Biggus Muffus
What it's based on: 1971 Triangle Big Muff
I had essentially stopped making pedals when Dan over on TFB talked me into making one more. So here it is, a '71 Triangle Big Muff clone with a mids pot.
Kitten Redux
What it's based on: RunOffGroove Twenty-Two Sevenths
One of the first pedals I ever made was the Fuzzy Kitten (at the very bottom of this page). Well I came to do the last purge I was planning on selling it. But not only was the outside battered to hell, the inside was proper tangle of wires so I couldn't.
I also couldn't bring myself to bin it so I decided instead to re-house and keep it. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that it's one of those unique things that I really shouldn't part with. So, Cleggy's old Tusk proto box, some green wire and a few hundred pedals later and it looks a bit better :)
Shitty photo's as the desk lamp has died.
TSM680 MkII
What it's based on: TSM680 MkII
Finally a stand-alone TSM680 for Mr Clegg.
Zombie Tramp II / Mischief Maker / Arjan
What it's based on: UltraStoner MkII
I've lost count of the number of muffs I've made on Grind's Ultrastoner board, yet this is the first one to make it into a enclosure. The US project was a collaboration between ourselves and Grind to create the one muff. The muff to rule them all. We think we've pretty much nailed it, but don't take our word for it, get one from Grind and give it a try.
This one has a zombie on it, so it's for Matt. Indeed, in celebration of the first pedal we ever made for him, we've once again made a Zombie Tramp. Didn't have a lot of space to play with for the decal and it fitted nicely, so there it is!
The Mischief Maker is DJSpecialist of The Fretboard's Ultrastoner. Decal of his own design. Came out nice.
Last one is for Arjan.
ICBM
What it's based on: EHX '78 IC Big Muff
Board from Poodle Pedal Parts here in the UK. I didn't have an IC Big Muff, now I do.
Pharoian
What it's based on: Black Arts Pharoah Fuzz
Working my way through the new stuff in the muffs spreadsheet. This is a Pharoah clone built on Jimmy BJJs Swarm PCB and has a appropriately stoner inspired decal.
The 2nd (and much more neatly made) one is Cleggy's.
MiniStoner
What it's based on: UltraStoner
Built on Pickdropper's Mini Muffin PCB. This is a rather special UltraStoner. Not only is it incredibly wee, considering it's substantial output. But it also features some scavenged nigh on perfect gain Japanese transistors that sound utterly spectacular. They are the closest thing we've heard to an original Skreddy ? Lady's transistors yet.
Sadly we only have enough to make two and they're both ours.
Pork Pi
What it's based on: EHX '71 Triangle BMP
JimmyBJJ's Swarm mini muff. This is a build of the '71 Triangle in the muffs spreadsheet. Rather marvelous it is too.
White Pi for Mr Clegg.
Flossie
What it's based on: Catalinbread Manx Loaghtan
This is a muff with a Baxandall tone stack. Very versatile. It's Catalinbread, it kicks ass.
TSM680
What it's based on: EHX BMP
As a matter of course, nearly every order I put in with Madbean includes a Mudbunny (muff) board. So with a surplus board we decided to do our own.
It's rather aggressive. Tight on the lower stuff with a mild mid scoop. Yet it all stays nicely defined. Well, we like it anyhow.
The name took some coming to. TSM is Tanya Song Muff after the lovely lady on the front (the 680 is from some caps we used). I strongly advise not googling her at work... Anyhow it sounded kinda pedaly so it stuck.
Update: Following some live experimentation by 400yd Phil, we've added a mids switch to this as the TSM is very scooped. The switch has 3 positions, one is the original scoop, one is almost flat and the other is somewhere in-between.
Super Hard Lady
What it's based on: (un)Questionable Lady & SHO
Sune was after a SHO, fair enough. But I struggled to justify what it'd end up costing him vs the few parts involved. So I said that if he went for another effect, I'd add on a SHO for a tenner, and here it is (it's the teeny tiny board in the top right).
It's a Questionable Lady with a Super Hard On. Now had this been for Huw, it'd have ended up with a pedal with a particularly ugly transvestite on the front. As this was for Sune, we decided to find a hard lady instead, and they don't come much harder than the lovely Miss Gina Carano, whom I am greatly fond of.
The Lady in no way needs the SHO as it's already very high output. But the SHO does boost it even more. Board is a Madbean Mudbunny again.
Nurse Betty / The Wall
What it's based on: Skreddy P19
As you'll have probably gathered by now, I think Skreddy is pretty much the ninja of all muffs. So when he brings out a new one, then it has to be built. This one is supposed to mimic David Gilmour's lead tone on The Wall.
As usual it's rather excellent. The switch gives it a mild mid hump (rather than the standard mild scoop), to allow you to cut through in a live situation. It's quite subtle, but it's there.
Built on a new Madbean Mudbunny board. Why Betty Page in a nurses outfit? Why not ;-)
The Wall is Cleggy's P19 re-decalled as it had faded badly (my printer was going through a red phase at the time, Nurse Betty has also been affected and is going to be re-decalled also). Before I took it apart I noticed the LED wasn't working. It was shorting so one thing led to another and I ended up doing a full rebuild.
UltraStoner / Get Your Ass To Mars!
What it's based on: Questionable Lady
We loved the QL. Then thought, I wonder what it'd be like with an extreme mid scoop, like the Fuzzy Kitten?
...and lo, built on a Madbean Mudbunny board and featuring some tone stack twiddlage once again courtesy of Duncan's Tone Stack Calculator, the stoneriffic UltraStoner was born. The mid knob ranging from mild to ultra scoopage.
Two more UltraStoners for Marc and Luke's mate. This time done on vero.
Lew wanted good ol' Arnie on his. Total Recall buffs should like where I've stuck the red LED also ;) This last one is built on a new Madbean Mudbunny board. He also recorded a clip with it HERE.
Questionable Lady / Dirty Grrrl
What it's based on: Skreddy ? Lady
Skreddy's ? Lady is one of the heaviest and thickest fuzzes I've ever heard. It's awesome and also out of production because of the unobtainable transistors in it.
This is our approximation of the Lady using obtainable parts. It's damn close back to back with the real thing. Though it lacks a little of the original's sparkle. Still, to say we're happy with it would be an understatement!
Dirty Grrrls were for Huw, posessor and loaner of a real ? Lady's, he only had one at the time and wanted a back up (he's since snagged another real one!). Matt, who wanted one, couldn't get one and encouraged us to build something like it, and Phil who heard it and quite sensibly, had to have it.
The Questionable Lady in question is of course Courtney, and that's mine.
Cinco De Mayo
What it's based on: Skreddy Mayo
Skreddy's muff of goodness. Rather brilliant with just about everything. In fact so good with bass that Cleggy is making himself one as it destroys the Fuzzy Elephant, making it redundant.
We've deviated slightly from the original in that we're using germanium diodes in the first stage. After experimenting with allsorts, we just liked it better that way.
Update, actually I've found I like it both ways (steady!), so it's now got the first stage clippers on a switch.
I ended up selling my Mayo unexpectedly to a bassist who borrowed it to try and didn't want to give it back. So I've finally got around to replacing mine. This one has switchable clippers on both stages. Had I enough germs I'd have doubled them up to negate the volume drop you get with them. Still you can get just more than unity with both sets using the germs so I'm not that worried. Still nice to have the option.
Foreign Contaminent
What it's based on: EHX Rams Head BMP & SHO
Yes, yes, I can't spell. Too late now though. This is another dual pedal for Dave. He wanted a Gilmourish tone and one of DGs most used effects is an early Rams Head Big Muff backed off into a clean boost. So that's what this is. The only difference being that the boost is provided by the SHO as it's my favorite boost circuit by far.
The story behind this pedal is that it was originally sent to me to see if I could sort out the noise of it. It was a silicon fuzz and 386 boost (not too dissimilar to the D*A*M Buster) and there wasn't a lot I could do with it. So instead we decided to recycle it and build it into something else. Hence the upside down case and the power socket not in the usual place. The original top has been filled and painted.
Darkside
What it's based on: Cornish G2
Another built for Phil on one of Madbean's awesome PCBs. Really needs to be played loud, which means it's not really my bag. But it all seems present and correct and working as it should.
I've swapped the 10k vol pot for 100 since and it's a bit more flexible. Considering that this is a muff deep down, it's actually more like a transparent overdrive with a distinctly Marshall bent. Liking it more now
2nd Darkside built for Cleggy and to do some experimentation with swapping the diodes around (hence they're socketed) and adding a 470K sustain pot with 1uF cap on it.
3rd Darkside is mine. A bit different on the silver box as we ran out of white paint (and chicken head knobs!). It has all the mods we liked on it (100K vol pot, 470K sustain with 1nF cap) and we've nailed on the diodes we like (1n60a from AMS. They had a higher forward voltage than the ones we sourced in the UK, and it's made all the difference to the amount of gain on tap).
4&5 are the last of them (went to Andrew W and Huw). Interesting to compare as the diodes were a different batch from AMS and the tone pot is higher rated. These two have slightly less volume/gain than the original three, but a sharper treble.
Fuzzy Kitten
What it's based on: RunOffGroove Twenty-Two Sevenths
This is the ROG 22/7 (a rational approximation of Pi), a CMOS based Big Muff Pi clone. I've actually built this one using one of John Lyon's Basic Audio PCBs, and that's allowed me to fit it all into a very small enclosure. Hence it's a fuzzy kitten. It made sense in my head.
What a pedal! With the switch thrown over to scoop it gets that early Monster Magnet 60's style fuzz. In the classic mode (slightly less scooped), it has the same characteristics of my Brazilian Beaver (a lightly modified Muff), but is a little darker. Finally in flat mode it becomes more of a distortion. A really versitile pedal and a great take on the Big Muff Pi. This is the last of the D*A*M pedals recycled. I'm so kind to the environment.
Second kitteh with battery provision for Phil.
I'll also add that these pedals have a tendency to be noisy. The Fairchild IC seems to be the quietest one. But I know JL had trouble taming the noise of his. Mine didn't turn out bad at all really by the sound of things.
Brazilian Beaver/Hmmmmm, Pi
What it's based on: EHX Rev3 Big Muff Pi
I just couldn't not... Let's face it, the amount of word play around the EH Muffs is getting silly. Big Muff, BYOC's Large Beaver, etc. So I've got a shaven beaver with a Brazilian on mine. I think it may quite possibly be the coolest pedal decal of all time.
This is based on the rev3 BMP which has more bass and a far less scooped mid than previous Muffs. It has a few cap changes that are reported to make it sound better, and I've changed a cap in the tone stack to restore the scoopage to earlier Muff levels. All praise Duncan's Tone Stack Calculator!
