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Ned FlandersModerator
If I thought that way I’d never own a vintage anything! LOL
I don’t buy gear to “sell later on” I buy it to use it and keep it for life! I’m not gonna buy a vintage pedal and play it with shitty bypass or have it be a cabinet ornament for 10 years just so I can sell it later. The same goes for guitars, if the pickups are all wrong but the guitar is right I’ll swap them out just as easily.
So, if you’re a non-playing collector/capitalist that’s only buying vintage gear to make a profit on then I suppose you are right but if you’re an actual real guitar player, improving something vintage or otherwise wont be a problem.
My Big Muff interest isn’t a passing phase nor am I in it for the money I could potentially make latter. And replacing a switch isn’t gonna effect anything sound wise as far as the circuit goes.
The very first thing I done when I got my 79 SS was turn it on,listen for the bypass, discovered it was real bad and true bypassed it, money or potential sales never even entered my mind.I own a few non TB EHX pedals and the only reason they are still non TB is because the bypass is fine. The ones I’m talking about is the stereo pedals like the SMMH,Pulsar and Polychorus. The Micro synth bypass was awfull so I bypassed the preamp it uses in bypass mode and it was a huge improvement, sold that to some guy in the ex-CCCP. I didn’t find a practical use for it.
Back to the OP:
BTW, considering the PCB in the SS will be laying over the switch you might want to use this one, its smaller than the others.
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=23Also you will want to cover the lugs on the switch once you’re done, use tape or something as if you dont it will short out and wont work at all.
Ned FlandersModeratorTriangles and sovteks dont have bass response,they have boom response!
In the Sovteks its the 2x 47nF caps, in the triangles its the 2x 50nF caps…swap them 2 caps to 1uF (or even 220nF is a huge improvement) and tell me it has bass response! It will be thinner than a fuzz face and thats why you then need to up the other 100nF caps to 1uF for true bass response. I’ve done it to many a big muff so i talk from experience.So again, its not bass, its BOOM, two totally different things. Bassy you can do chords really well, if its Boomy they sound like shit!
And in my experience Big Muffs sound best with either 2N5088,2N5089 or BC550C trannies. All sound very very similar.
Ned FlandersModeratorVintage gear sentimentality is stoopid IMO, its there to be used and if you can make it better make it better.
BTW,here’s your diagram:
Ned FlandersModeratorQuote:The Triangle version has soo much bass response that saturates the pre-amp tubes badly so it starts compressing the sound giving you that smooth sound.This is not entirely true (unless you have a “good” triangle muff with some 1uF’s in it and are basing your opinion on that alone) as the capacitors in triangle muffs,like any other vintage muff of the EXACT same model, vary by a factor of TEN from unit to unit giving absolutely ZERO consistency whatsoever.
Most examples of the trianle muff ya see online have 100nF caps in it but DEV has one with a few 1uF caps in it which is automatically going to give it more bass than the all 100nF versions that are somwhat more common. I’ve also seen other triangle versions with 1UF caps in it, so has Ron Neely…possibly the most experienced EHX man in the world!People often mistake the Sovtek muffs as being more bassy than the NYC RI big muff which is not true AT ALL, they are mistaking BOOMYNESS for BASS when there’s a difference. The reason the Sovtek muffs are boomy and not bassy is because they have a 47nf cap in both clipping stages 1 and 2 but only use 100nF caps in the rest of the circuit (3x560pF ‘s aside). The NYC RI uses 1uF caps and has 1uF caps in both clipping stages 1 and 2 hence,it is NOT boomy but it is bassy. Once you remove the 47nF caps from pretty much any Sovtek muff it becomes thinner like most triangle muffs and cannot compete for bass with the NYC RI or the 10uF input cap version ramshead muff or 77 and 78 (both identical besides on/off – tone bypass) IC muffs and the 1981 3034 muff.
Boomyness doesnt do chords real great, bassiness does do chords great.
The bassiest big muff to date is the NYC 3003-A RI muff as there’s not a 100nF cap to be found inside it. The 1981 3034 would be much the same or a very close second.
If a muff has 1uF caps and another only has 100nF the former is going to be bassier, its pretty simple.There was absolutely zero consistency in vintage big muff capacitor values and types, the earlier you go the worst it was and this is why I often say “I hate triangle muffs” because most examples I’ve heard and seen are the 100nF versions. I’ve also found the IC muffs more consistent than the transistor versions,not in parts type,no, they differ dramatically, but in values, they are pretty good for the year they were made.
Today, big muffs are consistent, there’s no problem there.
Also another thing people delude themself with is that the so called FS36999 is FAR superior than the 2N5088, fact is it IS a 2N5088.
There’s so much variation in big muffs and so much misinformation on the www about big muffs its a wonder ANYONE can make an informed decision about any muff purchase!
I know Ron and I at least try to correct this misinformation…but there’s not much we can do about the consistancy of vintage big muffs!
Ned FlandersModeratorI’ll post a switch diagram for you tommorow with grounded input.
Ned FlandersModeratorAll my mods are down, I need to upload them again as I changed photobucket accounts. Shouldnt be much longer.
Ned FlandersModeratorSmall bear sells both and has both in stock all the time.
Any brand will work fine.
Contrary to what is said on that kitrae big muff site the opamp muff NEVER used 2 LM741’s. He has one with two in it and the only reason there would be two 741’s in it is either the original builder messed up or someones modified it afterwards because the original 77 schematic I have says one 741 and one 4558 and its just simply a known fact that it only takes one 741.
Ned FlandersModeratorYeah that creamy dreamer kid lied out his ass and Corgan denied ever using a modified muff modded by him or anyone else.
Ned FlandersModeratorAdding tone bypass and tone wicker is easy, you can add it to any big muff you like so why not do it to an existing sovtek pedal!?!?!?!?!
Ned FlandersModeratorOn a fuzz there’s nothing to pan. You can always add a second parallel output jack but it wont be stereo it will be a second jack, that is all.
Ned FlandersModeratorI’ll be buying a bunch of those for backups for my vintage big muffs and small stone.
Ned FlandersModeratorNone of my pedals pop and if they did I’d solder a 4M7 resistor from input to ground to get rid of it.
Ned FlandersModeratorIf you true bypass it just remember to add grounded input off the switch or it will howl like a mother fucker in bypass mode!
If you dont know how to do this let me know.
I modded my 79/80 SS too, most,but not all, non-true bypass is awfull so I’m not sentimental about it.
Ned FlandersModeratorYou can never have a muff that just “switches” between the NYC and Sovtek muff, there’s just too many components to switch between the two versions.
Its not just a couple of caps,its almost every resistor and it is every capacitor that is different, its not really feasible.Ned FlandersModeratorMy links have changed as I renamed my folders in my account. I still have to update allmy diagram links in the mod pages thread yet too.
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