Muffin - Green Russian

MichaelW

Well-known member
When I built my first Muffin I had no idea that there were so many variants I could build (or that they even existed to be honest....hahah).

Some of you have been following my "Fuzz Journey" since I started building pedals and posting about them here. More like a taste test through time with some classics, and some modern fuzzes. I like them ALL hahaha, but there's still so much more to try. The Big Muff's are just super appealing to me tonally and my goal is to build all the "biggies" at some point.

With the first Muffin board I decided to start with the Triangle as it was (I think) the original. I love that thing! It's a close call whether it or the Gnat (Burns Buzzaround) would be may favorite fuzz. (Actually a very close third would be the SolaSound Hybrid Tonebender, but I digress, this post is about Muffs). Shout out to my main enabler @szukalski for turning me onto the Gnat!

Anyway, back to the Muffs. So all this interest in the BMP is one aspect of a larger story of chasing some of the Gilmour tones and gear.
There are other pieces to the puzzle but it's a fascination that's been enabled by the likes of @Big Monk and @music6000.

I'm still not sure I know exactly what a Green Russian Muff is except that it was made by Sovtek for a while during the Mig amp days.
But with all the chatter about it, I decided to try building that one next.

I actually had this enclosure drilled and painted and ready to go yesterday but that got bumped by my Mosfet Driver build.

I had a busy work day today and wasn't sure I would have much bench time, but I was chatting offline with @steviejr92 this morning and he was like "So what's on the agenda today?" Which got me thinking....."Man, I've already got the enclosure drilled and painted for the Muff and the parts ready to go....I can skip lunch and knock it out....." hahaha, so I did!

Aside from an initial unforced error which we won't dwell too much on........ (put the trannies in backwards.....and soldered them in :rolleyes:) it was a smooth build. I followed the BOM in the build docs for the Green Russian. The only subs I made was in using my vintage Telefunken BC239A's instead of 2N5088's. I didn't check the gains of the 5088's I had on hand but I'm pretty sure they're generally on the higher side. So I went through my stash of 239's and picked 4 that were all around 430 Hfe. I also forgot the 239's are backwards pinouts to the 5088's. I think I made the same mistake on my Triangle build but since I socketed those it was a quick fix. One this one, since I already knew I'd like these Telefunkens, I went ahead and soldered them in. So it was a bit of a pain getting the old ones out without melting anything and get some new ones in correctly oriented.

Oh I also decided to try Log pots instead of Linears that I used in my Triangle, I didn't like it for the sustain and swapped it back to Linear when I fixed the trannies. I think I'll stick with Linear for both volume and sustain my next one.

Definitely a different flavor Muff than the Triangle, to me it sounds warmer, rounder and smoother with less "bite", but loving it. I've fallen in love all over again with my PRS Vela since re-wiring it last week (un-doing all my trick wiring and pretty much restored it to stock configuration but with upgraded electronics.) And it sounds glorious with this pedal.

This is an "Army Green" paint color I ordered off Amazon. It's a lot lighter than I thought would be but I like the brand, it dried pretty fast but still scuffs easily. I may try a satin gloss or semi gloss top coat on it next time I use it.

Anyway, very cool build! Looking forward to the next one....!

IMG_3865.JPG

Egads! there's a crooked capacitor....!!! I'll need to fix that tomorrow.....:ROFLMAO:
IMG_3867.JPG
 
When I built my first Muffin I had no idea that there were so many variants I could build (or that they even existed to be honest....hahah).

Some of you have been following my "Fuzz Journey" since I started building pedals and posting about them here. More like a taste test through time with some classics, and some modern fuzzes. I like them ALL hahaha, but there's still so much more to try. The Big Muff's are just super appealing to me tonally and my goal is to build all the "biggies" at some point.

With the first Muffin board I decided to start with the Triangle as it was (I think) the original. I love that thing! It's a close call whether it or the Gnat (Burns Buzzaround) would be may favorite fuzz. (Actually a very close third would be the SolaSound Hybrid Tonebender, but I digress, this post is about Muffs). Shout out to my main enabler @szukalski for turning me onto the Gnat!

Anyway, back to the Muffs. So all this interest in the BMP is one aspect of a larger story of chasing some of the Gilmour tones and gear.
There are other pieces to the puzzle but it's a fascination that's been enabled by the likes of @Big Monk and @music6000.

I'm still not sure I know exactly what a Green Russian Muff is except that it was made by Sovtek for a while during the Mig amp days.
But with all the chatter about it, I decided to try building that one next.

I actually had this enclosure drilled and painted and ready to go yesterday but that got bumped by my Mosfet Driver build.

I had a busy work day today and wasn't sure I would have much bench time, but I was chatting offline with @steviejr92 this morning and he was like "So what's on the agenda today?" Which got me thinking....."Man, I've already got the enclosure drilled and painted for the Muff and the parts ready to go....I can skip lunch and knock it out....." hahaha, so I did!

Aside from an initial unforced error which we won't dwell too much on........ (put the trannies in backwards.....and soldered them in :rolleyes:) it was a smooth build. I followed the BOM in the build docs for the Green Russian. The only subs I made was in using my vintage Telefunken BC239A's instead of 2N5088's. I didn't check the gains of the 5088's I had on hand but I'm pretty sure they're generally on the higher side. So I went through my stash of 239's and picked 4 that were all around 430 Hfe. I also forgot the 239's are backwards pinouts to the 5088's. I think I made the same mistake on my Triangle build but since I socketed those it was a quick fix. One this one, since I already knew I'd like these Telefunkens, I went ahead and soldered them in. So it was a bit of a pain getting the old ones out without melting anything and get some new ones in correctly oriented.

Oh I also decided to try Log pots instead of Linears that I used in my Triangle, I didn't like it for the sustain and swapped it back to Linear when I fixed the trannies. I think I'll stick with Linear for both volume and sustain my next one.

Definitely a different flavor Muff than the Triangle, to me it sounds warmer, rounder and smoother with less "bite", but loving it. I've fallen in love all over again with my PRS Vela since re-wiring it last week (un-doing all my trick wiring and pretty much restored it to stock configuration but with upgraded electronics.) And it sounds glorious with this pedal.

This is an "Army Green" paint color I ordered off Amazon. It's a lot lighter than I thought would be but I like the brand, it dried pretty fast but still scuffs easily. I may try a satin gloss or semi gloss top coat on it next time I use it.

Anyway, very cool build! Looking forward to the next one....!

View attachment 35622

Egads! there's a crooked capacitor....!!! I'll need to fix that tomorrow.....:ROFLMAO:
View attachment 35623
I knew I was expecting a build report from you today! You’re a dang machine! What a build dude! The build report was fantastic and I agree there’s something about these Muffs every variant is incredible. I’ve been wanting to build one of these and tbh idk why I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think I might have to go down the Big Muff road soon! Love the color combo btw haha
 
Did you end up populating R23 after the photos? Just kidding, that's just the input pulldown resistor for other verions. Love the red knobs with that green! Do you have a preference between the triangle and green russian yet? I think I lean more triangle but I also think it might just be the combination of transistors I used on the green russian i built a long time ago that made me not love it as much as my triangle build.
 
Did you end up populating R23 after the photos? Just kidding, that's just the input pulldown resistor for other verions. Love the red knobs with that green! Do you have a preference between the triangle and green russian yet? I think I lean more triangle but I also think it might just be the combination of transistors I used on the green russian i built a long time ago that made me not love it as much as my triangle build.
Ok I have to admit I freaked for a second there hahaha. I think I still like the Triangle a bit better but it's not by a wide margin.
 
I've built so many Muffs I've lost track. And I rarely use fuzz! But I do like building Muffs. Why? because I get bored quickly and just like making stuff. I like what you've done and love the green! It's like the first car my folks had (that I can remember) - an Aussie Ford Falcon station wagon from around 1962. I have always loved that colour - almost Fender's surf green.

I really liked the green Russian. I used a brighter green box than you but now if I built another I would use a matt olive drab from Tayda. I think I used 2N3904s in mine because I like how lower hfe transistors sound in Muffs. Have you built any of the Skreddy Muffs? My fave is probably the P19 but the Pig Factory is excellent too... (edit) Sorry - Pig Mine
 
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Oh man my first car was a Ford Capri in a dark green. What a mess that turned out to be! It was actually made by....can't remember who now, but it was a European company that made these and I could NOT get parts in the US for it.

Yah, I was hoping for more of the Tayda Matte Army Green. Check out this picture......this is NOT what it looks like in person!


I have not tried any of the Skreddy Muffs. I don't even know what a Skreddy is except hearing it mentioned here on the forum.

Was/is that a pedal brand?


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Green muff was my only pedal for the longest time. I sorta miss my original but the clone I made sounds identical. Actually have a muff PPCB arriving soon for those 239’s you gifted me. Excited. Might try the rams head this time around. But also interested in the elk variant. As always, killer build dude.
 
Green muff was my only pedal for the longest time. I sorta miss my original but the clone I made sounds identical. Actually have a muff PPCB arriving soon for those 239’s you gifted me. Excited. Might try the rams head this time around. But also interested in the elk variant. As always, killer build dude.
Mind the pinouts...they're backwards..... :ROFLMAO:
 
Oh man my first car was a Ford Capri in a dark green. What a mess that turned out to be! It was actually made by....can't remember who now, but it was a European company that made these and I could NOT get parts in the US for it.

Yah, I was hoping for more of the Tayda Matte Army Green. Check out this picture......this is NOT what it looks like in person!


I have not tried any of the Skreddy Muffs. I don't even know what a Skreddy is except hearing it mentioned here on the forum.

Was/is that a pedal brand?


View attachment 35632
Yeah Skreddy is a brand of pedal. The fella who runs it is quite talented - his Screwdriver and Hybrid Overdrive pedals are inspired and sound fantastic, and his Big Muffs are some of the best. The P19 is available here as the Danube and it's a brilliant take on a Muff, designed to sound particularly Gilmour-esque.

The Skreddy Lunar Module is available here as the Fuzz Aldrin and is very similar to his Screwdriver. The Lunar Module is designed to sound like Gilmour's Fuzz Face as used on Dark Side of the Moon. He has tweaked it so well that it can be used as an overdrive and a fuzz. I can highly recommend anything Skreddy.

Chuck even has a thread on how to convert a Lunar Module (Fuzz Aldrin) into a Screwdriver. I imagine that you could convert a P19 into a Pig Mine - both killer Muffs. And I think it's worth trying lower gain transistors in a Big Muff. It takes away the harshness that some higher-gain Muffs can have and makes them sound extra creamy. A P19 with 2N3904s is delicious.
 
Yeah Skreddy is a brand of pedal. The fella who runs it is quite talented - his Screwdriver and Hybrid Overdrive pedals are inspired and sound fantastic, and his Big Muffs are some of the best. The P19 is available here as the Danube and it's a brilliant take on a Muff, designed to sound particularly Gilmour-esque.

The Skreddy Lunar Module is available here as the Fuzz Aldrin and is very similar to his Screwdriver. The Lunar Module is designed to sound like Gilmour's Fuzz Face as used on Dark Side of the Moon. He has tweaked it so well that it can be used as an overdrive and a fuzz. I can highly recommend anything Skreddy.

Chuck even has a thread on how to convert a Lunar Module (Fuzz Aldrin) into a Screwdriver. I imagine that you could convert a P19 into a Pig Mine - both killer Muffs. And I think it's worth trying lower gain transistors in a Big Muff. It takes away the harshness that some higher-gain Muffs can have and makes them sound extra creamy. A P19 with 2N3904s is delicious.
well alright, going on my wishlist:)
 
Yeah Skreddy is a brand of pedal. The fella who runs it is quite talented - his Screwdriver and Hybrid Overdrive pedals are inspired and sound fantastic, and his Big Muffs are some of the best. The P19 is available here as the Danube and it's a brilliant take on a Muff, designed to sound particularly Gilmour-esque.

The Skreddy Lunar Module is available here as the Fuzz Aldrin and is very similar to his Screwdriver. The Lunar Module is designed to sound like Gilmour's Fuzz Face as used on Dark Side of the Moon. He has tweaked it so well that it can be used as an overdrive and a fuzz. I can highly recommend anything Skreddy.

Chuck even has a thread on how to convert a Lunar Module (Fuzz Aldrin) into a Screwdriver. I imagine that you could convert a P19 into a Pig Mine - both killer Muffs. And I think it's worth trying lower gain transistors in a Big Muff. It takes away the harshness that some higher-gain Muffs can have and makes them sound extra creamy. A P19 with 2N3904s is delicious.
Madbean has a board upon which you can build literally dozens of muffs. I’m sure Robert has one too.
 
Madbean has a board upon which you can build literally dozens of muffs. I’m sure Robert has one too.
The PedalPCB "Muffin" is basically that board. You can build a variety of Muffs with it. Then there's the Muffin Factory, which is a bit too overwhelming for me.....I think I prefer dedicated versions.
 
Chuck even has a thread on how to convert a Lunar Module (Fuzz Aldrin) into a Screwdriver.

I've built all three from the PedalPCB Fuzz Aldrin Board, using Chuck's parts substitutions. That last link has a PDF which is a BOM table that shows parts for all three variants (Fuzz Aldrin/Lunar Module, Screw Driver, and Hybrid Fuzz Driver). Here's the Screwdriver thread. @MichaelW - if you're seriously considering building these, I suggest getting three boards and building all three, they are more unique than overlapping, at least to my ears.

Closely related are Skreddy's Hybrid Overdrive and Major Overdrives, both of which share a lot of DNA with the Lunar Module family, and traces/schematics of those are floating around here as well.
 
"If once you start down the Muff path, forever will it dominate your builds, consume all your parts it will."​

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