Home › Forums › Vintage EHX › Which version of the vintage Big Muff do I have?

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  • February 9, 2010 at 9:29 am #107298
    Ned Flanders
    Moderator

    This is the original case, ramshead muffs came in this box,the very last ramsheads before the Version 4 IC muff. And there’s nothing wrong with this box, it has character and no you cant get new or NOS ones.
    Its missing a diode too.

    February 9, 2010 at 9:51 am #107299
    treble
    Member

    Thanks for the reply Liberty belle, i kind of agree yeah it has character but look at the condition of it im cleaning the case lightly with lighter fluid on a soft cloth this seems to be removing all the unwanted dna ;-) i hope this aint character removing as well lil joke there peeps :)

    Any way she is looking a little better now.

    So is this then a ramshead board like the ver2 as it looks to me to be a late 77 model with maybe 76 transition parts on her?

    Considering they used whatever parts they could get i guess this should not suprise anyone

    February 9, 2010 at 9:52 am #107300
    devnulljp
    Participant

    Agree with Liberty. nowt wrong wi’ that case.
    Replace that diode, hook up a battery clip, probably replace those electolytics (make sure you get them the right way round), and I’ll bet that thing will still sing.

    BTW, if you really want to know the year, carfully bend one of the pots back so you can see the back of it — there should be a number on it — 137#### — the first two ##s are the year (second two are the week).
    [IMG]”http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq123/devnulljp/Fuzz/Big Muffs/v2-1976-pnp-ramhead/90625abf.jpg”[/IMG]

    February 9, 2010 at 10:53 am #107301
    treble
    Member

    hmmm looks like a cts pot 137 a little like the stratocaster pots in the 60’s but not the same the center on this is some sort of nylon not brass.

    Yep thats the way to date stuff by the pot codes

    i just never thought this muff had pot codes on it as i never bothered to look

    does anyone know if i can get nos stock of this d2 diode at all as id prefer it to the reissue stuff if possible

    what are those dakka knobs worth as well?

    hmmm ive cleaned the muff up with some lighter fluid on a soft rag this seems to have removed all the unwanted dna and now she dont look to bad at all.

    the bottom of my case is finished i na textured kind of finish like fake leather or vinyl but on metal casing looks original as well

    Is there any cleaner i can use for the board as well im not sure about lighter fluid on the board as its old so iam not sure what to use any ideas

    February 9, 2010 at 11:08 am #107302
    devnulljp
    Participant

    Get it working before worrying about cleaning it?
    Si diode: 1N4148 or 1N914 maybe? Should be able to buy 100 of them for a dollar or so.
    Liberty will be bale to tell you if you need more specific than that.
    I wonder if someone tried to mod it for bass by removing the first pair of diodes…
    What values are the caps?

    February 9, 2010 at 11:22 am #107303
    treble
    Member

    i take a closer look this is what i see on the board c3 c4 c5 c13 have .1uf aec caps c10 c11 c12 have 470 aec caps d2 has something missing
    c9 has 100v a-18 c8 has i think .01 its hard to read it

    near the 3003 on the board it has a big silver barrel cap that says m235 7515a at c2 1+10 100v

    February 9, 2010 at 8:54 pm #107329
    Kitrae
    Member

    A 1N418 silicon diode is what you need in place of the one that is missing at D2. 1N914 should be Ok too. If you are missing one of the knobs, Davies Molding makes almost exactly the same knobs, #1470. they are cheap.
    http://www.daviesmolding.com/standard-products/plastic-knobs/pointer-control/default.html

    As far as it being a transition model, it’s just a typical V3. Circuit color does not mean much as it changed frequently. transistors are BC239 which is common for V3s. Typically you see these with those big gray box or barrel electrolytic caps, but not always. It is rare to see one with ceramic disk caps. Those small resistors appeared on some of the later V2 Muffs and most V3s, but its the same circuit on both. Pot dates don’t tell you when the Muff was made, just when the pot was made. The Muff could have been made a year or more after the pots, but it would have been made around 76-78, and the pots should date to around that time as well.

    Be very careful if you bend the pots back to check the date code. The boards the leads are attached to in the pot can get brittle over time and may crack on you. Do it slowly, or just bend the leads back with needle nose pliers instead of holding the pot. Post the date code if it is out of the ordinary. Lots of us Muff fanatics like that stuff.

    Shouldn’t take much to get it working again. Good luck!

    February 10, 2010 at 3:28 am #107342
    treble
    Member

    Hi Kit Rae, and everyone who has assisted me in here, a heart felt thankyou to you all…

    The story of this muff is it was bought in about 1999, 2000 when i got it of evilbay, it was evedent this muff needed more then 9volts to bring it back to life.

    I handed it off to an old tech who had acquired parts for it, and then went cold on finishing the job.

    Sinse then, it sat in the cupboard untill now, i forgot i even had the thing, untill i was looking for another fuzz pedal on the bay, an missed out on it as i was not around for the auction end.

    it was a tonebender /fuzz face clone, in one of those mini cases carls guitars i think sell them?

    well i went digging in the cupboard for something else, and there she was a decade later same way i left her, sinse then you guys have seen the pics and here is the parts i have with it, along with a reciept i will just copy down whats on the reciept maybe kit you will know if these parts are ok ?

    4X b548 low noise s/s amp npn z1319 this is whats printed on it bc548 think these are 539 equiv?
    B
    -126
    DIODE 4X 1N4148 SMALL SIGNAL Z3120

    2 x CAP ELECTRO rt 1.0 uf 350wv R4015 has 1uf 100v printed on it ricon light blue colour

    1 x cap electro rt 10.0 uf 63wv R4065 HAS 1O uf 63 v printed on it small barrell fits on thumb nail

    thats about all the info i have.

    I think i will just start with cleaning out spray lubing the switch, and pots, though the volume pot seems a little tight to turn, may have to spray it a little extra and wait a few days then try and turn it again..

    Bought some original dakka ware knobs for her last night so thats covered

    will have to replace d2 diode with i think the one ove listed above re terminate the battery clip clean the tracks a little on the board and see if all looks ok from there will just put it back together install battery and try it if she dont work then i guess step two then

    February 10, 2010 at 4:11 am #107344
    Kitrae
    Member

    That’s what I would do. If it still does not work after adding the diode and hooking the batt and switch back up, then you can look at swapping the caps and transistors. If you have never done that before you may want to just send it to a tech and have it done professionally. If your guy bought those parts he must not have known what was not working on the board and was going to try switching parts out to find what was bad.

    February 10, 2010 at 8:53 am #107349
    Ned Flanders
    Moderator

    Like kit and dev said , any 4148 or 914 diode will be just fine as they have about the same specs as the stock ones.

    I would be more prone to desoldering a pot for a date than bending it to tell you the truth! I’d rather that than break the pot or PCB which you CANNOT replace easily where as solder you can and you wont even have to add any new solder, just reflow the original stuff.

    March 9, 2010 at 8:40 am #108285
    treble
    Member

    Well looks like the job is now done.

    just need to test it hmmm, i just bet there is gonna be a dry joint in there somewhere iam going to have to reflow anyway, i just noticed that a page ago the diagram drawn with where the battery clip goes may be right but iam not sure as ive terminated my black wire on the battery clip to the 240 volt power lug there was a small piece of broken black wire still hanging on so i figured this is where it must go please correct me if iam wrong good people ;-)

    March 9, 2010 at 8:58 am #108286
    treble
    Member

    Ohh and by the way the code at the back of the tone pot read as follows 1377714
    XM2184

    Well im off to the local shops to get a good ole carbon battery the only thing i like about 24 hour trading is when i need to use the store ;-)

    March 9, 2010 at 9:34 am #108287
    Ned Flanders
    Moderator

    Its got 77 pots in it,14th week.

    March 9, 2010 at 10:17 am #108288
    treble
    Member

    first test not good when its on i hear my guitar when its off i hear radio signal lol i guess at least i get signal but i think it may be by passing the effect all together and just acting like an on and off box so looks like im gonna have to test every component and then try and reflow all the solder joints ;-(((

    March 9, 2010 at 2:09 pm #108291
    treble
    Member

    Doh i think ive got the battery leads around the wrong way ok back to the soldering station im sure i got to get it right sooner or later ;-)

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