Well, I finally traded my Little Big Muff Pi for a Big Muff Pi.  Mods are happening this weekend.

super cool links everyone

I did the resistor mod and emitter mod on my big muff pi.  I also installed a feedback loop.  These mods made the BMP a lot more useable to me.  I’m going to do the tone bypass mod and the swollen pickle mod later.

This was the first time I have modded a Electro-Harmonix pedal, but I’ve modded a few Boss and Ibanez pedals, I’ve also worked on my Blues Junior.  IMO, the EHX PCBs are the cheapest I’ve ever seen and the wires from the controls are the thinnest, crappiest, cheapest, POS I’ve seen in a pedal.  That said, EHX pedals sound awesome, so they are doing something right. 

I’ve never had a trace pull up on me until this weekend, and everyone of them I touched practically fell off the board.  In the end I superglued them all back on and the Creamy Dreamer Muff w/ Feedback Loop sounds tits.

Boytbpc

The low pass filter on the POG is way too nice to not be able to control it with an expression pedal and have some moog flavour, aint it? I thought so, thus with the precious help of my friend electritabs I did that mod which includes putting jack for the exp.pedal in the front left corner, moving the LP slider at the back due to limited space inside the chassis and adding a toggle switch at the back next to the moved slider in order to be able to choose if the exp.pedal or the slider are functioning.

I use it with this great little switcher that my friend JAM made for me (check his pedals jampedals.com). Its a switcher that allows me to move the POG instantly between the first (where it should be when used as octaver) and last (when used just as a filter) in the pedal chain.

Cool man!

wow

riotshield - 26 March 2009 01:57 PM

The low pass filter on the POG is way too nice to not be able to control it with an expression pedal and have some moog flavour, aint it? I thought so, thus with the precious help of my friend electritabs I did that mod which includes putting jack for the exp.pedal in the front left corner, moving the LP slider at the back due to limited space inside the chassis and adding a toggle switch at the back next to the moved slider in order to be able to choose if the exp.pedal or the slider are functioning.

I use it with this great little switcher that my friend JAM made for me (check his pedals jampedals.com). Its a switcher that allows me to move the POG instantly between the first (where it should be when used as octaver) and last (when used just as a filter) in the pedal chain.

did you use this at all?

EHX POG EXP Control

Actually I did that mod back in November 2007, but I found out about the forum recently thats why I never posted before about it.
More or less I think its the same procedure though, even the way the slider is glued to the chassis, haha

the forum didn’t exist then!  So you’re alright!

Ned Flanders - 03 December 2008 04:22 PM

This isn’t a website but its a mod I put together for the big muff and its so self explanatory that one page will suffice. Its how to add tone bypass on your NYC big muff:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o127/truthandshame/Big Muff/BIGMUFFNYE3003ATONEBYPASS.png

Can you post how this would be done for the Black Russian Big Muff?

oops found it on the first post of the thread!

I’m not following the logic in this russian big muff tone bypass diagram below also posted in the first post of this thread:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o127/truthandshame/Big Muff/SOVTEKBIGMUFFTONEBYPASS.jpg

resoldering one end of each component to the center lug of the spdt seems redundant and when toggled always keeps this connection of the circuit intact?

to obtain tone bypass doesn’t the circuit need to be broken between the 22k resistor and the .01 cap, or am i completly off here,  sorry i’m still learning alot about thsi stuff…

Also I believe this mod to convert a black russian big muff to the sovtek big muff is not applicable for NEWER black versions:

Black SOVTEK to Green SOVTEK - http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o127/truthandshame/Big Muff/SOVTEKBMP-1.png

as the newer stock versions used to have the 10k resistor, now changed to a 1k resistor…

To bypass the tonestack you just remove one end of the 10nF and 22k from ground.
As for the convert diagram, just make any necessary changes.

Ned Flanders - 23 April 2009 08:53 PM

To bypass the tonestack you just remove one end of the 10nF and 22k from ground.
As for the convert diagram, just make any necessary changes.

Thanks for the response Ned and for providing drawings for just about anyone of any skill level of electronics to follow!  i did figure out that by lifting one end of each of those components removes the tonestack, but when i do this i’m finding in my muff that there still is some subtle tonal changes when i adjust the tone knob (though only at full clockwise and counterclockwise i can hear a difference) so this mod doesn’t actually completly remove the tone stack or is it supposed to? it was most apparant when switched on to the feedback mod i did around Q1 & Q3.

Also, i found that by only lifting one end of the 22k resistor (leaving the 10nf cap alone) increases the volume and slightly increases the mids… i did this late last night and tested it on a tiny solid state amp, i’ve yet to hear how it sounds on my fender twin that will be later.

I was also testing how i would like the 3-way tone switch and its nice though i hear very little difference switching between normal and flat… i also ended using a slightly larger cap (6.8 nF) than recommended (i think 9.4 nF) for the scooped sound and that was pretty apparant sounding.  though a more scooped than normal muff sound is not what i’m really looking for, i’m sticking with the tone bypass mod.

Just also want to state that the first mod i had done on a pedal was on the black russian muff (2002 models) a couple of years ago, just when i was starting to explore what was inside effects units and i had two of these units and knowing that they were fairly inexpensive i gave it a shot figuring the risk was low. the first “mod” i discovered pretty accidently that i have never read anyone else do was bypassing the .0039 cap which i found by placing a wire across both ends of this capacitor.  It provides a pretty good volume and bass (maybe also more of a scooped sound) boost.  I’m finding it abit similar to the scooped sound on the 3-way switch mod in this thread though with more volume added.  It worked well on one unit and not another when i attempted it again, perhaps due to the inconsistent tone from unit to unit on these pedals or inadvertantly damaging a component while connecting a SPDT during soldering (probably the latter in my case) because on the 2nd unit i did this with i get as best as i can describe it an undesirable increase delayed clipping effect when playing the bass strings on my guitar (i’m using humbuckers) as if when the strings are plucked the sound is being instantly sucked away for a split second and then suddenly appears… this doesn’t occur on the 1st unit i did this mod with.

Yes there will still be very subtle tonal changes as you adjust the tone knobs, its insignificant IMO.
You can completely bypass the tone stack but its a lot more work.