Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz...

[mark123]

OK, after losing 2 auctions on ebay by some mad snipe-bidders I decided to just go ahead and build my own Muff Fuzz.  Some guy gave me one when I first started playing back in 1983 and it eventually broke and I lost it in a move.    I've never found anything that sounded as good so I want another.

Anyway I've seen 2 versions (op amp and transistor) any clue as to which one I may have had.  It looked pretty new back in 1983 when I got it.  Did Electro Harmonix make the 2 versions or is the transistor version just an aftermarket copy?  (Did that make sense?)

[aron]

We can build the Muff Fuzz next and I can show you how to mod it.

I DO remember 2 different versions, and yes, I do recall liking one of the ones I owned.

NO, I don't remember what version I had. :?

[mark123]

Thanks.    Since it only has one switch and a volume knob I was thinking of just mounting it inside my guitar, but if you have some mods in mind maybe outboard is better.  What kind of mods were you thinking?

[aron]

Many of the mods in the simple mods section.

[hair force one]

build a muff fuzz (twin npn type) this days and can't get it to work properly. It' no fuzz at all but it's really some good signal muncher.
Build it 2 times, checked & replaced parts, audio probed it (works well when my minidisc's plugged in)....

Gonna build it next time on perfboard rather than strip so i'm looking forward to read your next begginer project on a muff fuzz!


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me soldered 2 working effects : EH lpb2, Beginner project's boost

[aron]

which schematic did you use? One of them is wrong. The diodes on the end go to ground, not V+

Aron

[Kilby]

On the subject of Big Muff building.

I have built two versions one for my son and one for myself.

The one for myself was the version from tonepad, this version seems to have decided that it's an tone generator rather than a big muff

Anything over minimal sustain and tone settings gives me a tone gen rather than a big muff, these pots will change the pitch of the tone. At minimal settings I can hear a little fuzz.

Currently it has 2N2222a transistors installed (I have tried others)
 I also used the 0.1 uF caps rather than the 1uF.

I have seen screened wire suggested but I really do not think that it's a screening problem.

Any suggestions folks ?

[hair force one]

which schematic did you use? One of them is wrong. The diodes on the end go to ground, not V+

Aron

first i build from the bad schematic, then the good one (from guitareffectsproject )...
here are the numbers through my bc550s

                                          Q1: c1.14 b0.55 e0
                                          Q2: c6.76 b0.14 e0.55
seems good :wink: ??

[aron]

Anything over minimal sustain and tone settings gives me a tone gen rather than a big muff, these pots will change the pitch of the tone. At minimal settings I can hear a little fuzz.

This does sound like a layout problem. Somewhere you have the input and output wires of either gain stages or other wires too close together.

Or your layout somehow puts the output of a gain stage too close to the input of a previous gain stage.

Shielded wire can help if it's due to the input and output wires crossing.

[aron]

Q1: c1.14 b0.55 e0
Q2: c6.76 b0.14 e0.55

Q1's base is just a little above the emitter and Q2's base doesn't look correct.

hmmm... Q2's base should be the same as Q1's collector. Is that a typo above?

If so, you might adjust Q1's collector resistor - put a 100K pot there and adjust it.

[RJ]

We can build the Muff Fuzz next and I can show you how to mod it.

Hello...I was wondering if a Big Muff project was still a possibility in the future?  The current beginner project walk-through is excellent and I'd be very interested in seeing a Muff build in similar detail.

Thanks for the great website!

[aron]

Yes, I can show how to build a Big Muff as an intermediate project.

[RJ]

Awesome, Aron...that would be really great.  Thanks a bunch!

[Kilby]

Well I fixed my Muff problem (well the efx pedal anyway).

The layout was the tonepad one and I used the lower val caps.

Maplin (UK supplier) supplied me with a completely bizarre input socket where the second connector also made contact with the tip of the .25 inch jack. It was the last thing I would have expected , hence it took two evenings to track down.

I have to say it sounds pretty good though

[Wellington Cordeiro]

Hi.
I mounted a muff fuzz from the J. D. Sleep`s site, ans it is a good effect, but i made some changes: i used a 20K pot for get a fuzz intensity control, and use a switch to select the clipping diodes. I used a pair of silicons diodes and a hybrid pair (si and ge diodes). It worked fine. If you are interested, send a mail.