A Big Muff on the Horizon

My latest project, a work-a-like of the famed the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. A fuzz/distortion unit used and abused by guitarist and bassist alike. I got the circuit board from capsnsuch, a nice one man electronic supply operation. The same guy also runs a great effects/diy forum called circuitworkshop. 

For those who may not be familiar, here's a little backstory on, IMO, one of the most widely used dirt box's to date...

"The first Big Muff π was released to the world by Electro-Harmonix in 1969, though variations of it appeared earlier than that. Electro-Harmonix referred to the pedal as “The finest harmonic distortion-sustain device developed to date,” and it was. Fuzz pedals like the Fuzz Face were very popular in the late 1960's and the Big Muff was a very different and fresh take on the fuzz territory."

"The Muff had an independant four stage silicon-based circuit that did not have the limitations of the typical guitar-into-fuzz circuits around at the time. It could go anywhere in a pedal chain, and the tone was not at the mercy of the temperature of the tranistors like a Fuzz Face. The Muff had monstrous loads of gain and sustain, and a monstrous sound to go along with it, from thunderous mud to hammering treble. It was the first fuzz pedal with such a huge bottom end, and it stepped on just about any typical fuzz pedal out there. There is a characteristic underlying harmonically doubled octave mixed into the Muff tone, sometimes described as the Muffs "buzz" or "fizz". It was quite different from what was a common "fuzz" tone at the time. The tone sweep ranged from huge, dark, bassy sludge to thick, piercing, buzz saw treble, all with a deep mids scoop. Somewhere in the middle was a "sweet" spot that just about anyone could dial in for the signature Big Muff tone."

"There are four primary eras of the Big Muff, each with their own unique tones, and each model having several variants, along with some other odd related models. They were first manufactured in the USA, then jumped over to Russia, then back to the USA again."

I went with what they call the "Civil War" version. Due to primarily playing bass, I figured, "why not?" This is actually the first Big Muff I've ever built, & I'm quite fond of the sound. Sustain for days, and deep fuzz fuzz fuzzz!

"THE SOUND - Identical to the first edition Red Army Overdrive, just different graphics and colors. Sort of a mix between the V1 and V3 Muffs, but with a fatter bottom end, brighter and less scooped mids, and less gain. All of the 1990s Sovtek Muffs (Civil Wars, Green Russians, Black Russians) had very similar component values, and had very similar sounds to each other; but the Civil War tone was special. It was very dark and bassy, but with a smooth and clear mid range, and a very musical clarity. Those mids were still scooped out like a typical Big Muff, but the Sovteks had more than vintage USA models, so they stand out in a live band mix better. They are noticeably smoother and have less grit than the later Green Russian and Black Russian Big Muffs, which is probably why they are the most favored and desirable of all the Sovtek Big Muffs. They are a favorite of bass players due to the low gain and huge, bass friendly bottom end they produce. The bass and treble of the tone varies slightly from unit to unit. Listen to Pink Floyd's Pulse live album for some great examples of lead tones using this pedal. The Black Keys and Sonic Youth have other examples of this sound."
-from The Big Muff Page
Photos of original EHX effects are from TBMP

You may have noticed the sockets in a few choice areas, such as the diode and transistor sections, as well as a few capacitors. This allows a bit of experimentation with various versions, fuzz/gain characteristics, etc.