Big muff Questions

[jimmy54]

Hi fellas,

I don't know much about big muffs so perhaps you could enlighten me.  Do they clean up well with the guitar volume control.  Do they sound better going into clean or dirty valve amps?  What would be the best version to build?  Any information welcomed.

Cheers.

[Meanderthal]

Do they clean up well with the guitar volume control.

No.

Do they sound better going into clean or dirty valve amps?

clean

What would be the best version to build?

Whichever one catches your eye... They're all good in their own way. And no 2 of even the same version will sound exactly the same.

[petemoore]

  Transistor BMP is alot different than the Opamp one, and also [as noted above] different from the 'other' transistor one, build to same 'specs'.
   I like the Triangle [I '1/2 guess'], I tried a Green one too, different and good.
   When I say 'different' I don't know exactly what that means, I'd have to build say 3 or 4 of the same copies to get a real idea of what 'that' kind..'is', or is likely to turn out to 'be', ..characteristics change from circuit to circuit as well as between circuit types.
  Fortunately, the high gain and tone control of BMP's make it a little easier to even out the response, to a small degree..they'll always sound a little different I think.
  Tons of BMP mods around these days..

[Yun]

Yeah, i would suggest using the search feature, man.  search for the magical key-word "muff" .  There's TONS of info on mods, versions, soundclips even. 

but like mr.Pete was saying:  no 2 big muffs sound the same, atleast in my experience.  which i think is fortunate, because that gives you lots of room to create your own bmp tone. 

[jimmy54]

Thanks fellas, I'll have a read as to the tonal differences between the different versions.  Ideally though, I'm looking for something that will clean up well with the guitar volume pot (maybe some of the versions are better than others for this)?

What about the Rat, can this clean up well?

[Yun]

Thanks fellas, I'll have a read as to the tonal differences between the different versions.  Ideally though, I'm looking for something that will clean up well with the guitar volume pot (maybe some of the versions are better than others for this)?

What about the Rat, can this clean up well?

Well, i'm not trying to "burst your bubble" or discourage you from building these effects, but if you want something that will clean up niceley; then the Big-Muff and rat may not be for you.  May i suggest these builds? :

-DOD OD250 (no joke)
-Fuzz-Face
-Tube screamer

See; the big-muff is not a distortion or over-drive.  it's a fuzz, some may disagree with me, but i'm sticking to my guns, man. 

If you absolutley MUST have the bmp style sustain and the whole shabang; i suggest that you build the Muff fuzz (2 transistor circuit rather than 4) .  or build/buy a Double muff.  All a double muff is is 2 muff fuzz circuits in series with a switch between the 2.  If you want, i'll draw you up a schematic for the "double muff". 

At any rate; this is just my opinion( based on practicality and common scence).   

[jimmy54]

Yeah, I've built a few fuzz faces, definitely one of my favourite pedals.  I've also built a TS808 (didn't much care for it) and a Liquid Drive which is meant to be like a DOD.  I'm just looking for something that's not a fuzz but isn't a really high gainer.  I don't really want to use it to push an already cooking tube amp, moreso for lower volume playing that has a nice OD quality to it.

[Meanderthal]

 Hmmm... although the BMP can do a lighter overdrive sound, it really shines balls out. Try the 2 transistor muff as Yun suggested... or just build a BMP and see for yourself. You may really like what it does. If ya didn't like a TS as an overdrive though, this might be a hard bill to fit.