PedalBuilder
Well-known member
Put this together last weekend. I used the @cdwillis schematic from this post as my guide. The Dope Priest is a great sounding Big Muff variant made by D*A*M's Emanating Fist Electronics brand with some interesting component value choices—470Ω emitter resistor on Q1, 150Ω emitter resistors on Q2 and Q3, and 1µF clipping caps. The result of those changes? It sounds massive, with the slightly lower gain and greater bass emphasis that you'd expect from a Green Russian with some of the cut of a Ram's Head. Plug it in and it's a struggle to not immediately start playing some Black Sabbath riffs. It also cleans up more nicely than most other Big Muffs that I've played.
Q1 and Q2 are BC549C with hFE around 550; Q3 and Q4 are 2N5088 with approximately the same hFE. (Why use both BC549 and 2N5088? The opposite pinouts make it easier to keep the board layout symmetrical.) The feedback caps are parallel silver micas—nominal 390pF caps that measure 430pF and 130pF caps, which measured 560pF when paralleled. The film caps are Wima because red looks cool. I skipped my usual I/O board because over-voltage isn't much of a concern when all the components are rated for at least 30v. The enclosure is a matte black sand enclosure from Tayda, with a double pass of the white and matte varnish. The big knobs are Cliff K1Cs from @Amplified Parts. Anything else? The LED is green. It's a fun build, go grab yourself a Muffin Fuzz PCB and build one yourself.
Q1 and Q2 are BC549C with hFE around 550; Q3 and Q4 are 2N5088 with approximately the same hFE. (Why use both BC549 and 2N5088? The opposite pinouts make it easier to keep the board layout symmetrical.) The feedback caps are parallel silver micas—nominal 390pF caps that measure 430pF and 130pF caps, which measured 560pF when paralleled. The film caps are Wima because red looks cool. I skipped my usual I/O board because over-voltage isn't much of a concern when all the components are rated for at least 30v. The enclosure is a matte black sand enclosure from Tayda, with a double pass of the white and matte varnish. The big knobs are Cliff K1Cs from @Amplified Parts. Anything else? The LED is green. It's a fun build, go grab yourself a Muffin Fuzz PCB and build one yourself.
