰀨erently. This allows for blending between the two xed tone

settings, which makes it a much more exible control.

The clipping switch lets you choose from two sets of diodes. The stock unit uses germanium, around 0.3V

forward voltage, but lots more sounds can be had by using di󰀨erent diodes with a higher clipping threshold, or

by removing the diodes entirely in the center position. For the second set of diodes, I recommend using two

1N914s in series, but you should socket them and experiment.

Expect to make signicant volume adjustments when switching between the di󰀨erent clipping diode options.

This circuit uses hard clipping by way of anti-parallel diodes going to ground. As a result, the volume level is

directly a󰀨ected by the total clipping threshold (forward voltage) of the diodes being used.

2RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Parts List

Resistors

R1 22k 1

R2 100k

R3 100k

R4 1k8

R5 47k

R6 470k

R7 10k

R8 47k

R9 3k3 1

R10 220k

R11 150k

R12 10k

R13 10k

R14 470R

R15 470R

R16 100k

R17 22k

R18 10k

R19 1k8 1

R20 22k

R21 100k

R22 47k

R23 10k

R24 22k

R25 10k

R26 100k

R27 15k

R28 10k

R29 1k

R30 100k

RPD 2M2

LEDR 4k7

Semiconductors

Q1-6 2SC828 2

D1 1N4002

D2-D3 1N34A 3

D4-D7 1N914 4

LED 5mm LED

Potentiometers

EXPANDER 50kB

VOLUME 50kB

TONE 50kB 5

OCTAVE 10kB trim (3362P)

Switches

TONE SPDT 5

CLIP SPDT center o󰀨

Capacitors

C1 10uF electro

C2 2n2 1

C3 10uF electro

C4 100n

C5 10uF electro

C6 10uF electro

C7 10uF electro

C8 10uF electro

C9 10uF electro

C10 10uF electro

C11 10uF electro

C12 1n

C13 100n

C14 10uF electro

C15 10uF electro

C16 100uF electro

Mouser Parts List (Spreadsheet)

Additional Part Notes

• Capacitors are shown in nanofarads (n or nF) where appropriate. 1000n = 1uF. Many online suppliers do

not use nanofarads, so you’ll often have to look for 0.047uF instead of 47n, 0.0056uF instead of 5n6, etc.

• The PCB layout assumes the use of lm capacitors with 5mm lead spacing for all values 1nF through

1uF. I prefer WIMA box lm: the FKS2 series for 1n to 10n and the MKS2 series for 10n to 1uF.

• Potentiometers are Alpha 16mm right-angle PCB mount.

• I recommend using these dust covers / insulators from Small Bear to insulate the back of the pots from

the board and prevent shorts. If you don’t use these, use some electrical tape or cardboard to act as

insulation. The right-angle pots will make direct contact with the solder pads otherwise.

Footnotes can be found on the next page.

3RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Build Notes

1Shin-Ei FY-2: The Shin-Ei FY-2 has a few small value changes from the Superfuzz:

R1 = 100k

C2 = 1n

R9 = jumper

R19 = 2k

2Transistors: See the next section titled “Transistor selection” for a discussion on how to choose the right

transistors for this circuit.

3Clipping diodes: Any germanium diodes will do ne here—the part number isn’t important. You could also

use a more readily-available diode such as the BAT41 Schottky for a very similar sound.

4Optional clipping diodes: To provide good contrast with the stock germanium diodes, I recommend using

1N914s for D4-D7. They’ll be a good bit louder than the germaniums but not as loud as the diode lift mode

(center switch position). However, feel free to socket these diodes and experiment. You may nd something

you like even better!

5Tone switch or pot: The original unit uses a switch to select between two tone settings. You can put a 50kB

pot here instead to act as a balance control to fade between the two. It ts in the same pads as the switch.

Needless to say, you can only use one or the other. Make sure to follow the correct drill template depending on

whether you use the pot or the switch, as the knob layout is di󰀨erent.

Transistor selection

The original Superfuzz usually used 2SC828 transistors, sometimes 2SC539. There is nothing special about

these transistors, but being early silicons, they were much lower gain than modern silicons—and this makes a

big di󰀨erence in the circuit.

You’re looking for any silicon transistor with a gain of about 180 hFE, with Q1 maybe being a little higher,

around 220 hFE. Many 2N3904s fall in this range, but since the datasheet species a range of 100 to 300, you

may have to sort through several of them to nd six that are right for this circuit.

2SC945 is a good NOS substitute that typically falls in the recommended gain range. These are readily

available from Small Bear Electronics. If you buy them elsewhere, you want the “Y” (yellow) designation.

For the most pronounced octave e󰀨ect, you want to make sure the Q4 and Q5 transistors are matched as

closely as possible for gain (hFE). Most multimeters have an hFE function to test them. The OCTAVE trimmer

is there to compensate for unmatched transistors (and in fact Shin-ei implemented this trimmer because it was

easier and cheaper than sorting for matched transistors)—but you will get the best e󰀨ect if you use the two

transistors that are closest in hFE for Q4 and Q5 and then use the octave trimmer to ne-tune the e󰀨ect.

Important note: The Rift PCB layout uses the USA-standard E-B-C pinout (2N3904, 2N5088, etc.) for the

transistors. If you do use a vintage transistor like the 2SC828 or 2SC945, make sure to adjust accordingly.

Most Japanese transistors with the 2SC prex use the E-C-B pinout, so it’ll require twisting legs 2 and 3 to get

them to t correctly.

4RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Schematic

GND

+9V

2M2 4k7

5MM

1N4002

220uF

50kB

GND GND

22k

100k

1k8 47k

470k

10k

47k

220k150k

10k10k

470R

100k

470R

10k

1k8

22k 100k

47k10k

22k

10k

100k

100k15k

10k1k

3k3

22k

10uF

GND GND

2n2

10uF

GND

100n

GND

10uF

GND

10uF

10uF10uF

10uF

GND

GND GND

10uF

1N34A

10uF

100n

GND

10uF

GND GND

10uF

GND

10k

GND

+9V

OUT

RPD LEDR

LED

C16

VOL

EXPANDER

R4 R5

R10R11

R12R13

R15

R16

R14

R18

R19

R20 R21

R22R23

R24

R25

R30

R26R27

R28R29

R17

Q1 Q2

Q4 Q5

TONE

C7C8

C10

C11

C12

C13

C14

C15

OCTAVE

CLIP

D4D5

D6 D7

5RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

General Build Instructions

These are general guidelines and explanations for all Aion Electronics DIY projects, so be aware that not

everything described below may apply to this particular project.

Build Order

When putting together the PCB, it’s recommended that you do not yet solder any of the enclosure-mounted

control components (pots and switches) to the board. Instead, follow this build order:

1. Attach the audio jacks, DC jack and footswitch to the enclosure.

2. Firmly attach the pots and switches to the enclosure, taking care that they are aligned and straight.

3. Push the LED1 into the hole in the enclosure with the leads sticking straight up, ensuring that the at side

is oriented according to the silkscreen on the PCB.

4. Fit the PCB onto all the control components, including the leads of the LED. If it doesn’t t, or if you need

to bend things more than you think you should, double-check the alignment of the pots and switches.

5. Once you feel good about everything, solder them from the top2 as the last step before wiring. This way

there is no stress on the solder joints from slight misalignments that do not t the drilled holes. You can

still take it out easily if the build needs to be debugged, but now the PCB is “custom-t” to that particular

enclosure.

6. Wire everything according to the wiring diagram on the last page.

1For the LED: You can use a bezel if you’d like, but generally it’s easier just to drill the proper size of hole

and push the LED through so it ts snugly. If you solder it directly to the PCB, it’ll stay put even if the hole is

slightly too big. Make absolutely sure the LED is oriented correctly (the at side matches the silk screen) before

soldering, as it’ll be a pain to x later! After it’s soldered, clip o󰀨 the excess length of the leads.

2Note on soldering the toggle switch(es): It will require a good amount of solder to ll the pads. Try to be as

quick as possible to avoid melting the lugs, and be prepared to feed a lot of solder as soon as the solder starts

to melt. I recommend waiting 20-30 seconds between soldering each lug to give it time to cool down.

“RPD” and “LEDR” resistors

The resistors marked “RPD” and “LEDR” are generally not original to the circuit and can be adjusted to

preference. “RPD” is the pulldown resistor to help tame true-bypass popping, while “LEDR” controls the

brightness of the LED. I generally use 2.2M for the pulldown resistor and 4.7k for the LED resistor.

Sockets

Since double-sided boards can be very frustrating to desolder, especially components with more than 2 leads,

it is recommended to use sockets for all transistors and ICs. It may save you a lot of headaches later on.

6RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Drilling & Placement

Print this page and cut out the drilling template below. Tape it to the enclosure to secure it while drilling. Note

that the holes are shown slightly smaller than they need to be, so drill out the holes as shown and then step up

until they are the correct size for the components.

Parts Used

• Switchcraft 111X enclosed jacks

• Kobiconn-style DC jack with internal nut

Hammond 1590B

(bottom/inside view)

EXPANDER VOLUME

TONE

(SW)

(POT)

CLIP

7RIFT (BASED ON THE UNIVOX SUPERFUZZ)

Standard Wiring Diagram

This diagram shows standard true-bypass wiring

with a 3PDT switch. When the switch is o󰀨, the

input of the circuit is grounded and the input jack

is connected directly to the output jack.

The SW pad is the cathode connection for the

LED. This will connect to ground to turn it on

when the switch is on. Usage of the on-board

LED connection is not required if you have

specic placement needs for your enclosure,

but’s incredibly convenient.

The wiring diagram also makes use of star

grounding principles where all of the grounds

connect to a single ground point (in this case the

sleeve of the input jack). This is best practice

to avoid added noise caused by improper

grounding. The sleeve of the output jack is

unconnected.

If using a painted or powdercoated enclosure,

make sure both jacks have solid contact with

bare aluminum for grounding purposes. You may

need to sand o󰀨 some of the paint or powdercoat

on the inside in order to make this happen.

Make sure to double-check the markings of the

pads on the PCB for your particular project – they

are not always in the order shown here!

License / Usage

No direct support is o󰀨ered for these PCBs beyond the provided documentation. It is assumed that you

have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and refunds will not

be o󰀨ered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error. I have in good faith tested all of

these circuits. However, I have not necessarily tested every listed modication or variation. These are o󰀨ered

only as suggestions based on the experience and opinions of others.

Projects may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specically 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, and (2) you cannot “goop” the circuit, scratch o󰀨 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

e󰀨ects pedal industry needs more transparency, not less!)

IN GND OUT SW

+9V

SLEEVE

TIP

Autres manuels pour RIFT

Table des matières

Autres manuels Aion Electronics Pédale musicale

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Isotope Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics AURORA Manuel utilisateur

$Aion Electronics Refractor Overdrive Manuel utilisateur$

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Refractor Overdrive Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Blueshift Chorus Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Phobos Germanium Fuzz Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics ASTERIA MK. III Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Perelandra Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics TRI-VIBE Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics THULCANDRA Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics HALO Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics EQUINOX Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics HALO Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics OCEANID Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Halo Fuzz Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Azimuth Overdrive Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Soma Vintage Overdrive Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics L5 Preamp Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics RIFT Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics GALE Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Fractal Overdrive Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics CYGNUS Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Titan Overdrive Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics Flare Manuel utilisateur

Aion Electronics

Aion Electronics PENUMBRA BASS FUZZ Manuel utilisateur

Manuels Pédale musicale populaires d'autres marques

Behringer

Behringer ULTRA WAH UW300 Manuel utilisateur

Whirlwind

Whirlwind oc-bass Manuel utilisateur

Strymon

Strymon Lex-rotary Manuel utilisateur

Behringer

Behringer PB600 Manuel utilisateur

Lexicon

Lexicon MX200 Manuel utilisateur

Dunlop

Dunlop Hendrix 68 Shrine Octavio Fuzz Series Manuel utilisateur

Matthews Effects

Matthews Effects Whaler V2 Manuel utilisateur

Grid 1

Grid 1 Pedal Jeanie Manuel utilisateur

Amptweaker

Amptweaker tightboost Manuel utilisateur

Ibanez

Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer Overdrive Pro Manuel utilisateur

PuzzleSounds

PuzzleSounds DR. Q ENVELOPE FILTER Manuel utilisateur

BYOC

BYOC Analog Chorus Manuel

Dimavery

Dimavery EPVP-50 Manuel utilisateur

Tefi Vintage Lab

Tefi Vintage Lab GEGÈ Manuel utilisateur

Pro-MIDI

Pro-MIDI G25 Manuel utilisateur

DW 7000 Manuel utilisateur

FAMC

FAMC Liquid-Foot Jr. Series Manuel utilisateur

Dimavery

Dimavery EPOD-50 Overdrive Manuel utilisateur