Advice on what to build next

[willienillie]

I recently built this version, and it is easily the coolest Muff I've ever played.



Not that I've tried them all, not even close.  The main difference is larger caps than most (all?) others, and the missing 500pF.  Chunky.  I used 2N5089s with gains about 450(Q1) to 550.  It's nice with my Tele, but jawdropping with my bandmate's Les Paul.  He has a NYC Muff on his board, no comparison.

[bluebunny]

multiple caps in series

Are you intending to add them?  Caps in parallel are added.  In series, you do the reciprocal sum of reciprocals thing.

[Joncaster]

I recently built this version, and it is easily the coolest Muff I've ever played.



Not that I've tried them all, not even close.  The main difference is larger caps than most (all?) others, and the missing 500pF.  Chunky.  I used 2N5089s with gains about 450(Q1) to 550.  It's nice with my Tele, but jawdropping with my bandmate's Les Paul.  He has a NYC Muff on his board, no comparison.

My Muff was based on this circuit as well.
I read all of Kit's pages and noticed that he liked that circuit the best, and listened to the clips, etc.
Made some tweaks here and there (different coupling caps in places, a lower grid stopper on Q3, some emitter tweaks, a 50k tone pot to ease up the scoop, and a germ diode across D3/4)

Tested it against the new Reissue Triangle, and it was better. Just better all round, and agreed upon by everyone there. That was a really satisfying feeling.

Found a huge box (1590P1) for it, and it's my favourite pedal build now.

[Ben N]

1) If you're doing a Muff, consider including one of the versions of the AMZ mids ("body") control. I think you might be able to use your perf layout and mount any extraneous parts on the extra pot, but you'll have to figure that out.

2) I just finished a clone of the Catalinbread Varioboost, and it is, I think, a very worthwhile build. Nice clean boost, very little noise, with a variable frequency semi-parametric cut/boost, works great with drives or amp as a mid or treble boost. I used the pedalpcb RTS board, which is very nice, but I would think a perf/vero/your own pcb layout shouldn't be all that hard to do. (BTW, they say the pcb is designed for a 125B enclosure with top-mounted jacks, but I put it in a 1590B with side jacks and no battery--no problem.) Pedalpcb.com has a build doc with schematic, parts layout and BOM freely downloadable.

[willienillie]

Found a huge box (1590P1)

Mine's in a 1590BBM. 

My only circuit mods were power filtering and reverse-power protection diode.  And lower hFEs than stated in the schematic (which I kinda doubt anyway).

[jfrabat]

Well, mine is fairly advanced in my perf board, so too late to change versions now.  Quick question; my version (see previous page) uses a 3.9nF cap.  I cannot find it locally, but I have 3.3nF and 4.7nF.  So, should I go bigger, smaller (closer), or spend a ton on money and order 100 3.9nF caps and ship them to Central America (last option is unlikely to happen so please say option 1 or 2 is ok!)?

[Joncaster]

Well, mine is fairly advanced in my perf board, so too late to change versions now.  Quick question; my version (see previous page) uses a 3.9nF cap.  I cannot find it locally, but I have 3.3nF and 4.7nF.  So, should I go bigger, smaller (closer), or spend a ton on money and order 100 3.9nF caps and ship them to Central America (last option is unlikely to happen so please say option 1 or 2 is ok!)?

Have you checked the scoop in Duncan TSC?
The higher values shift the frequency down a touch and a bit less scoop. I vote for 4.7nf. Gets a bit more aggressive.
You can also get very close to the 3.9nf by tweaking the resistor instead.
I think I ended up with 22k on both sides to lessen the scoop and shift it up past 1khz...but that was the result of almost a month of breadboard tweaking, to finally come full circle:/

[Joncaster]

Mine's in a 1590BBM. 

My only circuit mods were power filtering and reverse-power protection diode.  And lower hFEs than stated in the schematic (which I kinda doubt anyway).

I tried some lower hfe's in the various slots, and I think my next build will feature them, but went with ~500 all round cause it was just screaming and lovely.
The next build could do with a chunkier vibe, i think. Something that cleans up a bit better.

[willienillie]

I vote for 4.7nf

+1

I was all out of 3.9nF caps when I built mine.  Digging around some old bits I found a ceramic marked .004.  It actually measured over 5n, but has the Mojo of the correct marking.  And like I said, the pedal sounds great.  I would assume the old ceramics EHX used were loose on tolerances too.

but went with ~500 all round

Roughly the same as mine then.  Also, I can't guarantee the accuracy of my hFE measurements, I don't have a proper tester.

[Joncaster]

...Also, I can't guarantee the accuracy of my hFE measurements, I don't have a proper tester.

I have the opposite problem, my multimeter sucks so much it's capacitance measurement never works. The HFE slots work just fine for Si Transistors though, and I have a tiny little breadboard permanently setup for Ge hfe.

[jfrabat]

I vote for 4.7nf

+1

I was all out of 3.9nF caps when I built mine.  Digging around some old bits I found a ceramic marked .004.  It actually measured over 5n, but has the Mojo of the correct marking.  And like I said, the pedal sounds great.  I would assume the old ceramics EHX used were loose on tolerances too.

but went with ~500 all round

Roughly the same as mine then.  Also, I can't guarantee the accuracy of my hFE measurements, I don't have a proper tester.

Went with 4.7nF  We will see how it goes...  Board is basically done except for the 500pF caps, which I have yet to get, and the off board wiring.

[jfrabat]

...Also, I can't guarantee the accuracy of my hFE measurements, I don't have a proper tester.

I have the opposite problem, my multimeter sucks so much it's capacitance measurement never works. The HFE slots work just fine for Si Transistors though, and I have a tiny little breadboard permanently setup for Ge hfe.

My MM does not measure hFE OR capacitance, so I have the worse of both!  I should probable get one that does both soon!

[willienillie]

My DMM has neither also.  I have a separate capacitance meter, love it.  For testing transistors I built the Geofex tester circuit intended for Fuzz Face germs, that's all I have.  My "2472" resistor is 2489 IIRC, my battery isn't ever exactly 9V, so I'm sure my readings are at least a little off.  It also has a theoretical maximum hFE measurement of 900, so I assume results get less accurate as they approach that limit, but I don't know.  Someday I should invest in one of those DCA 75s.

[jfrabat]

Well, this is where we are at so far...  This is the board (I have to say, NOT my best work, but it will do!):



Obviously I am missing the pots and the transistors...  The transistors I have ready to just put in, but for the life of me, I cannot find the off-board pots I had; I had a bunch of Alpha ones, and I cannot find them.  I do have the on-board ones, but I prefer to use the others here.  Will continue looking for them.

Here is the back side:



As I said, not my best soldering job (not my worst, but certainly not my best!).  Once I get the caps and transistors in place, we will see how it sounds.  By the way, I tested the board, and it fits nicely into a Hammond 1590B (I had to go RIGHT up to the border to make it fit, but fit it does!), which I intend to paint olive drab and use this decal on top:



Using transparent waterslide decals I have on hand (resolution is low because of jpeg format; it is done in Illustrator).  And before anyone comments that my in and out are backwards, I prefer them like this...  All my pedals are that way (what can I say; I like to rebel!).

[bluebunny]

We can't see your pictures, Felipe.  Microsoft is asking us to sign-in.   

[jfrabat]

We can't see your pictures, Felipe.  Microsoft is asking us to sign-in.   

Sorry.  Fixed it.

Anyway, I finished the build last night, but I must have screwed up something, because the pedal is not working.  OK, I have to admit to a rookie mistake here...  The first time I plugged the board in, nothing happened...  And then I noticed I had not put the transistors in!  DUH!  But then, after putting the transistors in, it still did not work... 

If I unplug the battery, the sound goes through, though (which I found weird).  Anyway, I have not had a chance to troubleshoot yet, so I need to start doing so this week...

[jfrabat]

Well, the Green Russion Big Muff is finished (well, not 100% finished, but only painting and decals left to do).  I decided also to finish a Callate 2 (MXR Noise Gate) that I had laying around (have a question on that one, if you want to pitch in!).  I still got boards for a phaser and an octave pedal (two down one up).

So, once again, what's next?