Forum Replies Created
-
How about this one? I’m guessing from the looks of the board it’s a 90s RI (early?)?
The pots have round shafts, and those pointer knobs are round-shaft repros not the original dakaware D-shafts.
The board reads PICO HB 9701
I haven’t flipped the board over yet bt it doesn’t lok particularly vintage to me.
Does that 9701 imply Jan 1997?
Sounds pretty good though, and didn’t cost an arm and a leg (although it wasn’t cheap, and it was billed as ‘vintage’)
EDIT: Popped the board. Made in Taiwan
I see 2x MN3005 BBD chips, 4x 4558D op-amps
Two other ICs I don’t know what they are (compander & clock ?): NE570N & CD4047BCN
All socketed. The MN3005 BBD chips were not socketed properly, so I popped them out and reseated them. notsure if it’s made a difference. Might replace those op-amps with TL072s, recycle at least one of the JRC4558D into my Muff Fuzz.
There’s one huge IC: 7915A JRC — what’s that do? Condenser?
Quote:Smooth is definitely not something I’d say I look for in Big Muffs. I want it to be super fuzzy and mean.Vive le difference
(I have a Superfuzz and a Roland when I want mean and nasty
)Sounds like Monster cables blind em with marketing BS to me. Marketdroids have stretched the meaning of “gold” anyway to mean ‘kinda gold coloured’ so what you often get is plated with some gold-coloured stuff, which may or may not have any actual gold in it, that’s not going to make the slightest difference. Can’t say in this specific case, but I’d never trust what a sales rep tells you, especially if it sounds a bit like it involves magic
But there are people who swear they have cables that are somehow directional, so who knows…try it, do a double blind test on yourself and see if it makes a difference to you that’s worth the extra cost?Quote:I think I know why you think your vintage muff sounds better.Because you want it to. Your brain and ears can do crazy things, and this whole thing could just be psychological! I also disagree about the components or handwiring being better than the machine made pedals. The 70S EHX pedals have some of the worst soldering I’ve ever seen on a commercial product.
There is definitely something to the Clever Hans and confirmation bias in there, but, despite the abrasive tone of the original post, there is also something to be said for a good vintage big muff vs. a modern mass-produced one. (although it has nothing to do with superior build quality; some of my old EHX gear looks like it was put together in the dark…by people wearing boxing gloves). I have a bunch of big muffs, so I’ve done a lot of A/B/C comparisons, and my ears tell me they get both noisier and fizzier the younger they get. Although that mid-scoop thing might not work out so great depending on what other instruments you’re playing with.
I was lucky and found a really nice v2 ram’s head (w/ FS36999 trannies, which are Fairchild 2N5133 right?); it’s smooth, not overly noisy, sounds great, just the way I expect a great big muff to sound. My v3 red/black 3003 w/ BC239C trannies also sounds great, different but great nonetheless. More aggressive than the ram’s head. I have a v6 3034 w/ S2N5088, which is noisy as hell, and in your face. Not my favourite. So I put in a gating capacitor, and now it’s usable but sounds like a cross between a superfuzz and a muff. I also have a couple of IC muffs — a 3003B with on/off switch and a 3003 w/ tone bypass — and they do sound more like distortions than fuzzes to me. More top end and more fizz than either of the vintage transistor muffs. I like the sound of the tone wicker–it’s one of the few new pedals I’ve been excited about–but it’s really too noisy (with or without wicker on/off tone on/off) so doesn’t get used much. I could see kicking it on for solos when there’s no break in what you’re playing but other than that…
My go-to big muffs are the v2 ram head and a D*A*M ram head though. My amp is an old 70s Traynor and is quite bright, so that interplay might have something to do with it, although my guitar (ES335) is quite dark.It’s all subjective, and I don’t see any reason to get all SHOUTING AND WRITING IN ALL CAPS about it
.
Mudhoney wouldn’t have been Mudhoney without those noisy toppy (3034?) Big Muffs and noisy/gated Superfuzzes, and I don’t think a triangle muff (yes, I used to have one; and yes I stupidly traded it) would overly suit Jack White. But I’ve read both David Gilmour and Robert Fripp say that it’s not really the gear that’s important. Fripp says any fuzzbox will do (I wonder if he truly means “any”?) The rest of us fetishise the gear, while those guys just get on with it.And this is just misinformed flamebait anyway as noted above (last IC Big Muff was produced almost 30 years ago:
Quote:Quit making those hideous Big Muffs with opamps that sound like all the other mediocre overdrives out there.I’m on the lookout for one of those, so if you do decide to sell it…
EDIT: snagged one on evilbay for $120Which version? I have an older RI in the big muff type silver box.
My battery snap wires go: red -> power input jack black -> input jackthumbnail (click for higher res)
Just got a very nice v4 IC Big Muff, On/Off switch, with the 3003B board and 1977 pot codes for $117, which isn’t too shabby.
)
.
