More fuzz! More fuzz!

[Travis]

Just traded for this Big Muff



This pedal freakin rocks. The bypass freakin sucks but I'm going to put it in a loop. I've built a lot of big muffs and none of them really sounded like this. Cool pedal :0

[Silver Blues]

Gen 7B Green Russian right? Those things are awesome. Well, the sound anyway

[Travis]

Based on kitrae's site I guess it is the "7C" tall font green version

It sounds freakin awesome!

[Marbles]

Awesome!

Does the layout on this site come close? I have bought some KT3102EM transistors. Are those the ones used in this one? Would be awesome to get in the ballpark. Congrats!

[rocket88]

The layout without the 1uF coupling caps will get you close, but not exactly the same, IME.

[Travis]

I don't have a build on hand to compare but I have done some side by side testing with my black Russian muff. They are nearly identical sounding but the green one is slightly fatter and more open sounding than the black one. The green one wins to my ears but they are super close

The transistors are unmarked and look different than the normal to-92 package. One of the four clipping diodes appears to be different from the others. Here are a couple pics. Note the input and output jacks have been replaced with the incorrect (solder lug) type. I will be restoring that to stock specs but everything else on the pedal is stock

[Marbles]

Thanks for the pics! From what I have heard in demos, there's this sort of, i don't know, 'boxy sound?' to those green muffs that I love. Such an awesome pedal. Jealous haha.

Such a coincidence. A friend of my girlfriend plays bass, and asked if I could build a green muff cause she loves that pedal. So I just started to read into things, but man, there's so many versions. i really like this one though.. Hope I can get close enough then. Never knew about that diode though. Interesting..

[Travis]

You're welcome sorry they're not too high res I'll try and take some better ones when I replace the jacks.

My observation of the diode is totally inconclusive, but it looks to me that three of the diodes have one thick green stripe and two thinner green stripes, while one has the thick green stripe and what looks like only one stripe which seems to be a lighter color like white or gray. The stripes on the diode could just be worn making it look that way, or it could be different. I have no idea to be honest, my eyes can be tricking me

I think if you build the version with 100n caps as rocket said you'll be really close. Personally I think both the bubble font and tall font layouts on this site sound awesome. Some muffs have that violin sustain thing but can sound kinda flat. The Russian ones just explode when you dig into a note, and have lots of movement in the sustained note. The freq response is deep but clear. You can crank the tone control all the way down and hear your high end just fine, but the low end is huge. Mids are scooped more or less depending on the tone setting. Seems more scooped as the tone pot is turned up but when it's down the mids are relatively flat

[Marbles]

Awesome! Will start soon. Just to be sure: You guys mean the Russian Muff v7 1994 version on the site? ( there are more with 100n caps, I must not be looking in the right place). Which one would be best for bass?

You could be right about the diode. The one on the right 'misses'  a band as well. Could very well be just faded. I reckon those are the 2D510A diodes? Must be hard to get. I wonder how they affect the sound.

It sounds like an  awesome pedal.

[Travis]

Yep that's the one. Can't say one is necessarily "better" than the other but generally the V7 1994 one seems to be more sought after

The diodes do look like 2D510A, you can find them online. I can identify the stripes are matching on 3 of the diodes except for the one mystery diode, which is most likely just looking that way from the stripes wearing off in the parts bin

[rocket88]

figured i'd chime in again about this. i'm pretty sure the diodes are KD521A. just checked my russian diode stock to be sure. the KD521A are a dark green/blue and i think the color just faded over the years or wore off a bit while being handled like the one that seems to have only one band. if you really want them i can spare 4 for a muff build if you need.

to add about the green muff sound. i wouldn't say it's not a boxy sound, but much smoother and creamier then the different american muffs done over the years. as travis said the fuzz just sings and shines when you dig in. as a bassists it's my favorite big muff.

[Marbles]

Thanks so much for the offer!
I read somewhere (on Kitrae I think?) that 2D510A have been used as well, so I ordered a bunch.

And could get a good deal on a bag KD521A's, so I thought: Why not.

Will try them both. The ones on the right look a bit blueish, but the ones on the left more green. Plus that first band seems to be starting more in the beginning of the diode.

Not to doubt you ofcourse, but if I can try them both , why not! Appreciate the offer!

[Beaker]

I have some (a few hundred) KD521A which have blue stripes, V which have yellow stripes and some other KD521 not sure what suffix letter - maybe G - which have green stripes. You can't confuse the blue and green, the green ones are almost lime green.

Don't get hung up on either the exact shade of colour, the band width or the spacing of the bands - every single one of mine is slightly different to the next, which suggests to me that the marking machines used for these was pretty crude, or that they might even have been hand painted!

[Marbles]

Haha, I won't then and try to see what sounds best (if there is a noticable difference).
I'm sure they used whatever was easily available.

[rocket88]

Well beaker these were made by soviet russia, so I wouldn't expect much. But you know, the Solviets were as advanced and even better then the rest of us in non-communist countries. lol

Marbles - I do hear subtle variation between the diodes, but I don't think everyone does. I think that just using Russian diodes and transistors will get you 95% there. So if you follow the layout we talked about before you should be good to go.

[Travis]

Paging Beaker!


Just got an FM-2! It was going for a good price and I had to give it a shot. It's a little beat up but all original and perfectly functional. It sounds killer. Like most octave fuzzes it doesn't sound great with complex or minor chords but power chords are mangled to perfection. Heavy, buzzy, octavey?