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