Modding in progress, Big Muff Pi with Cornish mods

[Tsetse]

Hello there!

As a result of this thread I thought I'd keep you all posted on how things work out with the Cornish mods for my BMP.

I've ordered the parts required for the two Cornish mods earlier this week, today they arrived in the mail and tomorrow evening I'll meet a good friend and we'll get the mods done.

I'll take my Tele, an amp and a nice bottle of Single Malt for drinking afterwards (I have to remind myself - afterwards ) so I hope the BMP will be fine after the "operation". If all goes well, I'll have a good reason to celebrate with the Single Malt, if the BMP gets wrecked, I'll have a good excuse to wash the annoyance down .

If everything works, I'll update this thread with information about how easy / difficult the modding process is and what the mods will do for the sound of the pedal.

Looking forward to tomorrow,
Regards,
Stephan

[Tsetse]

It's alive!

Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to update this thread with a few pics and I forgot to take pics during the modding process.

As you can see, the front plate got a little "reliced" in the process, that's because we did the drilling last and we were a bit drunk by then - we basically forgot to put something soft beneath the surface while drilling. Well, after the first two gigs, it would have looked that way anyway, so I don't mind at all. I took the opportunity and scratched C1 and C2 into the plate so I know what's what when I use it.

My buddy had lots of fun doing the soldering and I was able to learn a few things in the process. He really knows how to solder, so we didn't run into problems with the el-cheapo components used in this pedal.

Now to the sound: It's still got the same stock Muff sound when the mods aren't activated. The Cornish mods work great, however, I've still got to test them in depth at rehearsal today. I want to see how the mods work with my band setup.
What is immediately noticeable is that the pedal now seemingly looses some of the fuzz, a lot of the bass end and it's now possible to boost the mid frequencies, depending on the positions of the switches.

Thanks so much to you guys who helped me with the mods, they add a lot of versatility to the BMP!

Regards,
Stephan

[11 Gauge]

Fantastic!

I'm really glad that the process went smoothly for you!

[JohnnyCrash]

I did those two mods on a switch as well.

Tsetse, I am VERY grateful to HenryAdams and you for goading/convincing me to mod my BMP RI and 11 Gauge for the technical info.

I dig the original BMP modes for that thick, fuzzy, Black Sabbath/Smashing Pumpkins type sludge, but the mod switches turn it into more of a smooth overdrive. Two pedals in one!!







PS I scratched mine too.

[P-Zilla]

Muff > other pedals

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by P-Zilla

Muff > other pedals

HAHA!

I'm studying for a Math exam tomorrow... I wonder if I could use this equality... then I'd pass the class for sure

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

I scratched mine too.

It seems like Muff scratching is a common occurrence in these parts.

Mine is is an actual mid 70's ram's head, rehoused in an EH RI enclosure, nice and beat up, courtesy of a donation from "The EH Man," Ron Neeley. No Cornish switches on this one, though!

A Muff doesn't look right unless it looks like it's been banged on a bit.

[JohnnyCrash]

It'd be nice if more people posted photos of their BMP... I could look at them all day!

Different switch locations, random knobs, personalized battle wounds and scratches...

Perhaps someone should start a "Show us your Muff" thread (if the title doesn't get you banned from TDPRI hehehe).

[frakenstrat]

i need to fix mine.

[P-Zilla]

The Muff is the only pedal I dont mind being housed in a GIGANTIC box.

The bigger the box the better the Muff.

(i'll be here all week guys!)

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

Perhaps someone should start a "Show us your Muff" thread (if the title doesn't get you banned from TDPRI hehehe).

We'd just have to disguise the title a little, to something like, "Show us your poorly groomed big box!"

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by P-Zilla

The bigger the box the better the Muff.

Yeah, a "Brazilian wax enclosure" just doesn't do those big fuzzy vibes justice. Gotta go big for the full effect.

[Tsetse]

Rehearsal was great (and quite extended), so I didn't have a chance to check or answer to this thread yesterday.

This pedal rocks in a band situation with a few big amps... I think in an earlier thread Johnny Crash wrote about feeling like a 400ft. version of Tony Iommi when playing through this thing - I second that notion .

However, while the stock configuration really nails that early Smashing Pumpkins sound and some Black Sabbath as well, it really gets lost in our band sound. Without the mods, I think I would have sooner or later reserved it for recording purposes.

With the mods on, for me that's where the BMP really starts to shine. The distortion level and bass end are less crazy but it still sounds like a Muff - it only cuts through a LOT better. The boosted mids make the sound stand out better, but it doesn't get shrill at all, it's still really warm and retains that characteristic "mushy" attack.
With the mod switches on, the sustain is unreal. The notes just won't die unless you really want them to. The lead sounds you can get are very reminiscent of David Gilmour, sweet, singing, violin-like. The rhythm sounds are still completely over-the-top and lots of fun.

All in all, I am glad that the stock settings are still there - I feel they could be useful when we go to the studio later this year. In live situations, I think at least one if not both of the switches will almost always be on - the sounds are just too good to pass up on and I think the mods will take care of the problems most Muff users have with the stock versions in live situations.

If anybody reading this is still in doubt about having these mods done - don't hesitate. You'll gain a lot of versatility from the pedal. On a side note, I think Pink Floyd fans should really look into this. Those may not be the "official" Cornish mods, but imho they get you in the ballpark, plus the pedal itself is inexpensive and the parts for the mods cost next to nothing.

One more note (all imho): I've read about this before, but now I'm convinced: This pedal is not for the bedroom player, it really needs some serious volume to shine.

Next I'll start to build a few clones from kits, my buddy who did the mods will teach me how to solder and supervise me while I take the first steps. I think an inexpensive kit would be a good way to get started on learning how to do it. I guess I'm a little infected with the modding / diy virus.

Seriously, guys, I owe you one! Thanks to you all helping out a newbie, this pedal will now hold a permanent place on my pedal board. I'm starting to wonder how I could live without it...

It seems like Muff scratching is a common occurrence in these parts.

Stephan

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by Tsetse

One more note (all imho): I've read about this before, but now I'm convinced: This pedal is not for the bedroom player, it really needs some serious volume to shine.

This is where a lot of players lose faith in the Muff, IMO (maybe rightly so, for their application). You need volume, and POWER. A lot of folks might tend to forget that back in the day, it was a Muff into a Twin Reverb, a Muff into a modded Bassman head, or in Gilmour's case - a Muff into an ear bleeding HiWatt head (or two or three!).

...You might be able to get the pedal to work with a smaller amp, but it should really at least have SS recto AND a choke. Kids try to put them thru Princeton Reverbs - no choke, no SS recto (we won't get into Champs and such). Or a newer Peavey - SS recto, but no choke. My old Deluxe Reverb barely hangs on, thanks to the choke and fixed bias, but the recto really drags it down.

Billy Corgan put his Muff through a 2203 with KT88's!

...This very same phenomenon happens when someone goes into a store to try out a Muff - they'll plug it into a little 2XEL84 amp, or maybe a 40 watter with a pair of 6L6's, but turn the volume down to 2.5. It just won't cut it.

The Rat is the "pipsqueak amp pedal" that works where Muffs don't. This is why I think that pedals like the OCD and similar are so popular - they work with the pigmy amps. Put the OCD into a Dual Showman, and you'll return that thing in a heartbeat!

Different horses for different courses. But those Cornish switches will make the Muff much more usable with smaller amps. Just don't ever turn them off!

[HenryAdams]

Hey Stephan

Glad to hear it worked out, it is awesome, isn't it.

I'll play the Show Me Your Muff game.


You'll see I went for the devil's horns placement of the toggles, too. There's something about the BMP that brings out the snarly, punky, gothy rocker in me. It weird, but also kind of alluring...

I also included in the photo my tube screamer clone (which i call the Punk Is NOt Dead pedal). It's the its8 kit with mods from general guitar gadgets, and I LOVE it. Might be a good DIY kit to check out. And when I run it into the BMP, we end up in insano territory...

[Tsetse]

@11 Gauge: Very interesting info concerning amps!

Yesterday's rehearsal was the first chance I got to use the pedal with a "big" amp and in a real playing situation.
I put it in front of my Bandmaster Reverb and left it there for the rehearsal to get a feeling for the Muff's sound, next rehearsal I will try it in front of my Twin Reverb and do a side-by-side comparison to find out where I like the pedal best.

Might well turn out to be the Twin, after all it doesn't have a tube rectifier but lots more power.
This might be interesting, especially with the stock settings.

@HenryAdams:

You'll see I went for the devil's horns placement of the toggles, too.

Yes, I like them there as well. I wanted to have the option to toggle them with my foot like you mentioned in my other thread, so you basically gave me the idea.
Another reason was that I bought two sets of toggle switches in two different sizes and my buddy recommended to go with the bigger version, at which point it would have become complicated to place them closer to the knobs and directly above the PCB. So it was more comfortable for him to do the mods and I've gained the option to move the toggles with my foot.

About the DIY kit I'm going to build: I'm going to have to think this through. I think maybe the first pedal will be some kind of clean boost, because those seem to be very basic circuits, the kits are dirt-cheap and additionally I've never owned a boost pedal before but would like to experiment a little with using one.

After that and hopefully after I learn something more about circuits and soldering, I'll probably experiment a little with OD / Fuzz pedals with different components (e.g. silicon vs. germanium) - I've always wanted to try some different flavours in that context.

Concerning Tubescreamers: I've owned and used one for quite some time (mainly to boost my previous amp and to tidy up that amp's bass end) but I was not so fond of it in front of my Fender amps. At the moment, I'm using a T-Rex Alberta for basic overdrive duty and while that is marketed as a TS clone, to my ears it doesn't behave or sound like one. This also works very well for my Fenders.
Your pedal looks great, though!

[JohnnyCrash]

Tsetse, you might consider a Rangeblaster.

It's a Rangemaster with a PNP Germanium transistor instead (so you can use negative ground and normal BOSS style AC adapters) and a protection diode.

Bloody simply to build and they sound great. Especially since you've discovered one of Gilmore's secret weapons, you might as well nail Brian May's sig sound too. Clapton used one on that Mayall's Bluesbreakers album (practically the only Clapton work I like), Mark Bolan used one in T.Rex, and I think Mick Ronson used one sometimes with Bowie.

I've built two or three by now (I even gave one away)... they do that nasal, cocked-wah thing exceptionally well.

When I need to get my Queen fix, I plug it into my Vox homebuild. It's also good for Judas Priest and all sorts of stuff you might not have considered it would be good for.

PS
Rangemasters (and their copies like Javaboosts, Rangeblasters, etc) seem to work best in a smaller amp cranked or already breaking up... they're especially nice for brightening up dark amps and I'll probably build one just to keep in the back of my 5E3 homebuild.

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by HenryAdams

I also included in the photo my tube screamer clone (which i call the Punk Is NOt Dead pedal). It's the its8 kit with mods from general guitar gadgets, and I LOVE it. Might be a good DIY kit to check out. And when I run it into the BMP, we end up in insano territory...

From a fellow punk rocker:

Nice and ugly greenbox! Makes me want to crank up the Dead Boys and aim my stereo at the neighbors

[HenryAdams]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

From a fellow punk rocker:

Nice and ugly greenbox! Makes me want to crank up the Dead Boys and aim my stereo at the neighbors

Yeah, I'll always love punk. You're from Fullerton, eh? Isn't that Social Distortion's town?

[winny pooh]

A gift for my best friend: