muff with blend volume issues

[2liveis2die]

Recently i built a pharaoh clone with the split N blend for my bass. the problem is even with the effect volume maxed and the blend in the middle it dosn't reach unity volume.

should i remove the volume pot off the end of the muff pcb and run the effect at full vol and will it make a difference?

Or

Should i build a booster?
Ive been looking at Catalinbread Sagrado Poblano Picoso layout here. just waiting for zeners to arrive.

Also its only the germanium setting (used D9b) dosnt reach unity. The only parts i subbed was the 6k2 (r12 and r19 on schematic) resistors between the stages with a 6k8 as it was the closest i had

[lasermonkey]

Would it be worth decreasing the value of R4? The output recovery stage is more or less an LPB-1, and that has a 390R emitter resistor.
Maybe try a 1K5 for starters.
It's amazing, the volume drop you can get switching between clipping diode types.

[2liveis2die]

Ill try socketing r4. I expected to get a volume drop with germaniums but not that much of a drop

[Silver Blues]

It can sometimes be very extreme. I second the suggestion of decreasing R4 (or otherwise upping the gain on the recovery stage).

[2liveis2die]

So i tried socketing r4 and ended up settling on 820r. anything less seemed to mess with the decay of the note. faded out quickly ans was farty like as if the transistor was in backwards. im still not happy with the volume but at least its just above unity. i would like a bit more volume from it though.