Muff Party!

[Chuck D. Bones]

Not so much a build report as showing off my Big Muff collection. The Swollen Pickle is the only production pedal.

Top row (L-R): Tight Muff is an opamp-based BMP built on Vero. Low-cut and hi-cut filters up front, a Baxandall tone stack at the back and variable symmetry in the middle provide a plethora of voicing options. The Pink Panther is a modded Hoof built on an Ungula board. Lovely enclosure by StevieJr92. The Swollen Pickle is the only unmodded production pedal in the bunch. I was going to build one, but found one for $50 on Reverb and couldn't pass it up. Not my favorite Muff, but it did give me some ideas.
Bottom Row (L-R): Old Ephraim was custom-built for me by Jubal81. First and last stages are opamps, middle two stages are BMP transistor distortion stages with low-leakage Ge clipping diodes. Also has a modified tone stack. The black Hoof is the same circuit as the Pink Panther. It was my first PPCB build. The Piccolo Figa is a minimalist Muff inspired by the Montarbo Sinphoton, built on Vero. Far right is a modified Thorpy Fallout Cloud built on a Pyrocumulus board. The toggle switches provide different clipping options and the extra knob provides variable low-cut up front. This collection is not so much a tribute to the BMP as it is a quest for the perfect Muff tone.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

Those are some beauties. Sinphoton might be my favorite "euro fuzz" that I've built.

 

[ThatDude]

That's an awesome collection! The Old Ephraim has me curious. What does it sound like with the mixture of OpAmp stages, transistors distortion and Ge clipping? Is it based on an existing circuit, or is it an original?

 

[Guilherme Collateral]

Awesome collection! What's your favorite of the bunch?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

It's original and based on the BMP. Just imagine replacing the 1st & 4th stages with non-inverting opampa gain stages. The opamps are transparent. It's all about the transistor clipping stages. The Ge diodes provide more compression because their Vf is lower. It's slightly mellower than a BMP.

 

[Silver Blues]

Love me a good Muff (). Great collection!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Awesome collection! What's your favorite of the bunch?

LoL. It varies.
It's kind of a toss-up between the Tight Muff, the Piccolo Figa and the Pink Panther. The Tight Muff does everything, the Piccolo is beautiful in its simplicity and the Pink Panther is smooth.

 

[darwin999]

It's kind of a toss-up between the Tight Muff, the Piccolo Figa and the Pink Panther. The Tight Muff does everything, the Piccolo is beautiful in its simplicity and the Pink Panther is smooth.

Chuck, a modest request - can you tell us more details re: the mods you made on these 3 favorite Muffs of yours? I for one would certainly be interested, and I'm certain I'm not alone. Thanks!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Piccolo Figa is discussed here.

Hoof mod (Pink Panther) is discussed here.

The details of the Tight Muff I'm keeping to myself for now...

 

[jimilee]

Nice muffs man! Cluster muff, that should be one.

 

[pbrommer]

Honest question: Do I rip out my old Swollen Pickle perfboard that I have (that works, but seems blanket-y) and make it more Pink Panther-y? Or do I tweak it to make it sound good? It has the quad opamp transistor package at its heart.

Thanks for the response - I've been really conflicted with this pedal.

 

[Coda]

Muff Party? More like Sausage Fest…

 

[Feral Feline]

It's original and based on the BMP. Just imagine replacing the 1st & 4th stages with non-inverting opampa gain stages. The opamps are transparent. It's all about the transistor clipping stages. The Ge diodes provide more compression because their Vf is lower. It's slightly mellower than a BMP.

I'm also intrigued by the Ephraim, what a beautiful looking build. At first I thought the bear had a butterfly in its mouth, ala "Silence of the Lambs", but upon closer inspection, it appears to be just its tongue.

I wonder if it's based off of MicTester's 21st Century Muff, but which used regular 1N4148 and used a James tone stack.

Quite the collection, sir, very lovely indeed. I hope you find the tone you're looking for, and share it with us!

 

[Locrian99]

I'm also intrigued by the Ephraim, what a beautiful looking build. At first I thought the bear had a butterfly in its mouth, ala "Silence of the Lambs", but upon closer inspection, it appears to be just its tongue.

I wonder if it's based off of MicTester's 21st Century Muff, but which used regular 1N4148 and used a James tone stack.

Quite the collection, sir, very lovely indeed. I hope you find the tone you're looking for, and share it with us!

That 21st century muff was one of my first builds on vero. Louder than….

 

[perfboarder]

Nice Muff. And how tight the secret muff?

I wonder if it's based off of MicTester's 21st Century Muff, but which used regular 1N4148 and used a James tone stack.

I think closer to dylan159 bigger muff. Yes?

 

[The Gator]

Is it just me or is that Pink Panther
H U G E !!!