Mick K. – Project V fuzz, Westminster Mk IX and Rapier 33

Many thanks to Mick for these pictures of his Project V Fuzzbox, Westminster Mk IX, purchased new in 1973. Also, his Rapier 33 and also the Project V clone that he has produced based on the circuit from his original Project V.

The serial number of the Project V seems to be 968 as scrawled by the constructor/technician in marker pen.

Both the Westminster and Project V are still in use and have never been serviced so they still have their original parts, apart from a conversion done to the project V to accept standard PP£ batteries. The Rapier 33 is number 5736 and the amp is CW 33875.

Westminster Westminster Rapier and Project V Westminster and Rapier Westminster - 2 Project V-2 Project V Project V inside Project V inside 2

Project V clone Project V clone inside

Mick writes about the clone – “The clone Project V fuzz I built is pretty close in sound to the original because I could adjust the trimmers to get the real voltages as measured on my actual box. However, the transistor and component characteristics are not an exact match by any means and the old capacitors have probably altered in value over the years. So I had to compromise and tweak the clone quite a bit to edge nearer the original sound. It took me a whole day of adjusting! Still isn’t quite right but near enough. My clone even has the same background hiss as the original, probably due to my using vintage BC108 transistors instead of modern, quieter equivalents.“