double big muff

[gdmart]

does any one know what the double muff is all about anyone heard one good or bad??

[Mike Burgundy]

It's not a double BIG muff, it's a double muff: two muff fuzzes in one box. I've heard rave revieuws about it, but I've also heard a MuffFuzz sounds like crap - so who to believe...
http://www.montagar.com/~patj/mufffuzz.gif
I can imagine the second Muff is just the clipping stage, perhaps not.
hih

[petemoore]

IIUC it's just like what it sounds...a couple BM's in series, edit: but it looks as though this is thought not to be the case...
 I plan to get sockets and build an OA BMP. then put a Micro Amp in front of it...Should make for a Heavvy Muff Tone.

[Marcos - Munky]

Bbut I've also heard a MuffFuzz sounds like crap

I liked the Muff Fuzz a lot when I built it. Now it is only a board stored with other "junk" boards, but I'm thinking about to rebuild it. It's a cool pedal.

[gdmart]

many people have said its a strange setup ,one knob per curcuit and they interact strangely.could trim pots be added for fine tuning.? how? where?I was thinking of mating a mxr mini amp into it as well any thoughts on this?.Anyone have a pic of the inside of one of these?

[Mark Hammer]

The Muff Fuzz was originally released in several versions.  I had the one that used a pair of 2N5133 tranistors and a pair of Si diodes.  Nothing special.  There is another version (linked to by Mike Burgundy) which uses a pair of diodes in an op-amp feedback loop.  Very different beast.

I was never all that fond of the original Muff Fuzz, though I do remember one gig around 1973 where I used two in series and couldn't stop the ringing in my ears for a few days afterward.  The current double Muff is unlikely to be a note-for-note replica of either of these two releases and may well be a much better minimal distortion.

Note as well, that the Big Muff Pi is already two cascaded diode clippers.  The chief difference between the BMP and the DM would seem to be that where the BMP provides only a single control to adjust how hard things get clipped, and no control between clipping stages, the DM allows you to adjust the cascading effect of dual clipping stages.  I've suggested a few times to folks to stick a second distortion-amount pot between stage 2 and stage 3 of the BMP so that you could adjust how hard the first clipping stage drives the second to get different sounds.  If anyone has taken me up on that they have not posted any comments or followup.

In general, double clipping units can provide a nice sound.  They can have lots of sustain, because the second clipping stage compresses what the first stage didn't.  They can also have nice possibilities for tone shaping because you can insert some bandwidth limiting in both stages (and two attempts at tone shaping provide more shaping than one), and because the harmonic content of the second clipper depends on the harmonic content you feed it from the first.

I've tinkered with dual clippers, using op-amps, in both the Chaos and Rosey-Ray circuits I posted on my site, and quite enjoyed the outcomes.  Just about all of Joe Davisson's excellent high gain pedal designs use cascaded clipping stages, as do many of the other pleasing distortion designs available.  I wouldn't rank them head and shoulders above ALL single clipping-stage circuits, but they do have a special charm and flexibility that is fun to use.  I can't see why the Double Muff should lie outside the perimeter of that fun.

[gdmart]

upon first test I am pleased. within 5 minutes I found that there is a sweet spot with both knobs at 12:00.It isnt a big muff, but much more usable for classic rock.It gets over the top as well ,has great sustain and violin tones,very creamy,seems to be clearer and doesnt get to muddy in the mix.Its so nice I may not do any hacking at all ---bummer

[Mark Hammer]

Pleased with what?  Not clear.  Did you mod something?

[gdmart]

opps!!I was refering to the double muff i just picked up :oops:

[WGTP]

Gus Smalley has several nice mods for the op-amp Muff Fuzz and the ROG (Gary)'s Mockman is a variation.  I sort of combined the 2 and used disimiliar diodes Led/Si or Jfet and really like it.  At the sweet spot with the guitar volume, it had a lot of squish for an op amp based distortion.

If it is 2 Muff Fuzz's, does it use 2 dual op amps or one with diodes in both loops???  I did my op amp evaluation with the MF and can't see needing 2 dual op amps, 1 really cooks.  I'd like to see the schematic for it.  

Also, the Mosferatu is a similiar design with a different diode set up.