EHX Big Muff Pi Black Russian #3

ID:  753

Price:  $575

Shipping:  TBD

Dimensions:  10x8x5

Weight:  2 lb 12 oz

 

Excellent condition with a few minor dings and lots of paint flaking.  The paint job on this model of the black Russians was notoriously poor and easily flakes off.  This one looks so-so now, but if you play it much, you'll no doubt have the same paint flaking problems as everyone else. 

A sticker inside the pedal says "51.99", which I believe indicates it was built around Christmas, 1999. 

Note that unlike my other black Russians I have for sale, this is the 6-screw version, which I believe was earlier in the production of the black Russian Muffs than the 4-screw version.  The number of screws referring to the number of screws that hold the top onto the bottom portion of the pedal.

But the cosmetics isn't the main point of interest for this pedal.  It has been heavily modified.  

A long time ago I used to buy these black Russians and upgrade them.  A lot of them didn't sound that great, but were easy to improve.  This model was made with lots of different component types, yielding pedals of widely varying tone.  It is pretty easy to mod them to make them sound like other versions of the Russian Big Muffs - Civil War, Tall Font, Bubble Font, Red Army, etc.  There were also several design and parts choices that lowered the overall quality and reliability of many of these pedals.  Many of the mods for this pedal were to make it more reliable, something you could better count on if you wanted to gig with it.  And get it for less than the cost of the older, better Sovtek models.

Unlike some of the other black Russians I modded and have for sale, I have my notes about all the mods I made to this pedal, so let's get to it.

First, tone mods:

  • replaced some components in the circuit to meet Civil War circuit spec, but left in the original "mystery" transistors as they sounded OK
  • added mid-scoop switch, probably the most popular Muff mod

This pedal sounded almost identical to my Bubble Font Sovteks when I started.  Now it is somehow more musical to me, and has that smooth, tight fuzz going on, with harmonics and sustain by the bucketful when the Sustain is cranked up.  The Tone pot gives a range of useful tones, from the hallmark muffle to cutting lead tones.  

With the mid-scoop switch off, you get the straight, un-modified Civil War circuit tone.  When it is on, you get more mids (less scoop) for when you need to cut through the mix. 

Second, player mods:

  • replaced switch for true bypass switching
  • added standard “Boss style” 9v negative tip 2.1mm DC power jack
  • upgraded to battery connection lead with solid plastic cap instead of flexible vinyl cap
  • pedal now turns off if there is nothing plugged into the Input jack
  • Input/Output jacks were switched, Input on right, Output on left, to be like most pedals.  
  • replaced plastic jacks and nuts with metal Switchcraft jacks
  • board is bolted to bottom of pedal on metal standoffs, not dangling from plastic jacks
  • new red LED (not the blinding bright kind) with black metal bezel instead of plastic
  • all new wire, slightly heavier than original
  • new full-sized 24mm Alpha pots with standard 1/4” diameter shafts
  • new chicken head knobs with brass inserts and set screws

Early Sovtek pedals were known for being heavy-duty, but there were some shortcomings in these later versions, such as the board hanging from the plastic jacks without support, and plastic hardware holding the jacks in place.  The pot shafts are skinny, so when you lost a knob it was difficult to find a replacement knob that fits.  They sucked tone out of your setup because they didn’t have true bypass.  Cabling was awkward, with Input and Output jacks backwards from “normal”.  And there was no power connection unless you used a funky battery snap connection converter.  The upgrades address all those issues.  In addition, now that it has more standard and available parts (jacks, pots, power connections, knobs) if something does fail in the future, it should be much easier to repair

Finally, cosmetics:

  • Well, it sounds great!!!
  • And it has a snug battery compartment door and all four feet, no Velcro.
  • The yellow paint is flaking off.  I removed the Input and Output labeling, as that was already unreadable and they are switched anyway.  It might look better to just remove the rest of the yellow lettering, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.  It flakes off easily, so I expect it will continue to come off.

 

Please note that all these mods result in crowded wiring inside the pedal.  I don't recommend opening this one up just to look around unless you know what you are doing (or might do accidentally).  The poor fit and finish in the manufacturing make it a little annoying to get the cover off and back on, too.  With those upgrades, it should hopefully be a long time before anyone needs to get in there.