Pedal build recommandation

[PMowdes]

Hi all

a friend of mine wants a analogue distortion pedal to go with his Matamp.  He currently has a MXR Dist+ which he says is shit.

I was thinking red fire fuzz or maybe a superfuzz

Can someone recommend something??  My experience with different amps is very limited.

[Travis]

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a green sovtek muff. Either the tall font or bubble font should sound huge through your average matamp (though knowing the model/wattage would help).

What kind of guitar/pickups is he using?

[PMowdes]

Travis wrote

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a green sovtek muff. Either the tall font or bubble font should sound huge through your average matamp (though knowing the model/wattage would help).

What kind of guitar/pickups is he using?

Cool, I got a Green Russian board made up already, just need to get the components on.  I've heard it's pretty sweet as a bass fuzz to.

Any recommendations on transistors?  I have some BC550c and some 2N5089's, but what about Russian transistors?  Perhaps i'll socket them and just have a muck about.

[PMowdes]

Travis wrote

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a green sovtek muff. Either the tall font or bubble font should sound huge through your average matamp (though knowing the model/wattage would help).

What kind of guitar/pickups is he using?

And he uses a Matamp C7 deluxe with a '74 US Telecaster.

[rocket88]

Well if you're looking for a distortion I would honestly say original proco rat, especially if he's into heavier doomier stuff, like myself. Really does something beautiful by opening up a darker amp and has such rich harmonics. You may also dig doing a sonic titan. Can be heavy as a fucking hammer, or add just touch of distortion, and super responsive. I plan on making another one that's 1 knob, just volume, have set gain maxed and tone set where I like it, it's that fucking good. Maybe even a simple Ge Giant.

If you're looking for a fuzz I would agree with Travis about the green russian, super thick and creamy fuzz, and saying it sounds massive is an understatement. I play bass and built one and it's been on my board ever since. The trick is getting the right diodes, and transistors. Mine uses the actual russian kt3102e that have been gain matched, and KD521v diodes. There are subtle differences with the transistors and think bc550c would get you pretty close, and sound great in any muff. The diodes are the tricky part. The KD521v sounds fairly different to the more common Si diodes, to me at least. They have a sweeter, clearer breakup that compliments the woofiness of the muff. You can use 1n914/1n4148 and have it sound really good, but to me IMHO the diodes just take it to another level.

If you're thinking other fuzzes I'd suggest a superfuzz(still need to build one myself), doomidrive, tonebender to choice, god so many good fuzzes I don't think I can list them all.

[PMowdes]

rocket88 wrote

Well if you're looking for a distortion I would honestly say original proco rat, especially if he's into heavier doomier stuff, like myself. Really does something beautiful by opening up a darker amp and has such rich harmonics. You may also dig doing a sonic titan. Can be heavy as a fucking hammer, or add just touch of distortion, and super responsive. I plan on making another one that's 1 knob, just volume, have set gain maxed and tone set where I like it, it's that fucking good. Maybe even a simple Ge Giant.

If you're looking for a fuzz I would agree with Travis about the green russian, super thick and creamy fuzz, and saying it sounds massive is an understatement. I play bass and built one and it's been on my board ever since. The trick is getting the right diodes, and transistors. Mine uses the actual russian kt3102e that have been gain matched, and KD521v diodes. There are subtle differences with the transistors and think bc550c would get you pretty close, and sound great in any muff. The diodes are the tricky part. The KD521v sounds fairly different to the more common Si diodes, to me at least. They have a sweeter, clearer breakup that compliments the woofiness of the muff. You can use 1n914/1n4148 and have it sound really good, but to me IMHO the diodes just take it to another level.

If you're thinking other fuzzes I'd suggest a superfuzz(still need to build one myself), doomidrive, tonebender to choice, god so many good fuzzes I don't think I can list them all.

Cheers Rocket,

What sort of gain would i be looking for from the KT3102e, or does it not matter as long as they are similar?

I've already got a board made for the Superfuzz and Green russian just need to get round to making them up.  I've made the red fire fuzz and the red llama which are both pretty cool.  I also wanna build the fender blender cos i love the early Pumpkins recordsand i heard Billy Corgan used to use one amongst other things.

[PMowdes]

Would BC109CP, BC383C, BC384C be suitable substitutions?  the KT3102e's are mega expensive.

[rocket88]

hey bro. in mine they're all right around 750hfe, and i think i matched the diodes too by forward voltage. the higher the hfe the more treble you'll get, and conversely the lower the hfe the more bass you'll get. this can be subtle or drastic. actually all big muffs will respond the same way to hfe. for me since i use it for bass i feel the higher hfe gives just a subtle increase in treble that it cuts through a little better. it's funny cause travis and i have been talking about this for awhile and there's been some transistors measured out of vintage muffs and the hfe is around 250-300. kt3102e transistors have gotten expensive as shit, and i've got a small stock of them from when they were much cheaper. if you're set on going with the russian transistors you can use the kt3102em, which are a newer and come in plastic rather then the metal can, which were also used in the original russian muffs, plus they can be had for much cheaper the the kt3102e in the metal cans. i've got a stock of a 500-1000 or so of them for when i build them for sale. if you've got bc550cs i would go with them, they really do sound great in a muff and you won't be sorry. i'm just a little obsessive about using original transistors and diodes if possible and cost effective.

like i said before there are subtle differences between the original diodes and transistors, most people wont notice. i think the magic is really in gain matching the transistors, which wasn't done back in the day, and the diodes. if you gain match the bc550cs and if you can match the forward voltage of the diodes you're going to end up with an awesome sounding muff, and will be 99.999999% what the original sounds like, and unless you have an original to compare it to and really good ears you wont notice.

i'm a big pumpkins fan myself, and if i'm not mistaken billy corgan was/is a big user of an IC big muff. built one and it sounds spot on to early pumpkins. you're going to want to build the layout with 2 dual ICs NOT with the single quad. also, make sure you use a 4558 and 741 IC or it won't sound right. if you sub in TL071s it won't be as raunchy and nasty. another great big muff, but then again there isn't one i don't like and you can never have too many muffs laying around.

[PMowdes]

Hey

Great advice man,  i'll have a look at the dual IC for sure.  This is getting to be an expensive hobby!!

Hopefully soon i'll get my head around what is actually happening in theory, i got a week off so soon in deepest, darkest Wales so i'm gonna take some electronics books and do some reading.  I was reading pink jimmy photons thread about his harmonic jeurgulator and it broke my mind, still, i got the bastard thing working and it sounds pretty epic with my valvecaster.

[IvIark]

The answer to this question is always Crunchbox

[Beaker]

Good suggestions and advice so far - as always.

Love, love, love the Superfuzz, Muffs are all awesome, Rat is always a good choice, but take a look at it's cousin, Roger Mayer's Mongoose - better definition than a Rat. Frantone's Cream Puff is a killer distortion - I can't say enough good things about it. Both circuits are on the main page.

[Travis]

I just noticed PMowdes is looking for a distortion, not a fuzz.

In that case, I like Mark's suggestion for the crunch box. That is a great distortion.

The RAT is great suggestion

[PMowdes]

Travis wrote

I just noticed PMowdes is looking for a distortion, not a fuzz.

In that case, I like Mark's suggestion for the crunch box. That is a great distortion.

The RAT is great suggestion

Which versions ??  There seem to be a few of each.

[rocket88]

if you want to build a rat i would go straight for the original. i built the one in the image below. simple, sounds great, and fired up first go.



i haven't build a crunchbox, but i kinda like V2 a little more. it seems to have a little bit more crunch. plus, you can take the 20k trimmer off the board and have a nice presence control, which should make a nice addition.

[PMowdes]

Finished the green Russian late last night (with BC550's and 1N914's), I only had a few minutes to test it out before lights out but what a belter!!  I got some Russian diodes and trannies on order so I'm gonna make another one when they arrive.

The rat and crunch box are going on my ever increasing build list.

Cheers for the advice everyone.

[strassercaster]

the brunetti mercury box or the marshall shredmaster