Possible Muffin Factory Issues

[blueimpala]

I just finished building the Muffin Factory and it looks great and sounds good too... I think? If I didn't know what kind of pedal it was supposed to be, I would say that it sounds good and it's definitely a pedal I would play. However, knowing that it's supposed to be a muff, I'm not sure that I nailed it. Even with the sustain and volume all of the way up, it doesn't sound anywhere near as saturated as any other muffs I've played (which have been mostly modern ones). At the moment, I'm comparing it directly with my EHX Big Muff Nano. I'm very aware that all of the different setting choices effect the sound, but I've played around with them quite a bit and can't get anything close to that all consuming wall of fuzz that I have come to expect out of a muff.

My main point of anxiety is probably the GE transistors. They have HFE of about 40, though I know the build docs suggest HFE 55-65. I tried, but that's what came in the mail. Should I try some new transistors?

I'm also wondering about the LED clipping: When I have LED clipping on, the LEDs are barely lighting up. Is this expected behavior? I'm used to seeing clipping LEDs glow pretty bright when activated.

Thank you for any guidance and help that can be offered!

 

[Robert]

The LEDs might not glow as bright as a circuit that uses them in a hard-clipping (to ground) configuration.

It'll have lower gain when switched to the germanium transistors, how does it sound in silicon mode?

Did you insulate the pin-headers on the dipswitch module so they aren't making contact with the enclosure?

 

[blueimpala]

The LEDs might not glow as bright as a circuit that uses them in a hard-clipping (to ground) configuration.

It'll have lower gain when switched to the germanium transistors, how does it sound in silicon mode?

Did you insulate the pin-headers on the dipswitch module so they aren't making contact with the enclosure?

Thank you for the information on the LED clipping. I didn't realize that (still pretty new at this)!

I confess, I did not insulate the pin-headers. In dry-fitting the dip module it seemed that they weren't in danger of making contact with the enclosure. I've also run a wire through the gaps above and below the dip switches to double check that there's space between the pin-headers and the enclosure. If I did accidentally ground a pin header or two do you really think it could affect the sound quality? Because I had expected that it would cause a much larger operational issue.

Yes it's definitely higher gain with both transistor switches set to "Hi"/Silicon. However, my thinking that something might be off isn't really gain related, it's more about the saturation/sustain.

As I said, I'm comparing this to a modern EHX big muff that I own. While the Muffin Factory definitely sounds good - and all switches and knobs seem to be working - It doesn't seem to be capable of the same wall-of-sound fuzz saturation that I think of when I think of the Muff. I guess I'm trying to see if maybe I just need to adjust my expectations?

Thank you again for your help!