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  • September 29, 2012 at 4:38 am #82592
    mjkemp
    Member

    Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I am at a loss and didn’t know where else to turn.

    So I just bought a Sovtek Green Russian Big Muff which I believe to be a first generation Tall Font (based on the fact that the input and output jacks are not reversed, and I compared mine to pictures of guts of others online) but I can’t be completely sure because all the paint on the face is chipped off, but that is yet another indicator it is a first gen.

    At any rate, it is freaking SWEET, when it decides to work.

    That’s the best way I can describe the problem. When I press the switch, it is a crap shoot whether or not it’s going to be “fully” on. Sometimes when I engage it will clearly be at less than optimal volume, and when I turn the volume knob I get massive static and unpleasant noises. Then, other times I can tell it is “fully engaged” because I am getting full volume and the signal is completely clear when knobs are turned. Sometimes, it returns to “normal” when I fidget with the switch, and other times I need to turn it off and back on again and try my luck until it decides to work again.

    I am new to troubleshooting with pedals, and although I would love to learn more about circuits and such I am, alas, a beginner. Today, I did what I could and went in and cleaned all the innards (I thought perhaps the switch was dirty) and it seemed to work because when I first turned it on it sounded phenomenal, but then after a few cycles things when to shit again.

    Anyone have any theories as to what is going on? It would be much appreciated. I had a friend who thought perhaps the soldered contacts for the bypass switch need to be redone but I don’t want to do anything quite yet, especially something I have not done before in the event I permanently mess the thing up…

    October 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm #118075
    Cryabetes
    Participant

    you could always replace the switch and that should fix the problem – switches do wear out (or not all of the pulls change), which would result in a scenario like the one you describe. If you aren’t familiar with soldering, I’d suggest buying parts to make a couple bypass or mute pedals to build your skills a little first. It’s a very worthwhile skill to have for music, and fairly easy to learn for simple soldering jobs like changing out switches.

    If you aren’t comfortable with that or don’t want to learn, take it (or send it) to a tech, it should be a fairly easy (and cheap) operation, maybe $5-10USD in parts and $10-20USD labor.

    October 2, 2012 at 9:23 pm #118048
    mjkemp
    Member

    Thanks for the reply.

    Yeah. I’ll check it out and see what happens.

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