Apocalypse Audio Black Russian Doom Mods - Verified

[anders]

Here is a layout of a haevily modified russian big muff...well, it seems that most of the components is swapped out to lean towards a BAT Pharoah. LED's for clippers and a couple of gain caps from emitter to ground in both gain stages which is something I've not seen before in a Big Muff.

Schematic and writeup HERE



I plan to build another one with a BAT LSTR tonestack for more versatility.

[Hozy31]

Built it and love it! Cheers anders.

[SeaWitch]

OK - So I have this hooked up to the test box...it's working, but:

The switch does not seem to do anything. The only clipping LEDs that are lighting up are 1 & 2, no matter what position the switch is in.

I'm wiring the switch like this:

12
34
56

Any suggestions on how to go about trouble shooting this?  I went over the whole board, and everything seems to be in place.

Thanks for any input!

[Mulekicker]

Your switch numbering is off. Should be:
1 4
2 5
3 6
Pretty sure that switch goes from symmetrical led clipping to asymmetrical with 2 of the led's changed for the 2 si diodes.  Should be an audible difference. Of course I may be wrong so you might want to wait til Anders chimes in.

[SeaWitch]

You are 100% correct on the switch function.  As soon as I get home tonight, I’ll retire the switch and report back.  Thanks for the heads up on that wiring!

On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 12:53 PM Mulekicker [via Guitar FX Layouts] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Your switch numbering is off. Should be:
1 4
2 5
3 6
Pretty sure that switch goes from symmetrical led clipping to asymmetrical with 2 of the led's changed for the 2 si diodes.  Should be an audible difference. Of course I may be wrong so you might want to wait til Anders chimes in.

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NAML

[Mulekicker]

For sure. I'm  actually getting a box ready to build one of these next week.

[SeaWitch]

OK - so I rewired the switch according to your correction Mulekicker, and it is still working, but:

Switch position 1:
I'm getting a light on clipping LED #1 & #2 - which seems correct

Switch position #2:
I'm getting a light only on clipping LED #2

There is not a distinct audible difference I can hear, and clipping LEDs #3 and #4 are not lighting up...I'll mess with it some more and report back if I find anything, but in the meantime if anyone has any ideas what may be wrong, let me know!

On 8/30/2019 1:20 PM, Mulekicker [via Guitar FX Layouts] wrote:

For sure. I'm  actually getting a box ready to build one of these next week.

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NAML

[Mulekicker]

As soon as I build one I'll report back.

[SeaWitch]

Perfect....thanks!

I just went over my board again with my +1.5 readers on, and everything looks to be in place, and all polarities correct, so I'm stumped.

Thanks again!

On 8/30/2019 3:53 PM, Mulekicker [via Guitar FX Layouts] wrote:

As soon as I build one I'll report back.

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NAML

[HamishR]

Sometimes there is so much clipping in a Muff-style fuzz that it can be hard to tell the difference when you remove some.

I built a Skreddy Pig Mine with a switch to remove the clipping diodes on the third gain stage.  It took me ages to hear the difference!  Removing the clipping diodes and associated cap from the third gain stage did make a difference but unless I really turned the gain down to zero it was hard to hear the difference.  It was more the feel than the sound.  Now I know what to look for it's more obvious but at first I thought I had made a mistake.

FWIW I now often leave out the diodes on the 2nd or 3rd gain stages in Muffs.  It makes the fuzz more usable for me and gives a little bit more touch responsiveness.  I got the idea from the Supa Tone, a Muff copy which left out the clipping diodes from one gain stage.

[Mulekicker]

So, I built one. My led's light up the same as you except its either d3 & 4 or just d4 depending on switch position. It sounds good though and I can hear an audible difference in clipping.

[rocket88]

The reason the LEDs may not both be glowing is due to the amount of signal going through. If it’s not enough they won’t glow.

[SeaWitch]

Thanks for the report back!

It's weird that d1 & d2 are the LED's lighting on mine as opposed to your d3 & d4...

On mine, the clipping LEDs only light up when the sustain pot is turned fully clockwise, is this the same with yours?

I'm using 5088's and it sounds good, but now i'm obsessed with figuring out why the clipping switch is not functioning properly...even when i had the switch wired wrong, the circuit still functions the same as when the switch is wired correctly...

[anders]

To my understanding LED's clip the signal even if they don't light up?

[rocket88]

Correct. They glow when they get enough voltage, but will still clip without glowing.

[RNFR]

Glad you guys dig it!