A Big Muff Slice Of Pi (A Guitar Pedal Story)

One of the most well known guitar pedals of all time is the Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi.  Yes, it's really called that.  There are countless versions, clones, and kits for every type of Big Muff you can think of, and a few you didn't.

Back when I was working at an independent guitar shop, the shop carried Electro Harmonix (EHX) pedals and tubes.  It was then that I bought my first Big Muff Pi guitar pedal.  Recently, I found out the version I have is version 8.  Also known as the Black Russian version.  Namely, because the outside housing is black and it was made in Russia.

I also happened to find out that it was extremely valuable on the used instrument market.  It seems bass players liked that version since the pedal didn't go into full blown distortion when the gain was set at 1 or 2.  Basically version 8 had the most usable, as well as widest amount of distortion of all the models.

Bass players could set the gain between 1 and 3 and it would be the perfect amount of gain for them.  Guitar players who would need more could turn the gain up, and it would be perfect for them.  For my tastes I liked the gain set between 3 and 5.  It made a nice breakup at that setting, and not go into full blown Smashing Pumpkins at that level.

So I faced a dilemma.  Do I put this valuable pedal on my pedalboard?  Also, one problem with this model, is that, it only took a 9 volt battery.  It couldn't be powered by a 9 volt power adaptor or modern day power brick.  However I found solution.  I would buy a DIY pedal kit.

EHX Big Muff Pi Replica Complete Kit

A company called General Guitar Gadgets (GGG) sold DIY pedal kits for all the different versions of the Big Muff Pi.  I thought, "Hell yeah!  This will be great!  I'll build my first kit, and learn a few things in the process!"

(Note:  While I did learn a few things in the process, many life lessons are learned the hard way.  Keep reading.)

So I ordered the kit.  Here's what it looked like when it arrived.

I did upgrade to the larger pedal housing (1590BB.)  So far my cost was just under $70 including shipping.  That's what I figured it would be, so I was alright with that.

Next, I dropped the housing off to be powder coated.  I had American Powder Coating in Tampa do the work.

I have to say they did an outstanding job.  It was better than I expected.  What I didn't know, is that, most of the cost is for sandblasting, handling, and baking the housing.  Even though they didn't use much paint, there as much labor as there would be for a larger part.  So the cost of the powder coating was $40.  However, I do want to be clear that they did an outstanding and amazing job.

I also ordered a few parts from Small Bear Electronics.  I wanted to put some green chicken head knobs on the pedal, as well as, use a different LED light.  So I bought a few lights in case I blew one up.  I also bought some capacitors for future guitar projects.  With shipping it came to $12.

http://www.smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/mini-chicken-heads/

Next, I had to organize everything.  To make things simple I taped everything to a piece of cardboard and labeled it.

 

That took a while.  But I was quite happy with myself.  Next, it was time to solder everything in.

We'll fast-forward here.  Let's just say I put a couple of hours work into this.  Next up was running the wires to the pots and jacks.

Next up, it was time to see if it worked.

It lights up so it must be working right?  Um, no.  I tested everything I knew how to do, and then thought it over.  To make a long story short I called Mike Jay at Pro Audio Electronics in Tampa.  Mike is a great guy, and said to come on over.

He had an apprentice at the shop and this was the perfect project for him to learn on.  Something I learned right there was that Mike and his technicians had a lot of specialized tools that I didn't.  It took a while to get the pedal working but Mike told me, "Other than reversing the NPN bipolar junction transistors (4 of them), a few cold solder joints, and using two wrong resistors you did it perfectly!"  At least he said it in a way that we all could laugh at.  Yeah, I had to laugh at that.

He told me not to worry about paying him for the pedal work.  I had done all the hard work, and it was a learning experience for his apprentice.  I also figured it was also because I just had $400 worth of work performed on an amp not too many months ago.  I did tell him that since he had used seven small pieces worth of parts (the transistors and the resistors) I should at least give him seven dollars for the parts.  He said he would put it towards pizza money.

Once his team got the pedal working it was like an anvil had been lifted off my back.  I was so thankful.  I also swore this was the last pedal kit I was ever going to try.  I really don't have the specialized equipment that his shop had.

So I brought the pedal home, and started to label it.  I had bought some stickers from Michaels for $3.00 just for labeling this pedal.

Okay yes, it's very sparkly.  I didn't think it would be this sparkly.  When I picked the pedal color out at American Powder Coating I knew it would sparkle like on a motorcycle tank, but I didn't think it would have that much sparkle in it.  I thought it would be darker, that's why I bought the gold sparkle stickers.  However, they ended up being much more sparkly than I thought.  So my pedal looks like it was hit by Kerry the Sparkle Fairy.

So the big question, how does it sound?  Honestly, I don't think it sounds as good as my original Big Muff Pi.  Although, the one amp I ran it through isn't that great, and the other was being contrary.  It looks like I might end up taking that one to Mike Jay, huh?

Honestly, I think I need more time with it.  The one thing I really like, is that, like my Big Muff Pi, it has a wide range of tones.  I think I just need to find the right one for me.

So what's the total cost of this adventure?  Let's see...

$70 for the kit.
$40 for the powder coating.
$12 for the small parts.
$ 7 for the pizza fund.
$ 3 for the stickers.
________________________

$132. total.

Of course, I had to buy a new soldering iron for this project.  My old one didn't have a super fine tip.  I can't really add $22 for a new iron to this project since I'll use it for years to come.  However, it was an investment I had to make for this project.

After I had completed this pedal project I found out some new information.  EHX likes making re-issues of different models of the Big Muff Pi.  It turns out version 8, the Black Russian version, is now called the Bass Big Muff Pi.

Remember how I said that bass players liked that version?  Well, they came out with this this reissue to make them happy.  It only costs... $81.40?  Wait!  So it was just cheaper to buy this, and not do all that work?  I could have just ordered it from Musician's Friend with free shipping?

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/electro-harmonix-xo-bass-big-muff-pi-distortion-effects-pedal?rNtt=bass big muff&index=3

Remember what I said earlier about life handing out hard learned lessons?  Well, this is it.  At least I have a niffy guitar pedal to remember this lesson by.  

Mommy and Me and Cthulhu

I have this one friend on Facebook who is a nice enough person, but I cringe every time one of her posts come up.  Why?  Because she never actually posts an independent thought.  She has never once posted about how her days was, or anything like that.  90% of the time she is sharing a post from one of these awful "Mommy and Me" pages.

I have to say whoever thinks up the things on these pages has the same IQ as temperature on a nice spring night.  They have great life changing/ deep philosophical questions like, "Would you put a man before your baby?"  She always has to post along with it, "I would never do that in 100 years!"

I mean, it's kind of like a shooting fish in a barrel type of question isn't it?  They might as well ask, "Would you ever let a komodo dragon come between you and your baby?"

Who the fuck is even thinking something like that, much less asking it in a post?  Another great intellectual questions asked, "Your house is burning down.  What is the one thing you would save?"

I don't know, my 1988 Topps Complete Baseball Card Set?

Of course it's the fucking children!  What kind of dumb question is that?  How about, "Would you ever let your children accept an apple from an evil witch in the forest?"

(Editor's note:  Normally I would post a picture of the evil witch from Snow White, but that's owned by Walt Disney.  And those fuckers are hardcore about their copyright.  So here's a picture of something else.)

Another great one, "Should men help with the household work?"  Yeah, I wonder how that question went over?  (Sarcasm.  Sarcasm.  Sarcasm.)

I am reminded of the Facebook page, "Shares from your Aunt" which is a hilarious satire page.  If you've ever received a message from your Aunt telling you that Obama was the Anti-Christ then posting a Maya Angelou quote, while letting you know that 1 Share = 100 likes, then you know exactly who this page is referencing.  As someone with a large number of Aunts, I completely get what they are saying.

So I was thinking of starting my own page like, "Shares from your Aunt," but this time making funny of all the Mommy pages out there.  I'd call it, "Mommy and Me and Cthulhu."

Unlike those awful "Mommy and Me" pages, I would ask great questions like, "What's an acceptable age for my baby to join a cult?"

Is a fox an acceptable first pet for my baby?

Would you let a convicted child rapist put up drywall in your house?  Even if it's for a good price?

What's an appropriate age to introduce my baby into luchador sports?  Or is that something only illegals do?

Would you set up a machine gun nest to keep out axe welding serial killers?

I could keep going on and on, but I think you get my point.  Yeah, I think that's enough post for one day.

Damages

I sit here at three in the morning writing this.  Yesterday afternoon I learned that someone I cared about had passed away.  I won't say her name on here due to privacy reasons, but I will call her, "S."  S. was only twenty five years old. 

I honestly feel broken.  I don't know when I became forty one years old.  It just kind of happened.  I don't feel like an adult.  In fact, I'm probably a man-child.  But when I see someone who was just twenty five pass away, it feels like there's no justice in this world.

When reading S's obituary I noticed what was missing, the cause of death.  There was no, "she had been suffering from a long bout of illness."  There was no, "auto accident," or things of that nature.  It was the big thing that we can't talk about.  Such a dirty word isn't it?

I have been going through the five stages of grief.  Mainly, it's been a lot of anger.  Actually, it's been mostly anger while bouncing back every few seconds between all the rest.  A little anger here, over to grief, some more anger, over to depression, anger that makes me want to punch something, take a detour to disbelief, and back again to anger.

Doctors and scientists know about how much physical pain a person can stand.  But I've always wondered about how much mental pain a person can stand?  I'm sure it's different between humans, but just how much mental pain can we stand before we break?

I really wonder about depression.  Just why would humans be cursed with such a thing?  I realize that we are filled with many emotions, but why does depression seem to play such a big part of our emotions?  It almost seems self defeating?  It's like building an automobile with a part you know is going to fail.

Eight years ago I bought a new suit.  My suit that I had since tenth grade didn't exactly fit so well for my now adult body.  In all fairness, my size changed, not my suit.  So I bought this new suit with the hopes of using it for job interviews, jury duty, and weddings.  You know the one thing I've used it for more than anything else?  Funerals.  That's right.  Funerals. 

Once again, I have one more funeral that I will be attending.  I honestly never thought I would end up wearing my suit to this many funerals.  The first time I wore it was for jury duty.  The second time I wore it was for a double funeral/memorial service.  It's just hard to believe I've had to attend this many services.

It's getting to the point I'm almost cursing the suit every time I pull it out of the closet.  Namely because I know what I'll be wearing it for.

I'm going to try to get some sleep now.  Hopefully my brain can manage to rest.  Good night.

(Editor's note:  I am writing the rest of this post on 5/29.)

Last week I attended S.'s memorial service.  I found out something I didn't know.  S. had been suffering from childhood leukemia since she was 12 years old.  Like a lot of cancer patients the medicine is worse than the disease.  I can't imagine all the medicines, and thus, side effects she had to put up with.

So yes, S. died by suicide, but no one can know the pain she was constantly in from both the cancer and the side effects of the treatments.  She was not only in mental pain, but physical pain as well. 

I can hear some folks speaking the old saying, "Due to her circumstances, you can't judge her too harshly."  I don't judge her at all.  I simply miss her.

Tales From The Delivery Route: The Mailman And The Jester

I've told quite a few tales about myself on this blog.  However, after all these years writing this blog I think I've tapped out all the funny stories about me.  So I thought I'd move on to another victim, er... subject.  Namely, my father.

For twenty five years my dad was a U.S. Postal Letter Carrier.  That's right, he was your friendly neighborhood mailman. 

Here's a seldom known fact.  Your mailman knows everything about you.  My dad was out on the street delivering the same route every day six times a week.  He knew everyone's business.  He also knew everyone's legal names as well as their street names.

He delivered to a small independent convenience store where the "independent businessmen" hung out.  They would stand off to the side of the store, and would sell their goods.  (I think you get my drift on what they were selling.)

So one of the guys who hung out there didn't have a street name like the rest of them.  They were all having a conversation on what this guy's street name should be.  That's when my Dad, among the whitest of all white guys, suggests the following to them.

"Well, you're big and you like to make people laugh.  Your name has to be Jester."

That's when the all African American group of businessmen looked at my Dad like he was the most brilliant thing on the planet.  They immediately agreed that the fellow should indeed be called, "Jester."  And that's how my dad, among the whitest of white men, gave an urban, black, independent businessman his street name.

Straturday Upgrade: A New Neck For An Amazing Guitar.

I have to say, I'm really proud of the first guitar I ever put together.  But to be honest, a lot of other people did a lot of the work.  That's why I say I "put it together" and not, "built it."  I went all out on it.  It had an insane paint job.  I've had a few different pickups in it, but they have always been top notch.  All the parts from the locking tuners to the real Schaller made Floyd Rose, even the knobs were all top notch.  Back when I put it together (around the year 2000) my total cost (including case) was $1,080.00.

So I'm sure you're wondering, "Well, why the ever-loving hell would I upgrade it some more?"  The truth is I've never really been happy with the neck.  There's a few reasons why.

1.  The nut width for my Floyd Rose locking nut is 43mm.  The nut width on this neck is 42mm.  So the locking nut hangs over the side of the neck.

2.  The neck shape is closer to a Les Paul 59' shape instead of a Fender Strat shape.  It was like holding the end of a baseball bat.  Honestly, that bothered me more than anything.  It made it very difficult to play compared to my other guitars.

3.  The old neck was only 21 frets.  This new one I ordered is 22 frets like an American Strat.

4.  The new neck is a satin finish.  The old was had so much high gloss on it, it gave the neck a sort of sticky finish.

5.  When I first bought the neck I was apprenticing under a master luthier.  I fret-dressed the frets a little too much so there wasn't much fret-life left.  Eventually I was going to have to re-fret the neck.

The one drawback I did have against changing necks was the matching headstock.  I really dig the matching headstock on the old neck.  But now that I have new logos I felt okay on pulling the trigger to change necks.

So first things first.  I put the logo on, and gave it time to dry.  Next, I fret-dressed the neck.  All the frets were pretty even except for one.  I know, just one dang fret screws it all up right?  Now that I have almost 20 years of luthiery experience I am much better at fret-dressing.  This time I kept it extremely light, and only took off what I had to.  (Like I do with all guitars nowadays.)

The one thing that did concern me was that the frets were cut really easily with my fretting file.  That meant they used softer metal than a lot of companies.  If I played one guitar all the time I would have just gone ahead and re-fretted it right there.  But since I'm always switching up guitars, it will be years before I have to fret-dress it again, and years after that before I have to re-fret it.

So here's the neck post-fret-dress:

Next, I moved over all the neck hardware.

After that it was time to install the neck.  I have my own method of putting one on so that it lines up properly.  It's a bit technical so I won't bore anyone with the details.  Let's just say, it went on perfectly.  Namely, because it went on exactly 100% perfectly.  I have to say, I'm really happy with myself.

Next it was all a matter of setting it up properly.  We'll skip the details and head straight to the pics.

I am ecstatic with how it turned out.  She plays so much better now.  Hopefully I will take her out of her case a little bit more.  Due to the amount of money I spent assembling her I was always hesitant to take her out to play a gig.  It's a guitar player's dilemma.  Once you finally manage to buy nice equipment, you are scared to take such nice equipment out for fear that it will be stolen.

There was one difference on the new neck that helped with one thing, but hurt another.  The previous neck was much thicker at the heal.  That meant I had to put the pickups up high so they would be positioned correctly.  It was difficult for my middle (Strat) pickup to reach the correct height.

The new neck is thinner, so I can adjust the pickups easier.  The thinner neck did create a problem I did not anticipate.  Since the neck sat lower, I had to lower the posts for the Floyd Rose tremolo.  After tuning up I pulled back on the Floyd only to find that it didn't have the clearance it had before.  So in essence, I gained the ability to adjust the pickups correctly, but I gave up being able to pull back on the Floyd Rose tremolo as much as I previously could.

Overall I am really happy that I changed out the neck.  I wish I had set it up like this years ago.  I have to remember that there are so many items available on the internet now that weren't available back when I put this guitar together.  So I can't be too hard on myself.  All I can do is play my heart out.  And I plan on doing just that.  Keep rockin' on everyone.