1980 Big Muff Pedal Question: UPDATE! Do This Without Hesitation! BELOW!

[plexi50]

Pots dated 38th week of 1980

I have looked all over the web about the 3rd verson of this Big Muff box and cant seem to fine one that looks the same inside or one that uses the transistors i have in this one

The other boards look totally different in color,board traces and parts used / As well my transistors are MPSA18 and not the ones mentioned on some of the sites i have been to

Any idea's for improvement in tone?

It is good once you get it dialed in but it is very touchy on the pot response / Maybe change the pots for a higher value?

Any other mods i may do to this?









UPDATE!

I went over the Triangle big muff (Schematic)the first one made back in 1971 last night

Today i took the 1980 Big Muff and changed all the values to the 1971 Triangle schematic values

I used all non polar 0.1 / .005 and 560pf ceramic caps. Replaced all values as in the Triangle schematic

Also a few resistor changes on the input,tone and output 2.7k / Remove the 1k resistor on the leg of the sustain pot and run straight to ground

It wasnt easy and my back is killing me but in my honest opinion this is the most awesome versatile tone i have ever heard from a pedal

It is SMOOTH and creamy where needed and brutal with great tight bass (Bottom End)

Even brutal it is not overly gainy or ice picky and maintains a smooth vintage tube amp tone

Bridge of Sighs with a DOD FX68 Super Chorus pedal is unreal as well as any Sabbath or Pink Floyd

It was painstaking to go through all the board traces without a numbered schematic but i am glad i did it

If you want to build one of the most awesome pedals for great distortion and real control over the entire frequency range then rebuild a 1980 version Big Muff box

It will work on any non OP amp big muff pedal as was the original Triangle Big Muff the first and best

THIS HAS REAL MOJO AND SOUNDS IDENTICAL TO ALL THE 60'S AND 70'S BANDS I CAN REMEMBER / HOW OFTEN CAN YOU RECAPTURE THAT SOUND IN A PEDAL OR AMPLIFIER? JUST DO IT!

Here is the Stock 1980 Big Muff and the 1971 Triangle Big Muff Schematics

[Ritchie200]

Hey Plexi,

I have an old Big Muff that I've done a lot of "tone shaping" modifications to on the front end.  I was able to dial it in to the Comfortable Numb tone, but it is still noisy as all get out.  I know Gilmore insisted that Bradshaw put one on his pedal board (ignoring Bradshaw's protests) and Bradshaw had to do a few things to make it work.  Now I am wondering if Gilmore had an original Triangle model and while I achieved my goal, I might be choking it - so to speak...

I am about to dig mine out and start the conversion.  I do have a few questions on the schematic changes.  Battery polarity change?  I've got an old Electric Mistress with +18v on the gnd.  Interesting...  Also, can someone tell me the function of the two reversed diodes at Q2 and Q3?

I will post results - wish me luck!  This looks like a good one!
Thanks!
Jim

[GroundhogKen]

I bought a Big Muff kit a few years ago and built a Colorsound Supa Tonebender

http://eu11.stripper.jp/pulcino/blog/images/SupaTonebender.gif

IMO it sounds much better than the typical Big Muff.

For one thing, the 0.1uF coupling caps in a Big Muff are too big; secondly the 5088 transistors have too much gain.

.01uF coupling caps work much better and even changing the transistors to garden variety 2N3094 makes for better sound.  

The Supa Tonebender has an extra cap after Q3 to take the DC off the tone pot.  The BC184 transistors are higher fidelity.


I know the Triangle Muff is the most highly regarded.  I just wanted to put forth one more option.  A stock Muff is unusable in my opinion.


Ken

[plexi50]

Yeah the stock Big Muff is nothing more than a bunch of bee's in a box

[GroundhogKen]

Yeah the stock Big Muff is nothing more than a bunch of bee's in a box

Muddy Bees



Ken