electro-melx - 18 October 2009 08:04 AM

DarkAxel - 18 October 2009 07:43 AM

so basically what you’re saying is: “this effect sucks! i have three of them!“ is it just me or it doesn’t make any sense?

.........‘all modified heavily’ was the key phrase here, I gotta say to me they are the ‘poorly made, poor sounding, cheaper alternative’ to a ‘real’ big muff, although I guess they have their own charm, but I’ve never been impressed with any of the russian made pedals.

ok, i get it now

i picked up the latest black version, i don’t have any experience with Big Muff, so i was like “whatever”

we’ll see it arrives this week

DarkAxel - 18 October 2009 07:43 AM

Liberty Belle - 18 October 2009 07:03 AM

All sovteks sound like shit IMO! (its because all the capacitor values are wrong) But those that want one can always find them on ebay,there’s tons of them there…from the red army overdrive(this ones rare though) to the tank like green one to the flimsy black one,you can always get them on ebay.

I own a tank like green one, a half tank like black one and a flimsy black one, all modified heavily.

I bought all but one 2nd hand.

so basically what you’re saying is: “this effect sucks! i have three of them!“ is it just me or it doesn’t make any sense?

No, what I’m saying is this:
The sovtek enclosures,especially the cast green ones rule, the overall look of the pedal and the big silver DPDT switches rulle too and I love the look of the sovteks,hence I bought them with the intent of modifying them to my liking!

BTW,playing thru a black sovtek gives you absolutely zero idea of what the NYC Reissues,originals sound like. they are apples and orranges as far as I’m concerned.

I dont have a problem with the Sovtek quality,aside from the cheap pots, I just dont like the sound of them,same goes for triangle muffs.

Its capacitor values in key places that make them sound like shit, for starters they use 2 X 47nF caps in the clipping stages (this is the one and only reason they are boomy as hell)when the absolute minimum should be 100nF and 1uF being ideal. All the other caps,aside form the pF caps which are fine are 100nF and at least 3/4 of them should be 1uF.

My favorite sovteks are the cast aluminum ones,this covers the first green ones and the so called “civil war” ones and the red army overdrive.The folded steel green ones are ok but not as aesthetically pleasing as the big heavy cast ones.

yeah, i know that the russians are different from USA RI. if i won’t like the sovtek, i’ll try to trade it for an american one if i won’t like that either - well, they’re not for me

the capacitors info - interesting :-) i didn’t know that - i’m really a noob at this “electricians stuff” (dunno how to say it, english is my second language)

sorry if i seemed rude to you. i didn’t mean it

i know - there is alot of big muffs and there is alot of opinions on them. since i’m not from USA, the vintage versions are hard for me to get so i probably won’t be able to explore the muff kingdom properly

I dont live in America either and I manage to get vintage muffs from eBay,I just ask them if they’ll ship to Australia, most say yes because Australia and America are very close politically, Militarily and in lifestyle so there’s a trust there that I’m not scamming them. Plus I always tell them I’m a verified Paypal member and will pay all actual shipping.

So far I’ve been turned down once out of four times.

the black reissue was my first muff too but now i use a Civil War muff clone and it’s much much better and more compact. is the bass big muff not close enough to the russian?

Funnily enough I just sold my russian one, and just brought a usa reissue.. and maybe im just weird - but I kinda like the russian one more. I mean they are a good pedals, and lots of people like them. So many good albums have been recorded with them.. alot of bands I love seem to use them live too. I love their sustaaaaiiiin.. they will be missed!

No, what I’m saying is this:
The sovtek enclosures,especially the cast green ones rule, the overall look of the pedal and the big silver DPDT switches rulle too and I love the look of the sovteks,hence I bought them with the intent of modifying them to my liking!

BTW,playing thru a black sovtek gives you absolutely zero idea of what the NYC Reissues,originals sound like. they are apples and orranges as far as I’m concerned.

I dont have a problem with the Sovtek quality,aside from the cheap pots, I just dont like the sound of them,same goes for triangle muffs.

Its capacitor values in key places that make them sound like shit, for starters they use 2 X 47nF caps in the clipping stages (this is the one and only reason they are boomy as hell)when the absolute minimum should be 100nF and 1uF being ideal. All the other caps,aside form the pF caps which are fine are 100nF and at least 3/4 of them should be 1uF.

My favorite sovteks are the cast aluminum ones,this covers the first green ones and the so called “civil war” ones and the red army overdrive.The folded steel green ones are ok but not as aesthetically pleasing as the big heavy cast ones.

————————————-
obviously you have listed some details above, but i’m far from a boutique artist so i need an instruction manual  

can you point to to any websites that detail the mods you prefer? i’m getting an extra black russian muff to mod. (well a green tank if i can find one) i’ve heard of the ‘creamy dreamer’ & ‘choc shake’ but am not overly impressed; they seem to just give more gain (from what i’ve heard in shops, youtube, etc). specifically, i would like to get a higher, brighter tone out of this 2nd muff. or even just installing better pots and/or caps? any insight would be appreciated. thanks…

raoulduke215 - 03 November 2009 09:09 PM

can you point to to any websites that detail the mods you prefer? i’m getting an extra black russian muff to mod. (well a green tank if i can find one) i’ve heard of the ‘creamy dreamer’ & ‘choc shake’ but am not overly impressed; they seem to just give more gain (from what i’ve heard in shops, youtube, etc). specifically, i would like to get a higher, brighter tone out of this 2nd muff. or even just installing better pots and/or caps? any insight would be appreciated. thanks…

The mod pages are here.

http://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/117/

thanks

Never letting mine go now. Also, I hear that the Bass Muff is the same or close to a green Sovtek muff so if you needed that Russian sound, wouldn’t that suffice with a mod or two?

Check it.

http://www.kitrae.net/music/music_big_muff.html

anything you would every want to know about a big muff. get some mcdonald’s first ‘cause its THOROUGH.

SGDan - 23 November 2009 01:46 PM

Never letting mine go now. Also, I hear that the Bass Muff is the same or close to a green Sovtek muff so if you needed that Russian sound, wouldn’t that suffice with a mod or two?

I was comparing them, and you dont really need to mod anything, they are essentially identical.

I prefer the Russian muff to the USA Big Muff reissue ..I like the darker sound of the Russian ..Although i do feel that the USA Reissue is more versatile..Were the Russian is more of a get it to were you like it and leave it pedal…

InvaderCC - 03 March 2010 12:11 AM

the Russian is more of a get it to were you like it and leave it pedal…

it’s funny you say that.  I rarely set a pedal and leave it, but I pretty much do that with the Russian Muff.  I’ll vary it a small amount depending on mood or guitar, but it mostly stays as is.

DiscoFreq - 29 September 2009 12:22 PM

I asked about it when I visited them in June. The costs to make the Russian pedals ROHS compliant were too high, so they discontinued the Russian pedals.

They were already not available in Europe for a while, I think they just sold the stock in the US.

Sorry for deviating from the topic. I heard somewhere that EH will do a survey how the nanos are selling and based on that they’ll again make some reissues of the discontinued ones, like big box small stone for instance. Any truth?