Home Forums Vintage EHX “Tone Bypass” V3 Big Muff?

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  • #79427
    Kitrae
    Member

    Over the past few years I have seen two Big Muffs with V3 “EH3003” circuit boards, but also with the tone bypass switch and “AC TONE BYPASS” in the graphics. My research has indicated the tone bypass only appeared on the V5 and V6 Big Muffs. The “AC” first appeared on the last V3 Muffs around 1978. I assumed these bypass V3 Muffs were not production Muffs, but ones cobbled together from parts of different Muffs. I have run across lots of oddball Muffs like that, and even put together a few myself.

    I was just sent photos of another one of these recently, so I asked Howard Davis (manager of analog circuit design for E-H from 1976-1981) if he recalls who came up with the tone bypass, and when. Howard is not 100% sure, but he thinks the tone bypass may have already been in use on the Big Muff before he designed his tone bypass op-amp version. Now I am starting to wonder if this was a legit version. That would mean a small amount of the last V3 Muffs made had the tone bypass switch and graphics, then the bypass was dropped for the V4 IC version, then added back about a year later for V5.

    Has anyone else seen one of these? Ron? Anyone?

    Here are pix of one. V3 board, V4/V5 box and graphics, with knobs usually seen on V4(and later) Muffs, not on the V3.
    Tone_bypass_V3_Big_Muff_top.jpg
    Tone_bypass_V3_Big_Muff.jpg
    Tone_bypass_V3_Big_Muff_Guts.jpg

    #104531
    firesgt911
    Member

    Hmmm…interesting. It’s the mystery of the Muff!

    #104540
    devnulljp
    Participant

    Not really answering your question, but neither of the v3 BC239C 3003 muffs I’ve had had either the “AC” or Tone Bypass (both ON/OFF switch, although they did have an AC adapter plug), but I have seen one with “AC”, still No Tone Bypass.
    I had an EH3003 green etched IC muff though and it had both the AC and Tone bypass and a EH3003B IC with AC and ON/OFF (your Billy Corgan muff).

    BTW Kit, your site is great, and just keeps getting better

    #104570
    electro-melx
    Moderator
    Quote:
    sorry to throw this off task, but heres the mystery of the missing dollar :

    Three travelling salesmen checked into the inn.
    The regular cost of the room is $30. Each man pays $10.
    Manager overcharged them. She sends bellhop to their room with $5 refund.
    Greedy, the bellhop, keeps $2, and gives each man back $1.
    Here’s the perplexing puzzle:
    The three men each paid $9 for the room. That’s $27.
    The bellhop kept $2 as his “tip” but they originally paid $30!
    Where’s the missing dollar?

    i remember as a kid, my dad would tell us this (my siblings and i) and i had forgoten it, until i just looked it up. i had to reread it, but i got it

    what you just said makes no sense..

    There was $30 at the start ….. $25 payment to the manager + $2 pocketed by the bellhop and $3 refund to the traveling salesmen ….. that adds up to $30. … don’t worry, nothing is missing. :)

    #104574
    devnulljp
    Participant

    Yes, the bellhop’s $2 should be subtracted not added.
    $30 (initial payment) = $25 (to clerk) + $2 (to bellhop) +$3 (refund)
    (What does this have to do with v3 Big Muffs?)

    #104586
    Kitrae
    Member

    Back to the topic of useless Muff history :)

    Howard shed some more light on this. He thinks the transistor Muff never actually went out of production in the short time his op-amp version was made in 1978. If the transistor version continued, and it had a tone bypass switch added shortly before the op-amp version was made, that may explain these odd V3s. These may be the rarest versions of the original USA Muffs. It also means the version numbers have to be resequenced!

    Howard said his op-amp schematic from 1978 already had the tone bypass switch. He does not think he made a schematic for a non tone bypass op-amp Muff, so that version may have actually come after, not before the bypass version. That seems a very odd thing to do though, considering all other transistor Muffs made from 1978 or so, until the factory closed in 1984, had the tone bypass.

    #104611
    Ned Flanders
    Moderator

    I wouldn’t go re assigning version numbers just yet because of one example of a likely transitional muff. If there was a few thousand of them yes i would, but as of now this is the only one I’ve ever seen.
    Its like the sovteks, there’s transitional versions that dont really deserve a version number because all that changed was the font or switch.

    #104616
    Kitrae
    Member

    I have not decided yet, but as of today, I have seen four of these tone bypass V3 Muffs. I’m guessing only a few hundred were made from the time period they would have fallen in, though if Howard is right and the transistor version never actually went out of production in 1978-79 when the op-amps were made, the tone bypass V3 was likely made around the same time as the tone bypass op-amp.

    The way I have assigned Muff version numbers is based on this – A true version change must involve a major change to the box shape, a change to the control layout, and/or a major change to the circuit. This fits two of those criteria, and it may turn out that the tone bypass op-amp was the first version, not the second. Some re-sequencing may be needed simply for that reason, but I have not decided yet. I’m still digging and hoping some others will chime in with additional info.

    I may just cheat and call it another V3 “edition”. There are two V3 editions already, one with no “AC” graphic and one with.

    #104623
    joed424
    Member
    #104627
    electro-melx
    Moderator
    Quote:
    I’m still digging and hoping some others will chime in with additional info.

    nothing to offer unfortunatly, but I am reading with intrigue. :)

    good luck. :thumb:

    #104653
    devnulljp
    Participant
    #104693
    Ned Flanders
    Moderator

    Thats a V5 by the look of it but it could be one of these V3 odd ones too..

    #104695
    Kitrae
    Member

    The V6 Muff with standard colors, V5s, and the tone bypass V3s all look identical from the outside. No way to tell what it is without seeing the inside

    #105775
    devnulljp
    Participant
    Quote:
    Here are pix of one. V3 board, V4/V5 box and graphics, with knobs usually seen on V4(and later) Muffs, not on the V3.
    Tone_bypass_V3_Big_Muff_Guts.jpg

    Kit, is that a PNP muff? w. 2N5087s? Looks like they’re in the board the wrong way round for a regular NPN muff. That’s a pretty rare bird if it is…
    Gold legs?

    #105796
    Kitrae
    Member
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Here are pix of one. V3 board, V4/V5 box and graphics, with knobs usually seen on V4(and later) Muffs, not on the V3.
    Tone_bypass_V3_Big_Muff_Guts.jpg

    Kit, is that a PNP muff? w. 2N5087s? Looks like they’re in the board the wrong way round for a regular NPN muff. That’s a pretty rare bird if it is…
    Gold legs?

    I don’t know. The person who emailed those to me was trying to find out what he had, but he did not say what transistors were in it. V3s were made with both PNP and NPN tranys. I have two V2 Muffs with 2N5087 tranys facing the other way like this, so I assume that is what these are, though I have never owned a V3 with those. It’s likely they were used on V3s since they were on V2s though.

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