Truth Kit Instructions...

Here you'll find step by step instructions to build your Truth Fuzz Kit. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

Step 1

Unscrew the enclosure and unpack all of your components. Separate the external hardware from the board and internal components. Your kit should contain:

1 Pre-Drilled enclosure

1 3PDT Footswitch

1 Input Jack (3 lugs)

1 Output Jack (2 lugs)

1 500k (Face) OR 100k (Bender) Pot (Volume)

1 10K Pot (Bias)

2 Knobs

1 Battery Snap w/ tie down

2 Feet of stranded wire

1 Truth PCB

2 PCB Standoffs

2 MP42 Germanium Transisors

1 0ohm Resistor (for bypass footswitch)

1 47uf Electrolytic Capacitor

1 22uf Electrolytic Capacitor

1 2.2uf (Face) OR 4.7uf (Bender) Electrolytic Capacitor

1 .01uf Film Capacitor

1 39pf Ceramic Capacitor (small yellow)

1 100K (Brown/Black/Yellow) Resistor

2 1K (Brown/Black/Red) Resistor

1 33k (Face, Orange/Orange/Orange) OR 47k (Bender, Yellow/Purple/Orange) Resistor

Step 2

Fire up the soldering iron and gather your tools. Nothing too fancy but other than your soldering iron you will need:

Wire strippers

Wire cutters

Small pliers

10mm, 14mm and 3/8" sockets, or adjustable wrench

Small Flat screwdriver

Razor Blade

It would also help to have something to hold the PCB, 3rd hand clamps or a PCB vice work perfectly but you could also use a towel underneath to keep it from sliding.

Bonus soldering tip! I use a wide chisel tip and typically 750-850* on my iron but it may vary a bit based on the solder you use. I like 63/37 No Klean Kester but good old 60/40 works too, even lead free will work but you'll need to use higher temps and move faster. For beginners 60/40 is probably the easiest I've found to use.

Step 3

Start assembly, footswitch first, then input and output jacks. Not overly tight, just enough to stay put. Pay attention to the orientation of the footswitch lugs and the input vs output jacks, they should look just like the photo.

Step 4

Install the Bias and Volume pots. 10k Bias on the left, 100k (Bender) OR 500k (Face) on the right as pictured.

Step 5

Loop the battery snap through tie-down, making sure to leave about 2-3" of wire on the snap side.

Step 6

Peel the backing off of the adhesive side of the tie-down and place it under the input jack with the snap side at the bottom.

Step 7

Cut and strip the RED wire on the battery snap, loop through the switched lug on the input jack (left, called the ring). Solder the wire in place.

Step 8

Bend and cut the 0ohm jumper resistor for the footswitch. Bend each leg 90* about 2mm from the body, cut one sides length in half, then the other side in half from the first's new short length. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it should look about like the photo. Save the longer of the two cut pieces.

Step 9

Slide the longer cut leg of the 0ohm resistor between the upper left lug of the footswitch and the lower middle lug. Solder ONLY the lower middle lug, trim the excess of both ends. This jumper will ground the input of the circuit when in bypass, keeping the bypassed circuit quiet.

Step 10

Slide the shaped 0ohm resistor into the bottom Left and bottom Right AND middle Right lug of the footswitch. Solder ONLY the bottom Left and Right lugs, trim the excess. It should look just like the photo with only the bottom row of lugs soldered yet.

Step 11

Link the output jack Tip (long bottom lug) and the Right Middle lug of the footswitch with as short of wire as possible, leaving a slight bend for relief should things accidentally shift.

Step 12

Do the same for the input jack Tip to the Left Middle footswitch lug. It should now look like the photo, both wires running symmetrically from the bottom jack lugs to the middle row outer footswitch lugs.

Step 13

Assemble the board. Separate the resistors from the capacitors and sockets. Bend the leads on each component to fit between the solder pads as follows Left to Right:

C1- 2.2uf (Face) OR 4.7uf (Bender) Electro. Cap.

C2- 39pf Ceramic (smallest yellow) Cap.

C5- 47uf Electro. Cap.

R1- 33k (Face) OR 47k (Bender) Resistor.

R2- 1k Resistor.

R4- 100k Resistor.

C3- .01uf Film Cap.

R5- 1k Resistor.

C4- 22uf Electro. Cap.

Step 14

Install the sockets on the board for Q1 and Q2. Insert and carefully bend the legs to keep the sockets from falling out. Solder in place.

Step 15

Install the caps and resistors into each spot according to the key in step 13. Take note of the polarity of the three Electrolytic caps. There is a line to denote the (-) side, and a ridge on the (+) side. C1 and C5 run the same direction (-) side up. C5 is reversed, (-) side down. The Film and Ceramic caps, as well as the resistors are not polarized and can be placed in either orientation.

Step 16

Solder all components in place. Take your time and solder each pad cleanly. Heat both the component lead and solder pad for a moment, then apply solder to the tip as it wicks down to the pad. You'll get a feel for it after a few pads. Use a device to clamp the board in place or a towel underneath to keep the board still while soldering.

Step 17

Cut and strip six 2" pieces of wire. Hold the board upside down and insert wires from below into the pot holes marked Volume and Bias, bending the exposed wire above the solder pad just slightly so they stay put. Solder all six wires in place.

Step 18

Cut and strip one 2" wire and two 1.5" wires. Install the same way as step 17 for the input, output and ground pads on the bottom of the board. The ground pad in the middle is the longer 2" piece, input and output 1.5" pieces. Strip the remaining piece of wire and use for the bottom left ground pad, inserted from the same side of the board as the other wires. Solder all wires in place.

Step 19

Insert the white nylon standoffs into each side of the board, they will click into place when inserted fully. Strip the six pot wires about 10mm or 3/8".

Step 20

Take a moment to relax, check your work so far, inspect the solder joints. It should look something like this.

Step 21

Remove the adhesive backing from the white nylon standoffs and stick inside the enclosure equally between the pots and footswitch.

Step 22

Cut and strip the black wire on the battery snap, insert from the bottom into the corner 9v pad on the PCB. Solder in place.

Step 23

Bend each stripped end of the pot wires one at a time 90 degrees, then loop them into to each pot lug. The holes will line up with the pot lugs straight across. Once inserted into the pot lugs, bend slightly upward to keep in place, then solder and trim the excess.

Step 24

Cut and strip the bottom ground pad wire just long enough to reach the center sleeve lug on the input jack. Solder in place.

Step 25

Strip the input and output wires from the board, insert into the top lugs Left and Right on the footswitch. Solder in place.

Step 26

Trim the middle Ground wire from the PCB just past the Middle Center lug of the footswitch. Strip and insert through the lug, solder in place.

Step 27

Almost finished! Make yourself familiar with the pinout on the transistors so you insert them correctly. Looking at the bottom you will see the legs protrude from the body in a triangle shape. C = Collector, B = Base, E = Emitter.

Step 28

I've marked each transistor with a 1 for Q1 and 2 for Q2, as well as a red dot next to the Collector leg. This will help you insert the transistors on the board into their sockets.

Step 29

For Q1, bend the three legs together in one row, trim to leave around 1/4" length legs.

Step 30

Q2 is slightly trickier due to an anomaly on the PCB. Bend each leg backwards so the C and E cross over the B as seen in this photo, trim to 1/4" length.

Step 31

Insert each transistor into its socket. Q1 will have the Collector C at the bottom with its Emitter E at the top. Q2 is reversed with the Collector at the top and Emitter at the bottom.

Step 32

Time to test it out! Install your 9v battery, plug it in and check it out! If all is well You'll have fuzz! The bias control adjusts the collector bias on Q2, giving you control over the texture and tone of the fuzz. The fuzz pot is fixed internally at FULL, giving you control over dynamics with your pick attack and guitar volume for cleanup. Volume will boost well over unity! Dig it!

Step 33

If all is well, go ahead and sign and date your work. If not, check again the steps to make sure all is as it should be. If you can't get it going feel free to email me and I can help get it sorted out for you.

Notes...

If you are so inclined you could choose to paint the enclosure, be sure to wait a bit for it to dry then follow the steps as per usual. I've also included an All Seeing Eye decal if you want to rep the Seeker brand! I use a razor blade to remove the backing and install straight onto the enclosure.

Finished!

Your Truth Face or Bender is ready to rip! The battery inside should last a good long time as long as you remember to unplug the input jack. Be sure to share on social media your build if you'd like to!