Mascis muff switching question

[matmosphere]

I have read that J Mascis has his Big Muff wired so that the pedal is always on, and when he steps on the switch it takes out the volume pot completely and makes things really loud. So in essence bypass is always on muff, and switched on is muff with the volume all the way up.

Pretty sure wiring up a second stomp to take out the volume pot wouldn't be difficult, but what I would rather do is put in an internal switch to go from the way Mascis uses it to the standard bypass mode.

So internal switch one way stomp would do Always on/Really loud, and the other way would just be the standard muff.

For some reason I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how to make that work, any suggestions? Do I need a 4pdt instead of a 3pdt?

[Zerro]

Do you mean this? By the way, this "violet version" is considered as the best combination of details to get optimal sound.

[midwayfair]

At a minimum you could switch:

1. The input from the stomp switch to be connected to the jack instead.
2. The output from the stomp switch to be connected to the jack.
3. The ground lug of the volume from ground to a lug of the stomp switch that connects to ground (on most wirings, I think the center lug works for this).

This will allow you to lift the volume pot ground, which should be good enough for what you want. You could lose a tiny bit of volume depending on the input impedance of the next thing in line. You could minimize that with a very high input impedance buffer if you need to.

[Aentons]

Before you commit to that particular in box setup... You could just put a volume control or even just a resistor on a switch after a regular pedal that's turned all the way up. See if that's what you really want.

[matmosphere]

Before you commit to that particular in box setup... You could just put a volume control or even just a resistor on a switch after a regular pedal that's turned all the way up. See if that's what you really want.

For this build authenticity of functionality is more important than practical usability. Though if you watch J explain how he uses his it makes sense and would work, it's just different and counterintuitive.

I should probably not worry about it and set it up like mascis does. The idea of the internal switch isn't very punk rock.

I think the key may be to have the standard 3dpt be the internal switch and have the other switching happening after it on the stomp. Sort of have it but it would involve splitting the clean signal, and using a 4pdt. Still looking for a more elegant solution.

[PMowdes2]

Have a look at the Tym Fuzz Munchkin


www.deadendfx.com/product/trible

[matmosphere]

Have a look at the Tym Fuzz Munchkin


www.deadendfx.com/product/trible

Very cool, not the way I'm trying to implement things but it's awesome that you guys take these things on.

Think I've landed on just doing the switch just like mascis' might not be an everyday pedal, but I think the person I'm going to build it for will be really happy with it.

[Zerro]

And that solution in picture above?

[Muadzin]

I always thought he used a volume pedal behind his Muff, which was always set to full volume, so he could bring in as much or as little of it as he wants. Then again, I never watched that much interviews with the dude. A great guitar player, but by god, that man has the most boring droning put me to sleep voice in human existence.

[matmosphere]

I always thought he used a volume pedal behind his Muff, which was always set to full volume, so he could bring in as much or as little of it as he wants. Then again, I never watched that much interviews with the dude. A great guitar player, but by god, that man has the most boring droning put me to sleep voice in human existence.

Yeah, I thought there was something like that going on as well, but it turns out he just modded it so his "clean sound" is muff with the fuzz control kind of low and his boost is dimed muff.

I think he has some pretty severe social anxiety or something and just doesn't like talking to people, hence the monotone. He's actually pretty freaking hilarious, subtle, sometimes I think he's being a troll, but he clearly has a sense of humor. I think there is a clip of him talking to Marc Maron about why they kicked Lou out of the band and J's response is delivered (perhaps unintentionally) with perfect comedic timing.

[matmosphere]

This is a pretty decent interview.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=auaNmXyO6ZU

Though it is light on the humor, he talks a lot about guitar tone and musical influences.