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Bass Big Muff volume mod

Yup. Thats what I did with my muff, and the 1M works exactly like that. I did notice that the 1M might be a little bit big - around 50% of the knobs' travel makes no difference to my ears, so maybe a 500K might work as well???

I also tried the diode mods in both spots - between no diodes, germanium and silicon. Switching between the diodes and using the two feedback mods can get some velcro ripping crazy out there sounds, especially with Ge diodes - they're wicked for feedback ;)
Anyone thinking about whether to do a diode mod - it is definitely worth it if you like feedbacking craziness.

Another great site for info;
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I'm bumping an old thread, but I just did the Q1 -> Q3 feedback mod and I like it.

I found some other feedback links in the pedal, but this one seems to interact with the overall notes the best.

What is interesting is that when you engage the mod the gain seems to increase. I understand the mod sets the pedal on full gain, so they must have throttled it back somewhere in the circuit?

My only other question is, anybody want to figure out the Diodes in a big muff? Looking at the schem for conventional muff pedals, it seems they used half the number of diodes! D1 is actually D2 in a little Muff, so I guess they take out one diode from each pair and take out the diode that clips the bottom end of the signal??? There is an unpopulated pair of solder pads next to D1 where the other half of of the diode pair is situated in other Muffs.
 
I was waiting for my BBM to be delivered and almost ordered a Boss LS-2 to get mixin' but luckily ran into this thread. I opened the BBM up the same evening I received it and did the volume mod right away but like some of you have mentioned, it was hard to stop there. I did the osc mod by dannybuoy (post #9) and the more modest boost mod by 4stringphuzz (post #49) so that I have a small switch sticking out of the top of the BBM which chooses between the mods and then an extra footswitch to actually engage the selected mod. It's a bit of a squeeze but I managed to save space for the battery (so if there are new mods I can toss out the battery and put in 3 more footswitches!)

Also, I didn't cut the ribbon cable but separated the single wire and then desoldered it from the footswitch miniboard so I got one of the pink wires from the volume pot soldered straight back to the board. Hope you can see my point from the pic.


bbmmod.jpg
 
hi, sorry if I open the thread, I just want to know if the dry mods, I have to unsolder the legs of the diodes from the pcb or if I have a jumper (short circuit) legs of the diodes without dissaldarli from the pcb and go directly to the switch.

hello
thanks to all

sorry for the bad english ..
 
Delayed response, but Tractorr - I did not remove anything to cut the ribbon cable, I just did it carefully with a small pair of wire cutters. As for soldering into the back of the switch, it was a piece of cake even for novice like me, but you just have to be careful not to short circuit anything! Use a small amount of lead solder and I used a helping hand to hold everything in place:

cables38.jpg


Bassistdigger, you do not have to desolder any diodes for the volume or feedback mods. If you want to bypass the diodes you can just bridge the connections either side, you will only need to desolder them if you want to make a switch with a selection of different diodes.
 
dannybuoy hello, thanks for the quick reply! You Rock!

I made 2 drawing with the 2 mods changes.
I hope they are right, as I understand it the third pin is the emitter of the NPN transistor. I hope they can be helpful and especially useful to all electronics newbies like me!
if it is wrong tell me and I will correct it immediately!

rock & roll!

first Mod (dannybuoy (post #9):
disegno1_zps773bd413.png


second mod (4stringphuzz (post #49):
disegno2_zps6fa36d63.png
 
FWIW, by the time you get one of these and mod it, unless you got a ridiculously good deal, you could just seek out one of any number of Muff clones that sound way better than the BBM, modded or otherwise.
i think people are interested in this mod because a BBM (nano or full size) can be picked up for for $60-80, it comes with a dry blend mode, sounds great, and can be modded for less than $10 worth of parts and a half hour or less of work.
closest muff clone with a blend and volume control that i know of is the wren &cuff pickle pie B - but those go for about $199...
 
Depends what you're going for. If you want to sound like a lower tuned guitar or create a wall of sound you can do without it. But blend is a must with heavy fuzz if you want to keep the thump in the lows. Even if your fuzz passes all the lows or even boosts it, at higher gain it's just too compressed to sound funky.
 
And I sold my PPB and kept my BBM!

In dry mode and with a mild drive before it, the BBM sounds great.
And I sold my PPB and kept my BBM!

In dry mode and with a mild drive before it, the BBM sounds great.

i've considered the pickle pie B a number of times since it has the blend and volume control, but have always been put off by the price. what didn't you like about the PPB? or better yet, what makes you like the BBM more than the PPB?