Selling my BIG BOX prototype now that I'm making a smaller production version.
It was built into a large Big Muff chassis, and REQUIRES 36V center-positive like all my pedals. I will include a 36V power supply.
MORE INFO:
The Ronin was born of my desire for a better bass fuzz. One of my favorite fuzz circuits for bass is the EHX/Sovtek Big Muff, particularly the lower-gain Russian circuits. While providing a huge sound with tons of bass available, the design suffers from a number of drawbacks: scooped mids, excess sub frequencies, noise, a lack of clarity, and more gain than is optimal, particularly for bass guitar. Of the countless clones of this circuit available on the market, many have attempted to remedy these issues with things like added mid controls and clean-blend circuitry with limited success. My original design is an attempt to capture the essence of everything I like about the Muff, while simplifying and addressing its drawbacks, as follows:
1) An external 36V power supply reduces interference and allows the circuit to operate with a maximum of headroom and performance.
2) Replaced the low-impedance BJT input stage with a high-impedance JFET stage, to capture more tonal details of the instrument with lower noise, as well as increased harmonic content generated by the JFET. 36V operation allows more gain and headroom from the JFET than would be possible with the standard 9V.
3) Reduced gain-control impedance to lower noise and simplified the circuit via a unique implementation.
4) Replaced the typical two-stage BJT diode-clipping circuits with a single-stage BJT LED-clipping circuit. Again, 36V operation allows more gain and headroom from this single stage as well as the use of higher headroom LEDs, eliminating the need for additional gain and make-up stages.
5) Tuned the circuit to retain more dynamics, eliminating the need for additional clean-blend circuitry.
6) Replaced the lossy and mid-scooping tone control and BJT output stage with a third-order op-amp based low-pass filter. This eliminates any mid-scoop, allows for greater high-mid clarity while tempering harsh and excess highs, and allows for a reduced-impedance volume-control (for lower noise and stronger drive capability).
7) Aligned coupling capacitors throughout the circuit to achieve punchy bass response while reducing power-sucking sub frequencies.
Controls:
The right knob controls input sensitivity/fuzz/sustain. Use it to compensate for instruments of varying output levels. Increasing will bring up the lows while compressing the highs, so try a lower setting if the sound gets too dark, or the lows begin to distort. The left knob controls the volume/output level.
Specifications:
Input impedance: 330k Ohms
Output impedance: 6.7k Ohms maximum
Power Supply: 36V DC, 100mA minimum, 2.1mm Center-Positive connection
It was built into a large Big Muff chassis, and REQUIRES 36V center-positive like all my pedals. I will include a 36V power supply.
MORE INFO:
The Ronin was born of my desire for a better bass fuzz. One of my favorite fuzz circuits for bass is the EHX/Sovtek Big Muff, particularly the lower-gain Russian circuits. While providing a huge sound with tons of bass available, the design suffers from a number of drawbacks: scooped mids, excess sub frequencies, noise, a lack of clarity, and more gain than is optimal, particularly for bass guitar. Of the countless clones of this circuit available on the market, many have attempted to remedy these issues with things like added mid controls and clean-blend circuitry with limited success. My original design is an attempt to capture the essence of everything I like about the Muff, while simplifying and addressing its drawbacks, as follows:
1) An external 36V power supply reduces interference and allows the circuit to operate with a maximum of headroom and performance.
2) Replaced the low-impedance BJT input stage with a high-impedance JFET stage, to capture more tonal details of the instrument with lower noise, as well as increased harmonic content generated by the JFET. 36V operation allows more gain and headroom from the JFET than would be possible with the standard 9V.
3) Reduced gain-control impedance to lower noise and simplified the circuit via a unique implementation.
4) Replaced the typical two-stage BJT diode-clipping circuits with a single-stage BJT LED-clipping circuit. Again, 36V operation allows more gain and headroom from this single stage as well as the use of higher headroom LEDs, eliminating the need for additional gain and make-up stages.
5) Tuned the circuit to retain more dynamics, eliminating the need for additional clean-blend circuitry.
6) Replaced the lossy and mid-scooping tone control and BJT output stage with a third-order op-amp based low-pass filter. This eliminates any mid-scoop, allows for greater high-mid clarity while tempering harsh and excess highs, and allows for a reduced-impedance volume-control (for lower noise and stronger drive capability).
7) Aligned coupling capacitors throughout the circuit to achieve punchy bass response while reducing power-sucking sub frequencies.
Controls:
The right knob controls input sensitivity/fuzz/sustain. Use it to compensate for instruments of varying output levels. Increasing will bring up the lows while compressing the highs, so try a lower setting if the sound gets too dark, or the lows begin to distort. The left knob controls the volume/output level.
Specifications:
Input impedance: 330k Ohms
Output impedance: 6.7k Ohms maximum
Power Supply: 36V DC, 100mA minimum, 2.1mm Center-Positive connection
