your personal favorite big muff variation

[KorovaMilkBar]

hello everyone! first off i would just like to say that i did try to search for a topic like this but could not find anything. if this question has been asked before than i apologize.

anyway, its simple,

there are about a dozen variations of the famous big muff 3.14 pedal.

1. which is your personal favorite? why?
2. have you built this variation? other variations?
3. what do you think about the big muff itself? love it? hate it? don't care?


i am just interested in how each variation, well, varies. or if there is just one or two great muffs and the others either suck or just dont do much.




in 5 words: what's your favorite big muff?

[Caferacernoc]

Triangle.

[frequencycentral]

I built this Violet Ram's Head recently. Love it. As I understand it, no two BM's are identical, even from the same issue. Love the one you're with. And have a bit of spare on the side.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=75787.0

[doc_drop]

I just perfed up a Whisker Biscuit from Run Off Groove. I really, really like the range of tones I can get from it, and I'm not even that much of a fuzz guy. Be warned, it is loud enough to rip your face off, uh, in a good way! I put the lowest Hfe tranny I could find in the last spot to tame it a little...

[Wales]

I'm with rick on the violet ram's head. I love the range of tone on it, from a bassy rumble to so tinny that you can barley deal with it.

I have built: a green Russian (lots of gain)
                 a triangle (warm and all around great, my second favorite)
                 a 70's (not to sure my friend has borrowed it for about two months now, but I seem to recall it being similar to the green Russian but a little warmer)
                 a violet rams head (all the volume you will need great dist. sound and (in my mind) a great tone stack.

Keep in mind that when Electro Harmonics built the muffs the parts would vary within each model because of availability or price. So, the schematics that are posted on-line are one version of a "which ever" big muff. For instance my friend had an original green Russian that needed fixing but when I found the schematic for the green Russian some of the parts varied slightly from what was in the pedal.

The reason I built four different big muffs was similar to the reason you posted this thread, I wanted to know the difference between them for myself. However, a few/most have common parts so if you do breadboarding you can just swap out a few parts to see the difference.

[bumblebee]

Possibly the 78 IC muff I have. I own 9 muffs so its hard to say really...
the ramshead I built is pretty cool too, hell, I love them all. 'cept the sovteks, they suck.

[frequencycentral]

I own 9 muffs so its hard to say really...

[noelgrassy]

Tough call indeed. They all are suitable for a certain taste or inflection.
I, like many others, really dig my "Civil War" versh with the "spaghetti & cotton string" wiring. Lame as f^ck
to use PC mounted jax with no provision to secure them to the case. The unholy roar is the reason to cherish
and tenderly baby one of these muffhuckers.

Next up is the Montgomery Appliances #1 Fuzz. David built these with extremely high gain 2N5133 xistors &
everything else reflects the same components found in the "Triangle" issues. This achieves a very controllable Fuzz
with big extremes EQ wise when twiggling the Tone knob. This puppy is remarkably hiss free and studio friendly.

Lastly would be the delightful and Stoner Rock approved Earthbound Audio FX-Super Collider. More or less
centered around the "d0od with a perm" series BM Pi.

Anyone with a D*A*M Ram's Head? I'd like to hear your thoughts on Mr. Main's versh of the BM Pi.

Have the funz,

Noel Grassy.

[rousejeremy]

Good thread. I just bought a Little Big Muff and would like to know which other versions to try and build. Sound clip comparisons would be greatly appreciated.