Multi-Muff?

[diablochris6]

As I greatly anticipate Rej's UltraStoner PCB to arrive in the near future, I was looking at all the Muff variants and got to wondering. Has anyone ever attempted to build a Muff pedal with switchable variables to get some of the different models? I know that the Royal Beaver exists, and that is neat with the knobs to bias transistors, but what if you used a common input and output stage and had selectable clipping stages with a rotary? That way, you could use multiple transistors, resistors, and capacitors to tailor to each different model.

A couple questions to add on to that idea: Would it be worthwhile to set up the clipping stages to be selected independently of each other? Does it make much of a difference, for example, to have the first clipping stage be a Ram's Head and the second to be a Triangle, or would it be best to have both stages of one model at a time?

And why do I see some schematics with the clipping caps before the diodes and some schematics with the cap after the diodes?

[kothoma]

And why do I see some schematics with the clipping caps before the diodes and some schematics with the cap after the diodes?

That probably reflects the actual placement on the board, but just as 2+3=3+2, the order of these components in series doesn't matter, and this holds for many component types.

[murdog47]

I made one, and sold it. Still sad about it  It was just straight forward four in one, each had their own input/output stage.

[lincolnic]

I believe Rej himself is working on the Multi-Muff to end all Multi-Muffs as we speak.

[diablochris6]

Murdog, that looks real nice. What come over you to get rid of it? 

Yeah, I figure one could find the common denominators of each Muff variant (I have the idea of 4 variants in a box) like the input and output stages, pots, etc. on the pcb and have the clipping stages selectable via a rotary. Of course, that would leave room for diode switching, input cap toggles, and mid contour mods as well. Design-wise, would it be more beneficial to "couple" the two gain stages for each variant, or would it be worthwhile to be able to mix and match the stages using two rotaries?

And if Rej is working on this as well, I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

[jubal81]

I don't know if you saw the thread, but Rej (Grindcustoms) is about to have a PCB available that covers a LOT of muff territory with different options.


http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=16874.0

[juansolo]

I don't know if you saw the thread, but Rej (Grindcustoms) is about to have a PCB available that covers a LOT of muff territory with different options.

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=16874.0

Yup, I've done the main derivatives on the spreadsheet in the doc for that (or at least variants of them seeing as there are bloody millions of different Ram's Heads for example). But you can do a lot of different muffage on there easily.

As you can with Bean's Mudbunny, The SpinCycleFX Flexi-muff (possibly the one with the most options) or Pickdroppers mini-muffin. All of which line up with the big spreadsheet on my site.

[diablochris6]

Gentlemen, allow me to try to clear up what might be some miscommunication. I am sorry if I wasn't clear. I am part of of the groupbuy for the UltraStoner. I am pumped to get it and want to build it to the UltraStoner specs for ultimate doomage. I just thought that it would be neat to create a pcb that would allow for 4 different Muffs that were switchable via a rotary. It could save space on a pedalboard instead of having four separate boxes. I also figure that some space could be saved if I made my own pcb instead of cramming 4 existing pcbs in a box.

I guess my big question was if it was worth it tone-wise to have the clipping stages switchable independently of each other or not.

This is just an idea I thought of; I am not actively pursuing it right now. It just seemed like an interesting idea to put on the back of my brain.

Once again, sorry for any confusion.
It is up in the air if

[juansolo]

Too many parts to switch for a rotary, there are just too many variations. The clipping is actually one of the things that's pretty uniform. You could do ones that are very similar, but I don't really see the point in that.

Closest you could get to what you want is what Rej is building at the moment. But that is 8 separate muffs in one box.

[pickdropper]

Too many parts to switch for a rotary, there are just too many variations. The clipping is actually one of the things that's pretty uniform. You could do ones that are very similar, but I don't really see the point in that.

Closest you could get to what you want is what Rej is building at the moment. But that is 8 separate muffs in one box.

You could do it with a microcontroller.  I've looked into that but not gone anywhere with it yet.

[juansolo]

From the main spreadsheet (which contains a fraction of the muff derivatives out there) out of all the parts, inc pots, trannies and diodes, there are only 4 components which do not change. Every single other component would have to be switched.

As I say, It'd be a mental thing to do when it'd be far easier to buy a tonne of mini-muffins and stick 'em in a (rather large) box and do some switching on the front of that. I understand the idea, but switching that many components is just impractical.

You could compromise on the hardware to a degree if you went with the older three knob muffs only. That way you could have a load of muffs and one set of controls and a selector (would need to come up with something to do that).

[diablochris6]

You could compromise on the hardware to a degree if you went with the older three knob muffs only. That way you could have a load of muffs and one set of controls and a selector (would need to come up with something to do that).

That was what I had in mind, actually. But for education's sake, would you say that each Muff's sound is a result of the sum of it's parts and not the differences between the components of the two clipping stages?

[juansolo]

They're very much the sum of their parts. From how much gain each stage has, the transistors used, to the many variations in the tone stack that also make a dramatic difference. The clippers are one of the very few things that doesn't actually change that often.