Which two muffs to build?

[Jopn]

So my two swarm boards arrived in the mail today (woohoo!).  I think rather than 1590Aing these suckers (1590A is now a verb, fyi), I'm going to build them up side by side in 1590BB. 

I'm looking at JuanSolo's sheet here:
http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/muffbuild.html

I'd like to stick with the classic models:
1971 Triangle
Triangle
Civil War Russian
Green Civil War Tall Font Russian
Green Russian
3rd Edition
Ram's Head
Violet Ram's Head

After spending an evening listening to countless videos, clips, thoroughly reading Kitrae's page, etc. I'm still on the fence on which two of the above to build.

My goal is simply to avoid having two versions side by side that are too similar.  Right now I'm leaning towards Green Russian and Triangle, but what are other people's thoughts?

Cheers,

John

[pryde]

I can't say which 2 classic muff circuits to build for a contrasting 2 in 1 build but maybe think about it in another way:

The muffs defining characteristic is really mid-scooped vs mid humped (or flat mids).

No matter what 2 you choose I would socket the transistors and tone-stack circuit on both for dialing in the most dramatic differences between the two.

muff 1: very mid scooped with tons of bottom and super-smooth sustain
muff 2: more mid-range response for cutting solos and chord clarity

Good luck, sounds like a cool project

[juansolo]

The three Russian ones are all very similar. The '71 Triangle I'm a big fan of for classic muffage. A 3rd edition is a lot less scooped than most of the others so will sound more obviously different, but is one of the few muffs I no longer have as I didn't see the point... Read into that what you will.

The Classics are the Ram's Head and the Triangle. Go for those, but as someone has said, socket it up and experiment.

[wretched]

Yep, the Triangle and the Rams Head. I only built 4 to date, but so far those are my top two.

[the3secondrule]

I'd recommend the green (or black) Russian, and the skreddy ?lady. Very yin & yang

[dondougie]

I'd put a Violet Rams head in there for rhythm and then some Skreddy like the P19 for leads. The Skreddy's aren't as scooped as the "classic" muffs and really stand out in the mix. That would be a pretty versatile box o' muffs with more tonal options than 2 of the stock circuits would give you.

[Cortexturizer]

I have acquired a Chasm Spasm board from jubal, who has been a wonderful sport and gave it to me during the PIFs.
Since I've seen the frightening doc from Juan, and noticed the Chasm in there, should I take it that I could build any other version on that board just by changing the component values per that doc?

So far I have only built a number of Pharaohs. I'd like this next one to be non-scooped muff that would be awesome for riffage, I am not trying to have a fantastic solo tone here, just tight, or as much as possible, tight riffage with that signature muff saturation and huge tone.

What would you recommend, which version?

[pryde]

I have acquired a Chasm Spasm board from jubal, who has been a wonderful sport and gave it to me during the PIFs.
Since I've seen the frightening doc from Juan, and noticed the Chasm in there, should I take it that I could build any other version on that board just by changing the component values per that doc?

So far I have only built a number of Pharaohs. I'd like this next one to be non-scooped muff that would be awesome for riffage, I am not trying to have a fantastic solo tone here, just tight, or as much as possible, tight riffage with that signature muff saturation and huge tone.

What would you recommend, which version?

My vote is the Skreddy Mayo. Its stock tonestack is a flat midrange and it has the "perfect" amount of gain IMO. You can also put in the mids-switch for a mid-hump but I think the stock tone is perfect. Just a great sounding and all-around versatile muff for supreme riffage 

Give it a go!

[Cortexturizer]

Awesome Pryde. I was actually thinking building one of the Skreddy muffs. Could someone that has built all three, Mayo, Pink Lady, and P19 comment on their differences some? Would be really grateful. What I look for in a Muff has been stated above this post, and I'd like to add that I love when the natural sound of the guitar shines through as much as possible, so the amount of gain does not need to be insane actually, so yeah, looks like Pryde has been on the money there with the Mayo, but still, I'd like to hear about the P19 and the Pink LAdy. More mids - happier Cortexturizer, that's also a thing here haha.

[pryde]

I can weigh in on the P19 as I had one for a while and have built a few others for folks. I don't think it would be for you because...

It is much more geared toward distortion vs muff. It has plenty of mids alright but really lacks bottom end. The gain is really pretty low as well compared to most muffs. It is a GREAT pedal for lead playing as its prominent midrange pops nicely but not so great for riffage IMO. In comparison the Mayo has nice mids and still retains a large, but fairly tight bottom end.

Never built the Lady so hopefully someone can give you some insight.   

[Cortexturizer]

Awesome, actually I have two very fat guitars already haha. A quick search on the net revealed that a lot of peps like the Mayo best, so that's the one I'll be trying! Thanks Pryde.

[pryde]

I think you will like it, I hope so as I don't want you to think poorly of my taste in muffs 

At heart the MAYO it is a '72 Triangle variant with a couple minor tweaks. If you crave even more mids then adding that parallel 4n cap on a switch in the tone stack will bring in a nice hump to the flat EQ.   

[junkemail86]

Not really what you asked, but what about making one of em a Skreddy Lunar Module?  I built the 4 knobber and love it.