Improving Bypass of Black Russian Big Muff Pi WITHOUT major mods

[amonte]

I picked up one of the Black Russian Big Muffs off of Cragslist this weekend and have been doing a lot of research on this model.  I had read that all of the second edition (smaller four screw boxes) black russian models were true bypass - but when I opened mine up, I saw the same DPDT switch that's in many of my other pedals., so I'm not sure how this can be true. 

I've tried to find schematics that have the wiring diagram on them, but all of the schematics I've seen have the wiring of the switch and LED removed. 

It seems that a lot of people have been modding these to true bypass by switching the stock DPDT to a blue 3PDT and cutting traces on the board.  Since these are now discontinued, I'd rather not make any major modifications to it.  I'd also like to preserve the existing switch if possible. 

One idea I had (though likely not a good one) was to ditch the grounded input on bypass scheme, though that might not be the best route as it is probably likely to oscillate.  Another idea was to try and disconnect the LED wiring, but again, without the wiring diagram I'm not sure about doing that.

I guess if all else fails I might just wire up a bypass box.  I also like to use the second output of my tuner pedal to feed one side of an AB box and insert a "lead" pedal into that path, then I use the primary output of the tuner pedal to feed my main distortion/od boxes and use the AB switch to switch between the two pedals.  Using the muff in this way, the bypass wouldn't matter since it can always stay on.

[Colonel Angus]

Looks like bypass/looper/A+B is the way to go if you are not keen on cutting traces.

That said, I would not consider a trace cut a major mod, it can be jumpered back to its original state easily. The wiring of a 3PDT is considerably more major than a trace cut.

While lots of folks seem to be fond of their black Russian muffs, it is not a priceless or even particularly collectible pedal. I might take pause before modifying a ram's head muff, but it could well be worth your while to soup up your black Russian.