Coda Effects - Big Muff Mods and Tweaks

17/11/2022 11:27 Coda Effects - Big Muff mods and tweaks
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BIG MUFF MODS AND TWEAKS

TIPS
I recently noticed that a page I referred to a lot

just disappeared from internet... It is the Big Muff
mods and tweaks page that was deleted recently.
Fortunately for us, there are some "internet

archives" website that keep it alive for a while. In
order to keep it alive, I added it here. I also
added a list of personnal mods that work
quite well, and some notes about mods I
already tried.
Easy mods
Diodes mods
https://www.coda-effects.com/2015/11/big-muff-mods-and-tweaks.html 1/16
The Big muff contains 4 diodes (2 pairs of

diodes), that clip the signal to create gain, and
compress the signal. Changing these diodes can
change the compression and gain of the pedal
drastically:
Silicon diodes: these are the original
diodes used in the Big Muff. Usually,
they are 1n4148 type diodes, and
gives the Big Muff reference tone:
gainy, compressed yet crispy and tight
distortion.
Germanium diodes: germanium
diodes will cut the sound more. You
will have a more gainy, more
compressed saturation, but also you
will loose quite a bit of output volume.
No germanium diodes were used in
original Big Muffs.
LEDs: LEDs are also diodes and can
clip the signal. Red diodes clip more
the signal compared to yellow, blue
ones. There will be less gain, less
compression and also more volume
output. It gives to the Big Muff a nice
"overdrive" feel, with a bit more
dynamics. Note from Coda Effects: I
tried it on this Big Muff variant, I really
like it! It gives a lot of dynamics to the
muff.
FET / MOSFET: if you tie together the
drain and gate of FET / MOSFET
transistors, they will behave like
diodes. Sound is similar to silicon
diodes, a bit smoother.
Remove the fi rst pair of diodes, and

you have got a Colorsound Supa
Tonebender! The unit will be louder,
with more bass, but still quite
compressed. Great trick for bass
players.
Remove the two pairs of diodes:
great trick! By removing the diodes
from the unit now sound if fed back.
Result: more volume (LOUD!), less
compression, less gain and a more
open (overdrive) sound. In my Dolmen
Fuzz, I removed all the diodes with the
central position of the switch: massive
spurry sound!
A good way to see what is your favorite
combination is to use sockets for the diodes. You
can also use switches to change the diodes. Here
is an example with silicon diodes and LEDs :
Works really well and it gives you multiples

choices. With 2 of these on-on-on switches you
can choose between no diodes or 2 different
diodes set for each gain stage!
Emitter mod
Each transistor's emitter of the gain stages of the

Big Muff is linked to the ground by a resistor
(either 100R or 390R, R12 & R16). Removing the
resistors will increase the "gainy-ness" of the
pedal, increasing the resistors will lower it.
Resistor mod
Each of the gain stages has a
limiting resistor on the start of it (R8 & R13).
These are 8.2k (8k2) or 10k in different models.
By diminishing these values the unit gets more
gainy. (Note from Coda Effects: beware! There is a
typo on the original Big Muff mods and tweaks text.
Diminish it for more gain)
Creamy Dreamer
Basically the combination of the Emitter mod and
the Resistor mod.
Noise gate mod

This mod will quieten the Muff while not playing,
thus a noise gate. To do this, add a 100k trimpot
(wired as a variable resistor) parallel to the
100k to ground of the second gain stage (R14).
The trimpot can be adjusted to taste to get the
max noise gate effect.
Coupling caps mod

The Muff has a lot of coupling caps (C1, 3, 4, 7, 16,

12 & 13). Coupling caps are next to the block of
DC also a way to set the frequency response of
the unit.
Enlarging these caps give the unit more bass,

making em smaller give the unit more treble.
Experiment with em. Also the sort of caps can
make a difference in noise, feeling and
authenticity. Old Muffs used ceramic coupling
caps; using film caps here won't give you the
same sound
High roll-off mod

Notice those small ceramic caps on 3 of the
transistor stages? They are used to roll of
excessive highs. Normally they are 470 pF (C2, 5
& 8) but larger values roll of more highs. You can
also remove em for a great result.
Clipping caps mods

Next to the diodes is also a cap placed (C6 & 9).
This cap determines the frequency band the unit
clips. Enlarging this cap will make it clip more low
notes, make it smaller for more high end
clipping.
Transistor mods
The Muff uses four transistors and the type and

choice of these transistors will affect the
sound greatly. The higher the gain, the more the
unit will focus on the high end / treble. Some
known examples:
The Russian Muff uses E type
transistors (newer ones use BC549C's
though) which has a Hfe of around
500. I used BC184's as a great
replacement of these transistors.
The NYC Muffs usually use 2N5088's
or BC550's with a Hfe of around 800.
The Little Big Muff uses 2N5962 with a
Hfe of around 1500 - 2000.
The Russian sounds darker due to the low
gain. Knowing this, we can change the sound of a
muff greatly by replacing the transistors. Small
tip: use sockets when changing transistors. This
way the transistors are not damaged by the
soldering and swapping is much much easier.
Some nice ones:
2N5133's: used in Triangle ones (the
NOS versions tend to sound even
better then newer ones) as FS36999's.
Very nice sound, smooth, warm,
open.One of my favs! Note from Coda
Effects: I would not use these ones. They
are really rare and expensive. I am not
sure that they really sound better... I
would try to find something similar in
hfe (around 100-400).
BC239's: also used in a bunch of
Muffs around. Slight less gain as the
above named but this gives the Muff

quite a nice touch.
2N5087's: PNP transistors instead of
the above named NPN (more
usualble). To use these you need to
reorient some of the caps and change
the + and - of the battery (called
positive ground). Although they must
be identical to 2N5088's they were
used in some old models and do
sound different.
BC141's: ultra low Hfe (around 100)
and not suited for anyone out there.
More bass, less gain but a very
different sound.
MPSA13's: ultra high Hfe (around
10.000). Nice touch for some more
gain.
Experiment! Use four of the same transistors or
try to mix. For example I like a Muff with 5133's
for the clipping stages and MPSA13's for the
buffer stages.
Note from Coda Effects: I also

experimented with a few transistors, here
is my feedback about this:
The first transistor is the one
that will define the most of the
gain of your unit. Higher hfe =
more gain, but also more
trebles... I tried a few ones:
2n5089: high gain,
but also gives a
"gritty" touch to
the muff that I do
not really like. Also
quite noisy
2n5088: nice
sound, gainy unit,
but less noisy and
agressive trebles
than 2n5089. I
really like it and
use it often.
2n2222A: low gain,
gives more bass
and smoother
sound. Beware:
polarity is reversed
compared to
2n5089.
MPSA18: extreme
gain! I would
suggest to increase
emitter resistor to
limit gain
(especially for
noise issues), but
you can have a
nice "doomy" muff
with it!
2n3904/BC549C:
great for a low
gain Muff.
The two transistors of the gain
stages play a bit more with
compression. I usually use low
hfe. 2n2222 are really nice for

this use. 2n5088 can also do
the job.
The last transistor will define
the final output volume of the
unit. I like to have quite a lot
of output volume, so I prefer
to use high hfe transistor for
the last stage, like 2n5089, or
MPSA18.
Feedback mod
This mod is also not for anyone. It will give the
Muff a weird drone note that will interact
with the notes played resulting in octaves (up
and down), nintendo sounds or a huge MUSH.
Can sound quite nice and interesting!!!!! The mod
is done with a feedback loop: connecting two
points together and letting signal flow back. I
found two of these loops in my Muff (note: more
can be there; try for yourself!)
1 Connect the emitter of Q3 with the

emitter of Q2 through a switch (so you
can turn the loop off). The sustain will be
on full when this mod is engaged.
2 Connect the collector of Q3 with the
collector of Q1 through a switch. The
sustain now can be varied by the sustain
knob.
Great addition: add a 1M potmeter in the loop

(wired as a variable resistor) or, even better!!, a
LDR (light dependent resistor). With the latter,
you can control the amount of feedback with the
light on stage / with your foot shading the LDR
from the light. Cool!
Note from Coda effects: this is really cool,

but I will suggest to use a momentary
footswitch. If not, you can be quickly
bored with the noisy issues that will rise
from this mod. However, from times to
times (beginning of a song), it is a killer
mod to use!
Pictures:
NYC muff:
Russian muff: (Note from Coda Effects: these units

are getting rarer and rarer, I would not modify it)
Tonestack mods
The Big Muff Pi is legendary due to his tone

section; only one knob to select between a bass,
treble or in-between setting. The overall sound
of this tone knob is the loved / hated mid cut.
Some Versions:
Triangle version: R1=33k, C1=4n,
R2=33k, C2=10n;
Ramshead version: R1=33k, C1=4n,
R2=22k, C2=10n;
1975 version: R1=39k, C1=4n, R2 =
22k, C2=10n;
1977 opamp version (1): R1=5.6k,
C1=100n, R2=1.2k, C2=120n;
1977 opamp version (2): R1=8.2k,
C1=100n, R2=1.2k, C2=120n;
Green Russian version: R1=20k,
C1=3.9n, R2=22k, C2=10n;
Late model: R1=39k, C1=4n, R2=100k,
C2=10n
Reissue version: R1=22k, C1=3.9n,
R2=22k, C2=10n;
Little Big Muff version = reissue
version.
And then some different mods:
Swollen Pickle: R1=33k, C1=3.3n, R2 =
22k, C2=47n;
Flat mids: R1=33k, C1=5.6n, R2=33k,
C2=5.6n;
Tone stack bypass mod

By bypassing the tonestack the tonestack has no

influence anymore on the sound thus does not
color the signal in it's own way. Great way to get
a more middy tone from your Muff. As the tone
stack also cuts volume you get a huge volume
increase
Tone stack complete mod

One of my most fav mods. Remove the tone
stack altogether from the Muff and place a three
band EQ circuit in it's place. Works like a charm
and gives you more control over the sound! I
also once added a Boss GE-7 in this place to give
total control over the sound.
Read my post about the Big Muff tonestack

for more infos about how the tonestack works
and what mods you can do.
Bonus mods (Coda Effects)

Here are other easy mods and tweaks that can
give a nice touch to a Big Muff:
Input Resistor / Capacitor:

The input resistor (R1) and capacitor (C1) defines
how much signal enters the pedal, ie the overall
gain of the unit. It also forms a filter that will
allow some frequencies to go in or not.

Increasing the value of the resistor will lower the

gain, and lower treble content of the pedal.
Increasing the value of the capacitor will increase
the amount ot bass and the overall gain of the
unit.
I like to use a switch to choose between a high

gain bassy setting, and a lower gain treblier
setting.
A smaller value in C1 also helps reducing noise. I
used this mod on this Big Muff for instance.
LPB1 before the muff circuit

Adding a LBP1 before the muff circuit can
allow you to add an extra gain / bass amount
to the muff. It really add some "heaviness" to
the distortion. You can do it on a veroboard, with
a trimmer or external gain potentiometer. I want
to use the PCB I made recently to try this mod.
The musket from Blackout Effectors uses this
trick. With a simple 3PDT wiring, you can make it
activable or not.
Germanium transistors in the distorsion

stage
It can smoothen the Big Muff a bit, but
remember to have a high gain last stage to
recover enough volume. This is used in the Hoof

fuzz from EQD. I am not super found of this mod,
but you can try it out if you want! Remember to
use NPN germanium transistors.
Voltage starver mod

You can emulate a dead battery, that will give a
very peculiar sound to the muff: it cleans up a bit,
and the circuit starts to sound "gated", and
"stutters" a bit because it does not have enough
power to work correctly. I would suggest to use
this schematic:
Just connect the output voltage to the voltage

input of your Big Muff.
18V Muff
Beware: I never tested it on a EHX, and I do not
know if the stock pedal can handle 18V... If you
have already test it, tell me. However, if you have
made a clone with capacitors that can handle

18V or more, you can try to use a MAX1044 as a
voltage doubler to supply your Big Muff with 18V
instead of 9V!
Here it is! I hope that you liked it, good luck with
experimenting!
If this article was useful, you can thank me by
liking the Coda Effects Facebook Page!
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17/11/2022 11:27 Coda Effects - Big Muff mods and tweaks

HOME ALL POSTS STEP BY STEP SHOP BUILDS ABOUT

BIG MUFF MODS AND TWEAKS

I recently noticed that a page I referred to a lot

Fortunately for us, there are some "internet

The Big muff contains 4 diodes (2 pairs of

Remove the fi rst pair of diodes, and

Works really well and it gives you multiples

Each transistor's emitter of the gain stages of the

Noise gate mod

Coupling caps mod

The Muff has a lot of coupling caps (C1, 3, 4, 7, 16,

Enlarging these caps give the unit more bass,

High roll-off mod

Clipping caps mods

The Muff uses four transistors and the type and

above named but this gives the Muff

Note from Coda Effects: I also

hfe. 2n2222 are really nice for

1 Connect the emitter of Q3 with the

Great addition: add a 1M potmeter in the loop

Note from Coda effects: this is really cool,

Russian muff: (Note from Coda Effects: these units

The Big Muff Pi is legendary due to his tone

Tone stack bypass mod

By bypassing the tonestack the tonestack has no

Tone stack complete mod

Read my post about the Big Muff tonestack

Bonus mods (Coda Effects)

Input Resistor / Capacitor:

allow some frequencies to go in or not.

Increasing the value of the resistor will lower the

I like to use a switch to choose between a high

LPB1 before the muff circuit

Germanium transistors in the distorsion

recover enough volume. This is used in the Hoof

Voltage starver mod

Just connect the output voltage to the voltage

made a clone with capacitors that can handle

 Top 5 guitar pedal facts that should light a «

 Relay Bypass: final code

 Ultimate guide to guitar effect wiring: how to

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