Pedal Circuit Build 69 Has Come

I knew build number 69 had to be based around innuendo, and I might have stretched it out a bit here, but I think it will come together. What effect pedal is more innuendo driven than the Big Muff Pi? The Big Muff Pi was never really on my radar as I'm not a huge fuzz fan. Sure I built an op-amp Muff Fuzz clone, but that's because the op-amp made it sound better (to my ears) than a normal fuzz. BUT WAIT! Did you know there was an op-amp Big Muff Pi!? *gasps en Español* QUE!? SI! DIME MAS! From what I understand in 77 and 78 Big Muff Pi pedals were/could be built with an op-amp. This is apparently the choice version for Billy Corgan and James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins. Now, you officially have my undivided attention.

Well let's see what we can find in terms of layout, shall we? There are a few, but there is something interesting called the Keeley Rotten Apple that seems to take inspiration from the op-amp Big Muff Pi and adds a little bit to it. That's what I'll build, and so I did! But, mine turned out more like a heavy metal distortion than anything near the Big Muff or Rotten Apple. I have no clue how, I really don't. So this will need more experimenting to test and see where I went wrong. Maybe I put something in the wrong place, we'll see. However, for now build 69 is dubbed Smashing Muffkins. This name is based on the fact that it was based on a pedal that was based on the op-amp Big Muff Pi that Billy and James used, but also because Smashing Muffkins sounds like an inoffensive euphemism for fucking.

Going back to the Big Muff Pi for a moment, does anyone remember EHX loaning the Big Muff Pi design to the Rock Band 2 overdrive prop? I call it a prop because it's not a pedal, it's more like a single button controller. Anyway, I really thought the Rock Band 2 overdrive props would be much easier to find, since every thrift store back ten years ago were covered in the plastic guitar controllers. I was wrong. I was very, horribly wrong. Apparently they're more rare than a leprechaun riding a blue unicorn on Flaberstday under a greyscale rainbow while both the leprechaun and unicorn are wearing orange crocs and black socks.

I thought I would find them all over thrift stores, along side the guitar controllers, and since they're essentially 1590BB enclosures I could repurpose them for real pedal circuits. I even thought about using one to build a Mini Muff Pi. *gasps en Español* No, we already did that bit earlier. Perdón. Está bien. Getting back on track, how dare I want to build a clone circuit that I might not like based solely on the fact I had an enclosures that looked kind of like the original? Well you can rest assured I'm not going to spend anywhere near $100 for a Hammond 1590BB that looks kind of like an EHX pedal just to turn it into an actual, working guitar pedal. Even if I could find one of them cheap enough I would rather flip it to someone willing to pay the $100 for one and just buy a ton of unfinished 1590BBs for all the circuits I already have built that need a 1590BB enclosure. That's using your noggin!

With build 69 in the books that brings me up to thirty-five builds for this year, easily doubling that of 2021 and 2022. The good news is I actually have made three more kits to build, so that should keep me busy for a few more days. Then I really have to quit building and start doing troubleshooting. I have some builds that I'm pretty sure I'll need to tear down and rebuild all over, which sucks but I've had to do it before. Mistakes happen and when everything is in the right spot but it still doesn't work properly, there's no better fix than tear it all down and doing it all over again. If I can pull myself away from my new pursuit of beating NES games I think this year's building will be satisfying, as well as a success in learning new things and having pedals I enjoy using.