Super-Muff, REVISITED

[Yun]

Hey guys and gals,

I've got A LOT of PM's about my super-Muff (BMP mods), after answering alot of them, i've decited to share my mods with the rest of youse guys. 

Super-Muff Schematic:



And my rocket booster schematic that you will need (the newest version):


 

So, there you have it.  Build it, and enjoy....

[Antero]

Excellent.  Thanks!

[dimitris]

Thanks Yun.

[lenwood]

Hi Yun, thanks for the mods, I have a green russian someone gave me I will try up make into the Super Muff.

Question: The schematic tone stack  and the super muff tone stack are different , which one sounds better to you?

[Yun]

Hi Yun, thanks for the mods, I have a green russian someone gave me I will try up make into the Super Muff.

Question: The schematic tone stack  and the super muff tone stack are different , which one sounds better to you?

The super-Muff tone stack sounds better by far; to my ears anyways.  It's a pretty good tone stack, ummmmm it just solves the original BMP tone stack's "limitations" .  You get a wider range of a sweet spot, and with the mids control, you can control the skoop of the sweet spot.  It gets much more useful to say the least.  Takes away some bass, but still keeps the creamminess, you know?

[markm]

Thos look good Yun 
Great job and Thanks!!

[tcobretti]

Looks great, Yun.  I'm not such a BMP fan, but this looks nice!

[Yun]

thanks, youse guys

I have allways been a stomp-box nut, or "geek", somehow i've allways been atracted to the BMP.  Although- never completeley happy with them, until i started DIY a good while back, did a good bit of research, A LOT o' breadboarding, hit-miss, and trial and error. 

I finally found the ultimate......well....."Super Muff".  It works VERY well with all types of gear.  VERY versatile, but still sounds great. 

[Yun]

OH, PS:  I removed the 560pf caps from all my bmp's, so that schematic shouldn't have the 560pf caps, but i decited to leave it in the schematic, as it REALLY changes the tonal characteristics.  So, some may not like it.

If you are a fan of the bmp:  leave them in. 
If you are not a fan of the bmp:  Ommit them.

That being said, in my experience those who don't care for the BMP love bmp's with out the 560pf caps, however those who LOVE the BMP might not be "used" to it. 

[Dragonfly]

Hey Yun,
  Look what I found !  All have hfe between 350-600, with most in the +/- 400 range ! Looks like its getting about time for me to build my own "ultimate muff !
AC

[tcobretti]

OH, PS:  I removed the 560pf caps from all my bmp's, so that schematic shouldn't have the 560pf caps, but i decited to leave it in the schematic, as it REALLY changes the tonal characteristics.  So, some may not like it.

If you are a fan of the bmp:  leave them in. 
If you are not a fan of the bmp:  Ommit them.

That being said, in my experience those who don't care for the BMP love bmp's with out the 560pf caps, however those who LOVE the BMP might not be "used" to it. 

You're saying you totally omit these caps? How does that affect the sound?  Is it just brighter?

[petemoore]

  By a fair bit I'd say...should allow sizzle to push pretty hard without the LP filtercaps on the B/C's.
  Kind of radical going from 470p to 560p on those caps then to 0p !!!     
  This thing must ScorCH, Yun! Do you get any 'Ducking' type tones?...I drive the Muff hard W/pre-boosters and get 'attack squash' on lower chording and lower notes.
  I took a look at the cap values and decided it's time to open the BMP and do a bit of pitch lowering on it, [hopefully this will provide a more tasteful voicing and a tone knob with higher cw setting] I'm pretty sure I'll like a bit more cap value letting more bass through the diodes...going to try a few things...again!!!..lol
 

[Yun]

OH, PS:  I removed the 560pf caps from all my bmp's, so that schematic shouldn't have the 560pf caps, but i decited to leave it in the schematic, as it REALLY changes the tonal characteristics.  So, some may not like it.

If you are a fan of the bmp:  leave them in. 
If you are not a fan of the bmp:  Ommit them.

That being said, in my experience those who don't care for the BMP love bmp's with out the 560pf caps, however those who LOVE the BMP might not be "used" to it. 

You're saying you totally omit these caps? How does that affect the sound?  Is it just brighter?

Yes, tottally omit them.  I wouldn't say it brightens it as much, it just takes away alot of the un-wanted mud and darkness, while retaining the creammy-ness, it also makes the BMP VERY touch synsetive.  Which, i love the most about this particular mod, man. 

[Yun]

Hey Yun,
  Look what I found !  All have hfe between 350-600, with most in the +/- 400 range ! Looks like its getting about time for me to build my own "ultimate muff !
AC

  ooooo la la, man.  lucky bastard 

[Yun]

  By a fair bit I'd say...should allow sizzle to push pretty hard without the LP filtercaps on the B/C's.
  Kind of radical going from 470p to 560p on those caps then to 0p !!!     
  This thing must ScorCH, Yun! Do you get any 'Ducking' type tones?...I drive the Muff hard W/pre-boosters and get 'attack squash' on lower chording and lower notes.
  I took a look at the cap values and decided it's time to open the BMP and do a bit of pitch lowering on it, [hopefully this will provide a more tasteful voicing and a tone knob with higher cw setting] I'm pretty sure I'll like a bit more cap value letting more bass through the diodes...going to try a few things...again!!!..lol
 

Yeah, it does "scorch" to say the least.  whenever i do a gig, i'm allways sure to use this pedal.  I allways get the same reaction:  i turn the compression or boost down, play soft, then i kick this thing in- the whole audience litterally jumps in fear.  It's this physical assualt by sounds that i learned from the legendary Cream.  So, that's how "scorching" this thing is....

[jmasciswannabe]

Looking forward to building this one....its going in a box with the scrambler and a rocktave divider! My own fuzz station! My questions Yun...I have been following your work and know that I have come across you reporting doing the following mods....

Super-Muff:

Resistor swaps:
-All transistor emiters' resistors are swaped with 5K trimmers

Cap mods:
-.1UF's is 1.0uf 's

Diode mods:
-3 in series on each side (1N914's)

Would you still recommend doing these to the schematic above?

Thanks....Happy Thanksgiving all!

[Yun]

Looking forward to building this one....its going in a box with the scrambler and a rocktave divider! My own fuzz station! My questions Yun...I have been following your work and know that I have come across you reporting doing the following mods....

Super-Muff:

Resistor swaps:
-All transistor emiters' resistors are swaped with 5K trimmers

Cap mods:
-.1UF's is 1.0uf 's

Diode mods:
-3 in series on each side (1N914's)

Would you still recommend doing these to the schematic above?

Thanks....Happy Thanksgiving all!

no, that was version m1-a1; the A2 is way better.  The A1 was for blues players, however i do keep them all the same except on the A2, i ommit the emmiter resistors, and jumper the emmiter straight to ground. 

The A1 didn't sell too well, because all the blues players that wanted this sound bought/had their muffs modded from/by me.  Although, i didn't market it too well. 

So:

M1-A2:

-3 diodes on each side (in series)
-ommit the 470 pf caps
-jumper q1-3's emmiters straight to ground.
-2K-5K trimmer on the emmiter on the Q AFTER the tone stack. 


so, what i would reccommend:  i personally LOVE the A2 super-Muff.  And everyone who has bought one from me, or built their own, tells me that they love it too.  so i would say:  Build it per the schematic in this thread, man....

[jmasciswannabe]

Awesome! Thanks for the clarification...I am going to use the layout over at ggg...compared schematics and stuff and it should work. I will let you know how it turns out! Oh ya, pretty sure this is how it goes, but thought I'd ask. That third diode, can I just bridge the tops of d1 and d2 with it (with the line on the left)....same with d3 and d4?

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_bmp_lo.pdf

[boyersdad]

Does anyone thing it would be worth while to modify a BMP with this tone stack, especially the added mid pot? I'm about to build a BMP with a Green Ringer in front of it on a blend, and having a mid control would be nice!

[JonFrum]

I used that AMZ tone stack in an amp and it worked out nice. I think I tweaked the components a little, but it's good to get away from the TMB police.